The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1888-09-26
ART OF SUGAR REFINING.
DELICATE PROCESSES FOR Ex.
TRACTING THE SUBSTANCE.
Transforming the Brown, Sandy
Raw Material Into Barrelfuls of
GIisfpnfuu Sweetness

Transforming the Brown, Sandy
Raw Material Into Barrelfuls of
Glistening Sweetness.
The general process of sugar refining
is simple and easy to gather, but in the
parts that do not show a most delicate
manipulation is required.
A Boston A,trertiscr reporter recently
explored the mysteries of turning the
brown, sandy, raw sugar in the store
house into the barrelfuls of white,
shining sweetness that the coopers were
heading up on the lower floor.
The processes of sugar refining arc
simply these: The sugar is melted to a
certain degree of density, and at the
proper degree of heat is strained, Just as
Jelly is strained. to get the dirt out.
Then it is filtered through boneblack to
take out the coloring matter. Finally it
is boiled down into sugar again.
The sugar is dumped into a great vat,
melted in hot water and stirred up with
constantly moving stirrer. A stralner
removes the bits of bag and stick. The
barrels and bags are washed and steamed
to get all the sugar out, and even the
scrapings from the floor are saved. The
melted sugar now goes into the refinery,
where its density and heat are carefully
established.
The interior of the refinery is all ups
aud downs, narrow step.ladders and
temperature of about l40 degrees the
men work bare to the waist. After mix
ing, the sugar goes to the bag filters to
get rid Of the dirt. The filters are con-
tanned in chambers with perforated
roofs. Each hole in the roof is fitted
with neck or "bottle;" from the bottle
depends linen bag, closed at the lower
end Outside the bag, as pillow case
to the bags pillow, is a stout sheath to
prevent the bag from bursting. The
melted sugar is poured in over the top,
and as it runs down through the bag it
leaves most of the foreign matter. The
sugar is followed by stream of pure
water that washes all the sugar out
The refuse, which looks like dark mud,
is stripped" from the bags, so that they
can be washed.
Tee sugar is now bright and clear, but
still of dark brown color. There is
black, granular substance driving about
an one or two of the rooms that will re-
move this color. That substance is bone
black, beef bones burned and ground.
Boneblack looks like gunpowder. 1t
has a medium grain, and it is Just this
gram and no other that will do for filter
lug sugar. The boneblack is heated red
hot in enclosed chambers, allowed to
partly cool, away from the air, then it is
slowly passed through the rooms, cool
ing, till it reaches the "char filters"
When these are charged, the sugar is
poured in at the top, a dark-coored
tiuid, aud it comes out at the bottom as
clear as water. Toward the last of the
filtering the ''char" loses its power, and
the sugar begins to get yellow. 1t is
from that the brown and yellow sugars
are made.
Next the sugar is boiled. L. is pumped
into the boilers, vacuum pans, which as
soon as filled to a certain height are
closed and the air exhausted. 1t boils
at lower temperature than 212 degrees.
Then the sirup bubbles and boils, till by
a change, only perceptible to q skillful
eye, the grain begins to come. In goes
more melted sugar, and the granting
goes on until the peep-holes in the pan
are c!ogged with sugar, and the whole
pan filed with mixture of sugar and
sirup The boiling requires no ordinary
skill and judgment. The first filling of
the pan must be just so or it will be
spoiled. The workman must decide the
size of the grain by careful boiling and
shut off the steam when the right mo-
ment is reached.
Next follow the centr:fugals, where
the mixture becomes sugar. Down from
the vat, under the pans, through spout
the sugar falls, fifty pounds at time, into
n hollow cVlindpr surrounded nv n
pocket. The wall of the cylinder is
fine sieve. The cylinder revolves $50
times minute, and the moist sugar
flies up the side in its hurry to get away
from the center of revolution. The
sirup spurts ont through the tiny holes
in the sieve, and the grained sugar alone
remains. The s rup all extracted, the
sugar is washed, still revolving, with a
hose.
Drying is done by passing warm cur
rent of air through the sugar as it Sits
through revolving sieve 1t is then
bolted like flour by machinery, and run
off iuto barrels, labeled and coopered.
Then it is ready to ship away. Each
days melting is run through as soon as
possible, and it is possibility that
brown sugar landed from the vessel in
the morning may be shipped in the even
ing. Granulated sugar leaves behind ten
per cent. of its weight in water and dirt.
There is big product in this process of
refining, and that is the sirup. 1t is the
substance which leaves the sugar in the
centrifugal. Alter proper manipulation
1t comes into tanks, rich, golden liquid,
the sirup of commerce.