THE WIND MILL._Scientific American Supplement, No. 446, July 19, 1884

[Footnote: A paper read before the Engineers' Club of St. Louis, 1884.]

By JAMES W. HILL.

In the history of the world the utilization of the wind as a motive

power antedates the use of both water and steam for the same purpose.

The advent of steam caused a cessation in the progress of wind power,

and it was comparatively neglected for many years. But more recently

attention has been again drawn to it, with the result of developing

improvements, so that it is now utilized in many ways.

The need in the West of a motive power where water power is rare and

fuel expensive has done much to develop and perfect wind mills.

Wind mills, as at present constructed in this country, are of recent

date.

The mill known as the "Eclipse" was the first mill of its class built.

It is known as the "solid-wheel, self-regulating pattern," and was

invented about seventeen years ago. The wind wheel is of the rosette

type, built without any joints, which gives it the name "solid wheel,"

in contradistinction to wheels made with loose sections or fans hinged

to the arms or spokes, and known as "section wheel mills."

The regulation of the Eclipse mill is accomplished by the use of a small

adjustable side vane, flexible or hinged rudder vane, and weighted

lever, as shown in Plate 1 (on the larger sizes of mills iron balls

attached to a chain are used in place of the weighted lever). The side

vane and weight on lever being adjustable, can be set to run the mill at

any desired speed.

Now you will observe from the model that the action of the governing

mechanism is automatic. As the velocity of the wind increases, the

pressure on the side vane tends to carry the wind wheel around edgewise

to the wind and parallel to the rudder vane, thereby changing the angle

and reducing the area exposed to the wind; at the same time the lever,

with adjustable weight attached, swings from a vertical toward a

horizontal position, the resistance increasing as it moves toward the

latter position. This acts as a counterbalance of varying resistance

against the pressure of the wind on the side vane, and holds the mill at

an angle to the plane of the wind, insuring thereby the number of

revolutions per minute required, according to the position to which the

governing mechanism has been set or adjusted.

If the velocity of the wind is such that the pressure on the side vane

overcomes the resistance of the counter weight, then the side vane is

carried around parallel with the rudder vane, presenting only the edge

of the wind wheel or ends of the fans to the wind, when the mill stops

running.

This type of mill presents more effective wind receiving or working

surface when in the wind, and less surface exposed to storms when out of

the wind, than any other type of mill. It is at all times under the

control of an operator on the ground.

A 22-foot Eclipse mill presents 352 square feet of wind receiving and

working surface in the wind, and only 9½ square feet of wind resisting

surface when out of the wind.

Solid-wheel mills are superseding all others in this country, and are

being exported largely to all parts of the world, in sizes from 10 to 30

feet in diameter. Many of these mills have withstood storms without

injury, where substantial buildings in the immediate vicinity have been

badly damaged. I will refer to some results accomplished with pumping

mills:

In the spring of 1881 there was erected for Arkansas City, Kansas, a

14-foot diameter pumping wind mill; a 32,000-gallon water tank, resting

on a stone substructure 15 feet high, the ground on which it stands

being 4 feet higher than the main street of the town. One thousand four

hundred feet of 4-inch wood pipe was used for mains, with 1,200 feet of

1½-inch wrought iron pipe. Three 3-inch fire hydrants were placed on the

main street. The wind mill was located 1,100 feet from the tank, and

forced the water this distance, elevating it 50 feet. We estimate that

this mill is pumping from 18,000 to 20,000 gallons of water every

twenty-four hours. We learned that these works have saved two buildings

from burning, and that the water is being used for sprinkling the

streets, and being furnished to consumers at the following rates per

annum: Private houses, $5; stores, $5; hotels, $10; livery stables, $15.

At these very low rates, the city has an income of $300 per annum. The

approximate cost of the works was $2,000. This gives 15 per cent.

interest on the investment, not deducting anything for repairs or

maintenance, which has not cost $5 per annum so far.

[Illustration: Plate 2. THE ECLIPSE WIND MILL.]

In June, 1883, a wind water works system was erected for the city of

McPherson, Kansas, consisting of a 22-foot diameter wind mill on a

75-foot tower, which pumps the water out of a well 80 feet deep, and

delivers it into a 60,000-gallon tank resting on a substructure 43 feet

above the ground. Sixteen hundred feet of 6-inch and 300 feet of 4-inch

cast iron pipe furnish the means of distribution; eight 2½-inch double

discharge fire hydrants were located on the principal streets. A gate

valve was placed in the 6-inch main close to the elbow on lower end of

the down pipe from the tank. This pipe is attached to the bottom of the

tank; another pipe was run up through the bottom of tank 9 feet (the

tank being 18 feet deep), and carried down to a connection with the main

pipe just outside the gate valve. The operation of this arrangement is

as follows:

