The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1896-01-23
THE DANGER IN SUGAR
Industry in Which the United
States Should Lead.
YET THE COOLIE TRADE THRIVES

Supported by American Consumers, lg-
norant of the Dangers to Which
They May Be Exposed.
Few people probably the world over
particularly in this active, vigorous
life. as they drop the little sweet crys-
falls into their tea and coffee, ever stop
to consider the origin of sugar, its GEN.
turies of use and improvement, Its en-
ormous factorship in trade channels
ramifying the complete circle OF the
globe, in almost every nation, OF every
CLINE, and the prodigious figures
reached in the volume of its manu-
facture and consumption. A brief
SYNOPSIS of the growth of this remark
able product might not prove unlnter-
esting to the reader hereof. Formerly
chemists called every sweet substance
sugar. The original habitat of sugar
cane has never been fully established,
but so far as known, was first cultivat-
ed in the country from China to Ben
gal, and did not reach the West from
India until a later date. The art OF
boiling sugar was known in Gangetic
India from which it was carried to
China during the first half OF the sew
enth century, but sugar refining was
not known, for the Chinese learned the
use of ashes for this purpose only In
che Mongol period and from European
visitors. Cane sugar was first analytic
ally made practical in 1910 by Fra
brizio Bartoli, who isolated the sugar
of milk and proved its individuality.
Not. however, until the 18th century
did Marggraf make the important dis
covery that the juices of beets, carrots,
ETC.. were identical with one another
and with sugar of cane. 1t is remark
able how the trade centers of sugar
have during the ages varied. Sugar
refining was developed by the Arabian
physicians. In the age of discovery
the Spaniards became the producers Of
sugar cultivation, being planted by
them in Madeira in 1420 carried to
San Domingo in 1894, and thence into
the West Indies and South America in
the 18th century, and from the duties
levied by Charles V, that monarch OBJ
tanned funds to build his palaces at
Madrid and Toledo. In the Middle
Ages, Venice was the great European
center of the sugar trade and toward
the end of the 18th century, it is re-
corded of a Venetian citizen being
awarded 100, 900 crowns for his inven-
ton of loaf sugar.
The earliest reference to sugar in
Great Britain is that of 1000 pounds
shipped to London in 1919 in exchange
for wool. At this same time the &C.
counts of the chamberlain of Scotland
show the payment of 1 shilling 81
pence per pound for sugar, or about
Az cents per pound in United States
money. Throughout Europe it con-
tinued to be quite costly luxury, be-
ing used for medicinal purposes only,
until increasing use of tea and coffee,
in the 18th century, brought it into
as it is today-the list of staple pro-
ducts. The first discovery of common
sugar in beet root referred to above,
was in 1747, by Sigmund Marggraf,
but no practical use of his discovery
was made until his pupil and success
soy, Franz Carl Achaed, in Silesia, in
1901, took up his sugar predecessors
work and established beet-sugar fac
tory, To show the phenomenal growth
of this product, the consumption of
sugar in Great Britain in 100 was
10000 tons; in 1900, upwards of 1907
900 tons, and in 1885, it had grown to
over 1850, 900 tons.
In Europe it is an industry of ma
tional Importance, especially in Ger
many, which nation controls an i'm
mense output. The worlds product a
few years ago was about 1,75O, 900
tons, the greatest consumers of which
are the Gothic and Teutonic stock, the
English and their offshoots being the
highest The output in Europe of beet
root few years ago was $4,000, 900
tons, and its product in sugar 1,811,-
900 tons. Crops range from five tons
of root per acre in Russia, to nine tons
in Germany, while in England it has
risen to twelve tons per acre. 1t takes
about fourteen tons of root per ton of
sugar generally in Europe, the proper
tion of saccharine matter being Z per
cent now, to 4 per cent twenty years
ap0