THE GUANICA CENTEAL, PORTO RICO.^ 



Guanica Central Factory, which is the property of the South Porto 

 Kico Sugar Company, is situated on the southern side of that island, 

 and its operations extend from Mayaguez, on the western side, to Amelia, 

 an estate about 10 miles east of Ponce, on the eastern side; that is, 

 a distance of about 80 miles. The factory is near the middle of the 

 district, being 40 miles from Mayaguez and 40 miles from Amelia. 

 The canes are taken to the factory mainly by the American Eailway 

 Company's line; in addition, the South Porto Kico Sugar Company 

 possesses about 13 miles of a similar gauge (1 meter) to that of the 

 American Railway Company. 



On each estate are loading stations at which the canes are weighed; 

 they are taken to the loading stations by trucks drawn by oxen, running 

 on permanent and portable tram lines, and by ox carts. Each cane 

 wagon holds from 15 to 18 tons of clean canes, and is divided into two 

 compartments. During the day and night, Sunday included when neces- 

 sary, these wagons are collected and taken to the factory by the railway 

 engines. On the funnels of these engines a special form of mushroom- 

 shaped spark-arrester is attached, to prevent the ignition by sparks of 

 the fields of sugar cane along the line. Some of these engines take to 

 the factory at one time as many as 450 tons of cane. At the factory a 

 small locomotive is kept for removing the empty wagons and putting 

 filled ones into their places. 



In addition to a number of estates belonging to the company and 

 leased by it, from which something like 1,000 acres is cropped, canes 

 are purchased from independent growers, known as colonos, or, as they 

 would be termed in the British West Indian Islands, cane farmers. 

 These colonos, as well as the estates which are worked separately from 

 the factory, are credited with from 5^ to 6 per cent of the weight of the 

 sugar extracted from the canes, according to the quality of the juice, 

 and paid for on its value in the New York market at the time of its 

 manufacture. 



The wagons containing the canes are drawn one at a time into the 

 mill house by a cable attached to a drum of an electric winch. Chains 

 suspended from a strong beam are passed along the inside of the wagons, 



* From the International Sugar Journal, vol. 13, No. 149, May, 1911. 



75 



