The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-01-29


Grape Sugar Company, it was shown
that the profits of the business now
amount to about $l,OO0,O0O q year upon
q capital Of 100000. The fact that
enormous quantities Of grape sugar, or
glucose, is sold, and that the business
has ut least doubled every year for the
last five years. until at present all the
starch factories turn out more or less OF
the product; that several vast establish
,nents are building for the purpose Of
manufacturing glucose, one in Detroit
and one In Chicago: and that the adul.
teralions in which glucose is used are
now recognized among merchants, in.
dnccd reporter to inquire into the his.
tory and extern. Of the glucose business.
Sugar merchants who mix glucose with
their sugar are careful about giving
facts and figures, but all admitted that
its use was widespread and increasing
every day.
In 1867 q German chemist named
GOesIing arrived in New York with a
secret process Of producing strip from
corn at small cost, about twenty gallons
Of sirup being obtained from one bushel
Of corn. The corn was first made into
starch, which, after treatment with sui.
phuric acid was run through mar
ble-dust in order to extract the acid,
after which il was purified with
boneblack and boiled to any desired
consistency. Dr. Goesling interested
some New York capitalists and sugar
merchants in his process and sold the
patents to company called the Union
Sugar Company for half = million dol
lars. The Union Sugar Company had
been organized especially to make the
new kind of sugar, and Immediately
erected works and began business.
Prosperity was too much for DR.. Goes.
ling, who died before the first batch of
strip was turned ont. No one thought
at that time OF making solid glucose !;
the sirup was all that the Union Sugar
Company intended to produce. When
the first barrels Of the new strip were
produced the appearance was excellent,
and the stockholders congratulated
themselves uoon having possession of a
gold mine. Unfortunately the new pro-
duct had defects, the chief among which
was that it would not "stand," as the
sirup men say: it 'solidified and candied,
becoming solid. waxy mass which was
unstable. DR.. Goesling had apparently
forgotten to tell the company his method
Of making the sirup "stand." He had
known some method of doing this, but
his secret died with him. After several
Intellectual and costly attempts to solve
the difficulty the Union Sugar Company
gave up business, having lost about 81 >.
600, 900, and sold the product of candied
sirup on hand to the Tribune Association
at two dollars barrel, for the purpose
Of making ink rollers.
When DR.. Goesling sold his patents
to the New York company, a Buffalo
company had already bought from
Goesling the right to use his process in
Buffalo. The Buffalo company me'
with the same difficulty which the Union
Sugar Company experienced-theil
product candied. But instead of giving
up the manufacture they went to work
to find out to what use the candied glu'
cose could be put. In the first place il
was found that the glucose sirup,i mixed
with low-grade black molasses, made AZ
excellent golden sirup, which, while no
so sweet as refined Cuba sirup, was ~
good in appearance and sold as well
As glucose sirup could be produced fo1
half the cost of sugar sirup, the sayin!
effected by mixing the two was enor
nous. In the next place, If glucos'
sirup was allowed to candy aad harden
it was found that it could be grOun'
up and mixed with low.grade darl
brown sugars, the mixture having tn
appearance and qualities of refined Ugh
brown sugar, with The exception that i
was not so swee, as refined sugar. From
small beginnings the business of tn
Buffalo company grew to Importance
The glucose could he produced from
corn at the rate of thirty pounds of glu
: cose, worth three and a half cents
pound, from one bushel Of corn, besid
} which the refuse from each bushel O
. corn brought six cents when sold a
, stock food. One of the witnesses in tn
, suit mentioned in the beginning Of thi
: article testified that he mixed fror
twelve to twenty per centum Of glucos
9 with his cane sugar. selling the mixtur
8 1T d good profit under the name {
: "new process SUGARS" He sold NOR
9 than 200 barrels day Of this sugar.
r Upon referring to several Wall Stree
;. sugar merchants the reporter found thu
;, while the use Of glucose in vast quaint
: ties was admitted, the mixers, as the
Q are called to distinguish them from su!
ar re6ners, are not anxious to have niue
light thrown upon the business. TIL
J.. refners are not mixers. They sell 81!
ar only, just as the Buffalo company sci
: glucose only. The mixers buy OF bot
}. aud mix it to suit themselves. Sever
l. firms do this sort of business exclusiyel
+ calling the product "new proce
s. sugars" .s. ..na..-'
a Having been told that glucose in SUI
9 or had . bad effect upon the health
% the consumer. and that therefore it W,
l. worse than mere assault upon Il
" pocket, the reporter next sought o
10 Professor Chandler, of the Board
81 Health, who secuted the notion tn
q glucose in sugar was unhealthy. "N
o eat glucose with every mouthful we TAX
!, every. bit of starchy food we take tur
o into glucose. There is glucose in eve
. fruit and a certain quantity in the be
y of sugars. Because saccharine particl
q are found in diabetes, people jump
y the conclusion that it is glucose. Agai
Il they hear that sulphuric acid is used
= making glue Sc, and they are horritie
J They might as we'll be afraid Of getti,
.. some of the iron off the hoe with viii
: their potatoes are dug up as t, be afra
y Of the sulphric acid used in making gl