The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1894-08-31
In A SUGAR REFINERY.
PROCESSES BY WHICH THE RAW
SUGAR IS REFINED.


New York where the fearful diff
culties under which men labor
for the bare privilege of living, are 30
plainly shown rs they are in the
towering, forbidding, fortress-like
structures on the East River front of
Brooklyn, owned by tho American
Sugar Refining Company, better
known rs the Sugar Trust.
The big buildings cover 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 refincries is necessary to
thorough realization OF the I'M
mcnsity of the establishment, and
this group is one of the refining places
owned by the trust. 1t has no equal
in size or in the amount of its busl-
ness in the limits of the Greater Now
York. The employees of the great
concern are disciplined with rules rs
strict rs those which govern an
army. If one attempts tc set intv
tho refinerles he meets the discipline
in the shape of gruif watchman and
club, and n Gull at tho Offices reveals
it in the shape of more or less polite
negative from the clerks, who will say
that they cannot answer questions.
There arc about 5000 men employed
in tho big refncries, and these are
divided into day and night shifts.
About 5 o'clock in the morning half
of the force can be seen filing down
into the basement of one of the great
buildings. Work is begun i'm
mediatcly, and continued until IN
the evening, when the men are sup
piled with checks, showing that they
wcro on hand when work begun.
The majority Of the worhmen are
Poles and Hungarians, and the severity
of their lnbors is shown by tho fact
that they are nearly all thin and
stopped, and rarely above middle age,
it being n wcll-known fact that men
employed in the retineries 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 docile and otedient.
The rules of the retineries are laid
down to the applicant for employment,
and he is told that he will receive
81. II, $1.25 or 81. SO rs the case may
be, for the first year, and then, II his
work is satisfactory, he may receive
an additional five or ten cents day.
The man is assigned to work In one OF
the many departments, and if he has
received the "tIp' from friends of his
own nationality before going to work,
he trembles lest the cdict may con-
denim him to the "dry room" 1t 1T
| be that, however, he receives it with
characteristic stolidity, and is thank
| full for an opportunity to earn his ms
cradle pittancc, even under such ter
| riblo circumstances.
| When the raw sugar is dumped from
the ship in which it is brought to the
retineries it is placed in great cistcrn
near the rivers edge, and is dissolved
] in hot water. From this vat sweet.
sticky steam constantly arises, and
| every little while workman, dressed
in overalls aud an undcrshirt, pops
out from it, and in Il minute or so pops
back again, and is lost to sight i'll 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 in it, and is empticd into great cop
| per receptacles heated to Dos or 2lO
| degrees Fahrenheit, known rs boilers.
The process of boiling requires con-
| siderable skill, and the men who have
| charge of it are paid 500 or $3.50 n
| month, the number receiving the lat
| ter figure being extremely limited,
| only one man in hundred who re-
| ccives employment in the retineries
| bee oming n boiler, which IS Tie highest
ambition Of the workmen.
The boiling and bubbllng sugar Is
| passed down through tunnels to the
next floor, where it is cmptiei into
| box, the bottom Of which consists of
two thicknesscs Of canvas, ono being
coarse, the other fine. This thorough
ly filters tho stuff. and the room is
kept at n terrific temperature IL order
that the liquid sugar may flow freely,
| and not become cool anl thick. On
the floor below is another great cop
| per tank, some twenty-five feet deep
and nearly filed with bone black.
This puriics the sugar, and, after be-
| ing used for few hours, becomes sur
| charged with foulness, and is sent to
the lower floor, where it is burned
again. The sugar, which is still kept
ut n temperature Of about l50 degrees,
is passed into another receptacle,
which is made alright, anl tho air
IN steam are exhausted by means Of
| pump. AS soon rs tho sugar is gran
| uluted, if it is to b. soft, it is let of
by means of centrifugal mills. If not,
| it is passed on to tho great plates to
| be dried.
Tho rooms in which the drying Is
| carried on urS vcrItAblc iafernos No
| mun can stay in them over ten min
| utcs without falling down utterly
| prostrntcl by the terrific heat. No
one Lat an cmploye IS ever allowed
within these walls, AMI no one but an
rmpioyc would dare to so in them
when the heat is on and tho sugar is
drying. Clothing is discarded, with
| the exception of "nrcCch clout' and
| shoes, AMI there is absolutely no ven
| citation, rs tho windows are kept
| A. b.. 4