;-NRLF WHERE INDUSTRIAL LIQUIDS C'O v :: FROM AND WHERE THEY GO GIFT OF Professor Fritz FORISTRY LCC'J Of..:'. AGRICULTURE Where Industrial Liquids come from and where thetg go Standard Tank Car Company Offices: New York Pittsburgh St. Louis \\oolworth Bldg. Union Arcade Bldg. Arcade Bldg. Works: Sharon, Pa. Chicago Peoples Gas Bldg. 5U11 * 1*1 ^ j^ *** s s * s ^ /> P 8 ^< " w S S ^i ^ Q*9 c5 ^- s EN - 3 S CO <*, s ^ CONTENTS CHAPTER. PAGE. INTRODUCTION. The Service of the Tank Car H PETROLEUM. I. History of Petroleum and its Products Tracing the Development of Their Uses; Production, Refining and Transportation; Occurrence of Petroleum in the United States and Foreign Countries 16 CASINGHEAD GASOLINE II. The Effect of the Automobile on the Production of Gasoline 36 COAL-TAR. III. Development of the Manufacture of Dyestuffs, Refined Drugs and Chemicals 40 TURPENTINE AND ROSIN. IV. Their Production as the First American Industry; How the Pine Forests Are Tapped for these Products and their Wide Usage 44 ALCOHOL. V. Ethyl and Methyl 49 SULPHURIC ACID. VI. The Making and Use of this Most Important of Commercial Chemicals. 55 MURIATIC ACID. VII. Another Primary Ingredient of Many Industries 59 NITRIC ACID. VIII. The Importance of Nitric Acid in the Manufacture of Explosives 61 CHLORINE. IX. The Use of Chlorine in the Development of Modern Bleaching 63 CAUSTIC SODA. X. Its Service in the Manufacture of Many Products and as a Sterilizer 67 POTASH. XI. The Great Demand for Potash and the Recent Efforts to Increase Production in the United States.. 69 666425 CHAPTER. ACETONE. XII. The Employment of Acetone in Explosives and as a Solvent. ETHER. XIII. An Anaesthetic, and an Ingredient in Smokeless Powder AMMONIA. XIV. The Use of Ammonia in Refrigeration EXPLOSIVES. XV. The Part of Explosives in the Pursuits of Peace; Liquids that Go to Make Them. . TANNIC ACID. XVI. Processes in the Making of Leather CASTOR OIL. XVII. A Medicine, and a Lubricant for Delicate Machinery COTTON SEED OIL. XVIII. How This and Other Oils Are Used in the Manufacture of Compound Lard and Oleomargarine CORN OIL. XIX. A Fine Edible Oil from Indian Corn. . LINSEED OIL. XX. The Value of this Oil from Flax Seed in the Manufacture of Paint and in Other Industries NUT OILS. XXI. How Cocoanut and Peanut Oils Contribute to the World's Foods SOYA BEAN OIL. XXII. A New Product for America that is Useful in Manufacturing Food- stuffs and as a Substitute for Linseed Oil OLIVE OIL. XXIII. Its Long History and the Reasons for its Great Value. WHALE OIL. XXIV. Methods of Whale Fishing and the Uses of the Oil; Other Fish Oils. . SOAP. XXV. The Uses of Fats, Oils and Alkalies in Making Soap ; Different Kinds of Soap LARD. XXVI. A Great Food Product from Hogs PAGE. 72 73 74 78 81 87 90 93 95 98 100 102 104 107 112 CHAPTER. PAGE. LARD OIL. XXVII. A Valuable Oil Expressed from Lard 114 GLYCERIN. XXVIII. The Source of Glycerin and Its Application in Medicine and Manu- facturing 115 SILICATE OF SODA. XXIX. Its Use in Soap and for Preserving Eggs 116 CALCIUM CHLORIDE BRINE. XXX. A Salt Solution Used in Preserving Fish, Meats and Vegetables 117 OXALIC ACID. XXXI. An Acid Used in Dyeing and Printing Textiles 118 CARBON BISULPHIDE. XXXII. An Important Industrial Solvent 120 ZINC CHLORIDE. XXXIII. Another Useful Solvent 122 ARSENIC SOLUTION. XXXIV. Employed to Kill Weeds on Railroad Roadbeds 123 LACTIC ACID. XXXV. An Agent in Dyeing and in the Chrome Process of Tanning Leather. . 124 MOLASSES. XXXVI. How it is Made as a By-Product of Sugar Refining 125 GLUCOSE. XXXVII. The Base of Corn Syrups and of Many Preserves, Jellies and Confections 129 VINEGAR. XXXVIII. Simple Methods of its Manufacture for the Table and the Importance of Acetic Acid in Industry 132 WINE. XXXIX. The Art of Fermenting Wine and a Description of the More Famous Kinds 135 WATER. XL. How the Tank Car Answers the "S. O. S." Call for Water 140 XLI. Ideals of Business Expressed in Standard Tank Cars 141 7 INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS FACING TITLE PAGE Acetic Acid Condensers 133 American Planes in Battle Formation 39 America's First Sugar Beet Refinery 126 Anaesthetics in the War 73 Arteries Which Distribute Fuel, Power and Light, The 17 Bleeding a Rubber Tree in South America.. 120 Calking a Wooden Ship 47 Cavalry of the Power Plant, The 25 Colorado Hog Farm, A 113 Completing the Panama Canal 79 Cooking for Black and Red Tar Products.. 41 Cotton in Flower and in Fruit 90 Drake, Col. E. L., Portrait of 19 Dyeing Silk 124 Explosives in Agriculture 62 Filling Tubs with Pure Lard 112 First Oil Well, The 22 Flax Field in Wyoming, A 95 Gathering Sugar Cane in Cuba 125 Handling Crude Soap 110 Harvesting Grapes in California 135 Harvesting Kelp on the Pacific Coast 69 Helping America Feed the World 24 Helping Man Remodel the Earth 78 How a Transportation Problem was met in East Africa 121 Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives 102 Kansas Salt Mine, A 68 Keeping Fish Fresh 74 Lard for Lard Oil 114 Liquid Transportation in Arabia 101 Louisiana Turpentine Still, A 45 Making Soap 107 Making Tannic Acid 82 Making Wall and Floor Tile 63 Missouri Apple Orchard, A 132 Modernizing the Oldest American Industry. 46 Modern Sugar Cane Mill, A 127 Modern Way Dreadnaughts Get Fuel, The. 29 Moving Liquids on the Nile 86 FACING TITLE PAGE Oklahoma Soya Bean Field, An 100 Opening a Gusher in the Tampico Fields... 26 Packing Salt Fish 117 Partners in the Nation's Prosperity 28 Preparing Coal Tar Dyes 40 Preparing Goat Skins for Water Transpor- tation 106 Preparing Plate Glass 55 Primitive Method of Transporting Oil, A... 116 Producing the Bathroom Article Ill Raising Castor Beans in Florida 87 Saving Time in Unloading Tank Cars 23 Scene on a Peanut Plantation, A 99 Service which Brought in the Oil Age 16 Source of Naval Stores, The 44 Standard Tank Car Company Works at Sha- ron, Pa 141 Standard Type Standard Tank Car, A 5 Supplying Industry with its Indispensable Lubricant 30 Supplying Liquids in Palestine 103 Tank Cars at a Loading Rack 31 Tank Cars in France 72 Tanks that Make Our Highways Smooth for Commerce, The 27 Through Snow and Storm the Tank Car Car- ries On 1 34 Turning By-products from Waste into Wealth 115 Typical Corn Field in Nebraska, A 94 Uncle Sam's Seal of Approval 75 Vats for Tanning Leather 83 View in a Cottonseed Oil Mill, A 91 View of the Occurrence and Mining of Gas and Oil 18 Way Cocoanuts Grow, The 98 Whales for Oil and Food 104 When Norfolk, Va., Went Dry 140 Where Power and Speed Depend on Tank Car Service 38 Where West Meets East at the Golden Gate. 105 Wood Alcohol Manufacturing Plant 54 PREFACE "Standard Tank Car Journeys" is a sequel to "All About Tank Cars." The earlier book is a guide that should be at the elbow of every tank car lessee and owner; it in- cludes detailed specifications for all types of tank cars, full information on mileage earnings and tank car accounting, the text of the Master Car Builders and government requirements, and much other de- tailed and general information one should have to secure the most economical and satisfactory oper- ation of cars. "Standard Tank Car Journeys" takes in a broader field. It is a non-technical account of the parts played in industry by the many commodities handled in Standard Tank Cars and tank cars in general. It is presented as an interesting and in- structive treatise on the vital service of tank cars, with the hope that each and all of us connected with the wide and important employment of liquids in industry may gain a clearer view of our func- tions as they are related to the work of the nation and the world, and secure some larger measure of inspiration from our daily tasks. COPYRIGHT 1920 STANDARD TANK CAR COMPANY NEW YORK, PITTSBURGH, ST. Louis, CHICAGO Prepared and written by D'ARCY ADVERTISING COMPANY ST. Louis INTRODUCTION The Service of the Tank Car HE man who wants to know what the industrial world is doing today, with the new post-bellum vision before us, could not get a Cook's guide, but he can find a directory to the vital spots no less accurate than the sophisticated gentlemen who lead our school girl parties to the Old World seats of history, romance and art. The itinerary, covering the whole country, would be traced in the journeys of the railroad tank car. It is remarkable how one unit in our vast industrial system can so closely weave itself into the warp and woof of the whole. The tank car, the common carrier of liquids, is as vital in its sphere as the coal car is to the activities it serves. Moreover, the tank car has in its construction such engineer- ing features as prohibit substitutes placing it in this respect in a class among railway transports comparable only to refrigerator cars for perishable foodstuffs. Just as to know American industries one must follow the tank car, to know the tank car one must consider the indus- tries. Obviously, the first on the list is the petroleum industry. This industry brought the tank car into existence and caused 11 its development to its present perfection. Its demands have had a tremendous effect on the growth of other liquid indus- tries and, through its employment of the tank car, it revealed to all of them efficient methods of transportation. The petroleum industry feeds power to innumerable motors that have revolutionized civilized life, turns the evening into lighted hours in even the remotest abodes of mankind. It lubricates the world's machinery, supplies fuel to giant furnaces and engines on land and to the ships of our Navy and Merchant Marine, and provides an ever increasing number of products for various benefits all made possible largely through the efficiency of the tank car. Do you know the story of how millions of dollars annually were wasted in cotton seed before the manufacture and uses of cotton seed oil were developed? This valuable oil, now the base of many foods, is brought to market in the tank car, an 8,000 gallon tank car being the standard of measure of quantity on the Eastern Market. Cotton seed oil is but one of many valuable vegetable oils with which the tank car serves industry. Manufacturers of paints and varnishes, weavers of silk and fine cotton goods, producers of soap, makers of roofing, builders of streets and roads, tanners of leather, foundries and rolling mills and a long list of other industries depend upon the tank car to deliver to them the necessary quantities of commercial liquids. 12 The tank car is handling more and more foodstuffs, in- cluding molasses, wine, vinegar, pickles, skimmed milk and water. You can point to scarcely a manufactured article about you that the tank car has not had a part in the making of. Take the glass in the window before you. The tank car carried the sulphuric acid and other ingredients that went into its mak- ing. The printed sheet before your eyes rosin and linseed oil, shipped in the tank car, helped make the paper and the ink. Chemistry, which has played such a dominant part in the development of petroleum, has built an industrial world with other products acids, salts and alkalies. Through the mastery of the tank car over dangerous liquid chemicals, industrial America is served with many of its primary ingre- dients. America no longer is dependent on the old world for aniline dyes. By-products from coal have given these materials and many other commodities that are essential to many manufactories, and you must have the tank car to transport coal-tar and its distillates. The tank car's use is measured by industry itself. Its influence does not stop with the cities but touches every town and hamlet, even the most isolated farm. America's dependence on the tank car is far greater than most men realize. Just suppose for a moment that the tank car was elimi- nated. 