Evening star., 1896-11-28


Lime is also put in in order to settle the
dirt on the same principle as 1t Is used
In clarifying water and at the same time
the scum 10 skinned Off. After this the
has become clearer and clearer, and 1t Is
now ready for boiling.
This is done in great kettles or watts Of
snd the sWese @ ad e Is soon soa ra,sea a 'se to
boiling heat. AS 1t seethes a scum rises
to the top. This is brushed of by men
with great wooden ladies'. 1t flows from
one tank to another, growing clearer and
clearer and thicker and thicker. Taste
1t now! 1t Is the purest Of syrup, and
Its color has become light yellow.
Tany for Millions.
Look at the syrup as 1t seethes in the
tank! What an enormous amount there Is
of 1t! Follow 1t in those pipes which carry
1t to the floor above. and look at the enor-
nous vats which are filled with the sweet
fluid. There is enough syrup here to give
whole state taffy-pulling. There is
one big barrel which contains forty thous-
and pounds. and in which the syrup is
bciifng and seething In the process of being
turned into sugar. Come on to that great
vat and see the half granulated molasses
1t 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. It Is now a sort
only needs the drying machine to take out
the sugar. These separate the molasses
from the sugar, and If you will walk on
INTO tnat room over there you may see the
pure white grain falling down from the CELL
ing 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
II were sand. From here the sugar is bar
relied up ready for shipment, going almost
directly from the factory to the great
wholesale houses by which it is distributed
over the country.
Molasses at One Cent n Gallon.
In the above have used the word mo-
lasses In some places where should have
said syrup. There is a great difference be-
tween molasses and syrup Syrup Is made
from the fine juice of the cane. Molasses
Is the refuse from the making of sugar
It contains the poorest parts of the Juice
1t Is not free from the dirt, and 1t is only
aiioWed TO remain In the state of molasses
when no more sugar can possibly be
squeezed from it. There are in this re
nnery hot rooms filled with great lars of
moiasses, 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 gallon. Cheap. isn't it? One
cheapiy. in fact. that it does not pay to
put 1t In barrels. for the barrels would be
worth more than the syrup it contains, so
II Is carried from one part of the country
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 sec
ton. The sugar kings Of the days before
tie war have disappear ed. The old sugar
mill, which used to run by horse power, is
thing of the past, and the sugar of to-
day Is produced after as careful business
methods as those of making iron and steel.
great many men from the west, east and
middle states have succeeded to the owner
snip OF the sugar plantations! number of
the estates have been bought up by cor
porations, and the great sugar landlords
glow less in number every year.
In 1880 there were twelve hundred and
seFehty-1our sugar producers. l am told
that there are now less than five hundred.
ana IKE all great business the sugar seems
10 De going into the form Of trust This
is not so much so in regard to sugar plant
ers as to sugar makers. The big refineries
all buy cane. and the small planter of the
future will sell his cane to the refineries.
A large part Of the Godchaux cane is pur-
chased of small planters, and the managers
or the refinery here told me that the plant
ers were getting all the money out of the
business. Now that Mckinley is elected.
there will probably be a movement organ
lied to put q bounty on sugar. If this is
done, the business will boom and prosperity
will come to Louisiana and other sections
where sugar Is raised
FRANK G. CARPENTER.