The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-01-26
looking like corn stalks. and it comes

pounds OIL sugar Think OF that, Out
OF this mill comes every day 10000
pounds Of the swcctening which is
used on our tables. A pound Of table
sugar day is u good allowance for
the ordinary family. This factory
grinds out enough daily to keep l20,-
900 families goiD. or more than
enough for the table use of one Of our
cities, excepting the largest ones.
The cane is not touched after it leaves
the car. 1t is thrown on to a movable
1t, or movable roadway, which car
li,s it UP to the top Of the mill and
d 'ps it between great iron rollers
which have teeth liz Il round file.
These rollers are about as big around
as a hogshcad and about seven feet
long. They are very heavy. Thcy
are so arranged that an enormous
weight is added to them by hydraulic
| pressure, and as the cane is drawn
through them by means Of the teeth
catching the Gbrcs this great weight
presses Tie juice GU: of i. end it
comes out almost dry. 1t is now
sprinklcd by means Of machinery and
carried on to go through second
pair of rollers quite as heavy as the
first. Now the pith which is left con-
tains as little water as last years
corn stalk. 1t is carried on from the
rollers upon another elevated railway
and cmpticd into the enormous fur
naccs which run the machinery Of the
mill. When the stalks Of cane left
the ears they were very heavy They
were as full Of juice as half f-soaked
sponge is Of water. They come out as
dry as tindcr and you could light
them with a match.
Come with INC 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
crs. 1t falls in the shape OF sweet
rain into trough about foot wide,
and this flows in steady stream both
day and night, as long as the mill is
running. Put your finger in the water
and take taste Of the liquid as it
comes from the cane. The fluid is Of
a grecnish yellow. 1t looks dirty. 1t
reminds you Of dish water, and the
taste is almost sickcning. Still, out
Of that sweet, dirty dish water the
pure, white sugar must come. The
water however, must first be clarified.
Every pit of dirt must be taken out Of
it. 1t must be blcachcd until it is as
clear as crystal before it is ready for
boiling down into sugar.
1t is first run into great iron tanks,
each holding 1000 gallons, aud each
having pipes running through them.
These pipes admit gas made of sui
phur, which is blown about through
the water. The gas makes the juice
bubble and yellow foam almost like
soapsuds stands OH it's top. Lime is
also put in in order to settle the dirt
on the same principle as it is used in
clarifying water and at the same time
tho sc'sna is skinned oiF After this,
the water having passed through sew
vcral tanks, has Become clearer and
clearer, and it is now ready for boil
ing
This is done in great kettles or watts
Of copper. They have steam coils in
them, ano the sweet fluid is soon
raised to a boiling heat. Asit scethes
scum rises to the top. This is
brushed off by men with great wooden
ladies'. 1t flows from one tank to
another. growing clearer and clearer
and thicker and thicker. Taste it
now! 1t is the purost of syrup, and its
color has become light yellow.
Look Mt tho syrup as it scethes in
the tank! What an enormous amount
there is of it. Follow it in those
pipes which carry it to the floor above,
and look at the enormous vats which
arc filled with the sweet fluid. There
is enough syrup here to give whole
State Il tatfy-pulling. There is one
big barrel which contains forty thous-
and pounds, and IN wl.;ch the syrui is
boiling and soethine III the process Of
being turned into sugar. Come on to
that great vat and sec the half granu-
lated molasscs which fills it. What
fine swimming tank it would make. 1t
is forty feet long; and so deep that if
you fall in you would be drowned in
the sweet fluid. Take up spoonful
OF the mixture. 1t is now sort of
mush of sugar and molassas, and it
only needs the drying machines to
take out the sugar. These separate
| the mOlnSens from thn o,,ro~ o,1 ;c