13 Some years ago an impending strike of coal miners in England threatened a parallel case. The late William T. Stead, famous English journalist, cabled a dispatch to American newspapers which began with this terse sentence : "England today is on the brink of Hell." English industry could not live without coal and the nation could not live without its industries. Just so with the tank car there would be a stopping of wheels and a halting of manufacturing and business if the tank car did not "carry on." The future of the tank car is great as the futures of the petroleum industry, industrial chemicals, vegetable oils and the great kingdom of industrial liquids are great; for the tank car is not of that class of machinery which time soon makes obsolete. Fundamentally, the tank car is as stable as the box car; and as it has been adjusted to meet the peculiar requirements of each industry it serves, so it improves with each new demand for it. The consciousness of the scope of this vital service is expressed in the engineering and mechanical perfection of Standard Tank Cars. Adjustments adapt them to the whole wide variety of liquid transportation always with reliability. "Standard Tank Car Journeys," while a study of the use of tank cars in general, actually is an account of the employ- ment of Standard Tank Cars. Every industry requiring modern liquid transportation has commanded the study and 14 effort of the Standard Tank Car Company to supply its particular need. The journeys are many, each with its own distinct inter- est where the various commodities come from and where they go. Glimpses of each of the separate routes finally combine to form the full and complete picture of the services of Standard Tank Cars a picture that tells the story of tank cars in general. 16 CHAPTER I Petroleum History of Petroleum and its Products, Tracing the Development of their Uses Occurrence of Petroleum in the United States and Foreign Countries HERE is no magic in the "Arabian Nights" like the true story of petroleum. Known since the begin- ning of recorded history, it remained for our own time and largely to our country to win its great wealth and speed industry into what many term the "Oil Age." Petroleum has relieved human hands of much onerous toil and provided many delights that are personified in the motor boat and the automobile. Yet the thought that grips the imagination strongest is of the huge fortunes that come to those who discover the great reservoirs of crude oil that are hidden deep down in the crust of the earth. We learn of the ancient history of petroleum from Hero- dotus, who refers to the oil pits near Babylon, and from Pliny, who mentions illuminating oil from Sicily. The ancient Chinese and Japanese used it for heating and light- ing and for medicinal purposes, calling it "burning water." The American Indians knew of its possibilities as a fuel 16 and used it for healing purposes 300 years ago, securing their supply by skimming pools and creeks. But time made little impression on its use until the latter half of the nine- teenth century. The swift movement of the industry to its present state is shown most graphically by what it has done to some of the ancient race of Red Men who first discovered the oil in America. An example is the Osages, who were shipped to a reservation that now is a part of Oklahoma. A tribe of more than 2,000 draws an annual royalty of more than $5,000 each from oil lands that have been leased through the government. Geological science, which now speaks with authority on the sources of petroleum, played a minor part in the dis- covery of most of the world's supply. Chance, the spirit of adventure and common sense, those qualities that have given the white man dominion over the earth, revealed the great oil fields. The conflict between the two viewpoints con- tinues today, for while geologists claim that the sources are limited and rather clearly defined, especially in the United States, many successful oil men believe that before many years oil will be discovered in every State in the Union. As to the origin of the oil, the explanation of the geologist prevails, though the subject long was in dispute between scientific minds. The theory is that petroleum is the product of distillation within the crust of the earth of marine organ- isms, sometimes vegetable and sometimes animal, and under normal temperature and pressure. These organisms sank in death, perhaps millions of years ago, to the bottom of the 17 sea and under the pressure of water were covered over with ooze and sand. Through the centuries they decomposed and were distilled. The great geological changes in the crust of the earth raised sea bottoms to wide plains, uphea- vals made mountains and valleys. The great pressure from these changes forced the oil from the rocks and sand where it was absorbed and made pools of it. The force of gases from the liquid caused great pressure on the walls of these subterranean pools and the first dis- coveries of petroleum were the result of oil oozing out on the earth's surface. Even great pools were laid bare to the sky, as evidenced by the Trinidad asphalt lake. This won- derful lake, scientists tell us, is a petroleum pool from which the volatile oils have evaporated. A point of more human interest is a means of discovering petroleum deposits that have not revealed themselves on the earth's surface. Long ago the known oil fields have been taken up. The rapidly increasing demand for the oil and its products have shifted the opportunity of large profits to the discovery of new fields. Geologists have evolved the theory of "anticlines and synclines," by which oil is located in anticlines. The anticlines do not reveal themselves to the layman eye, but they are what once were mountains that time has eroded. A study of the rock formations identify them, the anticlines being the stumps of former mountains and the synclines the valleys. The oil is in the anticlines because gravity forces it above water that extends to the 18 Courtesy of Oil News, Chicago. COL. E. L. DRAKE The man who drilled the first oil well and who now is honored with anniversary celebrations by oil men. synclines. Often several pools exist one beneath the other, separated by strata of sand and rock. The first reference to petroleum in America was an obser- vation of its use by the Indians by a Franciscan missionary in 1627. After collecting it from the surface of creeks and pools, they boiled it in kettles and used it as a cure for sprains, swelling and rheumatism. What the white man did about it is not known until 1826, when it was collected in a manner similar to that of the Indians, strained through woolen fabrics, and used on sores in the manner pointed out by the Indians. The value of the oil grew rapidly in appreciation. The knowledge of the ancients that it was suitable for illumina- tion was rediscovered, and crude processes of refining and purification were evolved. Along Paint Creek, Johnson County, Kentucky, they dug shallow canals to catch the sand and water from the creek and got the oil from the top by stirring the flow with poles. Efforts were made to mine the oil by hand-dug wells where petroleum was evident. Hand-dug wells played an important part in its early indus- try in Russia and Rumania. In Rumania they sunk wells of this type, which were some five feet in diameter, as deep as 450 feet. The oil was baled out in earthen and leather vessels by means of a windlass. Simple methods of refining that were in practice before the dawn of the eighteenth century were greatly improved before the real beginning of the oil industry. The Cossacks distilled the product from the Caucasus before using it for 19 combustion. Crude petroleum was experimentally distilled in the United States in 1833. An insufficient supply of the raw material was the great drawback, and to get supplies of illumination oil, a considerable industry in distilling coal, or shale, oil was developed on Long Island. The impetus to the modern industry came in 1859, when E. L. Drake, a railroad conductor from New York, went out prospecting in Pennsylvania and struck oil in a well on Oil Creek. Drake employed the plan of modern drilling. He had sunk a well 69 feet when suddenly the tools dropped into a crevice. The crevice was a pool of petroleum, which for a time produced 25 barrels a day but rapidly declined. Never- theless, he opened the way to the great supply, and from that date the industry has grown and still is growing by leaps and bounds. The following table gives an idea of the progress in sup- plying crude petroleum in the United States : 1859 2,000 barrels 1869 4,215,000 barrels 1879 19,914,146 barrels 1889 35,163,513 barrels 1899 57,084,428 barrels 1906 126,493,936 barrels 1918 345,500,000 barrels There has been no hit or miss policy in refining petroleum and applying it to usage. Here science, especially chem- istry, has held undisputed sway, expanding its market with 20 the progression of the years so that nearly always, as par- ticularly today, the supply has been below the demand. Its first use as a medicine still is approved by physicians in the wide employment of "Vaseline," a salve, and "Nujol," a clear liquid for the treatment of constipation. Similar products to these have a wide application in medicine. Next came its use as an illuminant. Drake's discovery virtually put the coal oil industry out of business, but the shale oil machinery was adapted to handling petroleum and served as the forerunner of modern refineries. This early method of providing illumination oil caused kerosene for a long time to be called "coal oil." For forty years kerosene served as the principal petroleum product. There is no finer commentary on American business than the world-wide use of American kerosene, extending to the remotest parts of China and India. Wherever the traveler may roam he will find the tin container, frequently adapted to various domes- tic uses, showing that the American oil merchant has pre- ceded him. Along with the manufacture of kerosene was the produc- tion of lubricants. Some of the more viscous oils were suit- able as lubricants without refining. Refining and further treatment quickly brought them to the point of industry's principal supply of lubricants. Today it virtually would be impossible to provide suitable substitutes. Vegetable and animal oils thicken and rust with use, serving satisfac- torily in most machines only when blended with petroleum products. A moment's reflection on this phase of petro- 21 leum's usefulness is illuminating. Proper lubricants are as vital to modern industry as the power that drives the wheels. It was obvious from the beginning that petroleum was suitable as a fuel. The difficulties of providing a uniform fire were overcome by the invention of oil burners, by means of which the crude oil, and later the heavier oils from the refineries, were sprayed into furnaces