August21_2010

Botanical Glossary - Home - References Cited

Back in the early 1830s Philip C. Van Brocklin, who had learned the trade of a moulder in the New England states, moved to Canada to work in the iron foundry at Normandale, Ontario. There he met with another New Englander by the name of Leonard and the two decided to pool their small resources and start a foundry at St. Thomas. The venture was not a success so the partners separated to try new fields.

Leonard went a few miles north to London while Van Brocklin moved on 50 miles east to the hamlet of Brantford, Ontario, where, in 1844, he built a small foundry, machine shop and began the manufacture of pioneer agricultural implements. In 1849 Charles H. Waterous entered the firm and under his careful management the business began to grow, slowly but steadily. Steam power replaced the small tread horsepower, the buildings were enlarged and new lines of machinery were manufactured. By 1860 the company was known as C.H. Waterous & Company and in 1874 was incorporated as The Waterous Engine Works Co., Limited.

In 1877, David June developed and patented the Champion engine and, being connected with the family, gave the patent rights for Canada to the Waterous Company. Nine engines were built in the first year; 85 in 1879; 210 in 1880 and so on until over 1,800 upright Champions were sold.

By 1886 Waterous was well known for its horse-drawn steam fire engines. In 1898 Waterous revolutionized fire fighting by introducing the first gasoline powered pumper. By 1906 the first gasoline powered self-propelled pumper was introduced.

Photos - Frames left and right: Exploring the Keremeos Grist Mill at 2691 Upper Bench Road in the northern part of Keremeos BC. This green machine is made by Waterous Engine works and resides on the ground floor.

Center frame: The bottom part of a grinder, this Grinding stone is displayed on the ground floor on the southwest side of the building.

Photos - L-R - This is a New Process Grinder manufactured in 1881. When it was installed it was considered the top-of-the-line machine using a stone roller and stone saddle for fine flour grinding.

The square canvas-like apparatus is a filter used inside the grinder.

The Eureka Cleaner was manufactured in 1872 to clean the stone-ground flour. By the mid-1800s the vacuum had been invented and North American Companies were exploring its many uses which included house hold devices that would suck up dirt and dust from the floor and deposit them in a filtered container for disposal.

Photos - Frames left and center: A wooden shovel for moving flour (frame left) and one of the many pulleys and machinery apparatus used to force the grain through the grinders and filter system to make flour.

Frame right: Keremeos Creek running high and dirty during run-off season (early June at the time of these photos).

Click here for more photos of Keremeos Grist Mill for this day.