Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1869-06-16
Llfe on a HAWAIIAN Sugar Plantation.

An American who OWES sugar planta-
ton in the Sandwich Islands writes to the
San Francisco Bulletin an interesting ac-
count of the rapid growth and profit Of the
enterprise. We quote:
s'There is method in the growth OF the
cane. The same root once planted. Will
put forth three OF four successive stalks;
that is, cutting the cane this season, you
burn the dry leaves on the field, and i'm
mediately after the new ratoons or sprouts
spring up of their own accord from the old
root and are ready for cutting in two years
from now; and this is repeated three or four
times before the old root is worn out and
new one demanded. Hands are necessary
O great many of them for wedding out
the young sprouts, thinning the leaves OF
the thriving cane and letting in the sun
upon it, for cutting, hauling, and the thou
sand little duties that keep us in running
order.
"The hands will marry; over and over
again, some of them Children multiply,
and now we find over 300 souls occupying
IS houses in our little kingdom. There
are houses of all descriptions. Many dwell
lings two schools, the mill and adjacent
sheds, shops for the COOPER blacksmith,
carpenter aud butcher, storehouses, stores
two of them--a dairy, q billiard room
and bowling alley, for one needs some re-
creation here. Moreover, guests are both
frequent and numerous; the homestead,
with superfiuous room, is not enough one
or two cottages are built and await the
friend or stranger who looks in upon us.
"At daybreak the steam whistle at the
mill shrieks out its alarm, and the drowsy
Kanakers hurry to the front. Various Ian
guages may be heard--chiehy the Hawai-
ian. Here are Kanakers IN abundance,
South Sea Islanders, Portuguese, Coolies,
Japanese, and perhaps Spaniard or two,
with some few white men, All talking, oil
having something to say. each one trying
to overcome his neighbor with a greater
volume of voice. 1t reminds one of the
confusion of tongues.
'The 65 yokes of oxen are worked only
q week at time, watered and fed with
cane tops while in, and then turned out to
Craze. Fresh stock is necessary; the plant
er must keep at least l90 yoke on hand, and
replenish when needful. hundred horses
and mules are here also, many of them in
use daily; 600 head of cattle roam these
hills to supply our table and keep up the
stock, Flocks of sheep and goats whiten
the meadows; 1,800 acres are allotted to
these running herd; they are not crowded
Our market is well furnished with fresh
meats; vegetable gardens, orange, lime
and banana trees, pineapples in their sea-
son, plenty of wild honey Il have not seen
any locusts YETI and delicious wild ohia
supply our table.
Three white men oversee the vital parts
of the millwork. -Four boilers furnish the
Juice, and strangely enough, the very cane
that has yielded it under the crushing roll
lers, gives its pith to be dried in the sun,
and there is sufficient in quantity to keep
the mill in motion. In other words, the
mill runs to crush the cane and boil the
juice, and the cane it crushes is all that is
requisite to keep it running. Does not that
come pretty near to showing the mystery
of perptual motion2 1t is very interesting
to see the little rivulet of sap flowing con-
stantly into its receptacle, when, having
been boiled an hour and hall, it is spread
in the coolers and takes five days to get
over it. And what sight this cooling
room is. with it's great pans spread over
the floor. just think Of halt an acre of
molasses candy-thats about il! Then
when the whole has setted into a mass of
clayey mud it is shuffied into those little
miracles, centrifugals, where in two minu-
tes and half the muddy mass is whirled
into Al sugar.
at is done SO rapidly and so neatly you
can see the brown fade out and the white
come in. There is nothing prettier, no.
thing more poetical in the whole range of
mechanical invention These centrifugals
ore regular little poems any way. You
know the centrifugal Is like tub with a
solid bottom and wire cloth sides, slipped
into larger tub, which latter is solid and
stationary. A little of the cold, soft candy
is put into the inner tub and set in motion,
the terrific Tapidity with which the machine
spins round on its axis throws out the mat
ter in the bowl Of it against the wire cloth
sides 1t throws it, moreover, with such
force that the molasses is literally squeezed
through the wire cloth against the outer
tub, which directsit into receiver below
while the dry sugar remains firmly packed
on the inside Of the inner tub. Is there
anything neater than thatl The molasses,
though of a good quality, barely pays its
barreling, and one season it was allowed to
flow off into the meadow below, There
was small river of molasses sweetening
the valley for seven months in the year.
"The sugar, when ready for its kegs, has
not long to wait, for the coopers are not
backward. At the beach, three miles from
the MILL storehouse receives the kegs as
fast as they are filled, and thither schoon-
er comes regularly to take them to Homo
lulu, where they are reshipped for San
Francisco and put into the market. As the
day closes the employees take their last
meal of poi. It is dealt out to them from
the Office, with proportions of hard bread
and California salmon. Sugar cane is al
ways allowed those who choose TO eat it; it
is the universal choice, apparently, to eat
as much Of it as possible without erplod-
ing. For conscience sake the poi is brought
from a neighboring district, and 5000
pounds of it nre consumed every week. 1t
is real satisfaction to watch the poi dis
appearing under the vigorous attack of six
or eight hungry fellows gathered round
one calabash. Having eaten their allow
ance of poi and fish, and the days labor
being completed, the evening is left to