by steam or compressed air. Oil fuel saves labor in firing furnaces and adds to con- venience. Oils are more easily transported than coal. In certain parts of the country, particularly the Southwest and California, coal was inadequate and inaccessible to the industries that have grown up. Because they give to war- ships the maximum fuel, which tends to high speed and more effective range of action, fuel oils have come into great use in the navies of the world. Our late dreadnaughts are oil burners. In the construction of our Merchant Marine the future of fuel oils is expanded. To the other advantages is added the reduction of crews and availability of greater space for cargoes. Something of what the future still holds is indicated by the growing use of the crude oil engines, which use plain petroleum in internal combustion. The possibilities of illumination, lubrication and fuel from petroleum had been grasped and applied before the greatest present demand of petroleum was understood that of gasoline. Most encyclopedias and dictionaries that we have in our bookshelves don't even contain the word "gaso- line." In the earlier petroleum industry the more volatile oils were designated as naphtha. In the quantities in which 22 Courtesy of Oil News, Chicago. THE FIRST OIL WELL The well was drilled by Col. Drake on Oil Creek, Pennsylvania, in 1859. It produced 25 barrels a day for one year, although it was only 69% feet deep. In the foreground is Col Drake, the man with the silk hat, talking to his friend, Peter Wilson. The photograph was taken by John A . Mather on August 17, 1861. C "5 w Is ** =o ^ = v y ~ 'i * "S *, S^ " 5 Vi C they came off in the production of other petroleum products they were regarded as commercially worthless, and many oil companies burned vast quantities to get rid of them. The invention and development of the internal com- bustion motor transformed the industry. Petroleum is the only source of gasoline, whence comes the power for auto- mobiles, tractors, airplanes and hundreds of other types of motors for innumerable purposes. Gasoline is a distinct component of petroleum and naphtha is the name of the next most volatile grade of oil. Means are being improved for employing naphtha and even the heavier kerosene in internal combustion motors. But when we get away from petroleum there is no other source of power for these engines. During the war, the Germans, with a shortage of petroleum, diligently sought substitutes, but neither they nor anyone else have been successful. We have reviewed the great uses of petroleum and its products. Minor ones are numerous, increasing from day to day as scientists give more and more study to the subject. The time long since has arrived when no part of petroleum is thrown to waste. While the demand for gasoline taxes heaviest the supply, the need of the world for the other prod- ucts is sufficient to keep up the maximum production of gasoline without loss on the other products. The progress of the industry has been so swift in recent years that the government has stepped in with the watchword, "conser- vation." The gas from petroleum, whether from gas or oil wells, is consumed in lighting, heating and cooking. Gas oils are 23 used in the production of "air gas," oil gas and for the enrichment of coal gas. Gasoline is employed in cleaning processes. The residuum from petroleum distillation is valuable. What it is depends upon the crude petroleum used, there being three distinct types, determined by the base. Some petroleums have paraffin as a base, some have paraffin and asphalt mixed, and some have asphalt. The oils of Penn- sylvania and Texas have a paraffin base while those of Cali- fornia and Mexico have an asphalt base. Paraffin is a wax and is used in making candles and wax- ing paper, in protective paints, as an adulterant in candy and chewing gum and for many household purposes. Asphalt is employed in highway construction, the more or less pure asphalt being utilized in paving and the more oily substance being most useful as a road oil. A large amount is consumed in the manufacture of roofing. As a final residuum a high grade coke may be obtained, which is used in making carbons for electric batteries and arc lights. Between the source of petroleum and the consumption of its products is the petroleum industry itself. The industry is divided into three great branches the extraction of the oil from the ground, the refining processes and transporta- tion. The three go hand and hand together, having devel- oped simultaneously, each supporting the other, during sixty years of strenuous history. 24 =<: ^5 ^3 7-1? 5 On the heels of Drake's discovery, there came into being what is now familiarly known as an oil field a landscape studded with high tapering derricks for the suspension of the drilling rigs. The wells are about eight inches in diameter and the first ones were drilled by the percussion method ; that is, the drill- ing tools were suspended on a cable and a walking beam kept the tools pounding away through the strata. The modern method of drilling is the rotary system. The debut of this system was made in Texas some fourteen years ago, and, because of its speed and efficiency, no less than 20,000 wells have been drilled with it. The system simply is a rigid stem of iron pipe rotating a fish-tail drilling bit, very much as a screw makes its way into wood. While in the percussion system the tools have to be re- moved from the well to clean it, in the rotary system the pul- verized strata are forced up by a stream of water reaching the head of the drill. Sometimes, when the walls of the well are likely to cave, pressure-fed mud is used in the place of the water. This mud serves the double purpose of removing the debris and plastering the walls of the well. The walls of a well always should be lined, and this is properly done with iron piping. When a field is discovered, the landscape soon is filled with the tapering derricks. If the land is divided into small holdings, as in a town, or no restraints are imposed, wells sometimes are sunk as thick as space will permit. There are many stories in oil districts of fabulous sums being 25 offered for small plots that were regarded as sacred, such as church lots and cemeteries. In oil towns people do not hesitate to bore wells in their own front yards. Neverthe- less, authorities agree that one well to an acre is as close as they should be. The great trouble is that the proper spot for drilling can not be determined with accuracy, and the hope of winning oil often tempts men to ridiculous efforts. The wells vary in depth from a few hundred to several thousand feet. What dramatic possibilities there are in bringing in a gusher, a well that flows out at the top, is illus- trated by the famous "Dos Bocas" well which was drilled by a British company in Northern Vera Cruz, Mexico, in 1906. The rotary drill had gone down 1,800 feet when a heavy gas pressure developed. In a few minutes a great stream of oil flung the heavy drill out and put the well absolutely beyond control. Fissures appeared in the ground some distance from the well, one opening at the fire box and starting a fire. It is said that the flames shot up to 1,000 feet in height. For fifty-eight days this "mad gusher" burned in fury, its glare being visible from many miles at sea. Millions of gallons of oil went to waste. One of the efforts to preserve the precious fluid was by building up dirt banks to hold it in ponds. The same company brought in another well in Mexico which ranks as perhaps the largest in the history of the industry. This well, "Protero del Llano," had a daily flow of over 125,000 barrels. 26 Copyright liy Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. OPENING A GUSHER IN THE TAMPICO FIELD The dream of the oil miner is realized when a well flows as a gusher. It means the discovery of a rich field. Soon the area is covered with numerous wells, for the great demand for petroleum products makes a ready market for all the crude oil that can be 'produced. I 1 1 ^- PS Set 8 !! On the other hand thousands of wells have been drilled that proved entirely dry. This is the cause of the hazard in the business. To drill a deep well at the present time will cost from $50,000 to $100,000. The opportunities for strik- ing shallow deposits yearly become more rare. Sometimes wells produce only gas, and frequently purely gas fields are developed. The history of all producing oil wells is a diminishing supply to the point of exhaustion, the result being that in a developed field more and more wells are required to keep up the supply. Large oil companies have sought to eliminate as much as possible the element of chance in drilling for oil. They maintain staffs of trained geologists and usually spend money for drilling only in proved fields. Drilling in un- proved fields is known as "wildcatting" and, while great quantities of oil have been found through such ventures, the work is carried on largely by small operators. Much of the drilling is done on leased lands. The de- posits in the Indian reservation are worked in this way. The terms are a royalty on the oil produced. Properly conducted oil companies have tanks built in advance in which to store the flow from a possible gusher. Producing wells may be sealed up, but someone else may tap the same reservoir a short distance away and extract much of its content. When pipe lines and tank cars to con- duct the oil to a refinery are not immediately available, big iron tanks are built to store it. 27 In studying the exhaustion of wells, the United States Bureau of Mines has announced the conclusion that from twenty to ninety per cent of the oil in tapped reservoirs remains absorbed in rocks and sand. A practice with oil men, when a well slows down to an unprofitable point, is to "shoot" the well with explosives. Vacuum pumps and compressed air are used to increase the flow. Government investigation probably will lead to still better methods of reviving dead fields. The early method of refining petroleum was to distill frac- tionally the crude petroleum, that is, the separation of its various components. The compound petroleum is made up of gas and liquids of various boiling points. The principal liquids, in the order of their volatility, are gasoline, naphtha, kerosene, a range of lubricating oils, fuel oils and road oils. Different liquids evaporate at different rates under the same conditions. Heat speeds the evaporation. Fractional distillation is to take off the gasoline first and follow it up with the less volatile oils, the final residue being asphalt or paraffin. Originally this distillation was accomplished in big metal stills with fires underneath. The fires greatly affected the product, causing caking of the material at the bottom of the still, so superheated steam was introduced, the steam carry- ing off the vapors as soon as they are freed. The whole refining industry was revolutionized by the introduction of the cracking process. This process was dis- 28 3 fir a I IT **" s.