Part 50

Whole wheat flour is made from the whole grain of wheat from which the outside covering or bran has been separated. It contains everything but the bran and is therefore the most nutritious flour made.

The grain of wheat has several coverings of bran coats, the outer one of which is the one composed of silica, and which is not valuable as food. Underneath this husk--are found the inner bran coats, which contain the gluten. Gluten is a dark substance containing the flesh-forming or nitrogenous elements, which are valuable in muscle building. The inside or heart of the grain of wheat consists of cells filled with starch, a fine white mealy powder which has little value as food, but is a great heat producer. Sometimes in making whole wheat flour, the heart of the grain is also removed, making a pure gluten flour. The name whole wheat for flour is not accurate, therefore, for Graham flour is made of the whole wheat grain, while “whole wheat” flour is made of only certain parts of the grain of wheat.

[Illustration: Wheat conditioners for tempering the wheat before being ground by the corrugated roller mills.]

How is Flour Made?

In great factories the raw material is frequently taken in at one end and comes out of the opposite end as a finished locomotive, a Pullman palace car, or a pair of shoes. There is no such progression in making flour. The wheat comes in at one place as a plain Spring or Winter wheat and at another goes out as flour, but in the process parts of it may go from top to bottom of the big mill 30 times. Instead of a factory where everything moves along from hand to hand or machine to machine, the flour mill is like a human body--a huge framework like the bones, with thousands of carrying devices, “elevators,” “spouts” and “conveyors,” like the veins and arteries of the blood-carrying system. Stop up a vein of wheat, the mill becomes clogged, and finally must shut down if it cannot be mechanically relieved. It is an intricate and intensely interesting process, the result of year-to-year experience.

[Illustration: SEPARATING THE WHEAT FIBER AND GERMS

Purifier for separating the fiber, germ, and other impurities from the semolina (grits) before it is finally crushed or ground into flour by smooth roller mills.]

Scouring that Suggests a Dutch Kitchen.

From the storage bins the wheat is drawn off through conveyors to the first of several cleaning processes, the “separators,” where the coarse grain which naturally comes with the wheat, such as corn and oats, and imperfect kernels of wheat, is taken out. After this general cleaning the grain goes to the “scouring machine,” which is an interesting device--a rapidly revolving cylinder with what are called “beaters” attached. The grain is thrown against perforated iron screens. Any clinging dirt is loosened, and a strong current of air passing through the cylinder is constantly “calling for dust,” as the miller aptly expresses it, and carries the impurities away as dust and dirt. Indeed, the cleaning process seems to be a constant one from the time the wheat enters the mill until the flour is made. Having been cleansed, the wheat is now ready for the rolls except for a “tempering” process, which is to prepare the grain, so that the outside of the wheat may be taken off without injury to the inside or kernel.

Then as the grain passes to the rolls there begins a gradual reduction of wheat to flour which is most intricate.

The first sets of rolls are corrugated and so adjusted as to “break” each grain of wheat into 12 to 15 parts. The “breaking” process goes on through five different sets of rolls.

[Illustration: GRINDING THE WHEAT FOR MAKING FLOUR

Corrugated roller mills for grinding the wheat after it has been cleaned.]

[Illustration: Wooden spouts for conveying the different products, bran and partly ground wheat, from one machine to another.]

[Illustration: THE FLOUR IS READY FOR BAKING

Gyrating sifter for separating the bran particles from the flour and semolina.]

The Big Bolters with Silken Sieves.

Closely allied with the rolling process is the bolting process, which, working hand in hand with it has made modern flour making so perfect. The bolting process consists of a series of sieves--a sifting of the broken grain so that it is finally, after repeated breaking and sifting, a flour. The bolter machine contains a number of sieves covered with silk bolting cloth with varying mesh or number of threads to the square inch. This bolting machine, moving rapidly, makes from 8 to 10 different separations of the material. From rolls to bolters, from bolters to purifiers, from purifiers to rolls, over and over, the process continues, until five different grades of “middlings” have been selected by the mechanical hands of the millers. The purifier is still another step to the process. It is a machine having eight sieves of different mesh. The “middlings” flow down over the different sieves in a thin sheet, a current of air meantime drawing all impurities out. With this purifying process completed, the material is ready for the smooth rolls.

