The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1869-04-23
Manufacture Of Saleratus, Sal Soda,
Cream Tartar, Yeast Powders, &c.
Interesting Account of One of our
Great Domestic Manufactures.

Interesting Account Of One OF our
Great Domestic Manufactured.
From the Chicago Republican.
NEW YoRK, Feb. 10.
now WE CAME TO 90 THERE.
While crossing the Jersey City ferry not
since in one of those miscellaneous
crowds that surge over the river al thar
point, We were approached by a respectable
LOOKING party carrying n heavy basket on his
arm, and who politely rendered us a per-
tuned package evidently containing a piece
OF soap. We are not In the custom of max
ing purchases on ferry-boats; il is possible.
too, that we might have been slightly In,
censed that our personnel should induce any
one 70 believe us, in need OF 80 suggestive an
article as eoapi although, thought we, not a
bad place to use an unlimited qiantity there.
of we, wore, therefore, with considerable
aHperity OF countenauce, about 10 de-
cline the prOtiered purchase, when. TO our sa-
tonishment, we found it to be a gift, and attn
more TO ouf wonder, rs far as we could ace.
every mar, woman aud child on the boat, boti
nlthy and neat, received q similar present.
To the majority, II must be said. il was an
appropriate gift. Surely, thought we. the true
phiihnthropist Ia abroad, and why ebonld
h Pc cd phi,apihr9py lind an appropriate sphere
godlincssY' Might not tho influence of a
FAKE OF sweot.soentod soap go farther than a
tract! Musing thus, we reached the Law
Office of q friend on Broadway. Ho stood In
a beautiful attitude before the fire, holding
TO hts nose q like gift which the soap-colpor,
teut had a few minutes before placed in his
hand.
Look here, this is q good thing" said lao.
holding itup; and thoreupon we compared
notes and soap, and ~discoursed concprninV
soaP a.S legislation we, daily iostled to and
Iio uy Nv tnr9ngs or the. gteat unwashed,"
and convinced by the logic Of dirIy facts.
Ihus reasoned wo-if, as has been said. a
peoples civilization Is measured by tho ouan-
tlty OF It's detorgentsLif those are the rola-
Tons between cleanliness and refinement sx-
pressed IN tn9 proverb OF Emerson or its
why should not tho elective franchise' for IN
stance, be conditioned upon tho persopal
consumption OF a specific quantity OF this
agent And were / tho Trainer or such a
NV, bald our friend, glancing at tho cake he
held In his hand; "whoreyer in such ACT of
Legislation the word SOAP shouid
occur, tho words best and Bdb5jN
should modify it," Doubtleas.n replied We.
che soap-maker should stand well up among
lhg wofthleA OF the Industrial Peerage." And
ana II was IN this wise that we became there.
upon . visitor at ono of tho greatest soap
manufactures in tho land, and learned for
tho hrst time how soap for the million ia
made. Tho interest thus excited and deem
oning viii Investigation; tho immense ala
latics OF production and facilities 80 entirely
beyond the common order Of things will war
rant a relation OF what we saw. n our peo.
pie made themselves moro familiar with the
methods by which the common nocessaries
oi HE are produced, doubtless they would
be syivod with those of greater purity and
excellence.
sAPo.msToRIcAL.
Not even the learned Beckmann. who has
written 40 well about common things. can
toll us certainly who first discovered soap,
II nutinyented by the Gauls, as pliny init.
mates, possibly, like fire, II was stolen from
The gods by some dirt-despising son OF an.
llqnlty' nature intended the use Of deter
gents when she furnished men with Sapona-
ceous plants, one Of which certainly. the
&Tuthdu1, was anciently used for cleansing
purposes; but that there were pre.eapona5
ccous days whom clothing was merely rubbed
or stamped IN water without the aid Of any
orasivc substance or mechanical eontriyance
whatever, is evident from Homer's deAcrip-
ton of an ancient washing day when Nauaicaa
presided over her washerwomen:
Then, omulous, the royal robes they lave
Aud plunge the Vestures In the cleansing wave"
DANES OF moro than angelic dispositions. or
tho early masculine portion Of our race.
doubtless had not survived the horrors OF
many ages of successive soapless washing
days. Tho first recorded mannfaciure ~
N"HH N'A AH'N aNN y ~ iii lit Hi DI
the beech tree; this the Germans learned
from the Gauls and communicated 10 the
Romans, who used their first soap rather IA
Il cosmetic than u detergent. The latter arc
said to have attained to considerable prof.
Irlency lu tue manufacture, although we can
hardly credit the statement that a compleie
soap makers establishment was dug from
the ruins of Pompeii, when we learn 10 what
shifts the ancient washers and scourers were
put to procure an alkaii, as they were som
PEELED TO collect for this purpose the urine Of
animals and men, IN which IL is found-a
practice common In England at ovon a late
period. The soap-makerB of the time OF
Queen Anne used potash and salt az at the
present day; but il was the discovery in 1904,
10y lie Blame, of a means OF producing a
cheap alkali from common salt, and that of
Cheyroal, in 1911, in determining the con-
stituent elements of fats, that raised the
manufacture OF soap to the dignity and OK
actne . of an art.
II Is safe TO suppose hat most people do
not understand the philosophy OF soap. The
fats, onco considered simple products, are
composed of an acid and abase; the latter 10
readily displaced when the fat is brought Ina
contact with an alkali; the potash, for in-
stance, forms a now compound or soap, with
the fatty acid, and the value Of soap as a
means of removing dirt, consists 10 the read
mess with which that latter union is partially
dissolved on the application Of water, leaving
the alkali in a modified form, free TO attack
the substances called dirt, with which il
unitca and becomes thu vehicle, 30 TO speak,
OF removing II from the tissues. Such 10 the
1 operation that takes place in washing with
soap, an operation "nOt too trining 10 be rem
dered useful, or, ~atleast, agreeable, by being
treated in a scientific manner"
b. T. BABBITT.
the loading soap manufacturer OF this conn
try, laid the foundation OF his present i'm
menso business a quarter of a century ago,
/ on NIa aaaaN tsau5 aagrtnfaH H. Ia.
%nificent establishment. His successful ca
reer from small beginnings, against disheart-
ening difficulties, presents q rare illustration
OF what may be accomplished by q life long
persistency. Enterprise, energy and close
application 10 business. are not, however. in
fallible elements of success; there must be
large foresight, special adaptation of genius.
an inventive, or, at least, q mechanical turn
on mind, as well as a good deal Of good luck.
TO insure great success in building up a great
mandatory from nothing -qualitios and i'm
cidonts, none Of which, fortunately, we're In
This instance. wanting. The single small
building which, 20 years ago, was ample Ia
contain such facilities as his incipient
business warranted, has grown into an enor-
nous pile of brick and stone. covering eiev-
en- entire lots, from Nos. Ga TO "a Washing
ton street inclusive, and comprising on ia
various floors, asuperfcial area available for
manufacturing purposes Of over 100. 900
square feet, all OF which Is occupied, and
which is soon TO be still further enlarged and
improved in obedience to the demandsi of a
business now numbering on its hooks be-
tween thirty ard forty thousand regular Gus
toners, and tho operations OF which extend
from Maine 10 California, and from the Brit
ish Provinces TO the Gulf Of Mexico. Suoh
results arc not the mushroom growth of
some patent specific, but are the slow and
steady aoeretion Of years-a popularity found.
. lupon the c~heapne3s and The intrinsic mar.
II OF the articles manufactured and their alb
solnto necessity to every family In the land.