The Portland daily press., 1867-05-03

:
tj /. Hia'r' Air.
Nothing is more natural than that men who
have swung around the entire circle Of specu-
lation, commencing with or without fortune
but ending surely without any, should tax
their ingenuity for methods by which to re-er-
ect the castles once existing in their fancy, but
which have been toppled over by stern, mate
rial, unbendng facts. And in nothing is this
truer than in what is termed the oil specula-
ton-that oleagenous mania called coil ON the
BRAIN"
Such being the natural tendency, we are
not astonished at the efforts put forth to
deiude too credulous public into the belief
that, by some new turn of the screw, some
wonderful development in science and discoy
cry, common crude oil is to revolutionize
the world, and that oil lands and oil
boring are to become more attractive and
lucrative (?) than ever. We find a long arti-
Gle on this subject in a late number of the Bos-
ton Commercial Bulletin, written by a reporter
for that ordinarily excellent paper, though one
that sometimes draws an extraordinarily long
bow. It seems that experiments are being
made with the invention of an Oil City PENN
the Charleston Navy Yard. We do not learn
that these experiments are at the expense OF
the Government, or that the Government be-
comes in any way responsible for them. 1t
simply allows them to be tried by individuals,
at their own private expense, upon Govern
ment vessel. We have no very definite de-
scription of the invention, and have no other
means of knowing how it will work beyond
the tests made upon the wheels of the steamer
while the vessels remained tied up to the wharf:
The Bulletin says: ,s .a,....,...-. .t. ..;l.....
Tho apparatus is simple and inexpensive,
consisting of small iron box or retOrt located
in the place of the CRATE bars, and having burn
ers all around It, Its bottom is kept hot by
burners beneath The oil is carried into it by
a small iron pipe and vaporixes as soon as It
enters Steam is then introduced through a
coil of iron pipe filled with filings and located
over the burners, where it is intensely heated
and decompossd, and its gases enter the retort,
into which the air is at the same time forced,
and the whole forms gas which escapes from
some nine hundred burners, where II burns
with clear, intense blue flame, completely
| filing the furnace and extending into or
| through the fiues. The heat is very great 1t
| emits no smoke, can be increased OF diminish
| ed in moment, or be entirely extinguished by
| turning q stop-cOck. u-z.i.a. +. t.s.r ..
| The apparatus is very simple, and any part of
! it, if broken, can be repaired or made anew by
| any mechanic. No alteration of boilers is re-
quired. 1t will burn wherever coal will, and
| the fire can be run by any man of ordinary in
telligence. t.-.-....., ..........i.t.. .......
From this description We think it must be
almost if not quite identical with the appara-
/ tus got up in Canada West by Mr.. Clarke of
Illinois. So far as the description goes it tai
| lies precisely with what we know of his. The
above says 'the heat is very great" and yet
this apparatus" all of cast or wrought iron,
is completely immersed in the hottest of the
| "clear, intense blue fame" with no water in
the pipes to protect them; nothing to prevent
their becoming intensely red hot" to use the
/ exact, words Mr.. Clarke used in de-
scribing his invention to US. With such con-
slant exposure of the apparatus to intense
heat,-an imperious condition precedent of its
successful working,-that it may work well is
| quite possible, but that any apparatus made OF
iron, thus exposed, can last long, is absolutely
impossible, and this is the verdict Of practical
| machinists and engineers generally. We saw
| one of the retorts with its steam and petrole-
um pipes and burners, that had been In use a
few weeks only, and it was burned and deeply
scaled all over, having the appearance of old
| stoqe CRATES or other iron that had suffered se-
| verely from long exposure to intense heat.
The Bulletin goes into some statements and
| figures to illustrate the advantages of this in
venton-an invention we dare predict which
never become available for profitable practical
will use-as follows: ''-iAt5
4 The amount of fuel required is only about
one seventh of the weight and bulk required Of
4 the anthracite coal, and the inventor Is salts
q kl~o%o
4 take less than one-tenth, leaving all the re-
| mainder for freight or passage room If this
| fire succeeds, as we believe it must, II will en-
/ able ships to steam from sixty to one hundred
days and to visit ports in all parts Of the world
i from which they are now excluded, while the
direct gain will be immense. For instance,
| the Cunard steamers take ], zoo TONS of coal on
| every passage and burn about 1000. Now
two hundred tons Of petroleum, costing about
4 the same as coal, will do the work better, saw
| ing 1000 tons freight This at eighteen dollars
| a ton would amount to thirty-six thousand
dollars on each trip, and in the eight trips
| made in year to nearly three hundred thou
| sand dollars, to which must be added the ex-
| ira expense of wages and food, ct coal beavers,
1 wear of machinery and Journals by coal dust,
| wharf room for coal, &c The enormous saving
| which this method makes in reighring vesseis
is a consideration OF first importance and must
| cause its immediate introduction into nearly
1 all steamers soon as its utility becomes gem
| orally known 1t Is equally applicable to To-
comOtives, an important desideratum in locali-
ties where wood and coal are ssarce, as for il
| lustratiOn upon the new Pacific Railroad,
| which, when completed, would require fuel
trains in constant operation to keep wood and
| coal stations supplied; while, with this. inven-
ton, the tender of q locomotive can carry a
sufficient supply for three to five hundred
miles. $50
! This looks first rate. Unfortunately it all
hinges upon an s'if'-'.If this fire succeeds"-
We venture to predict that if it does succeed
the apparatus will not last from "sixty to one
hundred days" the time required to avisit
ports in all parts Of the world from which ships
are now excluded" The apparatus will need
replacing in consequence of the destructive in
fuence of the heat upon it, quite as often as
ordinary ocean steamers require coaling, and
the expense Of new apparatus and the loss Of
time occasioned by making the change, will do
much to offset the profits from the saving Of
room for paying freight. ' '' ~
We invite attention to the latter portion of
the above extract to show how extensively it is
expected this new fuel will come into use. All
steamers are to use it; all locomotives on rail
| roads, especially where wood and coal are
scarce, and particularly the new Pacific rail
road!
We have before us copy of the London
&c. W. Free Press of April 18th, containing g
long letter from Henry Lester, of Boutwell,
upon this very matter. Mr.. Lester writes
from the American Home, Boston, saying
81 arrived here on the 10th of JAN, and have
devoted my whole time since in assisting in the
development ofthe apparatus at the Charles
town Navy Yard, on board the United States
steamship Palos." That Mr.. Lester is con-
trolling spirit in this matter no one who
knows him can doubt He is not man te
play the subordinate to any one. We know
him well by reputation, have seen and con
versed with him, and know that he is al
nerve and energy. He went to Boutwell,
whether with or without means we know not
"struck ile," was one Of the proprietors of tn,
famous "Lester Well" broke down like almos
all other spectators in oil lands, and for lon,
time he has been laboring to get up somt
scheme by which to bring up the price of oi
and to repair his damaged fortunes. But h
draws a very long bow. This is his reputation
While he is smart, has great deal of "gump
tion," unfortunately his words, opinions ant
predictions do not have that weight with stale
business men necessary to win them over &c
his schemes This may all be the fault Of theii
scepticism, but such is the fact.
Mr.. Lester, in his long letter to the free
Press. claims that one pound ofpetroieum Is
..,;, s.oom producing power to fifteen Of