The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-04-24
A SUGAR ESTATE In CUB A.
A LITTLE PR1N c1PAL1rY OF 1000
ACRES.
visit TO n Cuban Country House De
srribed-A sugar viii and How IL
in worked.

a correspondent OF the new 1Ork
Times describes a visit which he paid to
large sugar estate in the interior of
Cuba. The writer says; This "Ingenio
Hormiguero" Qngenio being the Spanish
term for sugar estate) is little princi-
pality in itself With its 5000 acres
nearly, of sugar cane, its rich lands, its
great mill filled with the most expensive
new machinery, its more than comfort
able dwelling house, and its large num-
Der of smaller dwellings for the work
men, it is one of the finest sugar estates
in Cuba. The Messrs. Pouvert, are, |
believe, both natives of America, of
French descent, and they have given
their attention to this plantation for
many years. Here they live throughout
the grinding season, from December to
April, every year, sometimes spending
the remainder of the year in New York
or Paris, and sometimes staying here
throughout the entire year. Both the
gentlemen having families, there is plenty
of company in the large house, and they
do not suffer from the lonesomencss of
the situation-for sugar plantation is
necessarily isolated, and its owners are
compelled to rely upon their own re-
sources for amusement. The house, like
all Cuban country houses, is one-story
high, with broad, steep tiled roof,
and with the cool front veranda so shad-
ed with green vines that the house can
scarcely be seen. Such a dark, cool
and airy sitting room as the veranda
thus becomes, is invaluable in a
hot place like the south side of Cuba ;
even before o'clock we began to feel
a., 4 IN, 1o4 In
its cool brick floor and Its rows Of COM
Portable rocking and easy chairs, it is
Just such place as one would want to
find in the middle of hot day to doze
away the afternoon in. And that is
about all that any one cares to do in
Cuba, for the heat in the middle of the
day makes it not only uncomfortable but
unsafe to be long exposed to the sun.
The veranda in all these southern coun-
tries, is the best part of the house. 1t is
the paror, the library, the general liv-
ing room. Without one, and good
one, house in tropical climate would
scarcely be hab:table.
The mill stands Immediately opposite
the house, 200 or 800 feet away, and as
it is open throughout, without walls to
obstruct the view, the owners can sit on
the veranda and watch every motion of
the machinery. If anything goes wrong
they can be on the spot instantly and
help set it right. AS the machinery is
nearly noiseless, and there are none OF
the Objectionable sounds or smells in
separable from most mills, this is an ad-
mirable arrangement. Indeed, they carry
it even further than this, and the .ladies
make a sort of sitting and sewing room
of one end of raised platform which
supports the evaporators, and keep
there a table and collection of rocking
chairs to be used when wanted. From
this elevated position they can watch
every piece of cane that goes between the
rollers, see the entire interior of the
MILL and at the same time keep an eye
upon every person who goes in or out of
the house. After breakfast Mr. Ponvert
took us over to the MILL and explained
the whole process of sugar making. The
entire plantation is laid out in lots OF
three or four acres each, with many mile;
of streets or roads between them, and
eight or ten miles Of railroad track run
ming from one end of the place to the
other, on which the cane is brought to
the mill in cars. There are so many oil
these lots that a map is kept, on which
the condition of each lot is indicated by
a different color. If the cane on one
lot has just been cut the fact is indi-
Gated by one color: if it is ready to be
cut, by another color. The cane is
brought to the mill and stored
in great heaps in n convenient
place near the rollers that crush the
Juice out of it. There are three large
heavy iron rollers, and after the cane
goes between them it is squeezed dry
1t is carried up to the rollers automati
cally on moving platform like that or
which the horses walk in thrashinG
machine, and comes out crushed anC
sapless. The Juice is carried off in pipe
to the boilers, ard is boiled down anC
run through evaporators and other con
t7ivanccs till all the liquid part OF it be
comes molasses and all the solid par
sugar. The cane now yields mucl
larger percentage Of juice than it did {
few years ago, under the improved ma
chinery for extracting it, but this ma
chinery costs money. 1t comes from New
York, most of it, and the engines, boilers
evaporators and all the other machine
necessary for setting up q complete
, / bu8dI mn CduliOb NC
for less than 5000, 900. About tina
amount has been put in this mill at IIor
miguero within the last year, and still
there are additions to be made. Their
is locomotive to be purchased, for in
stance, to take the place of oxel
in drawing cane to the mill, anC
electric lights are to be put in next sea
son for working by at night, for in tn
grinding season the mill runs night an,
day, Sundays and holidays, without an
cessation. But through the other eigh
months of the year all this machiner
stands idle and earns nothing for it
owners. The cane, after the mice ha
been extracted from it, is spread out in
drying yard 10 dry, which 1t does unde
this hot sun in very short time, an
eventually it finds its way into the fun
naces. where it makes steam for tn
grinding of fresh piles
Some of the large sugar estates are SIT
) worked by slaves, but at Hormig Ter
there is none but free labor. Mr.. Por
,, vert is beginning new system of lei