Andes Mountains). When he wasn’t visiting factories, Eugene kept working on improvements based upon his observations. Perhaps the most significant sales trip was a 1927 visit to Hawaii, where Eugene called upon fellow Utah native Walter Child, the Boiling House Superintendent at the Pahala plant. Child explained that he had been able to increase production by operating Within a year, more than 90 percent of American sugar mills were using Roberts- Gibson dischargers. By 1920, equipment was being sold to sugar factories from Scotland, to Japan, to Cuba, and everywhere in between. Eugene traveled to plants throughout Europe and South America (in his obituary, the Yonkers, New York Herald Statesman reported that he was one of the first people to fly over the 11 above: George Stevens his centrifugals 200 rpm faster than the industry standard of 800 to 1000 rpm. Roberts returned to the U.S. and set about finding ways to build faster centrifugals. He eventually achieved 1,600 rpm through a variety of improvements, from changing the belt to using a water-cooled clutch. The new high-speed units, first installed at Waialua Plantation in Hawaii around 1933, proved the advantages of higher speeds. left: Eugene on one of several trips to Hawaii — passing the time playing shuffleboard or touring the pineapple fields. During that time, it was common to have a passenger list so one could easily visit with other travelers.