Cortland
Evening Standard, Tuesday, April 27, 1897.
PAGE TWO—EDITORIALS.
Beet Sugar.
Since the bill introduced by Assemblyman
Tupper of Broome county placing a bounty upon all beets raised in [New York]
state for the manufacture of sugar has passed the legislature and gone to the
governor for his approval the subject of beet raising has become of large
interest to all farmers. That the beet sugar industry is of growing importance
in our own country is shown by the steady increase in production.
Beet sugar was first made here in 1830, but
the quantity was limited to a few hundred pounds. From 1839 to 1862 none was
manufactured. From that year until 1887 the annual production was less than
1,000 tons, with the exception of 1879, when 1,200 tons were made. In 1888 the
production was 1,910 tons, in 1891 it was 5,359, in 1894 it was 20,443, and in
1895 it was 30,000. The estimated production for 1896 was 40,000 tons.
The estimated consumption of all kinds of
sugar in the United States is about 2,000,000 tons annually. The domestic production
of beet sugar, therefore, supplies as yet only a small part of the general
demand. But of late years there have been heavy importations from Europe,
Germany alone sending us 225,000 tons annually.
In fact the world's production of beet sugar
is now a very important item of the general supply. This is shown by the way
the deficiency in the exports of cane sugar from Cuba because of the war has
been made good. In three years the supply furnished by that island has fallen
from 1,000,000 tons to about 100,000 tons, and yet there has been no
appreciable deficit noticed in the total sugar production of the world.
There are now eight beet sugar factories in
operation in the United States, three of them being in California, two in
Nebraska, and one each in Virginia, Utah and New Mexico. Four other factories are
in process of completion, two of them being in California, one in Wisconsin and
one at Rome, N. Y. Besides these plants are to be established in Minnesota by a
company just incorporated at Minneapolis, which is said to be backed up by the
Chicago wholesale grocers' association. A factory worth $250,000 is to be built
at Hastings, and others will follow. Auxiliary associations are to be formed in
every county in Minnesota where the soil is adapted to beet culture. The
Northwestern beet sugar company with a capital of $600,000, most of it held by eastern
men, will establish a factory at Merrillan, Wis., which is expected to be built
by Oct. 1. It has secured a bonus of 25,000 acres of land in that vicinity.
The production of beets of high sugar
tonnage can be accomplished far to the south, but beets grown in such
localities are, upon the whole, less rich in sugar and less suitable for the
manufacture of sugar than those grown farther north. The best beet territory is
that through the center of which passes the isothermal line of 70 degrees Fahrenheit
for the months of June, July and August. This line, running through central New
York, south of Lake Erie and Lake Michigan and northwesterly through Wisconsin,
Minnesota and South Dakota, then turns south through western Nebraska and eastern
Colorado and New Mexico. The whole of California is included within the sugar
beet district. The total cost per acre of growing sugar beets is $59.50, based
upon the supposition that land is worth $75 per acre, labor $1 per day, the
yield fifteen tons per acre, and the distance to the factory not greater than
three miles. With the best machinery and the most economical processes it is
estimated that sugar can be made at a cost of not over 4 cents a pound, when
the price of beets does not exceed $5 per ton.
While the growing of beets for the
manufacture of sugar is likely to become an increasing source of profit to
farmers living in sections where they can be raised, this does not mean that any
farmer can be a sugarmaker. To quote from the report of the department of
agriculture:
The manufacture of beet sugar is an industry
entirely distinct from agriculture, and can only be successfully accomplished
by the investment of large capital under the direction of skilled artisans.
From the nature of the process, it is quite improbable that any simple method
of home manufacture of beet sugar will ever prove commercially successful. The
juices of the beet are extracted with difficulty. They contain large quantities
of mineral salts, which render the crude sugar and molasses made therefrom
bitter and unpalatable. Simple processes for the extraction of the juice can at
best remove only 60 to 70 per cent of the sugar which the beet contains, and
thus a percentage of loss is incurred, which at the very outset renders
impossible for a home apparatus to compete with a large factory. Beet sugar,
for the reasons given above, cannot be used in the raw state, as in the case
with the products derived from the sugar cane, sorghum and the maple tree. The
refining of the sugar is a process which requires an expensive outlay of
machinery and a high degree of supervisory skill. It cannot therefore be
accomplished upon the farm. The various schemes which have been proposed
whereby the farmer is assured of the possibility of preparing a crude product
to be subsequently shipped to a central refinery are not practicable on account
of the radical difficulties above outlined. The low prices at which sugar is
sold render imperative in the process of manufacture the most economical
methods, which are only made possible by the use of improved machinery operated
under the direction of technical experts. The farmers of this country, as is
the case with those of Europe, in respect of the beet sugar industry, must be
satisfied with acquiring the requisite degree of agricultural skill to produce
a crop of beets with a paying tonnage and a high content of sugar.
