The Mechanical Handling and Storing of Material

672 THE MECHANICAL HANDLING OF MATERIAL qrs. of grain. There are six F'ig. 945. Grain-Receiving Elevator at the Liverpool Docks Granary. w, capable of holding about 1 ton of grain, is slung from (he lifting chain by an arrange- ment of^bars and levers provided with guiding rollers running between upright timbers, which are so arranged that on arriving at the top the bucket tips over and discharges the grain into the top hopper Y. This hopper delivers the grain upon the same inclined cross bands Q that convey the grain from the outer crane hopper p. The bottom hopper x feeding the elevator is made in two sections, the upper of which, protected by a grating, receives the bulk of the grain. The clear aggregate storage area of all the floors, except quay and silo spaces, is 48,918 sq. yds., and at 4 qrs. per yard would give a storage capacity for say 196,000 structed of bricks and capable of containing 3,500 qrs., the total storage thus being 199,500 qrs. Granaries at Braila and Galatz, Roumania.—Amongst the first silo warehouses of any great capacity that were erected in Europe for the storage of grain were the silo warehouses at Braila and Galatz, in Roumania. Roumania is essentially a grain - producing country, and her prosperity largely depends on her exports of grain and seeds. Late in the eighties the Roumanian Govern- ment realised the importance of erecting modern granaries at the two chief ports, Braila and Galatz, and the sum of 21,500,000 francs was allotted for that purpose. The credit of design- ing these two great granaries, the general plan of which, by the way, is practically identical, belongs to Mr H. Saligny, a high official of the Roumanian State railways. The entire mechani- cal plant of these two warehouses was supplied and erected by George Luther, of Brunswick, Germany, the contract being signed in 1887. Before describing these granaries, it may be well to dwell briefly on the grain trade of Roumania, which increased by 50 per cent, be- tween 1880 and 1888. Roumania affords a striking example of the economical use of grain- handling machinery where a great bulk of material has to be dealt with, even in a country where labour is very cheap. The chief agricultural products of the country are maize, wheat, barley, rye, and oil seed. In 1880 the export of grain from the Roumanian ports amounted to 1,324,090 tons; by 1888 it had increased to 1,951,905 tons. Approximately half the exports from Roumania go by steamer down the Danube and through the Mediterranean. Although Braila and Galatz are not exactly seaports, being both situated on the Lower Danube, yet they are accessible to sea-going steamers. As it is a ten hours' run from the Black Sea to Braila, it is in contemplation to economise by building a further granary at Constanza. Such a step appears the more essential seeing that at the rate at which the traffic increases, these two granaries will before long be inadequate to the demands upon them. These two warehouses superseded a certain number of private granaries which