^ I'll a.! >~a TO ta IP p 2. n ; to S3 II T covered by the observation that many distillates were not the same as appeared in the original composition. The frac- tional distillation had caused a certain chemical as well as a physical decomposition. Through the accidental over- heating of a still, it was found that distinct heavy oils were broken up into lighter oils. Since the desire of the refiner was to secure as much gasoline and lighter oils as possible, because of their higher value, the cracking process imme- diately was developed. Its possibilities are by no means yet exhausted. The principle of cracking is to distill the oil in a heat greater than its boiling point. A simple application is to have the top part of a still relatively cool. As the vapors rise they strike the cool area, condense and drop back into a heat that is higher than their boiling point, and are cracked into smaller units. There are a number of methods for applying the crack- ing process. One, owned by The Standard Oil Company, is known as the Burton process. Another is called the Rittman process. Their details vary, but with none of them is the refining of petroleum products completed. Gasoline and kerosene especially need further treatment. This is done by successive treatment with sulphuric acid and caustic soda, followed by washing with water. The acid and the soda eliminate the suspended hydrocarbons, the fats, acids, tarry bodies and other impurities, the sul- phuric acid removing some and the caustic soda taking the remainder along with whatever sulphuric acid has been left in the oil. Lubricating oils also are similarly treated for 29 adaptation to the wide variety of their usage. The oils used in medicines are products of still more delicate refining. In the treatment of paraffin oils, there are methods of cooling and solidifying the paraffin and removing it as a wax. An old source of waste that has been corrected was the gas that comes off as the first product of distillation. This gas is treated to take from it its gasoline content, a process that is described under "Casinghead Gasoline." The gas is then employed for heating and lighting. The third vital phase of the petroleum industry is trans- portation. It has had a bearing of no less importance than refining. With the first development of the wells in Upper Burma, they followed the crude method of carrying the oil from the wells to the river in earthen vessels and pouring it into the holds of ships. The Russians early conceived the idea of pipe lines and built a famous aqueduct of bamboo, but the wastage from leaks soon proved it useless. The Asiatics resorted to simple man-drawn carts on which they would load oil in earthen vessels. Transportation of oil in America passed through the stages of barrels on horse-drawn vehicles and the use of wooden containers on river barges. The lack of adequate roads greatly handicapped the horse-drawn wagons and the barges depended on freshets to swell the streams. Floating barrels of oil down creeks even was resorted to in the early days of the Pennsylvania field. 30 ?! 1 , 8. s s :a.s 3"5 * J? a; ti-t-g J^ __. C", * y** 3 . -ii s hj " C "B 5J ** to 5 J 111 1 S-S 5 5. 2 s ~ ^ <-l"S S C o> i ~ *^ ^ IS* ^ ^ ^ :| * ^ S llil .& 9 S 1 rsu s.s 1 to |!i||i. g Izil^ 3 S'S a 2 < KI Nl I-H a ^ -s b3 ^ 3 & +*& C5 o* S "^ ^ " > **^ ?t5 1'I^Si O **J 2 ^ ^i ~ ^* > >^ to^ qfc f**n ^^ Sl'S 2. 5 ^^ ?Si=* S-S- 3 .^ S'w. O 1 5to ^ ^ 3 lr~* S- k a ? ^ a P ^. !_$> S! 6g ^ ^"?. ^ \ ~ ^ ~^-3 I-H g S-|'s =*" -* Cc ->K > . p M* a >*- ^~* L^> *" . <<. *** ^ 8S 3 |s Other industries in which it plays a necessary part are as follows : The manufacture of printing inks, and in lithography ; the manufacture of patent leathers; as a solvent for waxes in shoe and leather polishes, and in floor varnishes and furni- ture polishes ; as a solvent for waterproofing, for rubber and similar substances; in refining petroleum illuminating oils; as an ingredient in belting greases; as an insecticide; in laundry glosses, washing preparations, stove polishes and sealing wax ; a raw material in synthetic camphor and, indi- rectly, celluloid, explosives, fireworks and many medicines ; in the manufacture of disinfectants, liniments, poultices, medicated soaps, ointments and internal remedies; in pro- ducing terpineol, and last, but not least, as an indispensable article in the family medicine chest. The greatest use of rosin is in the manufacture of soap and in surfacing writing and printing paper. Other uses are in the manufacture of varnishes and paint driers, in waterproofing compounds, in roofing materials, in leather dressings and shoe polishes, in sealing wax and shoemakers' wax, in the making of linoleum and oil cloth, in dry batter- ies and electrical insulations, as a lubricant for high speed machinery, in steel hardening, floor waxes and polishes, in disinfectant sweeping materials, in cements, in printing inks, in rubber substitutes, axle grease, to dust molds in foundries, in many pharmaceutical preparations, and for innumerable minor purposes. Turpentine requires a clean tank car. Some shippers paint the inside of the cars with white enamel to show off the qual- 47 ity of the spirits, but most of them merely shellac the interior to prevent the metal from discoloring the turpentine. For rosin a standard car without coils is used. For pitch a coiled car must be used in order to melt it with steam before unloading it. After once having been used for pitch, the cars are unfit for anything else but crude and fuel oils, as they are very difficult to clean. 48 CHAPTER V Alcohol Ethyl and Methyl WO kinds of alcohol play a big part in industry today ethyl alcohol, or the spirit of fermented liquors, and methyl alcohol, or wood alcohol. While the former is much more useful, efforts of govern- ments to circumscribe its use for beverages for a long time greatly retarded its commercial development and caused methyl alcohol frequently to be substituted for it. The great- est restriction on its production was a heavy tax; but this tax on denatured alcohol was removed on January 1, 1907, by an act of the United States Congress, and now even unde- natured alcohol pays no excise duty, when it is to be used, under license, in medicine and drugs and for the manufac- ture of explosives. Denatured ethyl alcohol generally is known as industrial alcohol. It is a light colorless liquid, secured from vege- table sources. The process of manufacture is its conversion, through fermentation and distillation, from starchy and saccharin matter, the product being separated, concentrated and rectified. 49 There is a wide range of materials from which alcohol may be obtained; namely, corn, rye, barley, rice, sugar beets, both white and sweet potatoes, and sugar-cane molasses. The main sources for production on a commercial scale, how- ever, are corn and sugar-cane molasses. Alcohol may be made from sugar beets, but the beet molasses is more suit- able as an ingredient of cattle feed. The first step in its manufacture is to clean the material of all dirt, stone, trash, et cetera. Then a mash is made, and after the first stages of fermentation have been reached, cul- tured yeast cells are put in. The chemical action is that the starch and saccharin matter are turned to sugar, and the yeast attacks the sugar, splitting it into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The fermentation virtually is the same as that which takes place in the making of wine, except that cultured yeast cells are added, while the must of grapes supply their own, and the making of alcohol is not nearly so delicate a matter as the fermenting of a wine that must have a particular taste and quality. Long as fermentation has been employed by man, it is only in recent years that its chemistry has been understood. Pasteur propounded the theory that "it was life without air." He considered that the action of the yeast on the sugar was caused by its thirst for oxygen. The theory now accepted is that there is a substance in the yeast known as enzym, 50 which acts upon sugar like digestive juices. This has been proved by expressing the juice from the yeast cells and then applying it to sugar, with the result of fermentation. But the analogy to wine ends with the fermentation, for the alcohol is obtained from the mash by distillation. It is purified and rectified by a repetition of the process of dis- tillation. Its volatility being of a different degree to that of water, fusil oil and the other elements with which it is mixed, it can easily be separated by distillation to a state of purity of from ninety to ninety-five per cent. If absolute alcohol is required, it can be secured through the use of quicklime, metallic sodium or other chemicals, but for gen- eral uses distillation carries it far enough. Its denaturing is accomplished by the addition of wood alcohol, benzol or such other liquid as will destroy its char- acter as a beverage and make it unfit for use as a medicine. The denaturing liquids are usually poisonous and very unpleasant to the taste. Government regulations specify their proportions. The alcohol can again be purified but it is far easier to make raw whiskey than to go through the process. Valuable as it is in industry, ethyl alcohol has many prop- erties that as yet are but little utilized. Except for cheaper petroleum and coal products, it would serve as an illuminat- ing oil, as power for motors, and for heating and cooking. Though it is not now a competitor of gasoline, some day it may be. Alcohol is required in quantities in the manufacture of smokeless powders. Mercuric fulminate, one of the most 51 useful high explosives known, is formed by the action of mercurous nitrate on alcohol. This form of explosive is employed principally in cap composition, fuses and deto- nators. Alcohol's greatest use in industry and in the arts is due to its power as a solvent. It readily dissolves most organic compounds, resins, fatty acids, many metallic salts and hydrocarbons. This property gives it high value in medi- cine, particularly since in composition of ten per cent and more it is an antiseptic. Many liniments are largely alco- holic. If applied to the skin, alcohol evaporates rapidly, having a cooling effect that reduces fever, expands the blood vessels and produces a mild counter-irritant. It also has an effect on the secretion of the juices in the stomach which tends to relieve pain. Alcohol, of course, is the intoxicating quantity in beers, wines and liquors. It is important in the manufacture of varnishes and lac- quers. Shellac gum with alcohol makes spirit varnish. Other uses are in making of sulphuric and acetic acid, ether, chloroform, photographic films, both dry plates and papers ; aniline colors and dyes and flavoring extracts. Human suffering has been greatly alleviated by the uses of ether and chloroform as anaesthetics. Ether also is employed in smokeless powder, to manufacture artificial silk and for refrigerating purposes. 