The Mechanical Handling and Storing of Material

THE WAREHOUSING OF GRAIN 687 simultaneously be loaded either from the silos or from the floors of the warehouse with different kinds of grain. 2. A cargo may be unloaded either into silos or on to the floor, and at the same time the grain may be cleaned. 3. Grain may be cleared from a ship, mixed with other grain that has previously been received, then fed into any desired section of the granaries. 4. Grain may be cleaned, mixed, and restored in any department of the warehouse, and transmitted from one ship to another. The Granaries at Dortmund.—A grain warehouse possessing features of interest has been erected at Dortmund, in Germany, by the local, co-operative society, from the design of F. Correll, civil engineer, of Neustadt an der Haardt. The building is of brick on a base of hewn stone, all the beams and supports being of timber. This granary is built on the quay, and consists of two sections. The larger section is given up to the storage of loose grain in low bins on the floors, while the second or smaller section is a silo-house (see Figs. 986 and 987). The building is 78 ft. high, and consists of seven floors, including attic and basement. The basement is chiefly used for storing provender and similar goods, in addition to which grain in sacks is also stored. The bulk of the grain is contained in the silos and on the five main floors. The latter section has accommodation for 1,675 tons, whilst in the silo bins about 825 tons can be accommodated. Thus the granary has a total storage capacity of 2,500 tons. The silos are built on the American system, being constructed of planks 1| in. in thickness, nailed one over the other. In the four silo bins at the north (entrance) side of the building grain can be stored to a depth of 47 ft., whilst the available depth of the four bins on the south (canal) side of the building is 42 ft. Some of these silos have been specially prepared for the reception of damp wheat, and were christened “hospital” bins by the engineer. In these particular bins wooden arms are built in a transverse direction, and crossing each other, form square or diamond-shaped sections, thus breaking up the mass of stored wheat, and sensibly promoting the freer circulation of air through the bin by reducing the pressure on the lower layers. I hese wooden cross arms are of triangular section, and being slightly hollowed underneath, allow the air to come in contact with the grain. This air can be warmed if desirable. On the five floors there are altogether 105 bins of moderate height. These bins are fitted with removable side walls, and the twenty-one bins on each floor lie exactly under or over those on the other floors. Close to the windows on each floor are two bins which have been specially adapted for storing damp grain. To aerate these receptacles as much as possible, one-half of the side walls consist of an iron framework covered with a fine wire mesh which gives free ingress to the air. In these bins the grain is heaped to a depth of about 5 ft. Ihe grain as it reaches the warehouse is fed into the hoppers of the receiving elevator, which has a lifting capacity of 20 tons per hour, and carries the grain to a cleaning machine. The cleaned grain is passed over an automatic weighing machine, and is then either sacked or taken back through a spout to the elevator which has a lifting capacity of 25 tons per hour, and takes it up to the attic. From the head of this elevator the grain is either distributed to some bin on one of the floors of the main granary, or is sent to one of the silo bins in the silo-house. It may be noted that the grain is carried through a spout and a belt conveyor to