The gate valve being closed, the water cannot be drawn below the 9-foot

level in tank, which leaves about 35,000 gallons in store for fire

protection, and is at once available by opening the gate valve referred

to. The tank rests on ground about 5 feet above the main streets, which

gives a head of 57 feet when the tank is half full. The distance from

tank to the farthest hydrant being so short, they get the pressure due

to this head at the hydrant, when playing 2-inch, or 1-1/8-inch streams,

with short lines of 2½-inch hose; this gives fair fire streams for a

town with few if any buildings over two stories high. It is estimated

that this mill is pumping from 30,000 to 38,000 gallons on an average

every twenty-four hours. There is an automatic device attached to this

mill, which stops it when the tank is full, but as soon as the water in

the tank is lowered, it goes to pumping again. The cost of these works

complete to the city was a trifle over $6,000.

In November last a wind mill 18 feet in diameter was erected over a coal

mine at Richmond, in this State. The conditions were as follows:

The mine produces 11,000 gallons of water every twenty-four hours. The

sump holds 11,000 gallons. Two entries that can be dammed up give a

storage of 16,500 gallons, making a total storage capacity of 27,500

gallons. It takes sixty hours for the mine to produce this quantity of

water, which allows for days that the wind does not blow. The average

elevation that the water has to be raised is 65 feet, measuring from

center of sump to point of delivery. A record of ninety days shows that

this mill has kept the mine free from water with the exception of 6,000

gallons, which was raised in the boxes that the coal is raised in. The

location is not good for a wind mill, as it stands in a narrow ravine or

valley a short distance from its mouth, which terminates at the bottom

lands of the Missouri River. This, taken in connection with the fact

that the grit in the water cuts the pump plunger packing so fast that in

a short time the pump will not work up to its capacity, accounts for the

apparent small amount of power developed by this mill.

There has been some discussion of late in regard to the horse power of

wind mills, one party claiming that they were capable of doing large

amounts of grinding and showing a development of power that was

surprising to the average person unacquainted with wind mills, while the

other party has maintained that they were not capable of developing any

great amount of power, and has cited their performance in pumping water

to sustain his argument. My experience has has led me to the conclusion

that pumping water with a wind mill is not a fair test of the power that

it is capable of developing, for the following reasons:

A pumping wind mill is ordinarily attached to a pump of suitable size to

allow the mill to run at a mean speed in an 8 to 10 mile wind. Now, if

the wind increases to a velocity of 16 to 20 miles per hour, the mill

will run up to its maximum speed and the governor will begin to act,

shortening sail before the wind attains this velocity. Therefore, by a

very liberal estimate, the pump will not throw more than double the

quantity that it did in the 8 to 10 mile wind, while the power of the

mill has quadrupled, and is capable of running at least two pumps as

large as the one to which it is attached. As the velocity of the wind

increases, this same proportion of difference in power developed to work

done holds good.

St. Louis is not considered a very windy place, therefore the following

table may be a surprise to some. This table was compiled from the

complete record of the year 1881, as recorded by the anemometer of the

United States Signal Office on the Mutual Life Insurance Building,

corner of Sixth and Locust streets, this city. It gives the number of

hours each month that the wind blew at each velocity, from 6 to 20 miles

per hour during the year; also the maximum velocity attained each month.

_Complete Wind Record at St. Louis for the Year 1881._

_______________________________________________________________________________

|No. |No. |No. |No. |No. |No. |No. |No. |

______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|____

|H. M.|H. M.|H. M.|H. M.|H. M.|H. M.| H. M.| H. M.|

Jan. | 545 45| 429 45| 289 00| 198 15| 131 30| 87 15| 56 00| 38 45| 31

Feb. | 619 30| 533 15| 449 15| 374 15| 287 00| 207 15| 151 15| 110 30| 32

March.| 604 15| 534 30| 449 45| 368 45| 296 30| 243 45| 191 00| 158 45| 37

April.| 577 15| 468 45| 342 45| 359 30| 175 00| 121 00| 62 45| 36 00| 28

May. | 553 00| 375 00| 226 15| 138 00| 74 45| 42 30| 23 45| 11 30| 31

June. | 614 15| 463 45| 303 30| 215 15| 123 45| 76 30| 29 45| 17 45| 32

July. | 556 45| 378 00| 228 15| 136 15| 55 30| 22 30| 6 00| 2 30| 22

Aug. | 536 30| 345 00| 176 00| 80 30| 35 45| 22 15| 17 15| 15 00| 34

Sept. | 564 15| 445 45| 326 45| 224 45| 145 30| 96 45| 70 00| 46 45| 30

Oct. | 617 30| 501 45| 368 45| 363 00| 170 00| 93 45| 40 30| 27 45| 27

Nov. | 642 45| 537 30| 428 45| 328 30| 226 00| 151 45| 100 30| 74 00| 30

Dec. | 592 15| 516 30| 390 00| 308 45| 224 45| 167 45| 110 45| 67 00| 30

------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-----

Totals|7,024 |5,529 |3,981 |2,995 |1,946 |1,335 | 868 | 606 | --

| 00| 30| 00| 45| 00| 00| 30| 15|

Max. | | | | | | | | |

for | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | 37

______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|____

The location of a mill has a great deal to do with the results attained.