The Mill Tries to Catch Up with the Bins.

When the flour is made it is conveyed to large round bins--five sheets of hard wood pressed together. These bins are being filled all the time and being emptied all the time, the mill being about seven hours behind the capacity of the bins, so that from start to finish the modern flour mill is a tremendously busy place.

Underneath the bins and connecting with them are the flour packers--automatic devices which pack a 3¹⁄₂-pound paper sack as accurately as a 196-pound barrel. The filled packages are sent down “chutes” to the shipping floor. There they go to wagons or through other chutes to boats.

The Story in a Lead Pencil[5]

[5] Courtesy of The Scientific American.

Why Do They Call Them Lead-pencils?

~WHERE LEAD PENCILS COME FROM~

The lead-pencil so generally used today is not, as its name would imply, made from lead, but from graphite. It derives its name from the fact that prior to the time when pencils were made from graphite, metallic lead was employed for the purpose. Graphite was first used in pencils after the discovery in 1565 of the famous Cumberland mine in England. This graphite was of remarkable purity and could be used without further treatment by cutting it into thin slabs and encasing them in wood.

Who Made the First Lead-pencils in America?

For two centuries England enjoyed practically a monopoly of the lead-pencil industry. In the eighteenth century, however, the lead-pencil industry had found its way into Germany. In 1761, Caspar Faber, in the village of Stein, near the ancient city of Nuremberg, Bavaria, started in a modest way the manufacture of lead-pencils, and Nuremberg became and remained the center of the lead-pencil industry for more than a century. For five generations Faber’s descendants made lead-pencils. Up to the present day they have continued to devote their interest and energy to the development and perfection of pencil making. Eberhard Faber, a great-grandson of Caspar Faber, immigrated to this country, and, in 1849, established himself in New York City. In 1861, when the war tariff first went into effect, he erected his own pencil factory in New York City, and thus became the pioneer of the lead-pencil industry in this country. Since then four other firms have established pencil factories here. Wages, as compared to those paid in Germany, were very high, and Eberhard Faber realized the necessity of creating labor-saving machinery to overcome this handicap. Many automatic machines were invented which greatly simplified the methods of pencil making and improved the product. To-day American manufacturers supply nine-tenths of the home demand and have largely entered into the competition of the world’s markets.

What Are Lead-pencils Made of?

The principal raw materials that enter into the making of a lead-pencil are graphite, clay, cedar and rubber. Although graphite occurs in comparatively abundant quantities in many localities, it is rarely of sufficient purity to be available for pencil making. Oxides of iron, silicates and other impurities are found in the ore, all of which must be carefully separated to insure a smooth, serviceable material. The graphites found in Eastern Siberia, Mexico, Bohemia and Ceylon are principally used by manufacturers.

Pictures by courtesy Joseph Dixon Crucible Co.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.

FIG. 2.

FIG. 3.

Fig. 1 shows the shape in which the cedar slats arrive at the factory. These slats after grading are boiled in steam to remove what remaining sap there may be in the wood. The slats are then dried in steam-drying rooms. Then the next step is grooving and gives the results shown by Fig. 2. Now the wood is ready to receive the “leads” (which you will remember are a mixture of graphite and clay), which are placed between two slats sandwich fashion, glued, put in forms that hold them over night under a thousand pounds pressure. Fig. 3 shows the leads laid in one of the grooved slats.]

How Are Lead-pencils Made?

