October 31, 1897 – Alamitos Campaign Closes

This article was originally printed in the Nov. 3 issue of the Lehi, Utah Banner.   Lehi was the site of another sugar factory that had been constructed by E.H. Dyer & Company, the same company that had constructed the Los Alamitos factory as well as the Alvarado Sugar Factory in 1870, the first successful sugar factory in the United States (and partially funded by Flint, Bixby and Company.  The Lehi factory was funded and operated by the Mormon Church, which interestingly was a major player in the Sugar Trust controversy that would come to light years later.

Alamitos Campaign Closes.

J. L. Elam, who was agricultural superintendent at the Alamitos sugar factory this season, reports that the harvest was completed and the last beets delivered to the factory last Sunday [October 31, 1897]. From 2387 acres of good stand were harvested 3020 tons, which were worked up closely to the harvest all the season. To the freshness of the beets the factory management attributes much of its success.

Tue factory made a record for a first season that probably never before has been equaled. The stated capacity of the factory was 330 tons daily, but the average daily run for the campaign was in excess of that figure. As high as 401 tons were sliced in 24 hours. The factory employed 70 operatives of 35 in a shift. It will take about a week yet to work up the brown sugar on hand.— Lehi Banner, November 3.

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