TOWN IMPROVEMENTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume LX, Issue 2459, 29 July 1897, Page 3

TOWN IMPROVEMENTS.

THE ATLAS GRAIN STORES. ; Workmen are just now putting the finishing touches to the new grain stores for the Atlas Milling Company (Evans and Co., Ltd.) and though they are not quite ready for occupation, the first grain to be stored m them was being wheeled on to the ground floor yesterday after- , noon. The stores, the latest town lm- ', provement and extension of a most important local industry, ive built on the southern side of the mill, and the frontage as seen from the beach is very ex- ( tensive. The inside measurement is 50 feet wide by 170 feet long, and the ( capacity of the four floors is 100,000 sacks ( of grain and, milling produce. Parts of the southern and western wa'ls are [ of Timaru Stone, the other portions of ! the Walls being of brick, and their, thickness varies from two feet odd to one foot . odd. As seen from the outside the j building gives the onlooker the idea of '. vast strength, and the rather neat re- \ ceiying and elevator-housing porch, ; breaksthe plainness of the larger facade, j arid m a quiet manner adds style. On ; uping m at the main entrance 'the, vast floor space at once impresses the visitor. A great feature of the plan is quite out of the common to such a building ; each floor !b entirely dependent upon the story posts, there is no weight at all on the walls. The latter have a simple task— they have only to keep the roof on and carry its weight, which m comparison with the crushing burden other walls have to , cany, is like the putting of a racing " saddle on the back of a draught horse. \ Each floor i.s about lift 9in y in the clear, and the story posts and beams are of 12 x 12 iron barky immense beams indeed; the former resting on concrete foundations on the grqund floor. The floors.being so very large, it was deemed hest to have ample means of getting about, and to attain this there are four stairways on each floor- -one stah'way m each corner. The joists .which carry the <W inch t. and g. flooring are 14 inch by 2£ inch laid on edge, of selected red 'pine, and they are laid close together so as to * reduce the vibration to as low a limit aa, possible- . The ground, second and third floors are all finished m the same style, neat and strong. When one gets to the fourth floor, lit all rouud by commodious windows, and not a post or beam to break the line of vision, then the vastness of • the floor-space is fully comprehended . " I question whether, for size or completeness, there is a floor like it m the.colony ," said our guide. We agreed,; whie-ve looked round and noted the strength of the roof principals, and the neatness .nd strength of their iron fittings. The roof is carefuliy put together to be proof against wet or dust— it is lined with L and g. boards, tarred felt is put over these, and on this again is fixed the roof iron. One capital feature is good lighting and ventilation-all interiors are limewashed, add to the brightness, and the circulation of air has been wellattended to. The stores can take m grain both front and back. In front will be a sackelevator from railway trucks to any ' ftooi*; at back, by hoist #hd shoots from dray or wagon from - Turnbull \ street. Wheat will be delivered to the mill by means of two elevators, driven off shafting geared to the present mill machinery, and on the third floor will be a connecting gangway to receive flour and ofFal from the mill, when it is necessary to store such produce. There will also be one or two hatchw,ays for the more economical handling of grain and produce. Finally, between the mill arid the stores is an alley-way, along j which it is proposed to lay a rail; ;way siding, and to increase the lighting of the, ground floor, the mill southern wall is to belimewashed, and I this accomplished the new structure will ! then serve its legitimate purpose for many years. In closing we may add that Mr Hislop (Dunedin) was the architect: Mr J. Simpson, the clerk of works ; Mr F. Palliser carried but the stonework; Mr Burns the brickwork; Mr P. Sinclair, the ironwork ; Mr J. Manning was the carpenter; Messrs Newman and Co., i were the plasterers ; Messrs Currie and North the plumbers ; ana\ Mr Murdoch, did the painting; each seems to have made a substantial and as neat a job as possible of his particular work, and the building stands as a very substantial monument to the enterprise and capital of the Atlas Milling Company.