, 1890-06-25
A RUM Cleanser.
(Demerara ATgoSy.)

We regret that we have not space in this
issue to deal fully with the very valuable
animal report for 1889, of our excellent
Chief Commissary, laid before the Court of
Policy on Tuesday last. But 10 one para
graph thereof it would be inexcusable to
defer directing attention. 1t exhibits Mr..
Turner in a ne charaCter-that OF an in
ventOr. not of mere phrases, but OF a me.
chanical apparatus likely to be OF great,
but at present incalculable advantage to-
the ma nufaoturHrS of W hat he continues to-
call .'our second most important piOduct'
Rum, to acit. Mr.. Turner says that the
quality of the spirit made at our distIlleries
has long been a subject OF serious thought
aud anxiety to him. The explanations
commonly given Of the causes "f the rela-
tive superiority of Jamaica rum have never
been satisfactory to him. And he tells us,
that during his absence III 1888, he had
frequent cOnverSatlO MS OH the subject with
his friend Mr.. BanLiSter, the Deputy Prin-
cipal at the Laboratory at Somerset House,
who kindly had a sample OF our rum ANA
USED for hi IN. The quantity available was
not sufficient for an exh auStlve analysis,
but it suficed to enable Mr.. Bannister to
arrive at the conclus ion that the very ob-
iectionable favour of the rum was due to the
pACOCLACOO vi C''iR"oA OOhEOo' O'N' CCh
frming an opinion which Mr. .Turner says he
had long held. The question then became
how to removed or nentralise those injurious
compounds. Mr.. B mister thought tbs
Objectionable substances should either
be kept out Of the SaCc1arine materials
used or be fixed by some other chemical
substance, and so kept from being distilled
with the spirit. 1t then occurred to Mr..
Turner that if it were possible to intercept
those sulphur compounds at the moment of
Liberation from the LIQUID, when owing to
their great heat, they are finely divided and
therefore M ore readily operated upon, they
might be decomposed by removing the sui
phur. For that purpose he has devised
a simple apparatus by which all the spirit
Vapour is passed through layers of char
coal, and it is naturally a subject of great
satisfaction to him to be able to record the
com plete succ ess of the apparatus. 1t is
now in opera tion at two distilleries, from
one of winch the spirits analysed by MIR.
Bannister was obtained. The rum from
that distillery, which was formerly sold
with difficulty at low rates i'll London, re-
Gently commanded the top price in the
market, and an analysis of the charcoal
used in the app aratuS disclose the presence
OF free sulphur. The Importance OF these
facts 10 those engaged III the sugar
industry can scarcely be exaggerated,
especially in the prolonged trial through
which that industry is now passing. Mr..
Turner magnanimously offers the free use
of the apparatus anywhere i'll the colony,
adding that it will DE sufficient compensa-
ton to him to know that his invention has
been the means of improving, even i'll a
slight degree, the quality of our second
most important product. TO this we hearth
ly say "Amen,' and earnestly hope that
ere long Mr.. Turner may be universally
recognized amongst us as the -beneticent
Edison of the sugar. industry OF British