The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-10-26

K. and L. Co.
The third annual convention of the
Sugar Mill Engineers at the Library Of
Hawaii was called to order by Chair
man Renton Hind at nine o clock yes
terday morning, and real work began
at once, without any preliminaries. The
frst report considered was that Of f.,
+. 5Bechert, chairman of the committee
on cane transportation and field ma.
chinery. ....- Z
Horace johnson explained, in an:
swers to a question that the portable
gasoline hosting engine used for haul
ing cane up out of the gulches either
operates cars or sleds. Renton Hind
DISCUSSED the zoology of engineering
by making a comparison of the work of
the caterpillars and oxen, the time ele-
ment being much in favor of the cater.
pillar.
Railroad Cheapest Transportation
c. B. Gage onened the debate on the
relation between the means of trans
portation and its cost, stating that in
all cases where the volume of cane per
acre is large railroads have been
found to be the cheapest. F. +.
Bechert agreed that the "yield per
acre has a good deal to do with it ~ an3
that the railroad is the best means fo'
handling cane where yields are large.
Mr.. Gage spoke of the lack of uni
formity of track gauges on the differ:
ent plantations. There is probably
more 36.ineh track than any other size,
On Kauai all, plantations but one use
nd hak haa
inch gauge. Other sizes are "a, 300
and "standard.
A. Mans Size Counts
"Where the laborers are mostly
small men, as they are in Hawaii, the
weight of the portable track sections
must be considered. Two men can
easily handle one section of 30-inch
track, but with SO inch there must be
three or four men. There is very little
difference in cost of construction of the
lines, In the grading that must be done.
or in length and cost of tires. The 10
Dor supply, or the average stature of
the labOrers, is really the controlling
factor.
$50 also with cane cars,' Mr.. Gage
said. "There are often all sizes on the
same plantation. 1t just depends on the
purpose they must serve--how wide 80
in, hes wide, or in some cases rs, and
even 90 inches. Metal ties are no long
er used in permanent track buiiding.
Fighting Rust and Decay
"Not enough attention is paid to
keeping the iron parts of cane cars
free from rust. At Linue all small
parts are galvanized. Mr.. Lynch
mentioned the Kahului railway meth
DDS. All iron parts of cars are cleaned
with the sandblast and paint is put on
with the spraying machine. Two men
working with these tools can overhaul
one freight car day where it used to
take four or Ave men week, he said
Mr.. Winter of Lihue said he cleans all
bolts with the "tumbling bars.
Every car is overhauled at the end of
each grinding season. He uses no
paint except in making joints. Renton
Hind said il would pay the plantations
to give more attention to the care Of
their rolling stock.
The engineers thought that automati,
coupling devices cannot be applied 10
cane cars without altering the entire
framing of the car body. Tracks are no.
smooth and it would be hard to get up
device that would work.
Plume That Works UP Hill
The Hind gg "dry aume' was given
considerable attention. The ''dry
Aume' is framed unit 20 feet lon9,
square trough holding an endless belt
carrier. Each unit has its own meteor
drive and the carrier runs at q speed
of 300 feet per minute. Tho units, com
lhete, weigh under 25O pounds or about
the same as length of fume. e.. T..
Wilson said that in u trial at Pahala
five lengths of "dry hume" took all
the cane five men could give out.
RentOn Hind said the inventors are
now building a half mile Of dry fume
to try IL out on a practical field basis.
The advantage claimed is that 1t will
fIume cane up hill, zig gag, at right
angles or in any direction, at any an
gle. In the test above referred to nine
men on Ave sections loaded cane at a
cost of nine cents per ton, all costs
counted. -. 49,.
Dor Problem Important
ut is a labor proposition, he
said. Just now we have plenty of
labor, hut the day will surely come
when the supply Is less satisfactory,
and it is well to begin 10 get ready to
meet some of the obvious difficulties
The chief trouble now is to get the cars