All this time other Minneapolis mills were doing such work and only such as they had done previously. Ought not the writer of an article on the origin of new process milling--which article is intended to become historical, and to have its authenticity indorsed by the government--to have known whether Mr. Christian, in the Washburn Mill, did or did not make a grade of flour which has hardly been excelled since for months before any other Minneapolis mill approached his product in any degree? And should he not be well enough acquainted with the milling of that period--1871-2--to know that such results as were obtained in the Washburn Mill could only be secured by the use of _smooth_ and _true_ stones? Mr. Stephens--whom I shall mention again presently--did _not_ work in the Washburn Mill while I was in charge of it. In the fall of 1871 I entered into a contract with Mr. C. A. Pillsbury, owner of the Taylor Mill and senior partner in the firm by whom the Minneapolis Mill was operated, to put both those mills into condition to make the same grade of flour as Mr. Christian was making. The consideration in the contract was 5,000 dols. At the above mills I met to some extent the same obstruction in regard to millers striking as had greeted me at Mr. Christian's mill earlier in the year; but among those who did not strike at the Minneapolis Mill I saw, for the first time, Mr. Stephens--then still in his apprenticeship--whom Mr. Hoppin declares to have been, "so far as I know," the first miller to use smooth stones. If Mr. Hoppin is right in his assertion, perhaps he will explain why, during the eight months I was at the Washburn Mill, Mr. Stephens did not make a corresponding improvement in the product of the Minneapolis Mill. That he did not do this is amply proved by the fact of Mr. Pillsbury giving me 5,000 dols. to introduce improvements into his mills, when, supposing Mr. Hoppin's statement to be correct, he might have had the same alterations carried out under Mr. Stephens' direction at a mere nominal cost. As a matter of fact, the stones in both the Taylor and Minneapolis Mills were as rough as any in the Washburn Mill when I took charge of them. Thus it appears (1) that the flour made by the mill in which Stephens was employed was not improved in quality, while that of the Washburn Mill, where he was not employed, became the finest that had ever been made in the United States at that time. That (2) the owner of the mill in which Mr. Stephens was employed, as he was not making good flour, engaged me at a large cost to introduce into his mills the alterations by which only, both Mr. Hoppin and myself agree, could any material improvement in the milling of that period be effected, .viz., smooth, true, and well-balanced stones.--GEO. T. SMITH. * * * * *