My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org

24 MY LIFEwas an old-fashioned mill for grinding linseed, expressingthe oil, and making oil-cake. The mill stoodclose by the roadside, and there were small lowwindows always open, through which we could lookin at the fascinating processes as long as we liked.First, there were two great vertical millstones of verysmooth red granite, which shone beautifully from theoil of the ground seeds. These were fixed on eachside of a massive vertical wooden axis on a centraliron axle, revolving slowly and silently, and crushingthe linseed into a fine oily meal.But this was only one part of this delightful kindof peepshow. A little way off an equally novel andstill more complex operation was always going on,accompanied by strange noises always dear to theyoung. Looking in at other windows we sawnumbers of workmen engaged in strange operationsamid strange machinery, with its hum and whirl andreverberating noises. Close before us were longerections like shop counters, but not quite so high.Immediately above these, at a height of perhaps tenor twelve feet, a long cylindrical beam was continuallyrevolving with fixed beams on each side of it, bothhigher up and lower down. At regular intervalsalong the counter were great upright wooden stampersshod with iron at the bottom. When not in actionthese were supported so that they were about twofeet above the counter, and just below them was asquare hole. As we looked on a man would take asmall canvas sack about two feet long, fill it full oflinseed meal from a large box by his side, place thisbag in a strong cover of a kind of floorcloth withflaps going over the top and down each side. Thesack of meal thus prepared would then be droppedinto the hole, which it entered easily. Then a thin