The graphite, as it comes from the mines, is broken into small pieces, the impure particles being separated by hand. It is then finely divided in large pulverizers and placed in tubs of water, so that the lighter particles of graphite float off from the heavier particles of impurities. This separating, in the cheaper grades, is also done by means of centrifugal machines, but the results are not as satisfactory. After separation, the graphite is filtered through filter-presses.

What Makes Some Pencils Hard and Others Soft?

The clay, after having been subjected to a similar process, is placed in mixers with the graphite, in proportions dependent upon the grade of hardness that is desired. A greater proportion of clay produces a greater degree of hardness; a lesser proportion increases the softness.

[Illustration: FIG. 4.

FIG. 5.

FIG. 6.

Fig. 4 shows a prospective view of the block as it appears when taken out of the form; the leads can be seen in the end. These blocks are fed to machines which cut out the pencils in one operation. An idea of this operation is given by Fig. 5, which shows a block half cut through. The pencils come out quite smooth, but are sand-papered to a finer finish before receiving the finishing coats. The finer grades of pencils are given from seven to nine coats of varnish before being passed along for the next process. Fig. 6 shows a pencil after it has been machined and before it has been varnished and stamped.]

Furthermore, the requisite degree of hardness is obtained by the subsequent operation, viz., the compressing of the lead and shaping it into form ready to be glued into the wood casings. A highly compressed lead will produce a pencil of greater wearing qualities, an important feature in a high-grade pencil. Hydraulic presses are used for this purpose; and the mixture of clay and graphite, which is still in a plastic condition and has been formed into loaves, is placed into these presses. The presses are provided with a die conforming to the caliber of the lead desired, through which die the material is forced. The die is usually cut from a sapphire or emerald or other very hard mineral substance, so that it will not wear away too quickly from the friction of the lead. The lead leaves the press in one continuous string, which is cut into the lengths required (usually seven inches for the ordinary size of pencil), is placed in crucibles, and fired in muffle furnaces. The lead is now ready for use, and receives only a wooden case to convert it into a pencil.

Where Does the Wooden Part of a Lead-pencil Come from?

The wood used in pencil making must be close and straight grained, soft, so that it can readily be whittled, and capable of taking a good polish. No better wood has been found than the red cedar, a native of the United States, a durable, compact and fragrant wood to-day almost exclusively used by pencil makers the world over. The best quality is obtained from the Southern States, Florida and Alabama in particular.

The wood is cut into slats about 7 inches long, 2¹⁄₂ inches wide, and ¹⁄₄ inch thick. It is then thoroughly dried in kilns to separate the excess of moisture and resin and to prevent subsequent warping. After this the slats are passed through automatic grooving machines, each slat receiving six semi-circular grooves, into which the leads are placed, while a second slab with similar grooves is brushed with glue and covered over the slat containing the leads. This is passed through a molding-machine, which turns out pencils shaped in the form desired, round, hexagon, etc. The pencils are now passed through sanding machines, to provide them with a smooth surface.

How is the Color Put on the Outside of the Pencil?

After sand-papering, which is a necessary preliminary to the coloring process, when fine finishes are desired, the pencils are varnished by one of several methods. That most commonly employed is the mechanical method by which the pencils are fed from hoppers one at a time through small apertures just large enough to admit the pencil. The varnish is applied to the pencil automatically while passing through, and the pencils are then deposited on a long belt or drying pan. They are carried slowly a distance of about twenty feet, the varnish deposited on the pencils meanwhile drying, and are emptied into a receptacle. When sufficient pencils have accumulated, they are taken back to the hopper of the machine and the operation repeated. This is done as often as is necessary to produce the desired finish. The better grades are passed through ten times or more. Another method is that of dipping in pans of varnish, the pencils being suspended by their ends from frames, immersed their entire length and withdrawn very slowly by machine. A smooth enameled effect is the result. The finest grades of pencils are polished by hand. This work requires considerable deftness; months of practice are necessary to develop a skilled workman. After being varnished, the pencils are passed through machines by which the accumulation of varnish is sand-papered from their ends. The ends are then trimmed by very sharp knives to give them a clean, finished appearance.

