X
We have used to a great extent Oliver Evans’ “The Young Mill-Wright and Miller’s Guide.” This book was printed about 1800, and I think I have referred to it before, but it has proved invaluable to us in the course of our work. The words and references in the book may have meant something to the millers one hundred years ago, but not us poor amateurs of 1961, the words millseat, flutterwheels, cockheads, cubocks, to say nothing of “tailflour,” confused us no end, but on closer reading and more attention to the details of the book, we did finally make some sense from it.
Under Article 108 in this ancient volume is found the following:
“Of Regulating the Feed and Water in Grinding.”“The stone being well hung, proceed to grind, and when all things are ready, draw as much water as is judged to be sufficient; thenobserve the motion of the stone, by the noise of the damsel, and feel the meal; if it be too coarse, and the motion too slow, give less feed and it will grind finer, and the motion will be quicker; if it yet grind too coarse, lower the stones; then, if the motion be too slow, draw a little more water; but if the meal feel to be ground, and the motion right, raise the stones a little, and give the motion right, raise the stones a little, and give a little more feed. If the motion and feed be too great, and the meal be ground too low, shut off part of the water. But if the motion be too slow, and the feed too small, draw more water.”
“Of Regulating the Feed and Water in Grinding.”
“The stone being well hung, proceed to grind, and when all things are ready, draw as much water as is judged to be sufficient; thenobserve the motion of the stone, by the noise of the damsel, and feel the meal; if it be too coarse, and the motion too slow, give less feed and it will grind finer, and the motion will be quicker; if it yet grind too coarse, lower the stones; then, if the motion be too slow, draw a little more water; but if the meal feel to be ground, and the motion right, raise the stones a little, and give the motion right, raise the stones a little, and give a little more feed. If the motion and feed be too great, and the meal be ground too low, shut off part of the water. But if the motion be too slow, and the feed too small, draw more water.”
I doubt very much that the venerable Mr. Evans would have relished “the noise of the damsel” if he had observed George one sunny afternoon pick up a luscious creature of the female sex, heave her over his shoulder and transport her into the depths of the mill, all in plain sight of the general public. It seems that it was a little too muddy for this fair lady to walk to the mill, but the following week, however, the same damsel was there and took the same ride on George’s shoulders into the mill.
We could not and did not observe either the motion or the noise of the damsel, which probably is just as well.
The damsel referred to by Evans, however, is nothing more or less than a square wooden shaft which turns against a shoe suspended under the spout of the hopper to regulate the flow of grain into the stones themselves.
There is, of course, a definite rhythm to the clatter created by the damsel, and this is what Evans was speaking about in “noise of damsel.”
Farther on in Evans’ book, it states that we must “pick up the stones” and sharpen them, but as I said before, we found that we were too ignorant of the art of sharpening the stones, and that is why we obtained the services of Mr. Mattson, who did an excellent job in “picking up” the stones.
It is interesting to read Evans’ book, and I have taken the time to copy directly from the book the chapter on the “Duties of the Miller.”
“CHAPTER XVIIIDirections for keeping the mill and the business of it in good order.Article 116The Duty Of The MillerThe mill is supposed to be completely finished for merchant work, on the new plan; supplied with a stock of grain, flour casks, nails, brushes, picks, shovels, scales, weights, etc., when the millers enter on their duty.If there be two of them capable of standing watch, or taking charge of the mill, the time is generally divided as follows. In the day-time both attend to business, but one of them has the chief direction. The night is divided into two watches, the first of which ends at one o’clock in the morning, when the master miller should enter on his watch, and continue till day-light that he may be ready to direct other hands to their business early. The first thing he should do, when his watch begins, is to seewhether the stones are grinding, and the cloths bolting well. And secondly, he should review all the moving gudgeons of the mill, to see whether any of them want grease, etc.; for want of this, the gudgeons often run dry, and heat, which bring on heavy losses in time and repairs; for when they heat, they get a little loose, and the stones they run on crack, after which they cannot be kept cool. He should also see what quantity of grain is over the stones, and if there be not enough to supply them till morning, set the cleaning machines in motion.All things being set right, his duty is very easy—he has only to see to the machinery, the grinding, and the bolting once in every hour; he has, therefore, plenty of time to amuse himself by reading, or otherwise.Early in the morning all the floors should be swept, and the flour dust collected; the casks nailed, weighed, marked, and branded, and the packing begun, that it may be completed in the forepart of the day; by this means, should any unforseen thing occur, there will be spare time. Besides, to leave the packing till the afternoon, is a lazy practice, and keeps the business out of order.When the stones are to be sharpened, everything necessary should be prepared before the mill is stopped, (especially if there is but one pair of stones to a water-wheel) that as little time as possible may be lost: the picks should be made quite sharp, and not be less than 12 in number. Things being ready, the miller is then to take up the stone; set one hand to each, and dress them as soon as possible, that they may be set to work again; not forgetting to grease the gears and spindle foot.In the after part of the day, a sufficient quantity of grain is to be cleaned down, to supply the stones the whole night; because it is best to have nothing more to do in the night, than to attend to the grinding, bolting, gudgeons, etc.”
“CHAPTER XVIII
Directions for keeping the mill and the business of it in good order.
Article 116
The Duty Of The Miller
The mill is supposed to be completely finished for merchant work, on the new plan; supplied with a stock of grain, flour casks, nails, brushes, picks, shovels, scales, weights, etc., when the millers enter on their duty.
If there be two of them capable of standing watch, or taking charge of the mill, the time is generally divided as follows. In the day-time both attend to business, but one of them has the chief direction. The night is divided into two watches, the first of which ends at one o’clock in the morning, when the master miller should enter on his watch, and continue till day-light that he may be ready to direct other hands to their business early. The first thing he should do, when his watch begins, is to seewhether the stones are grinding, and the cloths bolting well. And secondly, he should review all the moving gudgeons of the mill, to see whether any of them want grease, etc.; for want of this, the gudgeons often run dry, and heat, which bring on heavy losses in time and repairs; for when they heat, they get a little loose, and the stones they run on crack, after which they cannot be kept cool. He should also see what quantity of grain is over the stones, and if there be not enough to supply them till morning, set the cleaning machines in motion.
All things being set right, his duty is very easy—he has only to see to the machinery, the grinding, and the bolting once in every hour; he has, therefore, plenty of time to amuse himself by reading, or otherwise.
Early in the morning all the floors should be swept, and the flour dust collected; the casks nailed, weighed, marked, and branded, and the packing begun, that it may be completed in the forepart of the day; by this means, should any unforseen thing occur, there will be spare time. Besides, to leave the packing till the afternoon, is a lazy practice, and keeps the business out of order.
When the stones are to be sharpened, everything necessary should be prepared before the mill is stopped, (especially if there is but one pair of stones to a water-wheel) that as little time as possible may be lost: the picks should be made quite sharp, and not be less than 12 in number. Things being ready, the miller is then to take up the stone; set one hand to each, and dress them as soon as possible, that they may be set to work again; not forgetting to grease the gears and spindle foot.
In the after part of the day, a sufficient quantity of grain is to be cleaned down, to supply the stones the whole night; because it is best to have nothing more to do in the night, than to attend to the grinding, bolting, gudgeons, etc.”
Shades of the coffee break and the forty-hour week! Apparently Evans and his millers hardly found time to stop and get a bite to eat.
Interesting, the old methods and way of life compared with our present day methods and ways of existence.