OLD MILL RESTORED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20982, 19 September 1931, Page 12

OLD MILL RESTORED.

SAILS REVOLVE AGAIN. ENTERPRISE OF OWNER. TRIUMPH OVER DIFFICULTIES. The sails of the old windmill in Liverpool Street, near the Grafton Bridge, have been restored and now revolve :n their former picturesque way after having suffered damage first, by storm, and, in recent months, by a fire which gutted the mill. Patient work by the owner, Mr. J. Partington, and t*,fo or three assistants, who together have combated a host of difficulties, was completed on Monday, when the second of the two sails with which the mill at present will be equipped was completed and hoisted into position. In duo course the four sails which seven years ago stood bravely against the skyline will be restored for the more efficient working of the mill. In 1924 a fierce gale badly damaged the four revolving arms. Two sails were dismantled and the mill worked spasmodically on the others for some months, when their arms were rendered idle and the grinding was done exclusively by electricity. Then camo the disastrous fire on the night cf February 16 last. The whole 10 floors of the mill were gutted and the flames caused further damage to the already injured twin sails. The entire building had to be reconstructed at great expense to its owner. Materials for the reconstruction of the sails arrived and no time was lost in the repair of the arms, the work being superintended by Mr. Partington. Hie task was oi eof magnitude. Each arm is 35ft. long and measures 9ft. in width at the extremity, while the weight of the arm is approximately one ton. About two hundred small vanes arc contained in the arms and these shutters are so designed as to open and shut automatically | as the wind dies or increases in strength. Thus, an even, steady revolution of the fails is maintained. In a week of uniform grinding, the massive mill-stones crush about 50 tons of wheat.