The growth of the beet sugar industry has been
attracting the attention of the refiners as a form of competition it will be
necessary in the near future to meet. Thus far, however, none of them are
interested in any of the beet sugar factories at present in existence, except Spreckles, who is talking of putting up one at Salinas City, Cal.
X-RAY
EXPERIMENT.
Curious
Effect Produced by the Action of the Light.
TORONTO, April 27.—One of the most
interesting cases ever reported in connection with the action of the Roentgen
rays on the human body is that of Stephen Smith of this city.
Some time ago Smith fractured his leg, and
on his recovery from the accident discovered that the leg was shorter than its mate.
He entered action against the doctors who had attended him, and resolved to submit
as evidence of unskillful treatment a photograph of the fracture as remedied.
Four experiments with the X-rays proved unsuccessful,
and at the fifth he exposed his leg to the rays for about two hours. He felt no
immediate effects from the lengthy exposure, but shortly afterward a large
blister formed and the flesh from nearly the waist to the thigh became angrily
inflamed.
As the blister in the center gradually died
away there formed a dark brown spot which became rapidly larger, until it was about
three and one-half inches square and of a peculiar gangrenous black.
By some of the medical gentlemen who were
called in to examine this totally unexpected result of an exposure to the X-rays,
it was stated that the skin, flesh, nerves, ligaments, etc., had been
completely destroyed in one particular spot where the light had pierced, while
other medical experts are not yet satisfied on this point and are following the
symptoms with anxious solicitude.
 |
| Edison's Projectoscope. |
The Projectoscope
Coming.
The people of Cortland will shortly have an
opportunity to see the greatest and latest invention of the wizard, Thomas A.
Edison, the projectoscope, a machine that puts life into pictures. This will be
one of the greatest attractions of this season. This marvel of the nineteenth
century will be brought here at a great expense and exhibitions will be given
for three nights commencing Wednesday, April 28. In connection with the
projectoscope, Foley's famous dissolving views will be presented, fifty in
number, making a performance lasting over two hours. This is for the benefit of
the Cortland Athletic association and will be held at Taylor hall. Admission 25
cents.
A NEW
POLICEMAN.
William
T. Nix Appointed by the Village Fathers Monday Night.
There was not a vacant trustee's chair at
the meeting of the village fathers when President D. E. Call called the
adjourned meeting to order last night,
A petition from Dr. Reese asking permission
to remove his barn a few feet eastward, which would bring it 15 or 20 feet
within the fire limit, was received and placed on file. Under the head of
complaints, Trustee Nodecker said that there was a pile of dirt on Hubbard-st.
that ought to be removed. He spoke of the crosswalk on Church-st. at Elm-st. as
being low and often covered with water, and declared that it was shameful for
the corporation to allow such a walk to exist. He thought the street
commissioner should put ten or twelve men at work on crosswalks and other work.
Trustee Wallace suggested that the street
commissioner was limited by the highway fund from doing a great amount of extra
work. Trustee Warfield said that one year a good deal of such work was done
early, and
that by the
middle of the summer the fund was exhausted.
Trustee Nodecker said that people all over
the corporation were complaining of poor sidewalks and crosswalks. He thought
the board ought to take some action, but the other members thought it better to
wait before taking action until the expiration of the sidewalk notice, May 1.
On motion of Trustee Wallace, Trustee Warfield was appointed a committee to
investigate the matter of purchasing flagstones for crosswalks.
Mr. Wallace moved that the board go into
executive session for the purpose of naming an additional policeman. The motion
was seconded by Mr. Warfield.
Mr. Nodecker said he did not think it necessary
for the board to go into secret session in the matter. He was not ashamed to
have the public know what he said and did. He said he had been accused of
leaving the previous meeting of the board on a "deal." President Call
did not think any member of the board had been a party to any such accusations.
Mr. Nodecker said he was a Democrat, was elected by Democrats, and was there to
show his principles.
President Call put the question and it was
carried by a vote of 8 to 1, Mr. Nodecker being in the minority.
The board in executive session audited the
bill of Sager & Jennings for blue vitriol at $22.50, and the clerk was
authorized to confer with Superintendent Mooney of the Traction Co.. and ask him
to come before the board and present a proposition for an all night electric
light service for one year.
