10 



excellence of industrial work and of mechanical and chemical control. 

 Strict uniformity of dimensions and patterns is adhered to wherever 

 practicable in all duplications of tanks, wagons, pumps, centrifugals, 

 or other parts. Two hot rooms permit string sugars to be treated at 

 discretion by such temperatures as are thought best adapted to their va- 

 rious needs. Gas and water, with appropriate drains, are everywhere 

 conveniently located. The circulating pumps and oilers operate automat- 

 ically. No washouts exist for the loss of juices, scums, or sirups. The 

 sugar elevators, storage bins, and packing arrangements are particularly 

 well designed and executed. All but minor steam-pipes, live and ex- 

 haust, are felted, and all steam outlets are trapped. The pumping 

 plant is so reliable as to have caused no loss of time to the establishment 

 since 1883. Speaking-tubes connect various parts of the building, which 

 last is well illuminated by day and night. Utility, convenience in ar- 

 rangement, permanence and consideration for the possible demands of 

 the future, are evident throughout the factory. 



ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 



The organization of the establishment is probably the most complete 

 in Louisiana, and its ad ministration probably the most efficient, though, 

 possibly the most expensive. Besides an engineering department, with 

 its chief, there are recognized the following distinct branches, each with 

 its appropriate foreman or chief, viz, defecating and filter-press, boiling, 

 centrifugal, packing-floor, clerical, and chemical. The foremen are 

 chosen with reference to their especial skill in the various operations 

 which they are to supervise, having been in the employ of the house 

 ranging from four to eight years, are paid exceptional salaries, are ex- 

 pected to perform no part ot the ordinary manual labor of their divis- 

 ions, have no authority outside their own well-defined precincts, live in 

 the buildings subject to call at all hours, and are under the sole direc- 

 tion of the factory superintendent, who, in turn, is alone responsible to 

 the proprietor. All other operatives are subject to the orders of the 

 various foremen in whose departments they work, the latter having the 

 power to discharge. The foremen report regularly the number of men 

 employed, the amount and character of work performed, and such other 

 matters as are desirable, either upon printed forms or blackboards, or 

 otherwise, at the factory office daily. 



Temporary instructions are generally posted upon bulletin boards in 

 the various departments, instead of being orally given, to avoid mis- 

 understanding. The work is for the most part done by six and twelve 

 hour watches or shifts, instead of by the eighteen-hour Louisiana sys- 

 tem. 



The fields-manager and factory superintendent meet daily to co-ordi- 

 nate and arrange the work of their respective branches, as far as pos- 

 sible, each to the best advantage of the other. To this system, worthy 

 a larger institution, and to cleanliness another considerable part of the 



