754 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Glucose Factory Failures. 



In these factories more than a mil- 

 lion dollars are locked up. As the 

 price of corn is high and the produc- 

 tion of glucose is in excess of the de- 

 mand there is a proposition on foot to 

 consolidate the factories, and thus 

 prevent competition, so as to make 

 the product pay. A meeting was 

 called at Davenport, Iowa, and the 

 proposition for consolidation was well 

 considered, for there was a session of 

 three or four hours, and at last it was 

 referred to the Board of Directors with 

 power to act. 



Of course there are several glucose 

 manufactories which are failures, so 

 greatly encumbered that they are not 

 worth the amounts loaned on them — 

 and these will not be accepted in the 

 consolidation, although the creditors 

 r are making frantic efforts for admis- 

 sion into the scheme. 



The Davenport Democrat, in giving 

 an account of a recent meeting of the 

 stockholders of the Davenport Glucose 

 Works, states that the business has 

 reached a peculiar crisis. Because the 

 glucose works at Buffalo, New York, 

 proved profitable, a multitude of glu- 

 cose companies were organized in the 

 West and hundreds of thousands of 

 capital were put into buildings and 

 machinery, and now the proprietors of 

 these factories, with only three or four 

 exceptions, are dissatisfied with their 

 experiments, which have proven losing 

 investments. There are thirteen in 

 number in the West, besides the works 

 in Peoria and Leavenworth, which are 

 owned by the Ilamlins, of Buffalo, N. 

 Y. The Davenport Democrat gives 

 the following statement of the present 

 condition of the several companies 

 named : 



Davenport works— capacity, 3,000 to 

 3,500 bushels of corn per day, shut 

 down two weeks ago, that the present 

 proposition might be considered : will 

 resume operations in thirty days, 

 ■whether the consolidation is affected 

 or not. 



The Des Moines, Iowa, and Sage- 

 tov^'u, Illinois, works have proved fail- 

 ures, sinking all the capital invested. 



Marsha lltown, Iowa, works, after 

 having used up §2.50,000 capital, are 

 being enlarged from 1,500 to 3,000 

 bnshel capacity for profitable working! 

 The stockholders have never received 

 a cent of dividend. 



Eockford, 111., capacity 1,500 bu.shels 

 per day— heavily encumbered and idle. 



Geneva, 111., capacity 800 bushels 

 per day. Idle — failure. 



Freeport. Ill, capacity 3,000 bushels 

 per day. Idle, with 7,000 barrels of 

 syrup on hand. Resumption of oper- 

 ations improbable. 



Iowa City, Iowa, capacity 1,500 bush- 

 els per day. Shut down because of 

 dull tiade. Profitless so far. 



St. Louis, Mo., capacity 2,000 bush- 

 els per da)'- idle. 



St. Joseph, Mo., capacity 1,000 bush- 

 els per day— working occasionally as 

 there may be demand. 



Danville, 111,, capacity 3,000 bushels 

 per day— shut down because of dull 

 trade. 



Tippecanoe, Ohio, closed for repairs. 

 The only really successful works in the 

 West, outside of those owned by the 

 Ilamlins, and the Davenport works. 



Peoria, 111., capacity 3,000 bushels 

 per day — idle. 



The factories of the Ilamlins — two 

 in Buffalo, one in Peoria, and one in 

 Leavenworth, having an aggregate of 

 20,000 bushels per day — are in opera- 

 tion, but selling the product at a very 

 unremunerative price. 



The Firmerick works, in Buffalo, 

 are refining works— for the purpose 

 of making sugar out of corn starch for 

 mixing with real sugars for table use, 

 use 6,000 to 8,000 bushels of corn daily. 

 The great works being built in Chica- 

 go, capacity 15,000 bushels daily, con- 

 template the same business* 



Tliere are big works near New York 

 — owned by Duryea and Booth & Ed- 

 gar—having an aggregate capacity of 

 10,000 bushels daily, in operation. 

 Will not enterconsolidation, but make 

 combination with the consolidated 

 companies. 



The works at Kansas City, Mo., and 

 Wheeling, VV. Va., were built for re- 

 fining by the dry process. They ab- 

 sorbed $100,000 each, and are dead 

 failures. 



Detroit works, capacity 3,000 bushels 

 daily— are idle. 



The above is the results of the rush 

 of many men to get rich, even if they 

 had to sell their manhood to do it. We 

 are heartily glad that corn is too high 

 in price to allow its conversion into 

 such a fraud as glucose. 



The Cliicago Bee Convention. 



We have already remarked that we 

 thought the late convention of bee- 

 keepers in Chicago was the best we 

 ever attended, and added that, the en- 

 thusiasm being so great, those in at- 

 tendance wanted to meet at 8 o'clock 

 in the morning, and hekl that session 

 until about 1 o'clock in the afternoon. 

 In the last Juvenile Gleanings, Mrs. L. 

 Harrison likens conventions of bee- 

 keepers to schools, and the presidents 

 to schoolmasters, and adds : 



I have always thought that bee- 

 keepers ought to take their wives and 

 children with them to the bee meet- 

 ings, and have a good time as well as 

 themselves ; but I am really glad that 

 you were not at the Nortliwestern, 

 that was lately held at Chicago. Why, 

 the master wanted to hold a session 

 from eight in the morning until one in 

 the afternoon, and not give us a bit of 

 a recess; and he would not let us 



whisper a bit. I did, though, just 

 once ; I only asked his wife how many 

 children she had, and down came his 

 stick with a whack that made me 

 jump. I wanted so much to ask her 

 if she liked to make beeswax, but I 

 didn't dare to after that. He called 

 me horrid, too ; I don't believe in whis- 

 pering in school, and I would not have 

 done it had he given a recess to do my 

 talking in. 



Mrs. Harrison then made the follow- 

 ing suggestions about the managment 

 of such meetings. She evidently looks 

 to the rising generation for reform, 

 and adds : 



When you boys and girls have a 

 convention, and have talked about 

 black, brown and yellow bees for one 

 hour, throw open the windows to let 

 in fresh air, make on afresh fire, stand 

 up and sing a bee song, or the doxolo- 

 gy, or have an old-fashioned recess, 

 and play leapfrog, or anything you 

 like ; after recess you can keep still, 

 listen, or talk at pleasure. 



This is a thought well worthy of 

 consideration. We often get weary, 

 and know that a rest, a song, or a re- 

 cess would be very agreeable and re- 

 freshing, and we will now promise 

 that at the next convention we wiU 

 have some songs ready to intersperse 

 in the meetings, such as " The Bees 

 Among the Clover," " Charlie, the 

 Bees are Swarming," etc., and, if the 

 president does not object, we will have 

 a lively time. We really think he will 

 be glad not only to permit it, but ta 

 help do the singing, for he is a musi- 

 cian, and, if we do not mistake, the 

 leader of a quartette or church choir. 



President Miller's son, 14 years of 

 age, sends the following statistics to 

 CrkanMififs, showing "some of the re- 

 sults of wintering reported by 50 bee- 

 keepers at the Chicago convention:" 



Mr. Root remarks that " the report 

 shows well for chaff hives, but not 

 quite so well for chaff packing as for 

 cellar wintering." And President 

 Miller says: " We had a good, solid, 

 working convention at Chicago ; more 

 honey being represented than at Cin- 

 cinnati." 