An informal ballot for an additional policeman
resulted in W. T. Nix 8, O. Reily 1. The ballot was declared formal, and Mr.
Nix declared appointed.
THE
EXECUTIVE SESSION.
The executive session was of a stormy nature
if reports are true. The discussion which waxed hot was over the matter of
police appointments, and is said to have led to some quite sharp word sparring
between Trustees Nodecker and O'Leary. Trustee Nodecker, it is reported,
accused Trustee O'Leary of entering into deals and combinations in the matter
of police appointments, which accusation Mr. O'Leary denied in toto and in
emphatic terms, remarking when Mr. Nodecker said that he had such information
from a good men, that he did not care who those men were, but if they made such
statements to him they were speaking falsely.
It is said that in the course of the
discussion Mr. Nodecker remarked that just after the charter election, a great
many people were in sympathy with Mr. Warfield, because he was the only
Republican member of the board, but now he, himself, is the one who needs
sympathy as he is the only Democratic member of the board. It appears that the
rest of the board had little to say, and that when the informal ballot for policeman
was taken, Mr. Nodecker alone voted for Reiley, the other three voting for Nix.
BREVITIES.
—Geneva is preparing to celebrate its becoming
a city by a grand demonstration some night
this week.
—It is said that Mrs. Julia Dent Grant,
widow of the late President U. S. Grant, is trying
to secure a cottage on Cazenovia lake in which to spend the coming summer.
—The pupils in the Cortland public schools as
well as all the other schools in the county except the Normal are having
a vacation this week on account of the teachers' institutes.
—New display advertisements to-day are—T. P.
Bristol, Clothing, page 7; Wesson Mfg. Co., Bicycles, page 6; D. McCarthy,
Carpet News, page 7; C. F.
Brown,
Paint, page 7.
—Some Whitney Point people are consoling themselves
for their recent fire in the thought that it cleaned out a lot of old wooden buildings
which by their presence made insurance rates very high.
—There will be a meeting of the board of
governors of the Cortland Athletic association to-night at 8 o'clock. Business
relative to the race meet will be brought up and all members are specially
requested to be present.
—The D., L. & W. freight office has been
connected with the telephone exchange. There is also a telephone in the station
proper, so when you wish to talk with one office, do not ask the central for
the other, as the offices are in separate buildings.
—George I. Watson, the druggist at the
corner of Main and Tompkins-sts., has just placed in his store two new counters
to replace the large one. One of the counters is in front of the soda fountain,
and the other has a glass front and drawers in the rear. They were made by
George Reeves,
—We are requested to say that the
entertainment to be given by the Fortnightly club for the benefit or the Y.
M. C. A. at the home of Mr. T. H. Wickwire to-morrow night will begin at 8
o'clock sharp, and that all ladies who attend are urged to be prepared to
remove their hats, as the floor is not on an incline, but is level, the seats
will be placed close together, and the presence of hats large or small will
seriously interfere with the pleasure of those who do not sit in the front
seats.
McGRAWVILLE.
Crisp
Local Happenings at the Corset City.
Mr. and Mrs. George E. Gale and daughter
Marguerite of Binghamton are guests of Mrs. Gale's parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. H.
Ensign.
Page Benjamin of Cortland called on friends
in town Sunday.
Henry H. Palmer of Cortland was in town
Monday.
The McGrawville friends of Manager Murray of
the Homer ball team are sorry to learn that the result of the game on Saturday
has necessitated a change of air for him, so that he has gone to New York for a
week.
A Real
Live Ghost.
It seems that the mention in Monday's STANDARD
of the famous battle [McGrawville cemetery canon stolen by Homer boys on previous visit--CC editor] between McGrawville
and Homer in the olden time, interested one of the participants in that battle
for a ghost was discovered in the old cemetery on Monday evening. This ghost
did not seem to have any more sense than Mark Twain's ghost of the Cardiff
giant, for any ghost with common sense would not try to find his grave in the
old cemetery without a lantern and a search warrant, for it is filled with open
graves and piles of rubbish with the few remaining graves overgrown with alders
and briers.
This particular ghost it seems did not
succeed in finding the grave he was seeking for, as he escaped the shower of
stones thrown at him by those who seemed to have no respect for a poor foolish
ghost, but he may be more successful next time, as all the relics of war and
woodchuck times are being loaded to the muzzle for the purpose of assisting him
on his next attempt. We advise him to wait until the berry bushes are in
blossom so that appropriate flowers may be laid upon his grave, or at least
until the fishing season is over, so that his friends may have time to shed a
few tears over his untimely end.
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