progressed about a foot along the tubes, when it gradually ceases to flow; the mass, however, still moves forward under pressure towards the open end of the tubes, and thus the pieces that have entirely ceased to give out juice are com pletely moved away from, and out of contact with, those that are still draining, and therefore the re-absorption of any portion of the juice is wholly prevented. There are two other points in immediate connection with the operations just described, which deserve particular attention, and are, in fact, of the highest importance; but as the apparatus requisite to carry out this part of my improvements, will be made differently in almost every case, to suit the local peculiarity of the sugar-house, I have not given a drawing of them, particularly as from the simplicity of the arrangements, they will be easily understood without one. Every sugar-maker is well aware of the necessity of keeping the cane-juice from contact with the air as much as possible, and also the advantage of getting it up to a temperature of 180° Fahrenheit without delay. In order to embrace these objects, I proceed as follows:-The cistern over which the pressing tubes are fixed has a slanting bottom, deepest in the centre, where there is a wire grating, to prevent any small pieces of fibre from getting into the pipe leading therefrom. This pipe has upon it a jacket, consisting merely of another pipe of somewhat larger dimensions, and in the annular space between these pipes the steam, that has by its elastic force acted on the piston, is made to circulate, whereby the cane-juice is brought up to the desired temperature for defecating, and is entirely prevented from becoming acid by being heated, out of contact of air, in a close pipe.

From what has been said before, it will be seen that the bagass from the canepress is in a most favorable condition for fuel, being entirely free from the small pithy fragments which choke up the fire and cause so great an obstruction to the burning of it in the usual way; nor is it mixed with the long unwieldy pieces, as from the old mills; but being in a highly compressed state, and every piece of an equal length, it is almost like prepared firewood, and is in that precise condition calculated to maintain a vivid combustion.

With regard to the wear and tear of the cane-press, it must at once be evident that the extreme simplicity of the machine, the entire absence of tooth-gearing, the way in which the steam-engine is combined, and the direct action of its various parts, together with the smooth motion always transmitted through cranks, render its liability to wear or derangement far less than the generality of machines used in various manufactures which always employ engines complete in themselves, and machines also complete, and then add intermediate gearing to connect. them; whereas the present combination of engine and press lias not so many working parts as a coinmon steam-engine, with beam and parallel motion, usually

possesses.

With reference to the wear of the pressing tubes, which, with their pistons, constitute all the wearing parts of the press itself, I need only say, that they move through a space equal only to one-fourth part of that traversed by the steam-piston: that their weight is not more than half that of the steam-piston; and that they have no packing, do not require to fit at all tight, and are therefore clearly not subjected to one-third the wear of the steam-cylinder and piston, and being of. gun metal, and not subject to corrosion, should certainly last three times as long. The weight of the whole apparatus is 5 tous, 6 cwt. and 3 qrs., while that of the combined mills vary from 25 to 30 tous; and therefore the facility of transportation by sea or of land carriage, with the proportionately reduced expenses in both cases, and the fact that the cane-press requires uo foundation to be erected for it, are matters of great commercial importance. A cane-press, capable of doing as many tons of cane daily as the improved roller-mills, may be constructed for little more than half the cost of the latter.

The quantity of canes per day required to be pressed varies considerably on different plantations, in some instances 30 tons are sufficient, in others 100 tons. In order to meet this variation in power, I have arranged three sizes of presses; the smallest of which is represented in the drawings annexed, which were made from the machine after its erection on my premises in the St. Pancras Road, Londou. With this cane-press I have obtained 80 and 81 per cent. of juice in the regular mode of working, and by a slight contraction of the open end of the

tubes, 84 per cent; was obtained, but I consider we were then putting a strain on the apparatus, which that increased quantity of juice did not compensate for. I therefore prefer the parallel open-ended tube, and the 80 per cent., which is easily attainable.