52 The government has not discontinued its supervision of alcohol, and for its shipping very tight tank cars with seal- ing devices are required. Wood Alcohol Wood, or methyl, alcohol is secured through the destruc- tive distillation of wood. It is called destructive distilla- tion because the process destroys the wood, dividing it into its distillates and charcoal. The favorite woods for mak- ing this product are maple, birch and beech, and the dis- tilleries are located where such woods are available. The process is dry distillation. The wood, cut into uni- form blocks, is packed into steel cars and rolled into big ovens. The distilled spirit passes out through the neck of a huge retort and charcoal is left in the cars. To prevent the charcoal from bursting into flames when it is removed in a high state of heat, it is placed in compartments to which air has no access. The product of the first distillation contains many ele- ments and it must be distilled again and again to obtain any- thing like pure methyl alcohol. In the second distillation, wood naphtha and crude acetic acid come off, leaving tar, creosote and heavy fuel oils. The tar and heavy fuel oils are sufficient to furnish heat for the operation of the dis- tillery. They are burned by a jet of steam which sprays the heavy liquid over the furnace, just as the heavy oils from petroleum are used for fuel. The distillate is now neutralized with lime and again distilled. This time wood naphtha comes off and leaves acetate of lime. From this 53 latter product chloroform, acetic acid and acetone are made, which have a use in the manufacture of explosives and in various other industries. Heavy and tarry bodies are further removed from the wood naphtha by distillation, and then it is sent to a refinery where it is purified with lime and other alkalis, the final product being wood alcohol. In modern methods a cord of wood will yield some twelve gallons of wood alcohol. Highly refined methyl alcohol is hard to distinguish from ethyl alcohol, except that it is poisonous and very distasteful. Abroad it is the favorite denaturing agent for ethyl alcohol. For many purposes it is a good substitute for ethyl alcohol. Its consumption also is embraced in the manufacture of formaldehyde, in aniline dyes, and in the preparation of different varnishes. 54 ^ a 5 II 2. I .68 ~- .*- ^ -^ ^ c^ ^. * C5 ^ C3 5C i { ^ H .. - Sulphuric Acid The Making and Use of this Most Important of Commercial Chemicals ECAUSE of the quantities in which it is produced and the multifarious uses to which it is put, sul- phuric acid is the most important of all commer- cial chemicals. In fact, it has been said that the degree of a nation's industrial progress can be measured by its con- sumption of sulphuric acid. The essentials in the production of the acid are the burn- ing of sulphur, or sulphur dioxide, and combining the sul- phur dioxide thus formed with more oxygen and water. In industry this is accomplished by a number of processes; sometimes for the direct production of sulphuric acid but often as a by-product, as in the smelting of sulphur ores. Sulphur is found in considerable quantities in the free state as brimstone, especially in Louisiana. Brimstone is easily burned; once started it will continue without any extraneous help. It gives off fumes in the form of sulphur dioxide. These fumes are collected in a dome over the kiln and conducted by a flue into chambers for further treatment. 55 To be converted into sulphuric acid, the sulphur dioxide must have added two parts of oxygen and two parts of hydrogen. Water will supply the hydrogen and one part of the oxygen. To give the needed part of oxygen, an oxide of nitrogen or some other oxygen carrier is intro- duced. One of the principal materials used is vapor of nitric acid. The reactions that follow are very complicated, though it is well understood how they must be conducted. An im- portant feature is that the chambers must be constructed of sheet lead, for the acid would attack and destroy almost any other material, and they must be of large proportions. Several chambers usually are connected, with the fumes to be treated sent in at one end and certain waste gases allowed to escape at the other. The water is introduced as steam. The liquid acid that forms is good commercial sulphuric acid. Means have been devised for conserving nitric acid and using it over again. There are many variations in the machinery in which the fumes from the brimstone are converted into sulphuric acid. Many refinements have been invented, particular effort being directed to reducing the lead chambers. Never- theless, the principles of all are virtually the same. But a much larger percentage of sulphuric acid is pro- duced from pyrites copper, iron and zinc sulphides than from free brimstone. As a by-product of smelting, sul- phuric acid has become both necessary and very profitable. 56 A copper smelting plant was established at Ducktown, Tenn., some years ago to handle the product of pyrites mines there. No attention was given to the escaping sul- phur fumes. Very soon there were strenuous protests from the farmers about. The fumes were killing all forests, crops and vegetation over a wide area. The result of the situation was the passage of a State law requiring the fumes to be confined. The company con- formed to the requirements, and now its production of sulphuric acid is a more important item than that of copper. The first part of the smelting of pyrites ore consists in roasting it, that is, the oxidation of the sulphur and iron. Started with coke, it will continue through the power of its own heat. Sulphur dioxide passes off in fumes. In large plants a number of kilns are arranged in a row with an arch-shaped roof to conduct the fumes to a common flue. The kilns or burners are regularly recharged with ore so as to give a constant flow of the fumes. The fumes are collected and conducted into chambers for the treatment, which has been described, that converts it into sulphuric acid. Pure sulphuric acid is a colorless, odorless liquid of an oily consistency. It is poisonous. It will attack most metals and to be transported must have tank cars of special con- struction. For a weak solution the tanks must be lead lined and for strong solutions there are special compositions for the lining. The acid is unloaded by compressed air through a pipe extending from the dome to the bottom of the tank. 57 Great quantities of sulphuric acid are used in purifying most kinds of oils. It clears them of all sorts of suspended and extraneous matter. Many vegetable oils, such as cot- ton seed oil, are made fit for food through purification by sulphuric acid. It takes away the odor and leaves the oils bright and clear. It is used to "sweeten" gasoline by per- fecting the work of distillation. It cleans or "pickles" iron in its preparation for tinning or galvanizing. In the manufacture of artificial dyes and coloring matter from coal-tar products, it is employed as a dryer. In fertilizers it serves as a solvent for phosphate. It is most useful in the production of nitric acid, and with nitric acid in the forming of nitroglycerin and nitro- cellulose, which are in great demand for explosives. Through its quality of separating acids from their salts, we have its use in the manufacture of soda ash, soap, glass and bleaching powder. The modern method of making fuming sulphuric acid is known as the contact process. Sulphur dioxide and air are passed over finely divided platinum at a suitable tempera- ture, when they combine to form sulphur dioxide. The dioxide is dissolved in sulphuric acid, making the fuming acid. 58 CHAPTER VII Muriatic Acid Another Primary Ingredient of Many Industries HE production of muriatic acid, known in chem- istry as hydrochloric acid, by the action of sul- phuric acid on salt, was in progress before its commercial value was appreciated. The industry was the manufacture of salt cake or sodium sulphate, which largely was consumed in the making of glass. In this process salt or brine was heated with concentrated sulphuric acid. Sodium sulphate was formed and the freed muriatic acid gas escaped as fumes. This was years before the Ducktown experience with sul- phuric acid, and it was in England, but a similar situation developed. The fumes killed the vegetation and the English Government passed a law requiring that they be confined. This law led to a large scale production of muriatic acid and its principal source as a commercial article still is a by-product in the production of salt cake, in the United States as well as in England. The confined fumes are conducted to water and there absorbed, for water greedily assimilates it. The solution is the commercial form of muriatic acid. 59 Another process for its manufacture is known as Har- greave's process. This consists in passing a mixture of sulphuric dioxide, air and steam over highly heated salt. Sodium sulphate and muriatic acid again are formed and the acid is absorbed in water, as in the salt cake method. In neither case is the acid pure, but in industry it seldom is required in an absolutely pure state. The making of the pure acid can be achieved by distilling pure salt and sul- phuric acid in platinum retorts. Here are its principal uses in industry : In the making of chlorine for the manufacture of bleach- ing powder; to produce chlorates; in color and dyeing industries; in purifying coke, iron ores and clay; in a simi- lar use to sulphuric acid in "pickling" sheet iron by re- moving dirt and rust and making a clean surface for the zinc to adhere to in galvanizing; in preparing clay for the potter, and in producing gold chloride for use in photography. Muriatic acid eats the resin out of wood and penetrates steel. Standard Tank Cars in which it is shipped are con- structed of wooden tanks inside steel shells, with a compo- sition of tar and asphalt about two inches thick between the tanks and the shells. There are no outlets at the bottom of the tanks, the acid being syphoned out through the dome. The acid, which is colorless, is comparatively cheap because there is a greater demand for sodium sulphate than for this by-product. 60 CHAPTER VIII Nitric Acid The Importance of Nitric Acid in the Manufacture of Explosives ITRIC ACID, as is shown in the chapter on "Explo- sives," is the base of the various nitro compounds, and, therefore, is one of the most important of the materials for the manufacture of explosives. Nitric acid is a combination of nitrogen and oxygen. Because of the abundance of these elements, it easily is obtainable in unlimited quantities. The very air we breathe is made up of nitrogen and oxygen, in other proportions. This fact led to long and diligent efforts to make nitric acid from air, and finally they have met with considerable success. It was found that the passage of electric sparks through moist air produced nitric acid. The principle was applied industrially, by shooting currents of air through arcs of electric current of high voltage. This produces nitric oxide, which is enriched with more oxygen and converted into nitric acid by being conducted to a stream of water. Other methods of obtaining nitric acid from air are the burning of phosphorus in a confined volume of air and by 61 evaporating liquid air. Free nitrogen first is secured and the nitric acid is prepared by a treatment with water. Nitric acid also is produced by distillation processes. The materials used are sulphuric acid and compounds contain- ing nitre, such as potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate and Chile saltpetre. The oxidation of any nitrogenous matter in the presence of water produces nitric acid. Under "Sulphuric Acid" it was shown that nitric acid is used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid from the fumes of roasting pyrites. Other uses are in the preparation of coal-tar dyes and to form various nitrates. The most impor- tant, of course, is in the manufacture of explosives. Nitric acid is handled in a regular acid tank car in a solu- tion of about seventy per cent, by weight, of water. 