Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1865-10-27

country, IN Its effects as wei upon HAVionoA
as individual prosperity, is a subject which
never fails to attract interested attention
The magical rapidity with which this great
trade has grown into such vast proportions
as it now presents, forms an epoch in com
merce never before equsIled by any single
| enterprise, not even the discovery of Cali
fornia gold mines, and as if to compensate
the nation, in some degree, for the losses of
war, and to stand as a surety for the dis
charge of the obligations incurred by wal,
this great development has been made dur
ing the most trying period of the nations
life. Our readers are familiar with the
giant growth Of this trade-how it has alb
sorbed the attention of the whole people,
what vast sums have been invested in the
work of its development, and how it is yet
the favorite channel with those who seek
quick fortunes. What may not be looked
for from the future of a trade that in a few
short years has acquired such a position in
the commercial world, assuming that the
earth should continue to yield the precious
fluid from its depths?
The first gush of the oil excitement found
in Cleveland men and capital ready to fur
Their the development of the trade, and con-
sequently our city early assumed a leading
position in petroleum refining, thus adding
largely to her trade, wealth and prosperity,
and entering into a more intimate commu-
n~ication with other points which cannot but
inure greatly to her permanent benefit. As
an indication Of the part Cleveland Is per
forming in this important branch of COM
merce, it is sufficient TO observe that there
are now in active operation within her linn
its and contiguous thereto, t~wenty-three re-
fneries, owned and managed by the capital
of her citizens. OF the extent of the bust
ness done by these establishment, some es-
innate may be formed from the fact that
the monthly taxes paid into the office of the
Collector of Internal Revenue for this Dis
trict. upon refined oil, exceeds SI5O,OO0.
We need not here stop to enumerate the
many facilities which justify the belief that
should the oil trade continue for any consid-
siderable PERIOD Cleveland will be the
leading marketiu the country for the refined
article.
A leisure hour a day or two since enabled
us to pay a flying visit toone of the largest
Refneries in our city, the Excelsior" oil
works of Messrs. Rockefeller & Andrews,
and also to the STANDARD works of Messrs.
VIM. Rockefeller & Co., now rapidly nearing
completion, and which when done will be
one of the largestin Ohio. The first of these
works is situated a few rods east of the New
burgh road on the line of the Atlantic &
Great Western Railway, about a mile and a
half from the city. We found here every
thing arranged with a view to the greatest
working ease, convenience and security. A
side track from the A. 4 G. W. Road deliver
the cars of crude oil received by this firm
Immediately at their works, and a large
tank, IS feet long by As wide, with a capac-
ity of 5000 bbls, receives the Gil. This tank
is of course subterranean, and is, 50 to speak,
Theoretically sealed, go that all attack from
fire would be perfectly fruitless. Seven
tanks of 26O bbls capacity each are situated
a little removed from this larger tank, also
beneath ground and entirely fre-proof. 1t
would be perhaps worth while, had we
space, to give a full description of the pro-
cess of oil refining, but we must content
ourselves with simply glancing at the
course of the oil from the crude state to the
market.
From the tanks noticed above the crude
oil is conveyed through underground pipes
to the stills, nine in number and of an
aggregate capacity of 155 bbls, where the
work of distillation is begun. These stills
are charged every morning and discharged
each evening. From them the oil is run
through pipes to the receiving room, which
contains a tank for each still, whence it is
~o~i~ drawn off and carried by pipes into
the treating room and deposited in "agita-
tors" of which there are at present two in
these works of 20 bbls capacity, sson, how
ever, to be replaced by one nearly erected
of $50 bbls. In these "agitatOrs" the pro-
cess of cleansing the oil, Kidding it of all
impurities, is gone through with, and it is
again carried by means of pipes to what are
known as bleaching tubs, where it remains
to settle. Having settled, it is conveyed TO
a number of subterranean tanks for receiv-
ing refined oil, and thence barrelled and
shipped or placed in bonded warehouses.
1t should be remarked in noticing these
buildings, which are simply plain wooden
structures, that they are separated
from 40 to so feet, and so care
fully protected from fire that such
an accident is almost impossible. And
to make assurance doubly sure, two of Sis
by's rotary pumps are in constant readiness,
with hose attached, to turn on any needed
supply of water. The Bonded Warehouses
alluded to above, of which there are two,are
the only ones of the kind in Cleveland. These
were built last summer. They are of 5000
barrels capacity and are a great desideratum
in connection with a large refinery. They
are of course entirely fire proof on the ex-
terror, the sides being protected by eight
feet of earth. 1t would be hardly interest
ing to particularize as to the large amount
of machinery employed in running the
works, which is being steadily increased as
more power is needed. In addition to the
+ buildings already named, there are others
for the barreling of Benzole and Tar. The
firm also do all their coopering, painting,
oC-y WHICH COuSLlbulSb AO lASOuSluCld UAS
item of the business.
Having satisfied our curiosity at the "Ex-
~celsior" works, we paid a visit to the works
being erected by Messrs. VIM. Rockefeller
& Co., to be called the STANDARD" and stu
ated north of the Excelsior" works about
two hundred yards. This firm have in
closed seven acres of ground upon which
they are building Stills, Receiving House,
Treating and Bleaching House, Storage,
Shipping and Coopering House, Engine
House, Tanks, &c. The works here build
ing will be considerably larger than those of
the Excelsior" and upon a somewhat
improved scale. The stills will be ten
in number, of a total capacity of 800
barrels, and are Of the latest pattern
and are so arranged that either five
may be worked separately. The receiving
house has ten receivers of equal capacity
with the stills. The treating and bleaching
house contains an agitator of $50 bbls. ca
pacity, lead lined, and two large bleaching
tubs of the most improved pattern. Three
tanks of 300 bbls. each are in course oferec-
tion for receiyinp the refined oil from the