Nothing is more easy than to calculate the weight of canes that may be pressed in a given time. It has been ascertained that 100 feet of cane of an average size, weigh 105 lbs. if we reduce it to round numbers, say 100 lbs., or 1 lb. per foot; thus, if we employ in a press two tubes of six inches in heighth, we shall cut off four pieces, equal to 2 feet, or 2 lbs. at every stroke. At sixty strokes per minute, this gives 120, or 7,200 per hour, or 72,000 lbs. per day, of ten hours, or 32 tons, 2 cwt. 3 qrs. and 12 lbs., say 30 tons. Consequently, a press with three tubes 8 inches high, or two tubes 12 inches high, will press double that quantity, say 60 tons; and for very large plantations, a press with four tubes 12 inches high will press 120 tons of cane per day, which, yielding 80 per cent. of their weight in juice, wiil give 96 tons-about 23,900 old wine gallons of juice, or 2,390 gallons per hour.

Here are instanced experiments on the composition of the sugar-cane, showing the quantities of cane-juice obtained by the roller-mills to range from 68.5 to 54 per cent., the average being 56 per cent only-and other interesting details of the construction, power and motion of various mills, to which we cannot devote space.

The author, Mr. Leon, concludes with the following remarks:-Since November last, the new press has been exhibited, acting on sugar-cane imported from Madeira; I have witnessed its performance with great interest. The bagass on leaving the press is in a much higher compressed state than the trash delivered by the most powerful West-Indian roller-mill. The simplicity of the new machine, its regularity and efficiency have been greatly admired. In the opinion of engineers and sugar planters, the roller-mill for crushing sugar-canes ought to be tabooed.*

This testimony in favor of Mr. Bessemer's invention is corroborated by Mr. Smythe, of the house of Messrs. A. L. Addison & Co., New-Orleans, who saw the apparatus at work in London about three months ago. On examining the bagass, he observed, that although the rind and knots were flattened, the former retained its color and polished exterior, nor did the latter exhibit any change, except in form.

Why these portions of the cane do not, under pressure in the tubes, yield the chlorofille and other objectionable matters, which are unavoidably expressed by the rollers and mixed with the juice, he does not recollect to have heard explained; but he infers, from the indentations in the bagass corresponding to the shape of these woody parts, that owing to the superior hardness, which subjects them to a greater degree of pressure the roller mill, the action of the plungers only serves to imbed them in the alternate masses of pliant fibre in the tubes in which elastic enclosures their deleterious elements are exempt from extraction.

in

MISCELLANIES.

1. THE CREVASSES OF LOUISIANA.`

SAMUEL RICKER, Esq. Chairman of the Senate Committee, charged with this subject, has issued the following Circular. His post office is Lafayette.

GENERAL REMARKS.

The frequency and extent of the inundations to which, it is now obvious, lower Louisiana is liable, have induced many to call in question the policy which has hitherto been pursued in regard to the Mississippi river. We occupy and cultivate a delta of land, elevated at most but a few feet above the level of the ocean; land formed in modern geological times by the great river, which at our cost and inconvenience too often attempts to re-assert its supremacy over it. We have dyked up the thousand minor high water outlets, which formerly gave vent to the flood, and sought to confine the accumulated waters by riparian levees. Finding fault with the river's tortuous channels, by the obstruction of which the impetus of the flowing waters is restrained, and by whose agency in commingling the waters the sedimentary matter is kept suspended, we have made cut-offs. At last we are made fully to realize that our position is one of imminent danger. What is to be done to arrest this danger of annual inundation? Shall we still pursue, in all respects, the same system as heretofore? Shall we modify it; and if so, in what respects? Or shall we abandon the system of river management which, with us and our predecessors, has so long prevailed, in furtherance of which so many millions of money have been expended? What other method of protection against the floods of the Mississippi, compatible with our interests, is practicable?

