The Saint Paul globe., 1896-11-29


| Gar. IL IS thrown on to movable belt
or movable roadway, which carries it
up 10 the top of the mill and drops it
petWeen en-, great iron rollers which have
teeth like a round file These rollers
are about as big around as q. hogs
mead and about seven feet long. They
| are very heavy. They are so arranged
tnat an enormous weight is added to
| them by hydraulic pressure. and as the
! cane is drawn through them nv uaanq
OF the teeth catching the fibers this
! great weight presses the Juice out Of
II ana It comes out almost dry 1t is
now sprink1ed by means Of machinery
ana carried on to go through a second
palr OF rollers quite as heavy as the
| nrSt. Now the pith which is left CON
| tains as little water as a last wears
| corn stalk 1t is carried on from the
rollers upon another elevated railway
| and emptied into the enormous fur
naoes which run the machinery of the
| mill Wnen the stalks of cane left the
| cars they were very heavy. They were
as full of juice as a half-soaked
sponge is of water. They come out as
dry as tinder and you could light them
with a match.
RAIN OF SWEET WATER.
Come with me below the great roller
presses and see where the juice goes
TO- You see it pouring down in tor
rents from the lower parts of the roll
lers. 1t falls in the shape of a sweet
rain into trough about a foot wide.
| and this flows in a steady stream both
oay and night, as long as the mill is
! running, Put your finger in this
| water and take a taste of the LIQUID as
| 1t comes from the cane The fluid is
! or greenish yellow. It looks dirty.
1t reminds you of dish water and the
taste is almost sickening. Still, out
or that sweet, dirty water the pure,
white sugar must come. The water
however. 1n nh Nil GoI
bit OF dirt must be taken out of it. II
must be bleached until 1t is as clear as
crystal before it is ready for boiling
down into sugar
1t is first run into great iron tanks,
eacn holding 1000 gallons, and each
having pipes running through them.
4'hese pipes admit gas made of sui
| phuri which is blown about through the
| water The gas makes the juice bubble
ana yellow foam almost like soap
| sudS stands on its top. Lime is also
| put IN in order to settle the dirt on the
same principle as 1t is used in Clarity
! lnS water and at the same time the
| scum is SKINNED off. After this the
water having passed through several
| tanks, has become clearer and clearer
| and 1t is now ready for boiling.
! rms is done in great kettles or vats
| OF copper. These have steam coils in
them, and the sweet fluid Is soon
] raised to boiling heat. AS it seethes
brushed
| Oh Dy men with great wooden ladies'
! 1t flows from one tank to another.
| growing clearer and clearer and thick
! er and thicker. Taste it now! 1t is
| the purest of syrup, and it's cclor has
| become light yellow.
TAFFY FOR MILLIONS.
| Look at the syrup as 1t seethes in
| the tank! What an enormous amount
| there is of it! Follow it in those pipes
n ar1%xy TO {L,.of
look at the enormous vats which are
filed with the sweet fluid There is
| enough syrup here to give a whole state
| taffy-pulling. There is one big bar
rel which contains forty thousand
| pounds, and in which the syrup is boil
| ing and seething in the process of be-
! Ing turned into sugar. Come on to that
| great vat and see the half granulated
molasses which fills it. What a fine
| swimming tank it would make 1t is
| forty feet long, and so deep that if you
| fell in you would be drowned in the
sweet fluid. Take up a spoonful Of
| the mixture. 1t is now a sort of mush
| of sugar and molasses, and it only
needs the drying machine to take out .
the sugar. These separate the molasses
from the sugar, and If you will walk
on into that room over there you may
see the pure white grain falling down
from the ceiling in an almost endless
stream. You may see, also, two men
shoveling back the sugar in order that
1t may be evenly spread over the room
Their sleeves are rolled up and their
legs are bare to the knee. They stand
with their bare feet covered by the
warm, white sugar, and shovel it about
as though it We're sand. From here
the sugar Is barreled up ready for ship
ment, going almost directly from the
factory to the great wholesale houses
by which 1t is distributed over the
country.
MOLASSEs AT ONE CENT.
In the above I have used the word
molasS9s in some places where I should
have said syrup. There is a great diff
| ference between mOlasses and syrup.
Syrup is made from the fine juice Of
the cane. Molasses is the refuse from
the making of sugar. 1t contains the
poorest parts of the juice. 1t is not
free from the dirt, and it Is only al
lowed to remain in the state of molas-
ses when no more sugar can possibly
be squeezed from it. There are in this
refinery hot rooms filed with great jars
Of molasses, which are left for weeks
in order that they may granulate into
sugar. What remains after all the
sugar possible has been taken out Is
sold for one cent and upward per gal
lon. Cheap, isn't it? One cent gal
Ion for molasses. It is sold so cheaply,
in fact, that 1t does not pay to put it
in barrels, for the barrels would be
worth more than the syrup 1t contains,
SO it Is carried from one part of the
country to another in tank cars, like
coal OIL and Is bought largely In bulk.
There are, OF course, different grades
Of molaSses, and [ am told that much
New Orleans molasseS is made direct
from the cane, and, of course, brings (
much higher prices than the refuse Of
the sugar refinery
CHANGES IN SUGAR MAKING.
A great change, however, is going on
In sugar making throughout this
whole section. The sugar kings Of the
days before the war have disappeared.
The old sugar mill, which used to run
by horse power, is g. thing Of the past,
and the sugar of today Is produced
after as careful business methods as
those of making iron and steel A
great many men from the West East
and middle states have succeeded to
the ownership Of the sugar plantations
A number Of the estates have been
bought up by corporations, and the
great sugar landlords grow less in
number every year.
In 1890 there were twelve hundred
and seventy-four producers. am told
that there are now less than five hun
dred, and like all great business, the
sugar seems to be going into the form
Of a trust This is not so much in re-
gard to sugar planters as to sugar
makers. The big refineries all buy
cane, and the small planter Of the
future will sell his cane to the refin-
cries. A large part Of the Godchaux .
cane is purchased of small planters, {
and the managers Of the refinery here
told me that the planters were getting