136 THE WAEEHOUSING OF GRAIN. 



seven in number. Six of these are constructed of timber, 

 and the seventh, or lowest, is a fireproof floor, constructed 

 with iron girders and cement concrete arching. Under 

 that floor are the weighing platforms, which are constructed 

 at a height above the ground-floor convenient for loading 

 into trucks or carts. The building is divided into two 

 by a strong vertical brick wall, reaching from the fire- 

 proof floor to a height of about 5 feet above the roof. The 

 staircase is inside the Ifuilding at the back, and is fire- 

 proof. 



Between the granary and the quay wall there is a tunnel 

 with arched roof, 8 feet 3 inches wide, and 280 feet long. 

 It is lined with white-glazed bricks. At intervals of about 

 13 feet there are cast-iron shoots from the quay through 

 the roof of the tunnel. These shoots have a swivelling 

 part at the lower end, so that they can be used for either 

 band. The covers are flush with the quay, and are water- 

 tight. 



The operation of getting grain into the building in bulk 

 is as follows : The grain is raised in sacks out of the ship's 

 hold by hand-winches, or in case of a steamer, by the 

 Vessel's steam-winches. It is then weighed by hand-scales 

 on deck. One gang of seven men can raise, weigh, and 

 discharge about ten tons of wheat per hour, and six or 

 seven gangs can work on to one band. The sacks are 

 emptied into a movable wooden shoot, one end of which 

 rests upon the ship's rail, and the other on a hopper placed 

 over one of the shoots leading from the quay to the tunnel. 

 It goes down that shoot into a travelling feed-hopper, from 

 which it flows on to the centre of one of the hands. It is 

 then carried at the rate of about 500 feet per minute to 

 opposite the elevators, and by means of a " throw-oft' " ap- 

 paratus is discharged ioto a shoot wliich leads to the 



