8 In 1911, Roberts patented a revolutionary sugar washing device that automated a process previously dependent upon the operator’s judgment. The number of investors grew to 45 as the company sold 300 sugar dischargers. When Eugene wasn’t coming up with improvements like self-adjusting clutches and automatic idlers, he was traveling to plants to promote his devices. After Tom Stearns of Stearns-Rogers failed to convince Dr. Hooker of Great Western Sugar in Northern Colorado of the merits of a new design, Eugene traveled to New York to meet with Hooker. CHAPTER 1 8