ORDER XIV.—MAKERS OF FOODS, DRINKS AND TOBACCO

Sub-order 1.—Makers of Foods

432.—Grain Millers

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aspirator man

supervises working of a number of machines, called aspirators, which are fed automatically from milling machines, and which separate husks from oats, after milling, by a current of wind; regulates air current by means of hand valves; starts and stops each machine, as necessary, by operating a hand lever to engage or to disengage driving belt; takes samples periodically from each machine, and examines them to see that machines are working correctly; cf. purifier man, silksman.

cleaner, grain

see screensman; cf. grain cleaner (449).

cleaner, oatmeal

as for screensman.

dresser, flour

see silksman.

dresser, oatmeal

a machine minder q.v. in charge of centrifugal machines, which dress oatmeal by a beating action or of rotary sieve dressing machines, or of other machines used for separating and dressing oatmeal, after it has been ground by grinder q.v.; adjusts automatic feed so as to admit correct proportion of mixed ground grain; starts and stops machine by moving lever; oils and cleans machine; repairs driving belts; examines and tests meal from time to time to see that grain is being properly sifted.

grinder, corn grinder

(i) see rollerman;

(ii) see stoneman.

grinder, oat; oatmeal grinder

a grist miller q.v. in charge of a machine which grinds oats between mill stones, or in a disintegrator and not in a roller mill; sifts coarsest husks, and regrinds them until fine enough to pass through mesh of sifter; turns hand wheel which controls interval between millstones; sees that automatic feed does not become choked; examines product from time to time to see that it is of right degree of fineness; bags oats, when ground; cleans machines, etc.

grinder, rice ; rice miller

watches one or more machines, which grind rice into flour; feeds machine, if it is not automatic and fed from hoppers filled by warehouseman on floor above; starts and stops by operating lever engaging or disengaging belt; adjusts rollers or other grinding surfaces, and regulates rate at which rice enters machine (if feed is automatic), with a hand-operated or mechanically-driven spiral coil or worm.

groat maker ; huller, oatmeal shelter, shelter man

a machine minder q.v. in charge of shelling, cutting, and grinding machines, used for producing groats, i.e. oats freed from their husks; regulates automatic feed, by which oats enter machines from drying kilns, by means of a hand-screwing arrangement; groats pass automatically to rolling machine, while husks are blown away by a current of wind to a separate machine; starts and stops machines by moving levers; regulates valves governing current of wind which carries off waste and impurities; adjusts screw governing setting of grinding rollers; examines product of machines from time to time and regulates machines accordingly; sees that feeds do not choke; cleans machines.

handyman in grist mill

see miller, grist.

huller

see groat maker.

machine man, machine minder (grist mill)

see miller, grist.

machine minder, machine man, machinist (flour or grain mill)

general terms for a worker operating any machine used in a flour or grain mill, by moving a lever to engage or disengage driving belt which connects machine with revolving overhead shafting; does any or all of following operations, as required: lubricates and cleans machinery; takes out and replaces rollers, turns screw to increase or diminish space between rollers; removes and refits nuts and bolts; fits new driving belts or repairs belts by riveting, adjusts valves, slides, and other devices to make machines function properly; tests product of machines from time to time by sight and by rubbing between fingers; terms include mixer, purifier man, rollerman, screensman, silksman q.v.

machine minder, pearl barley ; pearl barley maker

a machine minder q.v. in charge of a series of separator and grinding machines used for pearling barley, which are connected with one another by automatic chutes and elevators; regulates, by means of a hand slide, flow of raw barley into first machine of series from hopper, which is fed by labourer with shovel; regulates valves which govern wind current for blowing off husks, etc.; adjusts screw governing setting of grinding stones or other grinding plant, and adjusts other regulating devices by similar means; examines product from time to time to ensure that process is going on satisfactorily.

miller, grain miller

general terms for any worker engaged in screening, grinding, and elevating grain, including rollerman, screensman, silksman q.v.

miller, grist ; handyman in grist mill, machine man, machine minder (grist mill)

(i) sets machine in motion, with a hand lever; controls, by means of a damper or slide, flow of oats, maize, and beans, which are emptied from sacks into hopper by warehousemen on floor above, into machines; sets stones or rollers according to size of product required, by means of a crank; lubricates and cleans machines; sometimes also does other jobs, e.g. sifts broken or crushed grist with a hand sieve, stokes furnace of engine driving machines, fills sacks with finished product, ready for removal;

(ii) empties oats, beans, maize, or other grain into feed hopper of machine, which crushes them, e.g. for cattle food, and delivers them down a chute; bags crushed product, and wheels it away; usually does not regulate machine, and is employed part time on other labouring work.