62 =5 5 S.--5 5- 2. s;.* s ' a < Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. MAKING WALL AND FLOOR TILE One of the many uses of muriatic acid is in the preparation oj potters' clay for the making of all sort* of tile and pottery. CHAPTER IX Chlorine The Use of Chlorine in the Development of Modern Bleaching OLLOWING the chemical cycle from sulphuric acid to muriatic acid, we get chlorine from muri- atic acid. Chlorine is an element, a greenish-yel- low gas, of a pungent and suffocating smell. While it i? secured from muriatic acid by combining the hydrogen in the compound with oxygen, leaving pure chlorine, it also is obtained by other methods, namely, the ammonia-soda process of alkali manufacture and by electrolyzing sodium and potassium chlorides. It is by the last named method that most of the commercial chlorine is obtained. Chlorine is liquified under cold and pressure and shipped in small tanks inside wooden box cars. It may be handled in large tank cars of special construction, the tanks having been tested to a pressure of 360 pounds to the square inch. Chlorine is used in the working of gold into manufac- tured articles but it plays a far more important part in industry in the manufacture of bleaching powder. Indeed, 63 it was first introduced in industry as an adjunct to bleach- ing and its addition there revolutionized that industry. Bleaching is not only applied to textile fabrics, but it is used to whiten paper pulp, beeswax, certain oils and other substances. Without the bleaching of textiles, however, womankind and mankind, too would be denied the van- ity of gorgeous raiment, for cotton, wool, silk, flax and the like are saturated with foreign matters which must be removed to make them white and prepare them for the dye- ing that will give them color. Without bleaching the housewife would be deprived even of white linens. Bleaching undoubtedly is as old as civilization itself, because of the obvious fact that continuous washing and exposure to sunlight of a fabric cleans and whitens it. We know that in the day of the glories of ancient Egypt, her white and colored linens were in high repute; and the Phoenicians must have had a rather perfected process for bleaching, since the fame of their brilliant purples has come down to us. Up until shortly before Americans ceased to be colonists of the British Empire, Holland had a virtual monopoly of bleaching. The brown linen of the British Isles was sent there in March and was not returned until October. The Dutch method was first to steep the cloth in waste lye and then give it a week's treatment with boiling potash lye. After that the cloth was washed and put under pressure in buttermilk for five or six days, when it was taken out and spread upon the grass for exposure to sunlight during the summer months. 64 The treatment of flax was cruder still in Scotland. They steeped it in cow's dung for the "souring" process, and wool was treated in stale urine. The first step toward modern methods was the substitu- tion of dilute sulphuric acid for the sour milk. It raised a storm of protest on the grounds that it would injure the fabrics. Then came chlorine, through the discovery that it would destroy vegetable coloring and take the place of the long treatment by sunlight. Yet it was not very suc- cessful at first because of prejudice against its effect on the cloth and also because of the difficulties of working with the dangerous chlorine gas. In 1799, Charles Tennant, of Glasgow, introduced chloride of lime, or bleaching powder. The hazards of using chlorine were removed, and all the essentials of modern bleaching were available. The treatment of cotton, wool, linen, silk and the other textiles all differ, both in method and in the machinery employed. Nevertheless, the principles necessarily are the same and modern machinery has eliminated the tedious- ness of nature's slow processes. The production of chlorine from muriatic acid depends on the oxidization of the acid, the usual agent being man- ganese dioxide. Bleaching powder is then prepared by the absorption of the chlorine in lime. The reactions in bleaching are secured by the effect of sunlight, or by warm- ing. The great demand for chlorine has led to its preparation as a by-product in the ammonia-soda process of alkali manu- 65 facture. Essentially, this process is the breaking up of salt by subjecting it to an ammonia vapor and carbon dioxide. The modern electrolytic process is to pass a current of electricity through common salt brine. The chlorine gas at once arises, leaving a residue of caustic soda. The gas is condensed into liquid chlorine and the soda is purified for commercial use. During the closing days of the war, the government was producing 100 tons of chlorine and 112 tons of caustic soda a day at the Edgewood Arsenal. Great quantities of chlorine were needed for toxic gases and the plant at Edgewood is the largest chlorine and caus- tic soda factory in the world. Bleaching liquids also are made direct by the electrolytic process but they have in no wise supplanted the bleaching powder made from chlorine and lime. CHAPTER X Caustic Soda Its Service in the Manufacture of Many Products and as a Sterilizer HE modern method of manufacturing caustic soda is the electrolytic process, as explained under "Chlorine." However, older methods of alkali manufacture still are employed to some extent. The oldest is the Leblanc process, invented in France in 1791, which was the first method provided to get soda and potash from their salts. Before Leblanc's invention the world's sources of soda and potash were confined to wood and seaweed. Leblanc won a prize from the French Academy but later died by his own hand in a workhouse, with no material reward for his great idea. While his process is more or less obsolete today, still he was the first to give the world materials for cheap soap, cheap glass and cheap bleaching. Another method of manufacturing caustic soda is the ammonia-soda process. All three processes the Leblanc, the ammonia-soda and the electrolytic aim at the same thing, that is the breaking 67 up of salt. The first two require a complicated chemical treatment of the salt while electrolysis divides the salt into the desired products almost directly. Through the develop- ment of cheap electric current from water power, it also has become the most economical. Pure caustic soda is a crystalline solid, but it readily dis- solves in water and is handled in tank cars in a weak solution. The part it plays in the manufacture of soap is explained under "Soap." It also is used in the manufacture of paper textile fabrics, in the preparation of alizarin dyes and of other coloring matters, in purifying gasoline and other oils and liquids, and as a sterilizing agent. 68 Copyright by Underwood & l T nderwood, N. Y. ". - - - - ' / - * ' &i* ' ' *- " ~- ; - ^ KANSAS SALT MINE You may think of salt only as a condiment, but from it we get materials for soap, glass and bleaching powder. Two salt products employed in these industries and transported in tank cars are chlorine and caustic soda. CHAPTER XI Potash The Great Demand for Potash and the Recent Efforts to Increase Production in the United States OTASH has a considerable use in industrial chem- istry, but it is most valuable as a fertilizer. What is meant by potash in chemistry is potassium car- bonate. It is handled in two forms; hydrated, which is combined with water, and calcined, which is dried through heat. The potash for fertilizer is in the form of potash salt. Potassium carbonate is used in the manufacture of glass, in the place of sodium carbonate, and in the making of chromates of potassium, salts employed in the chrome process of tanning leather. Caustic potash, which is pro- duced from potassium carbonate in the same way that caus- tic soda is prepared from sodium carbonate, is in demand in the making of soap, especially certain soft soaps. If potash products instead of soda products are desired in alkali manufacture, the change is made by substituting potassium chloride for sodium chloride, or in other words, potassium salts for sodium salts. But until recently Ger- many virtually had a monopoly of potash manufacture, 69 principally on account of possessing superior raw material. Practically all potash used in this country was imported from Germany. Our imports amounted to about 1,000,000 tons a year. The war, however, brought a great change. Under stimuli from the United States Government, great efforts have been made to manufacture our potash supply in this country. Despite many difficulties, considerable success has been attained, although the shortage still is acute. Potash is vital to the production of suitable truck vege- tables of the South and a lack of it results in a decrease in the production of cotton and corn. Where the soil is weak in potash deposit, all crops suffer. Potash is taken out of the soil and assimilated in the growth of plants. Most of the potash produced in this country is supplied by natural brines. A number of small shallow lakes in the sand hill region of Nebraska have been found to contain paying deposits. The sub-surface sands are impregnated with brine and pumped into plants for treatment. The largest plant in the country is at Searless Lake, Cali- fornia, operated by the Trona Corporation. Other plants are located there also. Searless in reality is not a lake but a salt incrusted valley floor, covering approximately twelve square miles. The salt is deep and it is estimated that it con- tains millions of tons of potash. The Salduro Salt Marsh of Utah, covering 125 square miles, resembles Searless Lake, and preparations are under way to work that deposit. Deposits of alunite near Marys- vale, Utah, also are being worked for potash. Another source is the great Salt Lake of Utah. Some potash is being secured from the dust incurred in the manufacture of cement, and small quantities are a by- product of the making of explosives. Wood ash, molasses residue and many other materials contain small amounts. Feldspar and other silicates are being worked for it. Gold probably is not sought more eagerly than commercial quan- tities of potash. The kelp, a seaweed, which grows in great quantities along the Pacific Coast, has long been known as a valuable fertilizer, and now potash is being produced from it to the extent that the quantity is second to that from brines. The Hercules Powder Company has a plant in California which consumes great quantities of kelp, from which is produced potassium chloride, acetone, iodine and ethyl products. Handled in a weak solution, potash is not injurious to tank cars. 71 CHAPTER XII Acetone The Employment of Acetone in Explosives and as a Solvent E have seen how acetate of lime is obtained in the process of distilling wood alcohol. From it acetic acid is obtained. Some acetone may be procured in this process of fractional distillation, but on a large scale it is prepared by the dry distillation of calcium acetate. Another method of manufacture is by the passing of the vapor of acetic acid through pumice and precipitated barium carbonate. The crude acid may be purified by fur- ther chemical combinations and distillation. The most important use of acetone is in the manufacture of cordite, an explosive. To secure this product the crude acid is distilled over sulphuric acid and fractionated. Ace- tone also is used to produce chloroform and sulphenol and as a solvent. It has a considerable value in the manufacture of a number of chemicals, such as artificial indigo and iodoform. Acetone is a colorless mobile liquid with a pleasant odor, but it has a biting taste and is very inflammable. It is another of those chemicals whose transportation would be a per- plexing problem except for such refinements as are pro- vided in Standard Tank Cars. 72 Copyright by Gqfnijifof &oi-l?ii*>!i* ]r\S(fy Undertfood '&*irdtrw.i6d/N. V; ''-'' ANAESTHETICS IN THE WAR A photograph of an actual operation aboard the Hospital Ship Mercy during the war. Tank cars are uxed to .thip ether and the material. // t/rind/ii// 11/1 the kern fix of cotton- xi'cil and syui'rziiuj mil the nil iri/li the prc.wx. It ?'