eel mills and querns should be placed at the disposal of the
Commissariat officer on duty in his district; for, said he, the markets
are rising, and the people, by buying corn and grinding it for
themselves, will have food cheaper than if they bought meal; and
moreover they can thus occupy old people for whom no other employment
can be found. The quern, adds his lordship (alluding to Matt. c. 24, v.
41) is literally the Scripture mill--"two women shall be grinding at the
mill," etc. As to the steel mills, such as those used for grinding
coffee, they were considered too expensive to be brought into use; mills
of this description, specially tempered to grind Indian corn, not being
purchasable even in quantity at a less cost than from four to five
pounds each. 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. He says he had made a
trial of this plan, by steeping the grain at night, and boiling it next
morning; in this manner it made what he terms "a very nice podge," like
pease-pudding, and, to his taste, preferable to stirabout. The Treasury
called Sir R. Routh's attention to this suggestion, deeming it important
to be able to turn Indian corn into a palatable food, without being
either ground or bruised. Commissary-General Hewitson prepared a
memorand