THE MILLS OF MEN

Waipa Post, Volume 32, Issue 1781, 10 July 1926, Page 6

THE MILLS OF MEN

The mill is a necessary complement of man. It is pre-historic and has developed with humanity through tth6 ages. As used by the primitive inhabitants of the earth the mill consisted of two stones, the lower one generally slightly hollow, between which the grain was rubbed. Later the lower stone was artificially hollowed, in order to hold the grain, and the upper one rudely fashioned to fit. 'Later still, as man became better able to devise means of supplying his needs, a hole was made in the lowerstone, through which the grain could pass as it was.ground. Hand mills of this type are in use in the backward countries of the East to this day. Gradually the mill developed into the stone mill, driven by water or wind and, occasionally, by steam, which was formerly in use all over the civilised world. The stones were about four feet in diameter, the lower one being fixed, while the upper could be made to revolve at a high speed. The flour escaped from the lower stone by means of grooves. The roller mill was devised in Hungary, and at once tarcen up in America. It was found to give excellent results and was installed in It'he large mills in England in the early seventies.

In the modern roller mill hand labour is almost entirely eliminated. From the moment the grain is delivered at the mill until either as flour or offals it is ready for removal, it is not touched by hand. It is cleaned, conditioned or dried, fed to the break rolls—pairs of steel fluted cylinders—where it is torn open, passed to the reduction rolls—pairs of smooth cylinders—which reduce the size of the large particlas of kernel, purified and separated, kernel from husk, first grade flour from second grade, all by means of machinery. There is perhaps no better illustration of the complications of existence caused by civilisation than the comparison of the primitive grinding stones with the intricate and powerful machinery now used for the same purpose.