The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-10-29
MOLASSES NOT PURE.
EVERY BARREL SOLD ADULTERATED
LARGELY WITH GLUCOSE

TIE latter Not Specially Injurious. but
Very CiieRP-sorEhum Threatening to
'Usurp Che Place Of NIoIasses-Process
or Manufacture.
\ prominent dealer iii molass.s recently
;Satcd that there were very few if any barrels
IF straight mOlaSses in this market Every
barrel IS aGulterated with - o. - poT cent
Of giucOsr. Glucose Is not injurious IN itself
in fact. some people prefer the straight
teuSc 20 the straight molasses-bUt the
fraud pcIpct-ated on the public in adulter-
at-iES the pure goods may bc claSSed in the
same category with spurious butter, and
should be sold on its merits. Consumers know
that molasseS Is being aduiteritad and the
consequence is that they 10 not buy one-fifth
as much Of il as siey did 4 year ago. 1t is
not claimed that any injurious drugs are used
in adUlt"ratilS the pure article any more than
chicory t. injurious when added TO coffee. but
Whom - pgr cent. of 4 barrel Of so-callcd pure
Iclol;,S,s j. glucose, doesn't it begin TO look as
II the goods We're approaching adulteration
from the other end. e., glucose is being
ACCELERATED with moIasscs:
hen the mixing OF glucose with molaSses
was first attempted the dealers here did all
their mixing on their own premises, AMI only
to an extent sufficient 10 cater TO the trade
reaches here There i, no doubt, plenty of
pura molas~cs in Louisiana, but rs long as
dealers there can make more money out of it
by using their sto;sS to mix with glucose
they are not likely to sell any of it unless at a
very high price, and the trade here cannot use
it at the figures wanted. The crop reports
this season have been enlarged by reporting
an increase Of 10000 barrels, this increase
being glucose or sorghum which is added to
in proportion
WANT THE rUEE ARTICLE
There seems To be a disposition now on the
part of thosn who ~ first were 50 anxious to
get hold of the mixed goods TO return to their
first love the >imon-purc article. They are
getting tire, OF the fraud. and unless molasSes
gets bacl into its former channel straight
sorghum viii fiji tn, demand and
nloas-,s will lie thiu,s OF the past There
are a good many dealers who state that they
decidedly prefer using pure sorghum to
moasSes mixed with - per cent. of glucose
and as sorghum is made absolutely pure there
seems to b" a desire to use IL instead of the
uoasscs - it is now heing made.
OF course the reason for mixing the goods
is apparent enough To any ordinary observer.
When the practice first commenced mixers
would take barrel OF ordinary molasses
worth ~ cents per gallon, and mix it with
gallon The effect OF the glucose upon the
molaSScs was to give it a fine light color,
making it appear rs a superior grade of
TnolaSSes and il would sell for 10 cents per
gallon. but rs soon rs other dealers found it
oUt and resorted to the same practice the
profit was reduced so fast To a reasonable
margin only that now there is a question
whether the process IS profitable at all or not.
There Is, however, reason for mixing the
81.
suit would only sell nj 30 cents per gallon
taking 4Occnt molasses and 20-cent glucose as
the basis to work on-and that is that more
mixed goods can he sold Mt 80 cents than
straight goods ut 40 cents.
METHODS or MANCFACTCRE
The manufacture of molasses up to "A GER
tain stage is really the manufacture OF sugar.
Some of the methods of manufacture are
very simple. In the simplest form the sugar
cane is crushed in mortar The juice thus
extracted is boiled III common open pans.
After boiling q certain length of time it be-
comes a darll-colored, soft, viscid mas. The
uncrystalized syrup is expressed by putting
the whole into cloth bags and subjecting
them to pressure. This is molasscs in a crude
state. 1t IS further purified by reboiling it
with an addition of an alkaline solution and
a quantity of milk. When this has CON
tinued until scum no longer rises, it Is cvap-
GRATED and then transferred To earthen jars.
After it has been left for a few DAYS to
granulatc, holes i'll the bottoms of the jars
are unStopped and the molasses is drawn off
into vessels placed to receive il.
Another process OF extracting molasSes is !
as follows: by various processes of boiling
and strGining the juice Is brought to a state
where it is soft mass OF crystals imbedded
in a thick but uncrystaliZed fluid. The sep
aration of the tluid is the next process. and is
perfected in the curing house, sO-callcd. This
is a large building with n cellar which forms
the molasSes reservoir. Over this reservoir
is an open framework of ioists, upon which
stand number of empty potting casks.
Each of these has eight or ten holes bored
through the bottom, and in each hole is
placed the stock of n plautain leaf. Tke soft
concrete mass of sugar Is removed from the
cooling pans in which it has been brought
from the boilers and placed in the casks.
The molasSas then gradually drains from the
crystalzed portion into the reservoir below,
pcrcolatinG through the sponGy plantain
stalks These are the simpler methods; the
larger plantations use elaborate and costly
machinery. the principle. however, being
about the same.
The hogsheads III which the molaSses is
brought 10 this country are manufactured
principally IN Philadelphia and taken TO the
West Indies. They are placed in the hold of
the vessel and the nlolaSScs pumped into
Chicago Tribune.
The Hero of the Alma.
Gen. dc Failly, the hero of the Alma and
the Green Mound il the Crimea and of Trak-
tir, i'll Algeria, and who acted a decisive part
III winning the battles Of Magenta and Softer |
mo, Is now living IN utter obscurity in the !
chateau Of Chcngye, situated in the midst of /
a great forest. The majority of his country |
men believed him dead till e Paris journalist |
visited and interviewed him recently. The |
cause Of De Failly's downfall was the sur !
r.l.is. Of E.nurunnt- d,IIin- the Ernneo- Prns- |