The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1889-04-17
WAIAKEA SUGAR MILL.
INTERESTING LETTER FROM THE PEN
OF HON. ALEX YOUNG.

The Louisiana "Planter and Sugar
Manufacture" for March 30th con-
tains the following interesting letter
written by Hon. Alex. Young, man
agcr of the Honolulu Iron Works:
Editor Louisiana Planter: - In
your issue OF March notice some
very interesting statistics regarding
the seasons work at Calumet, which
leads me to compare the work done
there with double crushing and ma
ceration in our best equipped fac
tories in the Hawaiian Islands at
the present day,
At Waiakea, Hilo, Hawaii, with
maceration to such an extent that
the juice from supplemental mill
stands ! to ] the density of that of
the first mill, we have no difficulty
in obtaining an extraction of 80 per
cent. of the weight Of the cane.
And we can easily average one ton
$4,000 pounds commercial sugar
from z tons (14,000 pounds of
cane-no allowance being made for
leaves (trash). And this, too, with
out the use of wood or coal as fuel
the bagasse alone being sufficient.
Over 40 per cent. of the above
sugar sells at purity of from 9S.5
to SO per cent.
The object l have in view IN writ
ing is-first, to show that the re-
suits at Calumet do net show the
"highest yield from tropical cane
that is done in any factory in the
world" and, secondly, to spur Mr..
Thompson, who is evidently an intelli-
gent and progressive gentleman, and
others engaged in the same industry,
on to still more profitable state
of things. And in order to accom-.
plish my purpose L will trace briefly
the main features of The mode of
working at the Waiakea factory.
The cane is brought to the mill on
cars, holding on an average enough
to make 500 gallons of juice. These
cars are drawn in a continuous train
alongside the cane carrier as required
by gipsyhead on the end of the up
per roller-shaft; the same man who
takes the weights attends to this.
The bottoms of the cars are on
level with the cane carrier, and
when one side of car is removed the
cane is hauled off by three men with
rakes, and distributed evenly on
said carrier in suitable quantities
for feed of rollers. Two men at
tend to the feeding and boy to the
juice strainer. Great care is taken
to obtain the best possible crushing
in the first mill. The rollers of first
as well as of second mill are 80" by
CO.,, fitted with steel shafts and
pinions. An 18"x42" high pres
sure engine is used for first mill and
16"x24" engine for second mill.
Just as the bagasse is leaving the
three-roller mill constant shower
of hot water drawn partly from the
heating drum Of the second cell of
the double effect, is thrown upon it
in such quantities that it is well
| drenched.
The bagasse from the three-roller
mill, thus soaked with hot water,
slides from the elevator into the
automatic feeder of the two-roler
bagasse mill, by which it is fed posi-
lively and uniformly into the mill,
and pressed very dry, the feeder pre-
venting a rejection of the feed, no
matter how great the pressure may
be on the rollers, thus insuring a
better extraction and much dryer
fuel. From this mill the bagasse
shoots into tipping cars, is weighed
and taken direct to the furnaces,
where, being so dry, it burns very
freely.
The juice frsm both mills flows in
one channel into the CHARTERS, where
it is at once heated to proper tenn
perature and lined, and brought up
to boil for few moments. After
settling little in the CHARTERS it is
drawn off through float pipes into
the subsiding tanks, and the dirty
froth and muddy settings washed
out quickly into the receptacle for
the tilterpresses.
The juice after standing for, say
fifteen minutes, in the subsiders is
drawn off through float pipes, as re-
CURED by the vacuum cleaning pan,
which is connected to all the sub
siders by pipes having controlling
cocks, so that any one Of the sub
siders may be drawn from as requir-
ed
Having gotten rid of the heavy
impurities in the subsiders the
lighter dirt is now thrown off in the
vacuum cleaning pan, which is usu-
ally worked at Il vacuum of fifteen
inches. At this vacuum the tenn
perature is such that the juice taken
from the subsiders is ALMOST hot
enough in itself to boil, and The adj
ditional heat needed to do the work
of cleaning is supplied through the
copper pipe coil in bottom, and
steam cone IN centre of pan, exhaust
steam only being used,
The cleaned juice is constantly
pumped off into supply tank for
double effect, and the muddy skim
mings by a separate pump into the
receiving tank for mud presses.
The double effect and vacuum
pan are worked in the usual manner,