The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-05-22
SUGAR MILL

As for the mill itself. how shall the
feminine mind dare attempt any de-
scription Of that huge mass OF maChin-
cry that seems almost infinite in it's
power and wisdom? From the moment
great belts with iron teeth seize the
freshly cut stalks from the little cars
and fling Il into moving trough that
lifts II steadily into the mill. until the
not. damp brown sugar comes pouring
into bags through twenty iron mouths.
no human hand touches the material
and no one can hardly believe that any
merely human brain has had anything
% do with the wonderful process. 1t
is certainly the most intelligent ma
chine / have ever met.
You wonder why II confines itself
exclusively 10 making sugar. Tor II
seems - omniscicut you are sure IL Is
quite Capablc-if IL rearranged a few
screws AMI levers-of turning out "a ma
W. q troussctu. or a perfected scheme
OF colonial government. Here Is a great
grinder feeding Itself rcicutlessly with
the helpless green stalks. rolling and
crushing the pulp until the last minute
drop OF Juice has been extracted and
Seut rushing on on its long Journey
among the steam pipes. while with an
economy truly gratifying to the Yam
kec conscience. the dry chan is deity
eurptied into the furnace room to pro-
vide fuel for the roaring fires under the
great boilers.
You follow that hot stream OF sweet
water through processes that produce a
stuitifying effect on your brain. You
feel yourself commencing to granulate
long before you see those whirling
grains beginning TO be apparent. Here
IL Is cut with lime TO remove the acids.
there boiled in great watts. over and
over-thsn passed on through huge
svaporators where the water Is separa-
ted from the molasseS and sent off To
lrrigate the fields again in n way that
makes you feel as IL you were at last
seeing n man lift himself over a fence
by his boot straps. There Is more boil
ing ard there are vacuum pans where
begins and eventually Il
appears that you turn molasses into |
sugar by shaking IL as Alice turned the !
Looking Glass queen into n Kitten. |
Some one murmurs in your ear Stats |
les about fertilizers and tons and gal !
ons and per cents. and centrifugal |
processes. and gradually you observe |
hat the syrup Is thickening and dark !
ming and graduating. until by what 1
seems superhuman processes. that clear !
brook OF hot water is turned into great 1
,ags fun Of soft brown sugar. II is very /
wonderful. but not. perhaps. very appe-
iZing. There are moments when you l
loubt II you will ever put sugar on
iour oatmeal again. but you change |
'our mind when they give you a bit to
aste before the bag Is sewed UP. II is
'ery hot and sticky and sweet in a SUI
.ar mill. and there are few impressive.
Japanese standing about.
apparently for the pleasure OF watch
ng the wheels GO round. for the ma
hincry knows its own business far too
veil TO need assistance OF any sort.
In fact. the whole process seems so
OF mere human effort |
hat you feel 10 is impertinent To try TO
IL. even. and 90 decide that
he next time you visit the Hallidays
nd Rollo's mother puts a lump OF SUI
ar into his cambria tea. you will con-
cal from the omniscient Mt. Halliday
he fact that you have been 20 Waia-
IA. for after all. u is much more com
ortabie 20 let men explain things.
OTHER PLEASURES.
But there are other pleasures besides
lecharical ones ut Waialua. You can
lander for hours along the beach
a surf that curls into trans
iceut blue combs instead OF our At
,ntic green ones-you can pick up
helis and fragment. Of shells. pink.
'hite and purple. that seem TO have
rifted here from New England mantel
ieces. You can watch chestnut brown
alive men diving for drift wood In the
rest waves. tossing the occasional ind