NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/440846
20 NEBRASKAland • JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2015 army posts in Alaska, Hawaii and the Philippines; stateside installations included places such as Fort Washakie in Wyoming, Fort Crook (today's Offutt Air Force Base) and Fort Robinson. At the same time commercial flour was sent to domestic locations from Wyoming to Pennsylvania and south to Atlanta and into Florida. Also, for several years overseas commercial shipments were made to agents in Hull, England. Success followed success: the amount of flour shipped out of Neligh rose from 700 railcars in 1908 to 875 in 1911. By 1915 the mill's flour capacity was rated at 500 barrels per day, making it one of the eight largest flour mills in the state. By the turn of the century, some mill companies used their water power to generate electricity for commercial sale. In 1900 the Neligh Mill built a small light plant to provide local customers with electric light service, and also pump water for city use. Several years later, Elkhorn water power was replaced by gasoline, then diesel engines, to produce electricity, alternate power sources that could also be used to power the mill in times of water power loss. With the growing demand for municipal light and power, in 1915 a larger brick power house was built on the east side of the mill building to house a 225 horsepower diesel engine and plant. Just before it was completed, S. F. Gilman died, leaving the capable J. W. Spirk as the proprietor. World War I kept the mill bustling, with military orders amounting to 30 percent of its flour production. Due to government control, flour substitutes such as cornmeal had to be manufactured, and the mill was crowded with orders from other mills which lacked the machinery to produce such substitutes. Throughout the war years the mill was powered entirely by the light plant engine. The Neligh Mill work force about 1911. Philander DeForest "P. D." Thompson, middle of front row, worked at the mill from 1877 until the day he died in 1925. He lost his right arm in a mill accident in 1886.