CANE SUGAR. 



. Fluming is a method of transport used to a very consider- 

 able extent in the Hawaiian Islands. A flume consists of a wooden gutter of 

 V section. The material used is pine lumber, 1 in. X 14 in., and for ease of 

 transport is made in 12ft. lengths ; vertical boards 6 in. high are fixed above 

 the gutter. It is supported on light wooden frame work, and ends directly 

 over the end of the conveyor carrying the cane to the crushers. The canes 

 are carried down the flume by means of a stream of water. In Fig. 95 is 

 shown a view of such a flume. Approximately 1,000,000 gallons in 24 hours 

 will flume 1 tons of cane per hour. 



Cane Unloading 1 . The problem of unloading the cane is a far easier 

 one than that of loading and has been successfully solved in many designs ; 

 the appliances used may be divided into those where the load of cane is 

 Jioisted bodily from the car, and those where the load is raked from the car. 



In the hoisting class, steel chains are placed across the floor of the car, 

 the canes being loaded lengthways across the chains ; when the car is in a 



FIG. 98. 



position to be unloaded the ends of the chain are pulled out by a hooked rod, 

 battens being placed along the sides of the car to facilitate this ; the ends of 

 the sling are then joined and attached to the wire rope of a hoist ; the load is 

 lifted and transferred by a travelling crane over a platform or hopper ; a pull 

 at a rope opens the attachment of the sling, when the load of cane is dis- 

 charged. This form of unloader has been used by the Link Belt Engineering 

 Co. of New York. In Figs. 96 and 97* are shown photographs of the 

 installations at Carracas and Francisco plantations, Cuba. In Fig. 96 the 

 canes in slings are shown ready to be dumped into the hopper ; the hoisting 



* See Plates XIII. and XIV. 



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