Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1854-02-11
WHATS TO BECOME OF THE
. " WHALERS? ..


WHATS TO BECOME OF THE
. " WHALERS? '...
Ii all the reports which have come to us
recently from abroad, with respect to new
discoveries in making candles are true, all
our whaling ships will soon be laid up in
port, or converted into coal gyunteyS. In
London, beautiful wax-like candles have
been made for years from palm-oil nothing
OF the Kind has as yet, we believe, been
made IN our country. But, more recently,
new discoveries have been made, BY which
candles are now manufactured in Scotland
from coal, and in Ireland from peat bogs,
SO there is every prospect Of the palm-oi
trade being as clearly destroyed as is the
whaling trade Of England was
once very extensive, but is now reduced,
we believe, TO four or five ships. In Scot
land the edinburgh Witness" states that
there Is a quarry about twelve miles to the
west oil Edinburgh, in the immediate neigh
6orhood Of picturesque group of trap
rocks, known as the Binny Crags, which
quarry itself is of white sandstone, but there
rests immediatel Y above it a thick bed of
dark-coored shale, over which the hot trap
must OF old have flowed, and which was
subjected IN consequence, TO sort of natu-
raj dlstillation. The distilled substance,
shut very closely up, found lis way into
The bed OF white stone beneath, and in
these crevices the quarters now find it
1t exists as light waxy matter, varying in
color in The mass from that of gamboge to
that OF dark amber, melts at nearly the
same temperature as bees wax, which II
equals in hardness, and burns with bright
flame. Many years ago the quarters en-
PIoyed at the work, struck bv its peculiar
qualities, learned to convert it INTO very
dark-coIored candles, which, though rather
smoky, gave not bad light, and which
were occasionally purchased from them as
objects Of curiosity, but much otener con-
snIned in their cottages.
few years ago, however, some one
thought Of distilling shales, and the result
has been that some OF them are exceedingly
rich in an infamable substance, resovable
into gas and tar, and which, from the pau
city Of lis chemical affinities, has received
the name Of parafne. OF this substance,
beautiful candles are made, in no degree
inferior 10 wax. ...
Our readers will also remember the ac-
couut Of the famous lawsuit which we
published on page 10, this volnme, 'Scien-
| tifc American" about what was coal and
was not coal, and how so many eminent
| chemists held contrary opinions on the
subject. From TINT particular coal then in
dispute, beautiful candles are now being
/ made, as well as from the shales of Binny
Crags. From every ton Of coal, naphtha
and parafine TO the value of twenty-eight
dollars can be extracted, and from the par
afine snow-whlte candles are manufactured
! for use and sale.
In Ireland there are extensive peat-J0gs,
which, from time immemorial, have sup
piled the people with fuel. The peat is
from twelve to twenty-four feet deep, and
is soft spongy mass, Of brown color
near the surface, increasing in blacknesS
and compactness, as it descends. If these
bogs were suddenly submerged and subject
ed to severe superintendent pressure, they
would form coal beds. The turfs are cut
into the form OF bricks, and SIT up TO dry
in the sun, and when so dried are used for
fuel like our Goals, only they are all burned
in CRATES, or else in piles on the middle of
the floors of the wretched peasants huts
the only chlmneys being holes in the roofs
These bogs cover no less than $4,000 ,OOC
acres of Ireland, and are exceedingly dreary
/ and desert-like wastes.
; A company has been formed, and man
J utactory is now in operation, 10 render
these waste places profitable, and 10 make
candles from the deep black, spongy peat
: This mandatory is situated near Athy, in
5 the county Of Kildare, and is erected at thu
verge Of great bog twelve miles long
= Tne peat is cut in the bog and carted Ia
r the factory, where it is thrown into hug
retorts and there distilled, the volatile pro
] ducts being condensed in vessel which
has capacity of 100000 cubic feet
e From 100 tons of peat, as much tar is ex
: tracted as yields $50 lbs. of parafne, ant
: 300 gallons oil. The parafne is obtaine,
$ from the tar by boiling the latter for al
F; hour, in water containing three per cent
e OF strong sulphuric acid, when the aci,
unites with the tar and falls to the bottom
y separating it from the parafne, which
: left along with the oil. The liquid is ther
!. re-dstilled, and the para6ne obtained il
!. Haky cakes of blackish color. These ar
e then bleached with chlorine gas, the,
: steamed and pressed into cakes, and after
d wards made into beautiful white candle,
Other valuable products besides the para
+ fine are obtained from The peat, as the smal
y quantity Of para6ne realized from such
n great mass of peat would not cover all tn
n expenses.