Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird, industrial publisher, 1871. — 456 p.The occupation of a millwright differs from that of almost all other tradesmen and mechanics, in that he is compelled to accommodate his work to a greater variety of circumstances, conditions,
and contLagencies, For instance, a millwright is employed to build two saw-mills, one is to he in or near a city, convenient to foundries and machine-shops, where a great variety of waterwheels, and all the other machinery required for its construction can be obtained cheaply and in abundance. But the water power and site are valuable here, and he must select the water wheels,
and adapt every part to do the required amount of work with the least possible waste of water and room, and all the machinery and many of the fixtures will be of iron. The other saw-mill is to be
built back in the interior of the wilderness where all supplies must be packed and carried at great expense; and here, almost the whole mill and machinery must be improvised of wood, on the spot.
Timber, water power, and space being of little value, while iron is a precious metal, and he must exert his ingenuity to construct a mill that wUl do the required work with the greatest possible
edonomy of iron work. Mills are sometimes thus built almost entirely of wood, without bands or bolts, or even nails, with scarcely anything metallic except the saw.
These supposed saw-mills occupy the two extreme situations, but every location upon which a mill is to be built involves a modification of material and construction continually varying according to circumstances, requiring the millwright to determine and select, with a due regard to contingencies, the kind of wheels, and machinery, and the materials most suitable to the site.
How, and of what material to construct the damn is a part of the problem continually changing with the situation.
