The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1873-09-27
PASSENGERS.
The New Rice Mill of Chulan & Co.

In the present general stagnatiOn Of business and
trade and the unsatisfactory condition Of political
affairs, we enjoyed . pleasant episode the other day
in visiting and inspecting the above named evidence
Of enterprise Of our Chinese fellow citizens. Messrs.
Chulan & Co. are a firm Of importers and dealers in
Chinese goods, occupying n stone store on Nuuanu
street, but are besides largely interested in the
culture Of rice, both on Kauai and ut Koolau on this
island They produce between 200 and 800 tons Of
paddy per annum. Recently they have leased the
sugar mill premises and water-power privilege Of
Mr.. j. II. Wood, in Nuuanu valley, and have en-
plOyed Mr.. Jos. s. Quincy, a skillful mechanic, to
erect n mill and machinery for cleaning and polish
ing rice. Mr.. Quincy, with the assistance only Of
some native and Chinese w~Orkmen, completed his
contract on Monday last, to the entire satisfaction of
his employers, although from the diversity of tongues
among the workmen the job was suggestive Of the
building Of the tower of Babel.
Y The main building Of the rice mill is 20 by 80, two
and q half stories in height, very substantially built
and strongly braced in view of the strong trade
winds that usually prevail in the valley. The water
wheel is Of iron, an oyershot, 20 feet in diameter.
with 2O-inch buckets, and weighs 81 tons. The
power is estimated at about 10 horses. The water TO
carry the WHEEL is from the Nuuanu stream, tapped by
q ditch some distance up the valley, and is led on to
the wheel through 4 aume $50 feet in length,
16 inches wide by Is inches deep. At the
time Of our visit on Wednesday last, there was but
two inches of water running in the aume, but even
that was sufficient to carry the pOlisher and one
hulling machine.
The capacity Of the mill, when running ut full
power, is about two tons Of cleaned and polished No.
I rice per day. There are five small and one large
huller and one poisher- 1t is interesting to note
the travels Of the paddy from the time it enters the
door Of the mill in rough bags from the plantation,
until it leaves through the same door, "No. l Caro-
lima Rice ready for shipment or consumption, as
beautiful in appearance and as good in quality as
that produced in any part Of the world. The bag Of
paddy is FIRST hoisted to the upper story, (of course
by the universal water power) and emptied into a
hopper, whence it finds its way down into the RULERS.
the chat from each being blown Of through pipes
and deposited under a shed alongside the main
building. The grain on reaching the lower floor
falls into n bin, and is now cOOlie rice, or No. >. 1t
is now recOnveyed to the upper story by means Of IN
endless chain Of tin buckets, and goes through the
poIisher, from whence it again makes its appearance
on the ground floor as pearly No. rice.
Adjoining the mill is n substantial store house, 40
by so feet, capable of containing 1000 to 5000
bags of paddy. At Punaluu, KoOlaulOa. Messrs.
Chulan & Co. have another rice mill, also run by
water power, and Of the same capacity as that Of
Nuuanu which we have been describing. They have
also smaller mills one eaCh at Kuilua, WaiahoIe,
Kahana and Waikane, capable Of turning ont from
200 pounds to half n ton Of rice each daily.
The final process through which the rice goes,
known as polishing, is rather curious and ingenious.
IL passes first between q stone and q surface Of india
rubber, OF gutta percha, both rolying at a tremend-
Gus pace, and then goes through a hollow cylinder ike
an elongated centrifugal, the sides coated with
emory and in the centre Of which is a core covered
with sheep-skin with the wool on, and here the rice,
mixed with q compound Of ground glass and alum,
gets the final polishing. Through these manifold
processes Is produced the snowy Hawaiian rice that
has Of late years become so popular with house
keepers. and has gained such high repute in the
markets Of California
Messrs- Chulan estimate the paddy crop through
out the islands for the ensuing year, SIT $500 tons,
and the domestic consumption Of rice ut about 900
bags Of 100 pounds each per month. The greatest
obstacle the rice planter has TO contend with at
present, aside from occasional seasons Of drouth, Is
the numerous HOcks Of tiny birds, introduced here
from the East Indies some years ago, and to which
allusion has been frequently made IN these columns.
These are very destructive, particularly when the
rice Is in blossom IL is suggested that 1t will be q
wise course for the government TO take measures for
the introduction Of q species Of large birds, or hawks,
known to prey upon these pestiferous rice birds.
r.yEHI WARRANTED.