14 T 11 E C U i; A U E V I E \V 



bt'iii;: iis.'d in cninioetioii of a Miickiiitosh ami Si'vinour onjiinp. During the next six 

 years various of our mills iiia«le small installations of elccti'ic motors for the oper- 

 ation of eentrifngals and fnrMJsliin.i: tin- indiviijnal motive powci- reijnired I>y some of 

 their jiumps. 



It was not, however, nniil llti:*. liiat tlie m-eat faitii in tlie iiossiltiiities of elec- 

 fritiiation and «onraj.'e of Sr. Antonio Vazquez led to the t^-lectrilication of the mills 

 of the first sugar mill to he oiierated in this manner. Sr. Vaz(iuez's first experience 

 witli the sugar industry was in l!K3r>, when he formed a coinicction with a small 

 sugar refinery of whi<-h he hecanie engineer and cliemisl. During his .service here, 

 he electrified the refin«'ry completely. Slightly later he was re(|ue.sted to take charge 

 of the refinery at Central -rrovidencia," where he found the centrifugals and a cane 

 elevator driven by eleetric motors. Becoming consulting engineer of "Providencia;" 

 in liKO, he hegan .studying the possibilities of the electric drive for each of the 

 auxiliary apparatus of the sugar house. This study was made in connection with 

 that of the steam ref|uirements of the various departments of the sugar house, sudi 

 vaciunn pans, nniltiple effects, juice heaters, steam engines, etc., and his conclusions 

 were that many improvements could be made resulting in the reduction of the cost 

 of the manufacture of sugar. Especially did he consider that increased imbibition 

 furni.shed the best means of olitaining the maximum extraction of juice, and this, of 

 course, required .special attention to be given the economical evaporation of the 

 largely increased quantity of juice passing through the multiple effects. By 1911 

 all the auxiliar.v apparatus f)f Central "I'rovidencia" had l»een completely electri- 

 fied, 3 phase, CO cycle c\u*rent of U( n volts being employed. 



The results obtained at Central "I'rovidencia" becanu". of courst>, known to the 

 owners of all surroimding mills and to parties interested in Cuba's sugar industry, 

 with the result that Galban & Co., the well known merchants of Havana, formed a 

 partnership with Mr. Vazquez in opening up ;i machinery department with the 

 develoinnent of the electrification of sugar mills as a specialty. This orgaiuzation 

 was dissolved in 1912, and a new company formed called the Kelvin Engineering Co., 

 which was financed until 1014 by Messrs. GalliSn & Co., after which date it also 

 was dissolved. It was during this period and through the financial aid of Galban 

 & Co. that Mr. Vazipiez demonstrated to the sugar and electrical world that the 

 gigantic crushers and mills employed for the crushing of the cane and the extraction 

 of the juice therefrom could lie most easily and relialjly moved by electricity. 



In 1912 under ^Ir. Vazipiez's direction, all the auxiliary apparatus of Centrals 

 "Toledo" and "•Jomez Mena" were electrified, steam reciprocating engines being used 

 in these two in.stallations. Through his work at Central "G6mez Alena" Mr. 

 Vazqu<>z obtained the confidence of the owner of this null and of "Amistad,"' and 

 was given practically a free hand in making the experiments necessary to demon- 

 strate that electric motors offered advantages as in-iine movers of the crushers and 

 grinders. 



The <lifficulties to lie siuMnounted in connection with determining whether this 

 was true were great. The reader will realize that. unless steady operation of the 

 cnishing and grinding plant of a sugar null is assured, the production of the mill 

 and the transformation into sugar of the cane which for a period of twelve or more 

 months has been giv(>n careful and contiiuious cultivation and care cannot take 

 place. A .stoppage of the crushing and grinding plant involves not only the loss of 

 profits from the manufacture of sugar derived from the growing of the cane which 

 has failed to pass through the rolls during this period. The grinding capacity of 

 Cuba s mills is almost uniformly completely taken up with treating the available 

 cane between th(> date at which its sucrose content permits of economical operation 

 and that upon which the advent of the rainy season compels grinding operations to 

 cease, because further cutting and harvesting of cane becomes injurious to the fields 