Having had charge of the erection of a large number of these mills for

power purposes, I will refer to a few of them in different States,

giving the actual results accomplished, and leaving you to form your own

opinion as to the power developed.

In 1877 a 25-foot diameter mill was erected at Dover, Kansas, a few

miles southwest of Topeka. It was built to do custom flour and feed

grinding, also corn shelling, and is in successful operation at the

present time. We have letters frequently from the owner; one of recent

date states that it has stood all of the "Kansas zephyrs," never having

been damaged as yet. On an average it shells and grinds from 6 to 10

bushels of corn per hour, and runs a 14 inch burr stone, grinding wheat

at the same time. During strong winds it has shelled and ground as high

as 30 bushels of corn per hour. Plate 2 is from a photograph of this

mill and building as it stands. One bevel pinion is all the repairs this

mill has required.

In the spring of 1880 there was erected a 25-foot diameter mill at

Harvard, Clay County, Neb. After this mill had been running nineteen

months, we received the following report from the owner:

"During the nineteen months we have been running the wind mill, it has

cost us nothing for repairs. We run it with a two-hole corn sheller, a

set of 16-inch burr stones, and an elevator. We grind all kinds of feed,

also corn meal and Graham flour. We have ground 8,340 bushels, and would

have ground much more if corn had not been a very poor crop here for the

past two seasons; besides, we have our farm to attend to, and cannot

keep it running all the time that we have wind. We have not run a full

day at any time, but have ground 125 bushels in a day. When the burr is

in good shape we can grind 20 bushels an hour, and shell at the same

time in the average winds that we have. The mill has withstood storms

without number, even one that blew down a house near it, and another

that blew down many smaller mills. It is one of the best investments any

one can make."

The writer saw this mill about sixty days ago, and it is in good shape,

and doing the work as stated. The only repairs that it has required

during four years was one bevel pinion put on this spring.

The owner of a 16-foot diameter mill, erected at Blue Springs. Neb.,

says that "with a fair wind it grinds easily 15 bushels of corn per hour

with a No. 3 grinder, also runs a corn-sheller and pump at the same

time, and that it works smoothly and is entirely self-regulating."

The No. 3 grinder referred to has chilled iron burrs, and requires from

3 to 4 horse-power to grind 15 bushels of corn per hour. Of one of these

16-foot mills that has been running since 1875 in Northern Illinois, the

owner writes: "In windy days I saw cord-wood as fast as the wood can be

handled, doing more work than I used to accomplish with five horses."

The owner of one of these mills, 20 feet in diameter, running in the

southwestern part of this State, writes that he has a corn-sheller and

two iron grinding mills with 8-inch burrs attached to it; also a bolting

device; that this mill is more profitable to him than 80 acres of good

corn land, and that it is easily handled and has never been out of

order. The following report on one of these 16-foot mills, running in

northern Illinois, may be of interest: This mill stands between the

house and barn. A connection is made to a pump in a well-house 25 feet

distant, and is also arranged to operate a churn and washing machine. By

means of sheaves and wire cable, power is transmitted to a circular saw

35 feet distant. In this same manner power is transmitted to the barn

200 feet distant, where connection is made to a thrasher, corn-sheller,

feed-cutter, and fanning-mill. The corn-sheller is a three horse-power,

with fan and sacker attached. Three hundred bushels per day has been

shelled, cleaned, and sacked. The thrashing machine is a two horsepower

with vibrating attachment for separating straw from grain. One man has

thrashed 300 bushels of oats per day, and on windy days says the mill

would run a thrasher of double this capacity. The saw used is 18 inches

diameter, and on windy days saws as much wood as can be done by six

horses working on a sweep power. The owner furnishes the following

approximate cost of mill with the machinery attached and now in use on

his place:

1 16-foot power wind mill, shafting, and tower. $385

1 Two horse thrasher. 70

1 Three horse sheller. 38

1 Feed grinder. 50

1 18-inch saw, frame and arbor. 40

1 Fanning mill. 25

1 Force pump. 27

1 Churn. 5

1 Washing machine. 15

Belting, cables, and pulleys. 45

----

Total. $700

The following facts and figures furnished by the owner will give a fair

idea of the economic value of this system, as compared with the usual

methods of doing the same work. On the farm where it is used, there are

raised annually an average of sixty acres of oats, fifty acres of corn,

twenty acres of rye, ten acres of buckwheat.

