Curiously enough, the Treasury could not obtain specimens
of the Scotch or Irish quern, so they procured an Indian one, from the
museum of the India House. They also got a French hand-mill, which was
considered superior at least to the Indian one. The attempt to revive
the use of the quern had no success except in a single instance. Captain
Mann, the officer in charge at Kilkee, induced a coast-guard there to
take to quern making. This man turned out querns at from ten to twelve
shillings each, and got a ready sale for them; Mr. Trevelyan recommended
them to all, but it would seem their sale was confined to the locality.
The Irish mill-power given above was considerable for the extent of the
district, but as the machinery was worked exclusively by water, the
mills, of course, were idle when the water supply failed. Towards the
end of September the mills in and about Westport could not, on this
account, execute the orders of the corn merchants, to say nothing of the
Government business. Captain Perceval, who had charge of the district,
under the Relief Commissariat Department, called attention to this fact,
and suggested that _whole_ corn should be issued from the depot, which
could be cooked without being ground into meal.
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