The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-08-04
Beets, Politics and Progress
BY Byrd lregO
CHAPTER XII.

gates are changed to make the water
and beets flow right out on the
bridge and start out across the yard
high in the air. There are turnouts
all along the fulilength of the bridge
and they are opened or closed to
steer them out at any desired point
As they leave the steel canal they are
strained and the beets are dumped
thru on space and the water is drawn
thru into another that leads it back
thru another set of steel canals few
feet below the others with the beets
in, and the water is saved to be used
again in another process. Note that
the water is used twice. If it were
only made to do one job, then the
cost of that job would be practical
ly doubled Or, to state it the othd
way, using it the second time splits
the cost Of the first operation nearly
at the middle. That is what people
call efficiency, and it may be ap-
piled to vast number of things
1t is efficient to have the water carry
the beets instead of having it done
by gasoline or steam power or by
man power picking them up one at
a time and throwing them over into
the yard. Taking man-power as the
simplest and most expensive way, it
was considered a step for greater
economy or greater efficiency when
a trestle was built and teams hauled
the loads up to be dumped in and
then by man-power they were raked
back sidewise into the yard 1t was
another step in efficiency when the
belt system was devised, like they
have at the Shelley factory, to do
it by running belts with gasoline or
steam power. But water is a
cheaper power than either of the
others, and all the time it is carrying
the beets along it is cleaning them.
Where Water Comes From
The water for this process comes
from a deep well at the factory, and
is lifted by pump operated by low
steam pressure after the steam has
been used once to turn the great
generators that create electricity for
the individual motors / am going
to tell you about. So you see the
steam is used twice and the cost of
making electricity is reduced by the
fact that the steam is caught while
still at second pressure and made
to pump. Or, stating it the other
way, the cost of pumping is split in
two by the fact that the steam has
already been charged with the task
of making electricity. And even
after the steam has done these two
jobs it is still caught and kept at
a moderate pressure and made to
do, think, seven other tasks before
it loses its heat and force. That
makes nine times the steam is
worked, or nine times the cost of a
given task is split and reduced. |
am writing this from memory and
| may make mistakes in the number
of machines and places where it
works before it gets down so low
as to be worthless. But will pick
up that steam again at the third
stage and show you what it does
later on in the process of sugar maxi
ing. We have not arrived yet at
the entrance of the factory, but what
/ have mentioned regarding effici-
ency on the outside, is repeated in
many forms and phases all thru the
institution, so you begin to appre-
ciate what l meant when I told you
tbs Rigby factory is a very modern
institution. You can begin to see
that where they conquer the steam
and make it work eight or nine
times. the same degree of thoroness
applied to other things will elimin-
ate (cut OUT vast amount of
waste, both in labor, materials and
sugar loss. Those bridges, for in
stance, that I told you about, that
carry the steel canals to carry the
beets out over the yard, those
bridges have to be moved sidewise,
and they do not have men go out
with handspikes to pry them over
they are on such smooth tracks and
are so coupled up with automatic
machines that they move at the
touch of the man in charge. The
electricity, you know, made with
the steam, operates the individual
motors about the place to do just
such work as that and to do it
quickly and perfectly at the desired
instant. Now let me slip you very
significant thought.
''Will Never Turn Wheel"
s If you had lived near Rigby and
had invested a thousand dollars in
capital stock of the Beetgrowers
Sugar company, and had never seen
any such machines as that for hand