These questions now present themselves with peculiar force, to every reflecting man interested in the welfare of Louisiana. We would remark that few or none entertain the opinion that we can wholly abandon the levee system. The pre vailing sentiment seems to be, that this system should be so modified, and assisted by other measures, as to confer upon it a greater degree of efficiency and safety; and moreover, if practicable, that such a method of river treatment should be adopted, and hereafter pursued, as will tend to lessen rather than increase the probable dangers from the river to future generations. We believe the opinion is now widely entertained, that the river should be relieved of its surplus floods where practicable, by a system of outlets: thus imitating, to some extent, the policy pursued by the river itself, before levees were built. But, in regard to carrying this plan into practice, a diversity of opinions have been expressed. Some would simply enlarge the Atchafalaya; others would also enlarge the Plaquemines, the Lafourche, the Iberville, &c. Others again would, in addition, re-open the Bayou Manchac. The propriety of a large outlet at Bonnet Carte into Lake Pontchartrain has likewise been insisted upon. One gentleman (J. McDonough, Esq.) whose opinions, from long experience and acute observation, deserve great weight, recommends small outlets, well guarded, four feet wide and three feet deep, every 400 feet along a whole levee from Red River and Baton Rouge to the Balize. (Senate Report on Levees, 1850; p. 67.)

The whole subject is fraught with vitally important consequences to the richest regions of Louisiana We are called upon to devise means to guard against the desolation of flood. It is an emergency such that no one called upon should withhold his advice, or any relevant information in his power to communicate. This circular cannot be addressed to all. Into whose hands soever it may fall, if he have knowledge or experience touching any of the topics of inquiry, we desire he may promptly communicate the same for the general good.

[Here follow the queries, which would occupy too much for our space.]

GALLERY OF INDUSTRY AND ENTERPRISE.

DANIEL PRATT, OF PRATTVILLE, ALA.

They that on glorious ancestors enlarge,
Produce their debt instead of their discharge."

* *

*

But some great souls, and touched with warmth divine,
Give gold a price, and teach its beams to shine;
All hoarded treasures they repute a load,

Nor think their wealth their own 'till well bestowed."

It is our fixed purpose, in descanting on the merits and services of distinguished men, to say nothing that we do not believe to be strictly true. We are no idolizers of the living and would scorn to laud and magnify the name of the illustrious dead, beyond their due meed of praise. We are free to say, that it is our settled opinion, that of all the characters who are most worthy of esteem, that of a faithful minister of the gospel should be the first-for the simple reason that the interest of the soul is of more importance than those of the body. But when the character of the Christian is united with one who devotes his personal influence and pecuniary resources to the promotion of the temporal interests of his fellow men, by the establishment of charitable institutions for the support of the poor and unfortunate, by the rearing of colleges for the education of youths in the paths of virtue and religion, by cultivating the soil and enlarging the means of honest industry, and advancing the cause of civilization and refinementthen we do not hesitate to pronounce such a character an ornament to human nature, and worthy to be held up as an example for the respect and admiration of mankind. Had we time and space, it would afford us much pleasure to institute a comparison between those who have done good in their day and generation, and those who have deferred this matter until their body has been consigned to the dust-to point out the superiority of the Howards over the Girards and the McDonoughs-between those philanthropists who "dove into the depths of dungeons, who plunged into the infection of hospitals, to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain; 15

to take the gauge and dimensions of misery,
depression and contempt; to remember the
forgotten, to attend to the neglected, and to
visit the forsaken," and those who bequeath-
ed " 'sumptuous palaces and stately tem-
ples" to be erected after they are dead,
which in a few years disappeared like
"the
baseless fabrics of a vision," or became
the prey of unprincipled rapacity of those
to whose care they were entrusted.

The subject of this brief memoir was from the town of Temple, in the State of NewHampshire, and is now about fifty-one years of age. At the age of sixteen he apprenticed himself to learn the carpenter's trade. After the expiration of his apprenticeship, in the year 1819, he came out to Savannah, Ga. In July, 1821, he left Savannah and went to Milledgeville. In the vicinity of Milledgeville and Macon he carried on his trade until 1831, when he removed to Clinton, Ga., where he was engaged with Mr. Samuel Griswold in the manufacture of Cotton Gins until 1833. In that year he proceeded to Autauga County, Ala. The country had then begun to be populated by planters from the older states. The principal production being cotton, there was a great demand for Cotton Gins, and Mr. Pratt commenced to manufacture them on an extensive scale, having had the benefit of the experience of Mr. Griswold, the oldest and most extensive gin maker in the world. By employing only good workmen, he was enabled to manufacture a gin which was superior to most of those which were then in use. Their reputation was soon established throughout the state, and in the adjoining states of Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana. VOL. II.