New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1857-01-26
SOUTHERN rsrEpppIsE


of Del6rd and Commerce streets, and there beheld
what energy industry and perseverance may do, in
creating business where previously there seemed
hardly any call for business, and in redeeming the
city from the pail Of slothfuness under which it has
SO long an compared with cities in other parts of
the Union. Five years ago Messrs. Thompson 4 Co.
took this refinery into hand, when it suffering
under reputation of breaking everybody who in
vested in it. Under their judicious management
however it began new life and in the five years of
their proprietorship, instead of encountering any
symptom of the fate of their predecessors they have
enjoyed steadily expanding patronage and increas-
ing profit, and now doing as sound and lucrative
business men of moderate ambition could DESIRE
Under the polite guidance of Mr.. Thompson, we
entered the refinery where the molasses enters, fol-
lowed the molasses through all its multitudinous
windings and made our exit where it makes its exit,
barreled and on drays We found it atogetheran in
teresng round as would any one, under the guidance
of some one connected with the refinery We entered
at a door on Commerce street, and Immediately saw
the initiaory process to which the moasses was sub
ected. The casks were rolled in and unbunged over
trough or gutter with brass seive-wire bottom,
through which the molasses strained itself into els
tern of about 500 barrels capacitythe cistern being
nearly full at the time of visit. The boiler-one
of the largest kind-and the machinery are in this
part of the refinery. After the casks have drained
themselves nearly empty possible, they are rolled
to the farther end Of the trough, where jet of hot
steam let in at the bung hole brings out the sediment
and leaves the casks entirely clean.
The molasses, being fairly deposited in the cisern
starts off its travels. It is let through gate into
a smaller cisten, where it undergoes the process OF
blowing up "a copper pipe, or worm, filled with
hot steam, and permitting a small portion OF the
steam to escape through small holes, coiling about
through the molasses and starting its fermentation
The moasses then goes by the persuasion of a
pump, into very large cistern above ground, the
top of which reaches into the second story trough
from this cisern lets the sweet tide into two large
copper boilers or kettles of the capacity of five bar
rels each, in which the boiling is done by copper
pipes coled in the bottom and filled with hot steam.
man is kept busy filling the kettles skiuming off the
fermentation, and sending off the molasses on its
travels. The skimmings are thrown into a trough,
and run # to receptacle where they kept for
rum making. The 1nolasses, when it has boiled so
long that scarcely any fermentation rises to the sur
face is drained off through cocks at the bottom of
the kettles into receptacle, whence is again
persuaded away by pumps, and mounts, through cop
per pipes, into the sixth story of the building We
are compelled to part company with it awhile, and
take very tiresome climb up stairs.
In the top story we meet it again. 1t comes steam
ing out of the pipe, almost thin as water from its
great heat, and is distributed by oughs and gates
into seven large coolers Each cooler is an inclined
plane Of zinc in frame about fifteen feet long and
five feet wide, with descent Of less than foot. The
molasses is let in at the upper end spreads out
! slowly on the zinc at about proper thickness for
buckwheat cakes, and settles slowly in puddle at
the lower end. Whilst the puddle is accommodating, a
boy removes the tough crust, or second skimmings,
by raking it to the end of the cooler with a wooden
rake, dipping it out, and sending it off for ma
teral As as the cooler is full cock at the bot
tom is opened and the molasses into trough in
! the story below. Here il repeats the cooling opera.
tion-s distributed into seven more large coolers and
again let off. The operation is repeated another
floor lower down. and still another. The molasses is
so well graduated in its descents, by means of the
numerous gates and cocks, that one small boy is en-
abed to attend to the whole twentyeight coolers, OF
the four different floors. There is fifth floor Of cool
ers but it is not used at present. By the time the
nolasses has got down to the fourth floor it is rea
sonably cold, and goes off in trough to the las
cistern of all. There is provision for warm weather
which is not needed at this season. In its final pas
sage from the cooling house to the ciztern, if thu
weather lie warm, it is pumped through pipe which
coils all about in an intervening cistern Of water.
this season. goes strag to the last receiving els
tern by the force of its own grayitation.
This last cistern stands on the ground, outside thu
building under shed, where the drays can back VI
and receive the barrels as they filed and bnnged
The moasses is let ont through large spout, into
trough covered with a fine brass straiuer-being it
seventh and last passage through the straining pro
This hoS ten 0rkS and a hnrvel heinz