BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 314, 29 May 1888, Page 3

BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY.

By J. Salatnay

ESTIMATED RETURNS AND EXPENDITURE OF A FACTORY IN NEW ZEALAND. {Continued.) 4. Labor. —The number of hands required to manipulate the respective apparatus und machines will be the following:— Beet root store-house and hydraulic transporter ~ .. .. .. 3 Washing machine and elevator .. 1 Beet root slicers 1 Diffusion battery, consisting of 11 vessols .. ~ .. .. 3 Removing and storing, etc. exhausted slicos .. .. .. ..5 First saturation, consisting of 5 pans 4 Second do do do 3 do 3 Third do do do 2 do 2 Lirno-liiln, etc 5 Filter presses (10) for three saturations 8 Juice reservoirs and calorisators ... 1 Evaporating station ... 1 Fourth saturation (2 pans), raalaxator and filter presses ... 3 Vacuum pan ... ... ... ... 1 Malaxator and centrifugal sugar separators .. .. 8 Storage of sugar ard molasses .. G Steam generation (S boilers) .. .. 5 Engines and pumps attendants .. 4 Total G 4 The operations in the factory are carriedon continuously day and night, with only short interruptions in the morning, noon, ovcning and midnight, so that two shifts of hands are required per 24 hours ; the abovo number—o4 —includes only the laborers of one shift, and has therefore to be doubled to give the total number of hands required at the machinery in continuous work—l2B. Besides these, a number of laborers are at work in the daytime only—viz : Storing the beet in silos, &c., .. 15 Keeping clean tho factory premises, and general hands .. .. .. 5 Chemical laboratory .. .. .. 2 Yard laborers .. .. ..10 Total 32 The grand total of laborers, therefore, will be 1 GO, of which at least 15 may bo intelligent boys, while five (i.e., two diffuudants, one satuvant, one evaporator, and one vacuum sugar boiler) are skilled men, who would have to be imported from Europe or America. But I will consider them all alike, and take 7s Gd as the daily wage, tho difference in tho cost of skilled hands being about made up by the lessor amount of daily wages paid to boys. On tho basis of a working “campaign” of 100 days, the total amount paid in laborers’ wages therefore will be: 100 x IGO x 7s Gd = LGOOO, which sum tho reader will find under the heading of “ labor ” in the schedule of expenses, and I think that everybody will admit the fairness of these calculations.

V. Management. —Tho L 2380 for this item are compiled as follows : One general technical manager at a salary of .. .. £SOO p. a. Two technical assistants (L2OO each) 400 ~ One technical assistant .. 150 ~ Ono book keeper and clerk .. 200 ~ One oflico assistant .. .. 180 ~ Ono engiuo and machinery superintendent ~ .. 200 ~ One smith and one carpenter.. 300 ~ Laborers 500 ~

Total as abovo .. £2380

Of tho persons enumerated, the technical stuff, i.e., tho inuTing-er, tllQ three assistants, and tho machinery »upa„mmudent, must necessarily bo thoroughly acquainted with all the important niinutiie incident to the beet sugar manufacturing process, and would therefore havo to bo imported. They would be readily obtainable at tho salaries just mentioned, it must ho mentioned that tlio managing staff always live at the factory, where dwellings arc provided for them. They arc also supplied with free fuel and light. The item of LOGO for laborers is intended to cover the wages for work done during the months wD u the factory’s operations are suspended. For such purposes European maffitocturers generally keep the “ s “ lllccl hands,” i.e., thoso entrusted , tUe principal apparatus, so that tlP 1 ’ services may bo retained from one / ClU ' to the ° l G^ls'aad ricf>. —Under heading I comprise all expense' connected with lighting, insurance, 3tal taxes, internal revenue, offices, h-f “W, tools, commissions, cartage’ sugar, and barrels for in/ 88 ??’ iUld 0 expenditure. * UI al i°™e of LiOOO for such like will bo ample " i)enr/ la '' 0 "‘~allowed 10 pier 1 ' .• A cost of buildings and pliant to ? cu ...i off for depreciation and inaintonano' Lo ” 00 ’ Undoubtedly, this . - ,xccss ox tho actual requirements, v substantial portion of this sum can to various financial transacts, such as tho establishing of a sinlcpg, or reserve fund, or to reductions of tho invested capital, etc. 8. Review of the Expenses — Calculating from the above the total expenses per one ton of the beet roots consumed, wo find them amounting to Ll ISs Gjd. It will be interesting to compare this figure with Statements made in this respect by two authors, ono of whom I quoted on a previous occasion, viz: Mr E. B. Grant in his American book on tho manufacture of beet sugar, details the working expenses, otc,, and from theso I calculate the cost at Ll 12s od per ono ton of beet roots (Mr Grant bases bis calculation upon a factory working up 24,000 tons of beet in loOdays ; his rate of wages is 1.75d011. (7s per day), and tho cost of beet 4dolls. (16s per ton). Mr Baruchson (whoso statements of expenses and returns I find in .Sir Julius Vogel’s report on the sugar beet, 1S70) takes 20,000 tons of beet roots (at lGs per ton) as tlio factory’s consumption, his total oxpcnscs amounting to L 35,200, and from this they calculate at Ll 10s Tld per ton of b*et sugar worked up. The cost, then, of converting ono ton of beet roots into sugar, as calculated by myself (Ll 18s Old), exceeds theso two statements by Gs Id and 7s lid re-

spcotively, which clearly indicator that my figure includes a fairer allowance for expenses ; and this will appear all the more prominently, if wo take into consideration, that the two gentlomou mentioned, compiled their estimates at a time when the manufacturing machinery and process were not so perfect as they are to day, and that tho number of laborers required thou, exceeds the present number by, at least, 30 per cent.

(To be continued.)