Stamping is the next operation. The gold or silver leaf is cut into narrow strips and laid on the pencil, whereupon the pencil is placed in a stamping press, and the heated steel die brought in contact with the leaf, causing the latter to adhere to the pencil where the letters of the die touch. The surplus leaf is removed, and, after a final cleaning the pencil is ready to be boxed, unless it is to be further embellished by the addition of a metal tip and rubber, or other attachment.

How is the Eraser Put On a Pencil?

In this country about nine-tenths of the pencils are provided with rubber erasers. These are either glued into the wood with the lead, or the pencils are provided with small metal ferrules threaded on one end, into which the rubber eraser-plugs are inserted. These ferrules are made from sheet brass, which is cupped by means of power presses, drawn through subsequent operations into tubes of four- or five-inch lengths, cut to the required size, threaded and nickel-plated.

[Illustration:

Courtesy of Doubleday, Page & Co.

A SOUTHERN COTTON FIELD]

The Story in a Bale of Cotton

Where Does Cotton Come From?

We get cotton from a plant which grows best in the warm climate of our Southern States. Cotton has been known to the people of the world for a long time. Before the birth of Christ people knew about cotton. They thought it was wool which grew on a tree instead of a sheep’s back. No other plant is of such value to man as cotton. We should learn something about a plant that is used by man in so many ways as cotton.

The cotton plant of our Southern States is a small shrub-like annual about four feet high. The flowers of the cotton plant are white at first but change to cream color and then are tinged with red. This change takes place over a period of four days when the petals drop off and leave what is called a “boll” in the calyx of the flower. This boll, which is to contain the cotton, is really the seed container of the cotton plant and keeps on growing larger until it is about as big as a hen’s egg. When it is fully grown or ripe the boll cracks and the seeds and fibrous lint burst forth. The bolls are then gathered and taken to a cotton gin, where the seeds are separated from the lint and the lint prepared for weaving.

The boll is divided into from three to five sections. Each section contains a quantity of lint and seeds. When the boll is fully grown the covering of each of the sections cracks and opens up, revealing the contents. It is just like opening the door of each section and having the contents burst out. When these bolls burst open, there is no more beautiful sight in the world than to look out over a cotton field and see the colored people--the “cotton pickers”--busy at their work picking off the bolls.

When the crop is gathered and ginned, the lint is packed into bales and taken to the cotton mill, where it is made into cloth. One of the most interesting industrial processes in the world is to see the bale of cotton go into a cotton mill and come out a piece of cotton goods.

[Illustration: THE COTTON ARRIVES AT THE MILL

BALES OF COTTON AT COTTON MILL]

[Illustration: OPENING MACHINES.

The bales are opened, and the cotton is thrown into the large hoppers at the front of these machines, which open and loosen the fibers, work out lumps and remove the grosser impurities, such as dirt, leaf, seed and trash. A strong air draft carries off the dust and foreign

## particles, and lifts the cotton through trunks to the floor above.]

[Illustration: LAPPER MACHINES.

In these machines, known as Breaker and Finisher Lappers, more of the trash and impurities is beaten out of the cotton, and the lint is carried forward and wound into rolls of cotton batting, known as laps. Several of these are doubled and drawn into one so as to get the weight of each yard as uniform as possible.]

[Illustration: FIRST STEPS IN MAKING COTTON CLOTH

CARD ROOM.

In these machines, known as Revolving Flat Top Cards, the cotton passes over revolving cylinders clothed with wire teeth, and the fibers are combed out and laid parallel with each other. They are delivered at the front of the machine as a filmy web, which is gathered together and formed into a soft downy ribbon or rope, known as card sliver. This is automatically coiled and delivered into cans.]

[Illustration: DRAWING FRAMES.

