The Saint Paul globe., 1896-11-29

grow rapidly and from time to time
the dirt is thrown up to them. BY
August the plants are six feet in
| height. They grow on until the mid
| die of October, when they are ready
| for the making of sugar. Sometimes
| the cane is planted in the spring, but
! the growing it is much the same. the
new cane in all cases sprouting from
| the knots of the old. It takes an army
| OF laborers to raise sugar cane. and
| the harvesting it entails so much
work that all the negroes from miles
about are called into the service of
| the planters.
GANGS OF CANE CUTTERS.
During my stay here hundreds of
men have been cutting cane They
| work In gangs under overseers From,
tElrty to forty negro men and women
are In each gang. Each hand carries
a great fat knife, about as long as
ebutcher's clever 1t has a hook on the
end and a saw on the back The cane
as 1t stands in the field is from eight
to hfteen feet high. The pieces which
are carried to the sugar mill are not
! more than five feet in length The
stalks must be trimmed of their leaves.
They must be cut off at the top and
must be chopped off close to the
ground, as the best Of the sugar water
| is found IN the lower part of the stalk.
1t is wonderful how quick the cutters
do their work. AS they stand in the
fields they face what looks to be a solid
wall of cane, and they chop their wav
as it were, right through this wall
You see their knives flashing. Every
blow counts and they throw the stalks
into piles or rather windrows Of cane
clubs. As they work the overseer
watches them, and a tin1ezeeper goes
along beside them and sees that every
man and every woman is at work
The wages are very low They are
from 60 cents to 81 day, according to
| their skill, and are boarded on the
| plantation They sleep in cabins, a
| number of them lying on the floor and
getting their rest as best they can.
The hours are from daylight until dark.
and there are few stops. At che same
time that the cane is cut great carts,
drawn by three mules, are driven into
the field Another gang Of Iaborers
throw the cane into them and it is car
| ried off to the railroad track, which
runs through all parts of the planta-
ton. Here the cane is hoisted into the
cars by means Of a pulley, a whole cart
load being put into the cars at one
time. When a train load is ready the
engine carries 1t to the refinery, and it
Is turned into sugar
WHERE WE GET OUR SUGAR.
I spent some time in watching the
processes Of making sugar from cane
Nearly all the sugar made in the Unit
ed States comes from cane, and about
half the sugar used In the world is
of this nature. Within the past few
years vast amount Of sugar has been
manufactured out Of beets in different
parts of Europe and the United States
The most of our sugar, however, until
lately, came from cane. The product
now amounts to almost 1000 900 tons a
year. and Of this fully 250, 900 tons are
produced In the United States In
1894 the product of our cane sugar
amounted to more than 600, ,000, 900
pounds. and we imported that year al
most 1000. 600. 0e0 pounds Of cane sugar
additional. We paid in 1894 Sill 600 900
for the sugar we imported, and there
Is no doubt that with the improved
methods of making sugar here all Of
this could be raised in Louisiana and
Texas. Formerly the United States
paid bounty to the sugar producers
Since these have been cut off the bust
ness has dropped, and, at present, I
am told. there is no money in sugar
making. With a new bounty and q
moderate tariff our sugar industry
would boom, and this section Of the
United States would rapidly develop. 1t
takes an enormous amount to manage
one of these sugar houses The refine
ry here cost I am told, about $780,
900. 1t covers acres, and It's machinery
Is of the most expensive kind At
present 1t Is making sugar which sells
for between and 4 cents a pound,
and this Mr.. GOdchauxs s son, the man
ager, tells me does not pay the cost OF
running the mills, And still not a cent
is wasted. Every thing Is done on the
largest scale. There are no stops, the
cane goes into the mill looking like
corn stalks. and it comes out sugar
and molasses.
EIGHT HUNDRED TONS A DAY.
This refinery eats up 500 tons of cane
day, and each ton produces $50
pounds OF sugar. Think Of that! Out
OF this mill comes every day 10000
pounds OF the sweetening which In
used on eur table. A pound of table
sugar day is q good allowance for
the ordinary family. This factory
grsnda out enough daily to keep 130 600