miller, rice

(i) adjusts rollers of rice milling machines, which are fed from hoppers on floor above and which clean, brush, and polish rice; regulates, with a hand-screwing arrangement, rate at which rice enters machine from hoppers;

(ii) see grinder, rice; cf. rice cleaner (449).

miller (starch factory)

regulates supply of water, which is mixed with rice during descent in chute from floor above, by a hand cock control; regulates supply of rice and water entering mill, by means of a shaking feed; controls amount of shake or bump in shaking feed by a rope fastened to machine; tests product of milling process, now reduced to creamy consistency, from time to time with his fingers, to see that it is of the proper consistency; adjusts grindstones, and sometimes also dresses grindstones as required.

mixer (grain milling)

a machine , minder q.v. in charge of machine which mixes different kinds of wheat; adjusts by means of handles, slides or pockets at foot of chutes, by which flow of different kinds of wheat, delivered through each chute, is controlled; wheat is then automatically delivered, in correct proportions, on to a running belt, which conveys it to elevators serving grain-cleaning machines; takes samples from time to time to see that wheats are being mixed in correct proportions; work usually done by screensman q.v.

pearl barley maker

see machine minder, pearl barley.

purifier man

keeps in running order, a number of purifying machines, which are fed automatically, through chutes, with semolina, middlings, and "dunst," and which separate small branny particles from remaining flour by a wind current; starts and stops each machine, as necessary, by operating a hand lever to engage or to disengage driving belt; regulates current of wind, when necessary, by means of valves; cf. aspirator man, silksman.

roller (rolled oats)

a machine minder q.v. in charge of one or more machines fitted with heavy rollers for crushing oats; regulates, by a hand-moved slide or damper, supply of oats, which pass automatically from milling machines through chutes; product passes automatically into another chute, and is bagged by packer (949) q.v.

rollerman (flour mills) ; grinder, corn grinder

a machine minder q.v. in charge of several milling machines in which corn is ground by fluted steel rollers; turns screw to adjust rollers; starts and stops machine by moving a lever; tests product with his fingers from time to time to ensure correct fineness of grinding; sometimes also has charge of other machines, e.g. separators; cf. separator minder.

scalper, scalliper

see silksman, second.

screensman ; grain cleaner, smutterman

a machine minder q.v. in charge of whole series of grain cleaning machines, i.e., separators, scourers, washers, wuzzers, conditioners, brush machines, and machines for extracting oats, barley and cockle seeds as distinguished from actual milling machines; grain passes automatically from one machine to another; with assistance of labourer, adjusts valves governing air current so that correct proportion of husk, etc., is separated from grain; adjusts cockle cylinders and sets grinding rollers by means of .screw adjustment, lever or other device; starts and stops machines by moving levers which engage or disengage driving belts; fits rollers, etc.; prevents various sets of machines becoming unbalanced, by cutting out one set, or by combining two or more sets, as required, according to their relative capacities; keeps machines and cleaning house clean and in good working condition; sometimes also does work of mixer q.v.

separator minder

attends machine which separates germ from starchy portion of maize in manufacture of corn flour or of maize starch, or which separates germ together with starchy portion from hard gritty portion; cleans perforations of machine sieve; bags product of machine; adjusts wind-valves so that correct proportion of husk, etc., is taken from grain; cleans machine and sometimes does sweeping, trucking, and other odd jobs; sometimes also has charge of other machines, e.g. grinding machines.

sheller, oatmeal; sheller man

see groat maker.

silksman, first silksman ; flour dresser

watches several dressing machines (which are fed mechanically from grinding machines by chutes, and automatically sift flour, and sort it according to grades of fineness) to see that they are working correctly; takes samples of flour from each machine from time to time, by hand, with a scoop, for examination by head miller; if sample shows that a silk is burst or broken, stops machine, by slipping off driving belt with a hand lever, and repairs silk by patching, with a piece of calico or other material, or replaces it with a new silk; sometimes also attends to bleaching machine (see bleacher (448) or does work of second silksman q.v.

silksman, second ; scalper, scalliper

as for first silksman q.v. but sieves are finer, and made of wire instead of silk.

smutterman

see screensman.

stoneman ; corn grinder, grinder

as for rollerman q.v. but works in a mill where stones are used for grinding instead of rollers; dresses grinding stones, as required.

washerman

a machine minder q.v. in charge of a series of machines for cleaning grain by wet process as distinguished from screensman q.v. who cleans grain by dry process; adjusts slides of mixer to control mixture of grain; adjusts separating valves of stoning machine, which separates stones from grain; controls force of water flow in grain rinsing machine; switches on and off whizzer; watches gauges and regulates steam cocks in hydraulizer, in which grain is dried.

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From: A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921,
Ministry of Labour, 1927. Digitised by Peter Christian, August, 2016.   This text is in the Public Domain.