Bushels.

The oats average, say 30 bushels per acre. 1,800

Corn " 30 " " 1,500

Rye " 20 " " 400

Buckwheat " 20 " " 200

Grinding for self and others. 1,000

It will cost to thrash this grain, shell the corn, and

grind the feed with steam power. $285

And sawing wood, 12½ cords. 18

Pumping, one hour per day, 365 days. 36

Churning, half hour per day, 200 days. 10

Washing, half day per week, 26 days. 26

----

Total. $375

This amount is saved, and more too, as one man, by the aid of the wind

mill, will do this work in connection with the chores of the farm, and

save enough in utilizing foul weather to more than offset his extra

labor, cost of oil, etc., for the machinery. The amount saved each year

is just about equal to the cost of a good man. Cost of outfit,

$700--just about equal to the cost of a good man for two years,

consequently, it will pay for itself in two years. Fifteen years is a

fair estimate for the lifetime of mill with ordinary repairs.

The solid-wheel wind mill has never been built larger than 30 feet in

diameter. For mills larger than this, the latest improved American mill

is the "Warwick" pattern.

A 30-foot mill of this pattern, erected in 1880, in northwestern Iowa,

gave the following results, as reported by the owner:

"Attachments as follows: One 22-inch burr; one No. 4 iron feed-mill; one

26-inch circular saw; one two-hole corn-sheller; one grain elevater; a

bolting apparatus for fine meal, buckwheat and graham, all of which are

run at the same time in good winds, except the saw or the iron mill;

they being run from the same pulley can run but one at a time. With all

attached and working up to their full capacity, the sails are often

thrown out of the wind by the governors, which shows an immense power.

The machines are so arranged that I can attach all or separately,

according to the wind. With the burr alone I have ground 500 bushels in

48 consecutive hours, 100 bushels of it being fine meal. I have also

ground 24 full bushels of fine meal for table use in two hours. This

last was my own, consequently was not tolled. This was before I bought

the iron mill, and now I can nearly double that amount. I saw my fire

wood for three fires; all my fence posts, etc. My wood is taken to the

mill from 12 to 15 feet long, and as large as the saw will cut by

turning the stick, consequently the saw requires about the same power as

the burrs. With a good sailing breeze I have all the power I need, and

can run all the machinery with ease. Last winter I ground double the

amount of any water mill in this vicinity. I have no better property

than the mill."

A 40-foot mill, erected at Fowler, Indiana, in 1881, is running the

following machinery:

"I have a universal wood worker, four side, one 34-inch planer, jig saw,

and lathe, also a No. 4 American grinder, and with a good, fair wind I

can run all the machines at one time. I can work about four days and

nights each week. It is easy to control in high winds."

A 60-foot diameter mill of similar pattern was erected in Steel County,

Minnesota, in 1867. The owner gives the following history of this mill:

"I have run this wind flouring mill since 1867 with excellent success.

It runs 3 sets of burrs, one 4 feet, one 3½ feet, and one 33 inches.

Also 2 smutters, 2 bolts, and all the necessary machinery to make the

mill complete. A 15-mile wind runs everything in good shape. One wind

wheel was broken by a tornado in 1870, and another in 1881 from same

cause. Aside from these two, which cost $250 each, and a month's lost

time, the power did not cost over $10 a year for repairs. In July, 1833,

a cyclone passed over this section, wrecking my will as well as

everything else in its track, and having (out of the profits of the wind

mill) purchased a large water and steam flouring mill here, I last fall

moved the wind mill out to Dakota, where I have it running in

first-class shape and doing a good business. The few tornado wrecks make

me think none the less of wind mills, as my water power has cost me four

times as much in 6 years as the wind power has in 16 years."

There are very few of these large mills in use in this country, but

there are a great many from 14 to 30 feet in diameter in use, and their

numbers are rapidly increasing as their merits become known. The field

for the use of wind mills is almost unlimited, and embraces pumping

water, drainage, irrigation, elevating, grinding, shelling, and cleaning

grain, ginning cotton, sawing wood, churning, running stamp mills, and

charging electrical accumulators. This last may be the solution of the

St. Louis gas question.

In the writer's opinion the settlement of the great tableland lying

between the Mississippi Valley and the Rocky Mountains, and extending

from the Gulf of Mexico to the Red River of the North, would be greatly

retarded, if not entirely impracticable, in large sections where no

water is found at less than 100 to 500 feet below the surface, if it

were not for the American wind mill; large cattle ranges without any

surface water have been made available by the use of wind mills. Water

pumped out of the ground remains about the same temperature during the

year, and is much better for cattle than surface water. It yet remains

in the future to determine what the wind mill will not do with the

improvements that are being made from to time.

* * * * *