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HISTORY OF Southeastern Dakota, Its Settlement and Growth, Sioux City Iowa: Western Publishing Company, 1881 transcribed by Karen Seeman
CASCADE MILL.
The next improvement of the water power was made in 1877. During the month of September, I. Emerson, E. A. Sherman and J. G. Botsford, under the firm name of Emerson, Sherman & Co., purchased the water power and five acres of land on the east side of the river, just north of Eighth street, and began the erection of the "Cascade Mill." The most formidable part of the undertaking was the building of the dam, which was begun October 3, 1877. This structure is of native stone, sixteen feet wide at the base, and the whole structure firmly bolted to the bedrock. The engineer in charge of this work was the late Mr. Meltimore, of Evansville, Wisccnsin. That he did his work faithfully and well, is evidenced from the fact, that although the ice and high water have caused all the other dams on the Sioux River to give way, this one has stood secure. The mill proper, 36 by 52 feet, three stories in height, was designed by Asa Forrest, of Dubuque, Iowa, and contains five run of stone. It was fitted up with the very best of machinery, with all the latest improvements, by the Novelty Iron Works, of Dubuque, Iowa, and began turning out flour in September, 1878. Long before the machinery was put in motion, the people of Sioux Falls appreciated the enterprise as one in which they had a personal and pecuniary interest, as upon its success depended in a large degree not only the price of the grain they might from season to season have for sale, but also their facilities for being supplied with flour. Right royally has the mill fulfilled all the anticipations of its friends, and proved a success to those more immediately interested, as it has been in almost constant operation day and night since the machinery was first put in motion. At the present time, the mill is turning out flour at the rate of one hundred barrels per day. The local demand is more than supplied by the produce of the mill, but the surplus finds a ready market in the East. The fame of this mill is not local in character, some of the flour manufactured here being sent across the Atlantic and competing in the markets of the old world with the world-renowned brands. Connected with the mill, and really forminga part of it—with a track from the Milwaukee, Chicago, & St. Paul Railroad to its doors—is an elevator 30x40 feet, of the same height as the mill, having a storage capacity for 20,000 bushels of grain, the lower story furnishing warehouse room for the surplus flour awaiting shipment. Mr. Botsford has lately disposed of his one-fourth interest in the property to Mr. Geo. E. Wheeler—consideration, $16,000.00. The name of the firm remains unchanged, while the grade of the flour, owing to improvements lately introduced into the machinery, is materially improved. When it was first noised abroad there was to be a mill erected here of the capacity of the Cascade, and some people said the day was not far distant when a larger mill than the Cascade would be built in Sioux Falls, a great many persons laughed at the idea, and said the Cascade was larger than the agricultural interests of the Sioux Valley demanded—that the enterprise would prove dead capital to those who had invested their property in it—that not enough grain to keep the mill in operation half the time could be secured in the country tributary to Sioux Falls—that it would not pay to ship after grinding, etc.; in short, that the growth of the town had culminated in the building of the Cascade Mill. It is safe to say that those persons never expected to see the erection of a mill of the dimensions, capacity and facilities of the "Queen Bee," nor supposed such an institution could find adequate employment for its machinery in this part of the country. The old method of milling by which the grain was crushed between mill stones, thereby breaking the bran and mixing it with the flour, and the dirt adhering to the berry in the case, also finding its way into the flour, thus coloring the whole manufactured product, and so injuriously affecting the prices that the flour had to be sold at a low figure, and often at a sacrifice—made the business so uncertain, and at times so expensive, that it became absolutely necessary to invent some means by which these difficulties and drawbacks could be overcome. The inventions to this end first took practical shape in Hungary under the name of the Hungarian Process. This process consisted in, first,thoroughly cleansing the outside of the grain, and then breaking it between rollers, which would make it possible to clean all parts of the berry before it was finally reduced to flour. This process has been continually improved upon since its first introduction, by the best millwrights in all parts of the world, until now, under the name of the "Gradual Reduction Process" it has achieved a success and attained a degree of perfection little expected by its originators. The "Queen Bee Mill," begun here in August, 1879, is built for working up the grain by this process, and embodies all the advanced ideas and latest improvements that have up to this time been brought before the milling public. It may be interesting to give a short account, divested of all technical terms, of the different processes through which the grain passes, from the time it arrives on the track until it is barreled, ready for shipment. The wheat, after being shoveled from the car, is thereafter handled by machinery in all its various journeys through the elevator and mill. Before leaving the elevator, it passes through cleaning machines, which takes out all the grosser impurities, as sticks, chaff, straw, etc. It is then sent to the mill by conveyors, and passed through separators, which extract all the oats and weeds; from thence it goes to another machine which takes out all the cockle. After being freed from all foreign matter, it is scoured and passed through two sets of brushes, which remove all the dust and dirt from the outside of the grain, which is then ready for the first set of corrugated rolls. The first break is intended to crack open the berry without breaking it into fine pieces. This is not such an impossible task as it might seem to be to the uninformed, as the bran and the part of the grain next to the bran are a great deal tougher than the center of the berry. It is then passed through reels, purifiers and brushes, which remove the remaining dirt. A very little flour comes out at this stage of the process, but it is of a very inferior grade. The grain next passes to a second set of corrugated rolls, set a little closer together than were the first. From this break there are three separations made—two of middlings and one of flour. The finer middlings go to the purifiers and the coarser to the third set of corrugated rolls. From the third break, four grades of middlings are made, according to their fineness. The fourth break is a repetition of (he third with a similar result. The fifth break Thus far the crushing has been but the necessary preparation for the manufacture of the choice brands of flour, all the flour thus far obtained being simply the fine particles which have broken loose from the berry and sifted out in the cleansing of the middlings. Each of the four grades of middlings, that have been separated, are now purified by different machines, each adapted to the particular grade which it is intended shall pass through it, after which they are passed between the smooth rolls of chilled steel, highly polished, to extract the small particles of bran and germ. The middlings in turn pass through four sets of smooth rolls, each set being a little closer together than the preceding, from whence Any part of the grain not thoroughly reduced by this process is sent to the old-fashioned buhrs and converted into a low grade of flour. It will be seen from this, that, by this process, every part of the grain is utilized, such parts, except the bran, as will not make the best of flour, being converted into that of an inferior grade.
