Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1873-08-07


the temperature to 1870 degrees, the
blood, lime, dirt, sticks, etc, float to
the surface, while the sylup, yellow
and quite transparent, is drawn off
through strainers at the bottom, leav
ing the scum on top. The scum and
dirt are rinced with clean water, the
sweet part saved to wet up Q fresh lot
of sugar, and the dirt calted off as a
fertilizer, They take a ton of rich
manure out of the sugar every day,
How is the syrup strained?
Through bags-long cloth bags,
having four Or five thicknesscs Of cloth
in them. They catch all the heavy
dirt, little stones, sand, etc, and the
syrup leaves them transparent, only
slightly tinged with yellow. These
bags take out about four per cent,
of dirt-real black, mucky dirt-the
same as you see in the streets. The
syrup is now ninety-thrce per cent
pure sugar, whereas it was but eighty
per cent. five hours ago. There re
mains seven per cent. Of coloring,
foreign salts and gases yet to be re
moved.
How are these salts and gasses to
be removed?
This is done by fltering the yellow
syrup through bone black or animal
charcoal (bones- burnt black and
ground up). Large iron tanks, look
ing like upright steam boilers, are fill
ed with $4,000 pounds Of bone black
each. Through this the syrup is
made to trickle. As it comes out at
the bottom it is as pure and transpar-
ent as rock crystal. a goblet Of it
looks like pure water.
"Is it perpectly pure now 2" | asked
the chemist.
"Yes, as near as possible. 1t is
ninety-nine and a half per cent. pure
sugar. You might pour five gallons
of kerosene and SMALLPOX patient
cut into sausage meat into that first
tank, and l tell you, Perkins, that |
wouldn't have the slightest objection
to drinking the syrup five hours at
terward. It's perfectly clean and
pure"
How is this white, transparent syrup
made into sugar ?
This is simply done by taking the
water out of it, This is accomplished
by boiling it in open vacuum. 1t
would boil like water in the open all
and volatilize at PIP degrees Fahrcn-
heit, but remove the air pressure and
it will boil at $50 Fahrenheit; 15C
DEGREES never burns ii, and the sugar
is white. After boiling the syruT
down to thick paste, it is drawn of
in pots shaped like the old-fashionec
sugar-loaf. These pots hold five gal
Ions and are open at the large end
The small end has hole in it through
which the water runs out, leaving thl
sugar to crystalline in a hard white
cake. such as usel to be sold in :hC
market. But nowadays the pure
white sugar-loaves are sawed up into
regular-shaped cubic pieces Of sugar
The solid sugar-loayes, OF those wit!
yellow streaks in them, are crushed
into Jumps, and the sawdust and leav
ings are made into granulated anC
pulverised sugar.
Where does the yellow sugar come
from?
~
The syrup which runs out when thu
Write sugar crystallizing-the residue
is treated in the same manner as tn
original Cuban sugar, when an infer
ior sugar and an inferior syrup result
The syrup grows more impure eacl
time until finally it cannot be crystal
lized. 1t is sour and salty. Thl
impure or brown sugar is shoveIe'
into centrifugal or revolving ma
chine, which revolves two thousan'
times per, minute. This throws on
the water through strainer, leavln!
the sugar quite light and mealy.
(Which is the cheapest to Use
brown sugar or white?" I asked til
chemist.
, "Why, white, sir. Brown sugar
simply pure sugar with dirt and wate
in it. The cheapest sugar to buy
white, granulated sugar. 1t is simpl
99i per cent. pure sugar, while brow
K sugar is only about 70 per cent. suga
s 20 per cent. water, and 10 per cen
n dirt and salts. White refined so
0 sugar is 93 per cent. sugar. l kno
c some old women brought up on brow
1t sugar still stick to brown sugar, an