.v used in the preparation of compound lurd, oleomargarine and other The process of manufacture is to hull the seeds and press the oil from the kernels. The cakes, left after the oil is extracted, are ground into a greenish yellow meal, which has a high value both as a feed for cattle and hogs and as a fertilizer. The hulls are a good substitute for hay. The oil is a heavy liquid, the most valuable of the cotton seed products. It is produced in great quantities in mills scattered widely over the cotton belt. The rich oil contains fatty solids which give it a tendency to solidify in cold weather. It is cleared of these particles by being chilled; the mushlike mass is then pressed and the solid matter removed. The oil secured is known as "winter yellow" and remains clear in winter weather. The original oil is known as "summer yellow." Further refining is done, according to the purposes for which the oil is to be used. The winter yellow is prepared into substitutes for olive oil as an edible oil. The summer yellow is employed in the preparation of compound lard. The lard is a compound of the summer yellow oil and oleo-stearine, frequently with a part of hog lard. Other vegetable oils nut oils and corn oil may be added or substituted altogether for the cotton seed oil. Oleo-stearine is the solid part of choice beef fat after the oil has been extracted. The process of boiling the fat and then extract- ing the oil leaves the oleo-stearine a solid mass with a tendency to crystallize. There is a wide variety in the proportions of the various oils in the final mixture. They largely are determined by the sort of finished product desired. The compound, after heating and thorough mix- ing, is congealed by artificial cooling, and the compound lard formed is ready for packing for the market. The oleo-oil extracted from the beef fat is used with high grade hog lard and other ingredients to make a butter substi- tute, known under the name of oleomargarine. This prod- uct was invented as a result of the siege of Paris in the Franco-Prussian war. The oleo-oil may be diluted with cotton seed oil, but such vegetable oils as cocoanut oil and peanut oil are better for the purpose. One well known method in preparing this product is to churn pure oleo-oil in unskimmed milk or even pure cream. Refined cotton seed oil is used to pack sardines. The poorer grades of the oil are employed in the manufacture of soap, candles and phonograph records. Great quantities of cotton seed oil are transported in tank cars. Most of the mills are small and widely scattered. The crude oil is hauled in tank cars from the mills to the refiners. Tank cars also serve to carry the refined oil to the manufac- turers of cotton seed oil products. Standard Tank Cars in this service are provided with steam coils. 92 CHAPTER XIX Corn Oil A Fine Edible Oil from Indian Corn ORN OIL, formerly an unimportant by-product, has come into prominence in the last decade as another food oil. It exists in the small germ por- tion of the common Indian corn. Were it not for the fact that this germ is separated in the preparations of cornstarch and brewer's grits, and sometimes in the making of meal and other corn products, it probably would be unknown as a commercial commodity. For, although the germ is more than half oil, the oil proportion of the entire kernel is only from 3 to 6.5 per cent. If the germs are left in the corn product, the oil soon becomes rancid and the product is made unfit for food. Therefore, hominy and cornmeal that are to be kept for any length of time, and cornstarch always, must be degerm- inated. There are two methods of accomplishing this. The older, known as the wet method, is to soak the kernels in a dilute sulphureous acid. In this way the germs are toughened so that they won't become mangled when the corn is cracked up. Being lighter than the starchy portions of the corn, 93 they are separated in water. The second method is a mechanical one known as the automatic degerminator. The oil is then extracted by processes similar to those used in securing cotton seed oil. The wet process yields more oil but the effect of the acid is to make it rancid. The oil from the dry process is fit for table use with little or no refining. Corn oil is now available in small retail packages as a table and cooking oil. Large quantities are used for techni- cal purposes and for lard substitutes. It is also used for making cores in foundry work. A clean Standard Tank Car is the most suitable transport for the oil. 94 CHAPTER XX Linseed Oil The Value of this Oil from Flax Seed in the Manu- facture of Paint and in Other Industries INSEED OIL, like cotton seed oil, stands as a com- mentary on the bounties of nature. We get it almost as largess in the cultivation of flax for linen, just as we get cotton seed oil in the production of cotton. Thus two of nature's best materials for clothing mankind give also two of the most plentiful and valuable of oils. The artist, the commercial painter, the printer and the lithographer all depend for their materials on linseed oil. It is the most valuable of the drying oils and finds its greatest use in the preparation of paints and varnishes. Also it is a principal ingredient in printing and lithographic inks. Linseed can be grown in both tropical and temperate climates, but there is considerable difference in the seed of the two latitudes for oil purposes. In the tropics the seeds grow larger and contain a greater volume of oil, but the temperate climate seeds give a higher quality of oil. The ancient Greeks and Romans used linseed as a food. The Abyssinians today, it is said, eat linseed roasted. In 95 certain parts of Poland and Hungary and in Russia, the oil is used to some extent as a food. An old remedy for wounds was a linseed poultice, but medical authorities today condemn the poultice on the ground that the linseed favors the growth of micro-organisms. To manufacture the oil the linseed is ground into a fine meal. The oil is extracted by steel presses, with or without the aid of heat. If pressed without heat the product is a golden-yellow oil of the type that is used as an edible oil. When heated the oil is a deeper and darker color, and although it is secured in greater quantities, it must be put through a process of refining. If stored for a long time in tanks it purifies and has a high value as "tank oil." Time in this refining process is saved by a treatment with sul- phuric acid, the acid charring and carrying down the bulk of impurities. The highest grade of oil, known as "artist's oil," is refined by exposure to sunlight in pans with glass covers. The paint industry uses both crude and boiled linseed oil, the boiled oil being the base for most oil varnishes. The boiling is done in iron or copper boilers where, after a cer- tain time, dryers are added. Among the dryers are lead acetate, manganese borate, manganese dioxide, zinc sulphate and other compounds. For the making of ink it is boiled down to the point when it is inflammable and then covered over and left until it becomes of such consistency that it may be drawn in threads. The cake that is left of the meal, after the oil has been extracted, is used as cattle feed. 96 The oil is employed for water-proofing fabrics for rain- coats and similar wearing materials. Because of its high value linseed oil is subject to many falsifications. Often cheap seeds are put with the linseed before the oil is extracted. The oil may be adulterated with cotton seed oil, niggerseed and hempseed oil. These adul- terations are difficult to detect, except in the applications of the oil, and dealers take many precautions to prevent them. Tank cars for the shipment of linseed oil have unusually large domes, as the oil is loaded at high temperature. The tanks are coiled that the oil may again be heated to flow freely in unloading it. 97 CHAPTER XXI Nut Oils How Cocoanut and Peanut Oils Contribute to the World's Foods N supplying the world with foodstuffs, certain nuts are coming more and more into general use. Prin- cipal among these are the cocoanut and the peanut. Cocoanut oil comes from the nuts of the cocoanut groves of the tropics. It is pressed from the white meat of the cocoanut and is not the milky liquid inside the nut. The American supply is imported largely from the Philippines, Java and Ceylon. It is consumed in butter and lard substi- tutes, in the manufacture of soap, and to some extent as a heavy lubricant. Impetus was given the growing of peanuts by the ravages of the boll weevil in the lower sections of the cotton belt. Technically, the peanut is known as the ground nut, as it grows in the ground on the root of a small vine. There are many varieties of peanuts, the best for oil production being the Spanish variety. The nut was grown by the aborigines of the Western World, it probably being a native of Brazil, and was introduced to Europe by early explorers. 98 Copyright l>y I'nderwood & l"n a ~. ~ 11 r? . a 2 A. ^ .s-?r ^ lle< ^ Cs-' 1 ' 2' "t llrss s ? Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N* Y. ''.LIQUID TRANSPORTATION IN ARABIA e' Bedouin women are shown in the service of their tribe which tank cars perform for more advanced peoples; they are carrying water in goat skin*. adaptations being about the same as corn. It has a large yield of seed and a fine quality of foliage, and is free from insect enemies and plant disease. The beans are largely used by Asiatic people for food, being very rich in protein. Owing to the strength of the meal, it has been found best to mix it with some less concentrated food before feeding to cattle or farm animals. In the extraction of the oil, a cake is left which is ground into soya bean meal. The oil is used by soap makers, by some oleomargarine manufacturers, sometimes for lubricating purposes, and recently it has been discovered to be a fair substitute for lin- seed oil in the manufacture of paint. 