THB QUEEN BEE MILL Was begun in August, 1879, and is now nearly completed. It bears about the same relation to an ordinary grist mill that the Great Northwest does to the cramped localities of the East. It embodies all the latest improvements in milling machinery, many of the improvements and appliances being entirely original and peculiar to this mill. The building is of stone, quarried on the ground, 80 by 100 feet, and 104 feet from foundation to top of walls, which are six feet thick. This space is divided into seven stories—six beside the basement—though the third, fourth and fifth floors are practically each two stories. The mill was designed by J. W. McKeen, of Minneapolis, to whom has been entrusted the entire construction. Mr. McKeen has been ably seconded in his labors by Messrs. H. W. Stearns, (who will remain permanently at the mill after its completion in the capacity of millwright), Peter Paff, L. R. Williman and W. McConnell, foremen in different departments, Geo. Gildersleeve, first miller, and G. V. Quillard, second miller. To show the accuracy with which the building was planned, it is only necessary to say that the workmen have found it necessary to cut but one joist in all the vast building, to accommodate the almost numberless machines, shafts and belts. The office on the ground floor is connected with all parts of the building by speaking tubes and electric bells, by means of which instantaneous communication can be had with the workmen in all parts of the building. The mill, office and warehouse is lighted throughout with gas manufactured on the premises and heated by steam. Connected with the heating appuratus is the arrangement for extinguishing fire in case of accident. A Reedy elevator runs from the basement to the upperfloor. In short, everything of use that human ingenuity has been able to invent, is to be found here in successful operation. The shaft from the waterwheel terminates in the basement, which is literally filled with shafting, destributing the power to such parts of the mill as it is needed. On the first floor are arranged seventy pairs of rolls, seven sets buhrs, and two brush machines. On the second floor are two more brush machines, five flour packers, ten stock bins and about eighty bins for middlings. On the third floor, are arranged seven double bolting chests, with four reels iu each, one single bolting chest with two reels, one cockle machine, and twenty-two Smith purifiers. On the middle floor, in this story, are five Smith purifiers and nine Allis aspirators. The fourth floor has seven double and one single bolting chests, twenty-two purifiers and three wheat separators. On the middle floor, are five purifiers and four bran dusters. On the fifth floor are seven more double and one single bolting chests, eleven purifiers, eleven aspirators and two wheat screens; while the sixth floor has six middlings graders. All the available space between and around the machines, above the grinding floor, is filled with bins and garners, there being some two hundred of them in the mill. The mill contains nearly two miles of elevators, three miles of conveyors, eight miles of spouting, and ten miles of belting. Every thing in and about the building, from basement to roof, is built in the most thorough manner, being "cabinet work," in every sense of the term. Adjoining and connected with the mill is an elevator with a capacity of 100,000 bushels, and a warehouse, 50 by 142 feet, four stories in height, containing a feed-separating reel, two bran packers and barrel elevators. The large bins for bran occupy an entire story of the building. The warehouse has a storage capacity of 10,000 barrels. Near the warehouse is the cooper shop, which is intended to furnish room at present for forty coopers. The mill has a side track, leading from Chicago, St. Panl, Minneapolis & Omaha R. R., which is divided into a double track just before it reaches the elevator, one track passing near the elevator, the other near the warehouse. At the northern end of the track is a transfer, by means of which a train of cars can be pushed in, unloaded on one track, transferred to the other, loaded and leave the premises, without any unnecessary switching, or without requiring a great amount of track room. The power necessary for driving all this vast amount of machinery, comes from the Sioux River. A canal has been blasted through the rocks, from a point nearly east of the center of Brookings Island, to within about four hundred and fifty feet of the wheel pit, from which point the water is conveyed in an iron tube seven feet in diameter to the wheel—an American turbine, four feet in diameter, giving eight hundred horse-power. The "head" at present is fifty-six feet; can be increased to seventy by further blasting, if it is thought advisable. The general direction of all the work in and around this great establishment —employing in its various departments a hundred men—as well as the arrangements necessary for obtaining the grain to keep the mill in operation, is under the immediate charge of Mr. C. W. Hubbard, a gentleman who has made hosts of friends since taking charge of the work.
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