Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1894-09-17
IN A SUGAR REFINERY.
PROCESSES BY WHICH THE RAW
SUGAR IS REFINED.
the Workmen--Litc in the Drying
Rooms-Frightful Toll.

7 I is doubtful if there is any other
group of buildings i'll or near
New York where the fearful diff
=. culties under which men labor
for the bare privilege of living, are 50
plainly shown as they are i'll the
towering, forbIdding, fortress-llke
structures on the East River front OF
Brooklyn, owned by the American
Sugar Refining Company, better
known as the Sugar Trust.
The big buildings cover It space OF
four blocks on both sides of Kent
avenue, from South First TO South
Fifth streets, and on the west side of
the avenue extend to the river front,
their grimy, dull-red walls extending
seventeen stories above the street
level. A close inspection of the
Havemeyer reiineries is necessary to
IL thorough realization ot the i'm
mensity of the establishment, and
this group is one of the refining places
owned by the trust. 1t has no equal
in size or i'll the amount of its busi-
ness in the limits of the Greater New
York, The employees OF the great
concern are disciplined with rules ai
strict as those which govern as
army. Ii one attempts TO get INTO
the refineries he meets the discipline
i'll the shape of gruif wntchman AMI
n club, and call Mt the Offices reveals
it in the shape of Il more or less polite
negative from the clerks, who will say
that they cannot answer questions.
There are about 5000 men employed
in the big reiineries, and these are
divided into day and night shifts.
About o'clock in the morning half
of the force can be seen fling down
into the basement of one of the great
buildings. Work is begun i'm
mediately, and continued until ) i'll
the evening, when the men are sup
piled with checks, showing that they
were on hand when WORK begun.
The majority of the wor&men are
Poles and ngarians, and the severity
of their lnbors is shown by the fact
that they are nearly all thin AMI
stopped, and rarely above middle age,
it being well-known fact that men
employed in the reineries rarely live
to old age. They are nearly new i'm,
migrants when first employed, and be-
fore work is given them they must be
found perfectly doeile and oEedient.
The rules OF the reiineries are laid
down to the applicant for employment,
and he is told that he viii receive
SLIP, $l.25 or 81. 30 as the case may
be, for the first year, and then, il his
work is satisfactory, he may receive
an additional five or ten cents II day.
The man is assigned to woril in one OF
the many departments, and Ii he has
received the "tIp' from friends OF his
own nationality before going to WORK,
he trembles lest the edic5 may con
domn him to the "dry room" 1t it
I've that, however, he receives it with
characteristic stolidity, and is thank
full for an opportunity to earn his mis-
cradle pittance, even under such ter
rible circumstances.
When the raw sugar is dumped from
the ship i'll which it is brought to the
refineries it is placed in IL great cistern
near the rivers edge, and Is dissolved
in hot water. From this vat n sweet
sticky steam constantly arises, and
every little while n workman, dressed
III overalls and an undershirt, pops
out from it, and in 4 minute or 50 pops
back again, and is lost to sight III the
moist cloud. The liquid is pumped
up to the top story of the pile, pass
ing through wire strainer, which re-
moves any particles of size which may
be i'll it, and is emptied into great cop
per receptacles heated to 2O6 or 2l0
degrees Fahrenheit, known as boilers.
The process of boiling requires con
siderable skill, and the men who have
charge of it are paid $l00 or $50
month, the number receiving the lat
ter figure being extremely limited,
only one man III "A hundred who re-
ceiyes employment in the relineries
becoming n boiler, which is the highest
ambition Of the workmen.
The boiling and bubbiinG sugar is
passed down through tunnels to the
next floor, where it is emptied into Il
box, the bottom of which consists e.
two thicknesses of canvas, one belEt
coarse, the other fine This thorough.
ly filters the stuff, and the room is
kept Mt terrific temperature i'll order
that the liquid sugar may flow freely,
and not become cool and thick On
the floor below is another Great cop
per tank, some twenty yfive fee deep
and nearly Allied with bone blnck.
This purities the sugar, and, after be.
ing used for a few hours, becomes sur.
charged with foulness, and is sent 10
the lower floor, where it is burned
again. The sugar, which is still kept
Mt "a temperature of about $50 degrees,
is passed into another receptacle,
which is made alright, and the air
and steam are exhausted by means OF
pump. As soon as the sugar is gran,
ulated, if it is to be soft, it is let off
by means of centrifugal mills. il not,
1t IS passed on to tho great plates to
be dried
The rooms in which the drying is
carried on are verltable infernos. No
man can stay in them over ten miu-
utes without falling down utteri-