101 CHAPTER XXIII Olive Oil Its Long History and the Reasons for its Great Value OIL stands today as it has through the ages since the glory of Greece and the grandeur of Rome one of the earth's luxuries. The olive branch won its place as the emblem of peace because of the value of the oil and the necessity, among ancient nations, of victory before the oil could be secured from the groves of people and conveyed to the seats of the mighty. The ancient Greek warriors anointed themselves with it after the bath, and a proverb of luxury and happiness among the Romans was, "wine within and oil without." The fruit, too, was appreciated in ancient times, both ripe pickled olives and the green ones, steeped in brine. In the ruins of Pompeii, preserved olives have been found. Around the Mediterranean coast the olive tree grows wild, but the value of its fruit and oil long since has resulted in an extensive cultivation of it. Italy holds first place in production, though from the time of the earliest settlers groves were planted in many South American countries, in 102 Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. JERUSALEM AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES The age-old fame of olive oil is evidenced by its manufacture from tk trees of the Mount of Olives in the days of the Bible. Scien- ti ts say there are trees in the Holy Land that have been bearing fruit since the Roman Empire. WPPLYIXa LIQl'IDS I\ PALKSTIXK Here again the nneront irork of liquid tran.f/xtrldtion fall* HJMIH the iromen, earthen rexxelx deinij tin' receptacles employed. MMMMM California, Florida and other Southern States. However, the supply of both the fruit and the oil still is largely imported. The wild trees are scraggy. The cultivated plants are among the longest lived of trees. It is claimed in Italy that some of the trees date back to the Roman Empire. The cultivated trees grow considerably larger than the wild ones, the trunks of the old trees attaining considerable diameter, but they rarely grow over thirty feet in height . Olive oil is the most popular of the edible oils. It is employed in making fine soaps, articles of toilets, in butter substitutes, and for many other purposes. 103 CHAPTER XXIV Whale Oil Methods of Whale Fishing and Uses of the Oil; Other Fish Oils HALE OIL is obtained from the blubber, the fat beneath the skin of the whale, and, therefore, the industry begins with whale fishing. Whale fishing has a history that dates back more than a thousand years. All modern maritime nations have had their whale fishing. It is probable that men first discovered the value of this great sea animal from stranded individuals. Just when they took to the sea for them is not known. Oil is not the only valuable commodity taken from the whale; whalebone brings good returns, and sometimes ambergris, a most valuable substance for the manufacture of perfumes, is found in the sperm whale. The oil of the sperm whale, taken from its head, is the best of the whale oils. It varies in color from a bright honey-yellow to a dark brown. When refined it is an excellent lubricant for small and deli- cate machinery. In times past, the flesh of the whale has been thrown away to rot, but that isn't done any more. Parts of it are good as a food and the rest is ground up and used in fertilizers. The teeth are used as ivory. 104 o a $ a. o o S a s -: | a Z c- s^ cS a' i 2 3 a _. ^ is t^ a_ S. a S^ 3^ ~. 5 s a a~ ^ ^ 5~ a <^ ~. s 2 2 & ^ ^ a a ^ a: ncouraged its a 1 a 5 =, o_ ^ ~ a- a 5~ o || *~" S' a O- S- 3 " 'S ? 5 s ^ 2 s S- ^ e on Long Isla x f-H t^ ~J~-. c5 S3 5 n a cc c- S. --^ ck -N 3 5? ^" <^ Q*- 3- s >i * S s-' s- 5g <^ a rt X s , SL rO. ?8 a_ ~ 5 a K 3- $ S ^ I a ~ ?>3 cj" ^ '< ^ *f ft a s g d 2, a H S -_ 5 C5 :/: 2" s -< C a S & a_ tO *! a ~i S 53 ^ 8 ->. "o> A a 1 till There are a number of varieties of whales and they inhabit many waters, from the warm waters of the south to the icy coasts of Greenland. The principal centers of the whaling industry in America are New Bedford, on the east coast, and San Francisco, on the west coast. Around Greenland, the fishing still is done with the old- fashioned harpoon. When the whale is sighted it is shot with a harpoon from a cannon. The harpoon is attached to the boat with a strong rope. Then small harpoons are hurled into the whale by hand. Where the industry is more developed, the harpoon has an explosive cap with a time fuse in its head, and the explo- sion takes place inside the whale. The ships employed vary from small sailing craft to steamboats. Usually the whale is towed to land before it is cut up for its valuable parts. The fat is cut out and the oil then expressed and refined. But no matter how the oil is handled, it always retains an unpleasant fishy smell. It is very difficult to get the smell out of tank cars, once they have been filled with the oil, and prevent them contaminating other liquids that might be transported. The best plan is to use the cars exclusively in the fish oil trade. Fish oil proper is less valuable than whale oil and some- times is used to adulterate it. Its principal source is the menhaden fish, a small fish that appears in great schools along the northeastern coast of America, and is caught in quantities for its oil and the use of the meat in fertilizers. Menhaden oil also is used to adulterate linseed oil or as a 105 substitute for it. To extract the oil, the whole fish is boiled in water and the oil then is pressed out. Other minor sources of fish oils are cod-liver, shark-liver, porpoise and blackfish blubber. The uses of the whale and fish oils are in oiling wool for combing, in batching flax and other vegetable fibres, in currying and chamois leather making, and as a lubricant for machinery. 106 Copyright by Underwot PREPARING GOAT SKINS FOR WATER TRANSPORTATION The importance of liquid transportation all over the earth is evidenced by this extensive effort to ttiipply rexitelif for carrying water in the Holy Land. Copyright by Brown Bros., N. Y. MAKING SOAP Thitt illustration, and two succeeding ones, picture three .tfayex in the manufacture of soap. The men are mixing alkalies, fats and oils ingredients of soap. CHAPTER XXV Soap The Use of Fats, Oils and Alkalies in Making Soap; Different Kinds of Soap T is evident to one who has scanned these pages that the uses of various commodities handled in tank cars overlap. The story of an oil or an acid is not a distinct thing that stands separate and apart. The functions usually are performed in conjunction with some other liquid, also handled in tank cars. The most striking illustration of this perhaps is in the manufacture of soap. The principal raw materials required for soap are fats ; but these fats may be from animal matter or Vegetable oils, embracing the range of most animal and vegetable oils handled in tank cars, as follows: Oils from the by-product fats of packing houses, castor oil, cotton seed oil, corn oil, linseed oil, peanut and cocoanut oils, soya bean oil and olive oil. In addition, tank cars handle caustic soda and caustic potash, glycerin, rosin and silicate of soda as contributions to soap making. 107 You must go far back in history to find the origin of soap, but the memory of living Americans antedates its present intensive and extensive use. We know this by a comparison of the bathrooms of a modern home with the toilet devices of an ante-bellum mansion, to say nothing of historic European castles. Yet the soap industry is far bigger than the supplying of toilet articles to individuals. Soaps are important in textile manufacturing and for sanitation. The Bible mentions soap, though it is now considered that the references were to the ashes of plants and similar purifying agents. According to Pliny, the Germans invented it, primarily to give a brighter hue to the hair. The Romans got it from them, and its use continued on down through the centuries. But the chemistry of its mak- ing was unknown until the early nineteenth century, due to discoveries by Chevreul, a Frenchman, and with that a new impetus was given to the business. The manufacture of soap is the result of interaction of fatty oils and fats with alkalies. It first was made from goat tallow and beech ash, and for a long time it was thought that the product was merely a physical compound of a fat and an alkali. Chevreul's discovery was of the chemical action that takes place, thus forming an entirely new matter. Fatty oils and fats are composed of glycerin and fatty acids. Treated with an alkali, usually under heat, the acid com- bines with the alkali, forming soap. Fats for soap come from abattoirs and packing houses, one of the chief sources being from ground bones. 108 Caustic soda and potash are the alkalies most generally used, and they are largely secured direct from alkali manu- facturers. But the manufacture of soap does not end so simply. It must have other ingredients and considerable treatment before it is fit for commercial use. The various kinds depend upon the raw materials used and the methods of manufacture. The hard yellow and primrose soaps are made from beef and sheep tallow, with rosin added. Cheaper mottled and brown soaps have for their base bone fat. Lard oil is applied to hard toilet soaps. Dyers of silk and cotton fabrics use soaps from vegetable oils, while fuller's fat is the material from which soft soap comes. Usually mixed oils are used. Cocoanut and castor oil will react on the alkali and make a soap without heating. Castor oil will yield a transparent soap. Cocoanut oil is used for certain hair washes. Either, however, is better employed when combined with cotton seed oil, fat oil or some other oil. Crude palm oil, with bone fat, produces a brown soap. The curd soaps are made by boiling the fat with alkali and removing the excess alkali. In using olive oil, in this method, the French originated Castile soap. Palm oil is a favorite for soap in England. We have a famous toilet soap in this country produced from a combination of palm and olive oils. Ordinary soap, you know, is of no service with salt water. That is because it is insoluble in salt water, its precipitation 109 in its process of manufacture having been caused by the addition of common salt. Certain soaps are soluble in brine, and for this reason they are known as marine soaps. Cocoa- nut oil soap is typical of marine soaps. The odor of soaps may be regulated by the addition of perfumes to the soapy mass. It is desirable that the goods contain a large proportion of water and yet remain solid and firm. This is aided by the addition of a strong solution of silicate of soda, which also adds something to the cleans- ing power of the soap. Soap can be cut out or moulded in any size or shape, according to the wishes of the manufacturer. It can be made to float by aeration, that is, mixing air with the hot liquid soap. Transparent soap is made by dissolving ordi- nary soap in alcohol and then distilling off most of the alcohol. Some of the most popular soaps are glycerin soaps. They are obtained by the addition of glycerin to pure hard soap. The soap is melted and the glycerin poured in and stirred. When the compound is poured into forms and cooled, it forms a transparent mass. An excess of glycerin makes a fluid soap. A small proportion produces a tenacious lather, a trick that many a child has been taught when blow- ing soap bubbles. This quality makes glycerin valuable in shaving soaps. Authorities are not wholly agreed as to the causes of the cleansing power of soap. The most generally accepted theory is that of its emulsifying power on oil and its property no Copyright by Brown Bros., N. V. HANDLING CRUDE SOAP A more advanced step in it* manufacture. The grinding process preparatory fo molding into Copyright t>y Brown Bros., \. V. PROI)l'('L\G THE KATII-ROOM ARTICLE The hint step in xoap manufacture ron.ti.vtts of molding