From this it will be seen that the three great companies run 61 per
cent. of the whole express mileage, and 62 per cent. of the whole
number of long runs.

* * * * *




IMPROVED OIL MILL.


The old and cumbersome methods of crushing oil seeds by mechanical
means have during the last few years undergone a complete revolution.
By the old process, the seed, having been flattened between a pair of
stones, was afterward ground by edge stones, weighing in some cases as
much as 20 tons, and working at about eighteen revolutions per minute.
Having been sufficiently ground, the seed was taken to a kettle or
steam jacketed vessel, where it was heated, and thence drawn--in
quantities sufficient for a cake--in woollen bags, which were placed
in a hydraulic press. From four to six bags was the utmost that could
be got into the press at one time, and the cakes were pressed between
wrappers of horsehair on similar material. All this involved a good
deal of manual labor, a cumberstone plant, and a considerable expense
in the frequent replacing of the horsehair wrappers, each of which
involved a cost of about £4. The modern requirements of trade have in
every branch of industry ruthlessly compelled the abandonment of the
slow, easy-going methods which satisfied the times when competition
was less keen. Automatic mechanical arrangements, almost at every
turn, more effectually and at greatly increased speed, complete