The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-02-03

/ by a man who knows all about such
things, and which / delivered before the
committee. without understanding
word I said, was all right The polar
iscope does all I declared It did, and I'm
/ glad you have an ample supply OF the
best"
SampIing and Testing Sugars.
Despite its Importance, the sugar room
does not contain so many weird look
/ ing pieces Of apparatus as the other
rooms The polariscope is a very simple
instrument in appearance.
The sugar to be examined is procured
/ by samplers, who go 10 the piers where
sugar ships are discharging cargo, and
with long, slender, tin tampllng tubes alb
/ stract half a pound or so from every
! hogshead or bag Of sugar in each cargo.
/ dumping each sample. as 1t is taken.
/ into a larger can standing on a rolling
/ crate holding sixteen cans. To each of
! these has already been affixed he proper
mari" as Smith, A"-indicating
the name Of the importer and certain in
/ formation about the Importation Some
/ times an entire cargo is assigned a Ger
/ tain mark" sometimes it will be divided
among several
The mark cans lock automatically,
and when all on n given truck are filled
| they are placed in the appraisers wharf
Office, which in turn is locked. so that
the cans may not be tempered with.
/ When enough cans have been filed with
sample sugar they are placed upon
| truck and hauled to the appraisers
stores. the truck in turn being locked In
| transit
/ Naturally a sugar importer somewhat
/ deficient in conscience would be willing
/ TO have the samples of his sugar show
/ a less degree of purity than the cargo
! actually contained, and there are tradi-
/ tons that sugar importers dock en-
/ ployes have been known slyly to slop
salt water into the samples. thus impair
/ Ing their sweetness. Such tricks are easy
/ Of detection. and would be suspected
! whenever the polariscope figures showed
/ less than 90.
Like all the other rooms in the ap-
/ praiser's laboratory. the sugar room is
/ strictly business. All day long the five
/ p0iariscopists and their assistants are
/ busy preparing the brown, rather dirty
| looking, raw sugar for the tests and all
| day long the five expert polariscoplsts
! are peering through the short range tele-
Z
/ cloth canopies 20 keep out all the light
! except that which is furnished by the
electric bulbs
Getting the sugar ready is no easy
/ task. First of all. the different samples
I of each mark must be mixed in order
| 20 find out as nearly as possible the
average quality. CuriOusly enough. no
mechanical device for sugar mixing has
/ ever been made that Will not impair the
sugars quality. Consequently all the
mixing must be done by hand. and this
/ is the severest kind OF manual labor.
/ It is done with the sleeves rolled TO the
shoulders, the arms being used as well
as the hands and so vigorously that
nearly every sugar mixer In the place
can show callous marks on the arms. At
a certain stage Of the mixing the sugar
I IS divided into quarters, three of which
/ are discarded. Then il is mixed again
again three-quarters are discarded and
/ then it is ready for the scientists. The
mixers not being scientists. they are, not
/ CHARTERED In the laboratory, but on the
floor below
In the sugar room a solution is made
| from each sample. II is then clarified
with a solution of lead and run through
nlterlng paper into gloss receptacles.
which are chemically clean when il is
3
animation each sample of sugar is her
metically sealed and preserved for a time
so that if question is raised as 10 the
correctness Of the rating it may be veri-
( fed by denomination
The metallurgiCaI samples are sent 10
the appraisers stores by the importers.
| They include low grade ores and pigs
OF various kinds OF metals mixtures Of
lead and silver, lead and anthony, &c.
The lead and silver pigs come from
Mexico mainly. Drillings are made from
several samples of each metal consign-
ment. These drillings are then mixed
and smelted so that a proper general
average may be obtained. After that the
chemical analysis is made and the result
reported 70 the appraiser. He fixes the
rate OF duty according to the percentage
of silver and OF lead. Type metal is
/ Analysed 10 ind the percentage Of anti
mony, or lead, and Of tin, and every i'm
portation Of composite pig metal must
| be subjected 10 the appraisers chemists
I befohe the rate Of duty which II shall
pay can be determined. Pigs not de-
| Clared composite are sometimes. examined
also. and sometimes found to contain
more valuable metals than the decIara-
u0ns indicate.
It Is astonishing to the outsider how
many kinds Of impOrtations must pass
through the alcoholic ward. as they some
times jokingly call the room where com
pounds containing alcohol are examined
/ They include all fruits and foods whose
preservative IS alcohol such as Mara
schino cherries, all varieties Of cordiaIs.
&c. as well as wines and liquors. When
such compound Is to be examined the
chemist takes from the sample bottle or
jar quantity Of the contents. pours
it into glass measure which has been
carefully standardized and then into the
little glass pot Of a beautiful little still.
nearly all the parts of which are glass
In principle the apparatus is exactly like
a whisky still. but it looks more like
scientific toy than anything else, be-
cause il is so small Before the liquid
under examination is distilled It IS gen
orally beautifully colOred, but the liquid
which driDs from the tiny worm IS as col
orless as water After il has been Sc
cured II Is a mixture OF water and al
cOhOl. The duty which must be paid is
dependent entirely upon the percentage
of, alcohol and this is arrived at by so
Weighing it as to discover its specific
gravity
A feature of the general room is the So
called chamber Of horrors. You would
never be able 10 find il from its appear
ance. 1t is nothing more nor less than
a set Of shelves between two windows,
but the contents OF the shelves. on
which are ranged a collection OF odd bot
ties and packages, have caused the wise
men of the laboratory good deal OF
trouble These things have been brought
TO them with all sorts of impossible
questions. There is one sample of castor
oil. Il was accompanied by a demand
that the chemists inform the questioner
how many castor beans had been con-