The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-02-18
SAND FOR
OUR SUGAR
Phases of the War
Over Island
Refinery.

The Chronicle says: White sand to
the amount of fifty tons arrived here
yesterday from Marysville en- route for
Honolulu. 1t is to be used in the man
ufacture of sugar. Sand as a part of
sugar-making process is no new idea,
and MANY a careful housewife viii be-
gin to guard against Honolulu sweet
ening when she learns of enormous
shipments of grit that are contemplat-
ed. But there will be no insolubIe.
roughness in the product due to Marys-
vile, as the sand is to go, not into the
sugar, but into the process of its man
ufacture, in some mysterious way
known only to refners.
The discovery of the Marysville sand
bank is due to Edward P. Antron of
the California Promotion Committee,
and the expense of introducing it to
the Hawaiian Sugar Refining Company
is being borne by the Marysvine Cham
Der of Commerce.
The Examiner says; The situation in
the commercial war over sugar prices
is curious and interesting. 1t is all
due to one small refinery started by
the Honolulu Plantation Company, of
which Buck & Ohlandt are the chief
owners. This company has started a
refinery on the islands to handle their
some 10000 tons, but that is an insig-
nificant fraction of the Hawaiian crop,
which runs about 900 tons a year
Yet this threat of competition has kept
down the price of sugar in the local
market, while in New York both raw
and refined grades have advanced l
cent a pound or little more. The re-
suit is that since the war started the
Sugar Trust controlling the local mar
ket has lost something like 100000,
which would have been earned had
prices here been advanced in sympathy
with Eastern markets.
There is a good deal of feeling over
the matter and some old friendships
have been ruptured by the Introduction
of the competitive element. 1t is cur
rent gossip on the street that w. G..
Irwin, who at one time was closer to
Claus Spreckels than anybody, is no
longer persona grata in that quarter.
There does not seem to be any Sc
rious danger to the big trust from its
new competition, because the sugar
planters outside of the Honolulu Plan
tation Company have recently renew
ed their contracts with the Sugar
Trust. Under these contracts they are
bound to sell all their product for the
next four years to the trust
At the same time there is this preg-
nant fact to be taken into considera-
ton that planters can refine their raw
sugar at home on a much cheaper
basis than any refinery at long dis
tance. That is true, of course, only
in cases where the product is of con-
siderable volume. Refining sugar when
done at a distance from the plantation
involves a duplication of processes
which is avoided when the work is
done on the ground
THE Western Sugar Refinery" said
Mr.. Ehrman of the firm of Ehrman SS
Co. yesterday, lis losing about $500 900
a month by not advancing sugar prices
to the New York scale. That is an in
side calculation, because sugarlin New
York has advanced about 1 cent a
pound and there has been no change
in local prices. Usually prices on this
coast are higher than in the East.
The loss to the trust will amount to
something like 100000 a year on the
Pacific Coast consumption.
The Pacific Traffic and Commercial
Association, the combination of local
sugar jobbers, has virtually gone out
of operation since the war started.
The trust has withdrawn the rebate
given to its members, but Harvey D.
Loveland the manager, does not care.
Under his contract he was to be paid
$4,000 a year for five years and he
took the precaution to have $50, 900 put
aside and held in escrow from the first
rebates that We're paid. He will con-
tfnue to draw his salary regularly for
the five years.
The Chronicle says:
Professor George Colby, instructor
in the viticultural laboratory at the
University of California. is doing a
great service for the sugar-cane plan
tation owners in the Hawaiian islands.
He is at present working in Australia
From there he is sending a certain
parasite to the islands which is de-
stroying the famous leaf hopper and
thus preserving the sugar cane from
the ravages of this insect
The leaf hopper a stranger in this
country, made its appearance in the
islands two years ago and worked in
calculable damage on the young cane.
1t thrives on the young plant. and
where it does not kill entirely it stunts
the growth and the canes productive
qualities. Two years go the produc-
ton of raw material was estimated at
about 100000 tons As result of the
destruction wrought by the leaf hop
per-" the production gradually fell off
until last year it did not amount to