Wichita eagle., 1889-10-06
THE CITY OF CONWAY SPRINGS.
Its Great Sugar Plant and What It Means and
Promises.

Few people who have never been per-
mitted to visit the sugar works at Conway
Springs have any adequate idea of their
magnitude and Importance, to say
nothing of the complicated and intricate
yet rapid processes whereby the raw, IN
stripped cane of the fields is converted con-
secutiveiy juice. syrup, and finally granu-
lated sugar of the finest quality. On
Wednesday OF this week the editor of this
paper. in company with several prominent
business gentlemen. spent an hour
between trains in viewing the above
sugar works. The large building,
to and from which continued and I'M
broken lines of teams are going and COM
ing, is filled from roof to cellar with
whirling cenurifugals. revolving engines.
Kissing steam, hot yapors, endless carry
ing belts. systems of immense wrought
iron cells connected by valves, pipes and
heaters, constituting what ara termed
diffusion batteries" defeating sluices,
and one enormous cistern-shaped boiler
holding hundred barrels, or more, which
is incased in vanished wood fur
nished with valves and various
kinds of vacums and steam pressure
guages, and circular glass peep holes
and wherein the thlckened or boiled syrup
is reduced to granulation or sugar. This
lest great iron cistern is dome shaped and
air tight, so that by looking through
the glass one can see the seathing, bub-
bling, turbulent mass of thick syrup in a
commotion like boiling water but at
very low temperature, probably not hotter
than 40 or less degrees.
The cane, as it comes IN wagons, is
dumped on platform which reaches out
hundred or more feet from the factory.
An endless chain arrangement carries each
load of cane, as it is thrown off, along
to the mill where it is caught by and end
less belt and whirled in under the cutting
cylinder, one wagon load after another in
rapid succession being gobbled up and
chopped into small, chips at the rate of a
ton every two or three minutes. The
leaves and chaff are blown TO one side by
powerful fan and the chips move on to the
diffusion batteries in which under high
pressure of hot water and steam all the
sweetness is soaked out, the syrup
finally ending up in clean, lively
white sugar as it falls from the
centrifugals on the lower flower.
Fifty or sixty barrels or six or seven tons
much sorghum molasses. from $50 to 2C9
or more tons of green cane are consumed
daily and there is lively work with teams
and men in the adjoining cane fields.
Ninety people are employed in the works
which present an animated appearance. as
one may well imagine. The machinery
and processes stop day nor night nor Sun
day from the time the cane is ripened until
freeze of the fall occurs sufficiently stiff
to sour the cane. The refuse chips fall
from the bottom of the diffusion cells into
carts and with the leaves and other
refuse is hauled away. The syrup, or sor-
ghum molasses, is led off TO a great iron
tank, flush with the surface of the ground,
which holds probably twenty or thirty car
loads or more.
We are not in this attempting any de-
scription of the process of sorghum sugar
making, only desiring to give general
idea of the way and of the magnitude of
the factory and it's work. There Is one
thing certain, however, and that is, no one
can watch the operation for an hour and
note the result and not be convinced that
whatever the government may or may not
do, or whatever people may say or proph-
esy to the contrary, sugar making is
one of the coming industries of
Southern Kansas, and which will in the
near future command millions of capital
and give employment to hundreds of
thousands of people, besides proving
steady and reliable source of income to the
land owner and cane raiser.
Conway Springs is larger, brighter and
buster little city than is generally under
stood. It has three or four banks, large
number of fine stores, big creamery,
Touring mill. grain elevator, etc. It's
principal business street would honor nine
out of ten of the county seat towns of the
state 1t is not only alive and growing,
but is one Of the finest and most prosper
Gus towns to be found in all Southern
Kansas.