The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-18
GEORGIA CANE is ALL RIGHT.
PROF. STUBBs' ANALYSES ARE
VERY SATISFACTORY.

markabIe High Average of Sugar
Content and other Good Qualities.
Capt. ID. G. Purses Account of His
Trip to Louisiana and the Results
of His Investigations There-MiIi
Men Are Ready to Transfer Mills
TO Georgia If Assured of a supply
of Cane.
Capt. d. G. Purse returned yesterday
| from New Orleans. He has been gone
nearly two weeks with a party of Geor-
glans and Floridians investigating the SUI
| gar industry in Louisiana, and obtaining
information which there is good reason to
believe viii lead to the establishment OF SUI
/ gar mills in Georgia. The other members
of the party returned home after three
days in New Orleans and its vicinity, but
Capt. Purse put in ten days in louisiana
and informed himself thoroughly on the
sugar mill question.
| Our visit attracted more attention in
Louisiana than it did in Georgia" said
Capt. Purse. I'VE We're received with
open arms and given an ovation wherever
we went. We were given every opportu-
nifty to obtain the information which we
desired and every courtesy was extended
to us The Louisiana sugar people well
come this movement on the part of Geor-
gta and Florida and they evidently re-
garded our visit as the beginning of de-
velopment in the sugar industry which
viii place Georgia and Florida in close
touch with Louisiana, and thus strength
en- the hands of all engaged in the indus
| try.
"Our party consisted of Prof. j. b.
! Wight of Cairo, Capt. G.. r. McRee of
| Valdosta, Mr.. Young McRee of Valdosta,
Messrs. w. w. GUNNER and s. B. Hubbard
of Jacksonville, Capt. T. J. James of AID
rian, and Mr.. 3. f. Finney and myself of
! Savannah. Capt. James was accompanied
| by his wife and daughter. AL
though we started from widely
separated points we all met in
! Montgomery and left that city for New
! Orleans in the same sleeping car Arriv-
ing at New Orleans Thursday morning we
spent the day with Prof. Stubs at the ex-
| pertinent station, going through
his complete laboratory and having all the
processes through which the cane is put
explained to us. The next day we spent
in visiting the plantations, choosing pre-
ferably the smaller plantations as being
more akin to what we would be able to
| undertake here. We were sumptuously
/
Gibbs Morgan, whom we found grinding
27j tons of cane daily. This is con-
sidered a small mill now. We next visited
the plantation of Mr.. Edward Sarpey,
where we found a mill grinding 400
tons daily. We also passed in re-
view a number of the larger plantations.
| Saturday we visited the Cotton Exchange,
the Board of Trade and the Sugar FIX
| change. Much attention had been given
| 10 our visit by the newspapers and we
were warmly welcomed everywhere. At
the Sugar Exchange we were royalty en-
| tertained and champagne flowed like
| water The sugar people made Ii plain
| that they were exceedingly anxious for
| Georgia to take hold Of the business and
| demonstrated a willingness to give us
| every encouragement. Saturday afternoon
we visited the large and extensive plants
of the manufacturers of sugar house ma
chinery. We found them ready to lend us
every assistance and arrangements were
made for estimates on the cost of different
| sized mills"
The other members of the party let for
| home Saturday night, but Capt. Purse
had only begun his Investigations. He
| spent Sunday and a part of Monday in
Calcasieu parish, in the center of the rice
| growing section. He found that rice plant
ing is conducted on a cheaper scale there
than in this section, but the planters are
| not so careful and their plantations are
overrun with the red or volunteer rice,
| which the planters are finding il quite ex-
| pensive to get rid of. Returning to New
| Orleans Monday, he spent a day or two
| in gathering general information, spend
ing some time at the experiment station,
| where Prof Stubs was completing his
analyses of the sixty-nine samples Of
| Georgia cane recently received by him.
Wednesday was spent in visiting the large
| sugar plantations of Grammercy and Ken
i, III 4 n
| tons of cane daily. These mills are the
| equal of any, not only in this country,
| but anywhere i'm the world, having been
| equipped with all of the most modern ma
| chinery and without regard to cost. The
| Grammercy mill is estimated to have a
capacity of 100000 pounds of raw sugar
| daily. AS a guarantee against any trou-
BILE, with the trust the Grammercy mill
| is now erecting a nine-story refinery, at
| cost of $500 600, the wheels of which
| may never turn. The tendency in Louisi-
ana is now in the direction of large mills,
which are also buying up the plantations
| around them. These plantat tons are rar1-
| flied with lines of rail and tram roads aad
cane is brought from considerable dis
| tances by rail.
The change in the methods of doing bus
mess in Louisiana is Georgia's opportuni-
| ty, Capt. Purse thinks. Small mills would
necessarily have to be used in this state
!
mills is the obtaining of a sufficient supply
of cane to keep them in operation during
| the grinding season, which lasts about
| fifty days. One prominent sugar planter
informed Capt. Purse that he had a 300
| ton mill which he was ready to transfer
to Georgia to any point where he could OBJ
tain a guarantee of 6,000 tons of cane the
first year. 1900 tons the second year, and
| IS, 900 tons the third year. and at the end
| of that period would be willing to sell the
mill at it's original value when first erect
| ed here. Capt. Purse was convinced from
| what he learned in Louisiana that there
will be no difficulty in securing any num-
| Der of similar offers, the only question be-
| ing the assurance of a sufficient supply of
| cane to keep the mills in operation.
Capt. Purse brought back with him
sample of sugar house sugar, produced at
| the mill, which is as nice graduated ar
| ticle as anyone could ask for. The Louis
lana mills operate for the most part in
| dependently of the rehneries, their improv-
ed machinery enabling them to produce a
| granuated article Of good appearance. The