The International Exhibition: Great Sugar-Mill

The International Exhibition: Great Sugar-Mill, by Mirrlees and Tait, of Glasgow, 1862. 'The use of this mill is to express the juice from the cane...an endless travelling-table...carries the canes up to the three great revolving rollers, between which it is drawn, and while passing between them subjected to the maximum pressure considered necessary...The mill is driven by steam power...which consists of a six-columned high-pressure beam-engine...The whole is exhibited in motion, and...attracts a large amount of attention...[The machine] strikes the spectator with a sort of awe; for its terrific crushing powers are evident to the unscientific visitors, and they naturally shrink away from it lest coat-tails or crinoline should accidentally he nipped between those terrible rollers. At the back...is an extensive range of apparatus, partially seen in our Engraving. It consists of three large copper vacuum-pans, with all the necessary fittings. A gallery has been erected round the pans to enable visitors to inspect them. The whole is of copper and brass, polished and burnished to the highest attainable pitch of brightness...these machines are used on the plantations where the sugar is grown, and the product exported either as sugar, molasses, or rum'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862. Creator: Unknown. (Photo by The Print Collector/Heritage Images via Getty Images)