THE ARROW FLOUR MILLS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 535, 19 July 1872, Page 3

THE ARROW FLOUR MILLS.

— o i; ; Perhoipi no local industry or manufacture has been introduced into the the Wakatip district so unostentatiously as the Arrow Flour Mills, established by Messrs. Butel Brothers on Hayes Creek. These two gentlemen are among the oldest residents on the Arrow, and—without unduly eulogising their abilities—we are sure that the public will bear us out in saying that, for ingenuity, industry, and quiet enterprise they have few compeers in.the district. * It is difficult to say what, the Messrs. Butel cannot do in the shape of home manufac- ' tures; they are handy at anything—'can repair a watch rr a clock ; construct alflour ■or saw mill, or make a threshing machine; while their improvements upon farming implements in general use have been very many and useful. Their farm and premises, which stand a short distance off the toad between Hayes Lake and Arrowtown, are r ally worth'a visit y and we may safely venture to assert that in no other part of Nsw Zealand can better and more efficient management be Seen, or so many mechanical appliances for assisting labor. These are net of any expensive character, or importations from various parts-of the world—everything is home made; even fo a turnip sower or furnace blast for their blacksmith’s forge. .Water-power is here made to perform no endof duties. It drives the Hour or saw mill, chaff-cutter or thrashing machine, churns butter, turns a lathe, and blows the fire for the blacksmith-- in fact, from our short visit it would be hard to say. what this valuable motive power is not used fur by the Messrs. Butel. To see the flour mill was the main object ■of our visit, and we will give our readers the benefit of pur observations. The build- ' ing —the basement of which is o£ stone—is ■a three storied one, rather smaller than the mills owned by . Mess re. Robertson and .Hallenstein or Mr, Gilmour, but it is by no means behind them in completeness and ■efficiency. In fact, many little ingenious labor-saving osuirivaaioes are here introduced which the others do not possess. At present only one pair of stones have been . erected, but provision is made for two pairs, and which will be placed in position in time for next season. The grinding machinery is, of course of the usual} description, except in the endless screw which supplies the silk dresser. Here a great improvement bos liecn introduced, the flour being delivered into the dresser (much cooler than by the ordinary process; while the screw cannot choke. The lift f6r raising bags of grain from the lower to the upper stories is also an improvement upon anything of the sort we have yet Seen employed. It can be throw in and out of gear with amazing rapidity, while it possesses the • advantage of winding both ways. The motive power supplied to the machinery is derived from a water-wheel,—and here, again, novelty sand originality steps in and learns us a useful lesson.- The wheel is only ten feet in diameter, with a breadth of six feet; but its comparative smallness is made an advantage. The water ia brought to bear on the buckets at a breast of two feet and delivered from a sluice or floodgate having a pressure of three feet behind. It therefore enters upon the wheel with a powerful but steady pressure, aud is prevented from escaping until the buckets reach a perfectly perpendicular position, when the water is discharged into tie tail race. Great speed is consequently obtained at once, and without the aid of harshly-grating cog-wheels. As a bo ltdirect from an eight foot drum affixed to the shaft of the wheel supplies motion to the shaft which drives the machinery of the miil, we may in this case almost deyprt from the usual term “ water-wheel ” and substitute that of a “ direct action hydraulic machine.” Where plenty of water is obtainable aud a cheap motive power coupled with speed is required, mi inspection of Messrs. Butel’s machinery would be time advantageously employed. As soon as the present season’s wheat is ground, the proprietors intend erecting a larger wheel, so as to drive their sawing machinery simultaneously with the flour-mill, should occasion require, The construction of- the buildings was executed by Mr. John Letcher, of Arrowtown, who has performed his duties in a most satisfactory manner. The miller is Mr. J. C. Jones, a gentleman well known in the district, aud for many years with the linn of Degravcsand Co., of Melbourne.