Arizona republican., 1909-06-15
OPENING WAS AUsP|CI0Us
Mill in Perfect Order and the ! Beets Equal the Highest Expectations--Smiles of the Operatives Betoken Incom- parable Success.

Promptly at one o'clock yesterday afternoon operations were commenced at the Glendale Sugar factory As the first of the beets were sliced and were being sent through the first processes of the sugar making the old beet sugar men from Colorado and the mill superintendent of the Southwestern Land and Sugar com pany, who has had charge of the work in seventeen different sugar mills, took out handfuls of the beets and observed them. On each of the mems faces there appeared an ex- pansive smile which grew and grew and according to all reports is still growing. for the beeLs are among the finest that any of them have ever seen, and there was no hesitancy on the part of the men who have been engaged in the business for years in saying so. The Salt River valley is an unsurpassed if not an unequaled country for the production of the sugar beet. MT Davie said that in no place where he had ever been had the outlook been better for a complete success.
 The slicing of the beets was be- gun at 1 o'clock and there were many tons of beets in the chutes at the beginning of the operations. Some of the beets were small but solid, the major portion of the lot. however, being of good size. W. J. Murphy had a six mule team which he had just purchased for the purpose en- gagged in hauling beets to the fac tory. The beets which were being brought from the Murphy place near the factory were all of large size.
 Two automobiles carrying business men of this city went out to witness the opening of the mill and many other visitors came during the course of the afternoon to see the mill in operation.
 At present the mill, being new is not being worked up to the limit of it's capacity, which is 500 tons a day, but a little later, when the new ness has worn off, the plant will be run at its full capacity. Two shifts of one hundred and ten men each will be worked from the beginning. The crew are competent and ex- perienced. all having been employed in the work in other fields. Ar engagements had been made for all of the labor before the opening of the season, and there will be no dearth of men at any time during the campaign, which this season will probably continue for two months. About six hundred men will be em- ployed in the field.
 In the tests of the beets which were run yesterday there was found to be an average saccharine com ponent of 16.6 per cent. The price being paid for the beets at the pres ent time Is s4.75. Next year a large ly increased acreage will surely be planted to sugar beets and Mir. Davie is already contemplating plant ing so that the factory can make two campaigns, one beginning in April and the other in September. Under such a system the factory would work for about six months of the year.
 During the season the new indus try will release quite an amount of money in the community More than quarter of a million dollars will be paid out for the beets, and the amount which will be disbursed for labor and supplies will bring the total up to about $40O.OO0. Already a quarter million has been spent in fixing up the factory.
 The first white sugar from the plant will be turned out tonight, al- though the refining of this first
 
 ond time in order to remove any impurities which may be present be- cause of the newness of the ma chinery. However, the first sugar will be ready for shipment this week.
 The success of the Southwestern Sugar and Land company means much to the people of Phoenix and to the Salt river valley. This year the fac tory has planted, or has secured plant CTS. for between four and five thou sand acres of beets. In case of the success. which the season is almost sure to be, there will be a greatly in creased acreage next year. With the development of the industry there will be room in the valley for another or probably two or three other plants as large as the existing factory. These factories drawing their raw material from twenty or thirty thousand acres of land and paying back to the grow CTS millions of dollars a year. and al most half as much to laborers and for supplies, will furnish the valleys strongest industry and one of it's best financial assets.