To insure uniformity in weight, so that the yarn when spun shall run even, the card slivers are doubled and drawn out, redoubled and again drawn out, somewhat in the manner of a candy maker pulling taffy, only here the process is continuous. Six strands of the card sliver are fed in together at the back of the drawing frames, pulled out and delivered as one; and the process repeated. This produces a sliver more uniform in weight, and in which the fibres are more parallel.]

[Illustration: SLUBBERS.

The sliver from the drawing frames is taken to machines called slubbers, where again the fibers are drawn out, and the strand of cotton, now much finer and known as slubber roving, is given a bit of twist to hold it together, and is wound on large bobbins.]

[Illustration: PUTTING THE COTTON FIBER ON BOBBINS

SPEEDERS.

The large bobbins of roving from the slubbers are taken to other machines known as Speeders, and are unwound through the machine, again drawn out finer and finer, and rewound on smaller bobbins. The strand of cotton known as speeder roving is now ready to be taken to the spinning room for the final draft and twist necessary to turn it into yarn.]

[Illustration: SPINNING FRAMES.

The roving from the speeders is placed on the Spinning Frames, and now undergoes its final draft as it passes through the spinning rolls. The attenuated fibres are then twisted firmly together by the action of the spindles, which turn at a speed of about 10,000 revolutions per minute. The yarn thus formed is wound on bobbins and is ready to be dyed and weaved.]

[Illustration: THE COTTON IS READY FOR DYEING

SPOOLERS.

Two kinds of yarn are delivered at the spinning frames, known as warp and filling, which make respectively the lengthwise and crosswise threads of the cloth. The filling is in its completed form ready for the loom; the warp must first be gotten into shape for dyeing and then arranged in parallel rows or sheets of thread for weaving. The first of these processes is spooling, and consists simply in unwinding the yarn from the small bobbins on which it is spun, and rewinding it on large spools.]

[Illustration: WARPERS.

The spools of warp yarn are placed in large wooden racks or creels from which they can conveniently unwind. The separate threads are drawn through little wires in the warpers, and are gathered into a bunch or rope of threads, which is wound in a large cylindrical ball known as a warp. If any thread breaks while passing through the warper, the little wire drops and stops the machine. In this way full count of threads and uniform weight of the goods is insured.]

[Illustration: DYE-HOUSE.

Here the warps, after being boiled and softened to enable the dye to penetrate, are passed through the indigo vats. Several runs are made to get the beautiful depth of color. This Dye-house is equipped with one hundred indigo vats, and is one of the best-lighted and cleanest-kept dye-houses in the world.]

[Illustration: WHERE THE COTTON IS WOVEN INTO CLOTH

BEAMING FRAMES.

After being dyed, the warps are washed and then passed through drying machinery, from which they are delivered in coils. These are brought to the beaming frames, where they are again spread out into sheets of parallel threads, and passed through the teeth of a steel comb, which separates the threads and prevents tangling, and in this form they are wound on huge iron spools known as slasher beams.]

[Illustration: SLASHERS.

From the beaming frames the warps are taken to machines known as Slashers, where they are sized or stiffened to enable them to stand the chafing at the looms incidental to the process of weaving. The slasher beams are placed in an iron frame at the back of the slashers and unwound together through the machine. With them some additional threads of white yarn are unwound at either side to form the selvage of the cloth.]

[Illustration: WEAVE ROOM.

The sheet of warp threads unwinds from the loom beam, receives the filling threads and is wound into a roll of cloth at the front of the loom. This weave room contains 2000 looms. It is 904 feet long by 180 feet wide (about four acres) and is the largest single weave room in the world. Overhead is the roof, which forms one vast sky-light, being of what is known as saw-tooth construction. The vertical sides of the teeth all face due north and are formed of ribbed glass, which affords the most perfect light to every section of the room.]

[Illustration: THE COTTON CLOTH FINISHED

INSPECTING TABLES.