New-York tribune., 1871-05-01
PETROLEUM..

COUNTRY. ,.uu
Coppy Penn, April 10.-From the hih over
,ooLiug the place, instead OF most rlo'uV n''"''
toycn This becomes the center of pleasing PIC
'o ron5 the cottages ana factories clustered IN the
am distance rise pointed hills, whose batialohS 0.
nn,ocSs have been chiefly cut away, so that gray ana
t sl,pes lie under the lovely purple bloom OF 'no *r
:, swing There seems glow In the gray, tenuereSS
n the amethyst haze, hint of hope in the sly 'n"'
,psA1res this valley with lts columns OF Smoke rsS
,oof,lly and high like monuments here ana there III
a.. village Hills lock in the oval basin. NO slgn Is
zen o the four railroads which pass those ineXoraDe
wallis Of forest unless it is the long steah-Ii""o
ooa;nc in the landscape; and the Napol ii0i"
1be works might he the very smoke OF sacrlhcc IL w
ccnds So slowly and so white 1t is lovely az eVehns'
when the sun cuts the air with planes of golden hght
and the hlsdes grow remote, secret ana far WIN
purpe nges But all this poetry Is broken by TIE shr4
whistle OF the Downer Works and yanishes on desceu
ING the hill Cory town OF Oottages-commonplace
mechanics cottages whose paint IA washed ana whose
roots look wretchcd If their caves had been cropped
spndlinc porches opening desolate door-yard' va
cant lots full OF stumps, deepcut clay roads wh 0'
ccrous culies each side, and great black stdhps up
heaved by the bank tho middle OF the street ''''
are cevous sights after those shining nights the mos
forlorI.-looEug place the line Of railroads. aler 90
,auca we can Corr~. But the amount of business "'
at this meeting Of four railroads Is impor'aHH INV
j. much about II place worth knowing. 80
Foremost among the lions Of the place is the Do""'
o-WOrks, not quito the largest nut oho VI w
plcte rcfreries in the States. rnnge oi 10" "i''
ipOs covering three sides Of acre, Win the H''nV
the concern in big letters for phyac'eI!' Voi,f
works In "a row of u hoileTs, hoidihS oo ',i - 49,,
lie olive, own, tar-like crude OIL Is heu''u " ~
driven through great coils OF pipe Tor ols''I"on "
- S,Ior lat Of the uneean, thick oil, "a il cores
t b oc not more than per cent is lost in the pro
cess Of refining though only about Gu per cent oI '' w
comes kerosene The naphha which l. the rgh'eSt part
e. collected rs and all through the building were 'upS
o4or pvrliC iCh
washed their hands, and shirts, too which no mortal
hand ooud cleanse with water and soap In any common
way As some OF the readers of THE TRIBUNE know, but
a good many more do nj know naphtha IS largely useu
instead Of nseed oil for grinding with outside coats oI
rant where certain delicate colors desired as In In
ishing furniture White PANT hhAe"
With napbtha does not turn yellow in course
Of time as Oil does. Kerosene is the next
product OF the rock oil, and then comes d
fatty sort of matter which is chilled in iron watts WIN
ice and rolled in sheets These are put In large paSS OF
bo,sn paper and pressed till all the oil is out The OIL
m messed ont sells for lubricatng purposes in solid
shane like talow; the rest from which all the liquid Is
drained is odorless tasteess wax, the paraine ol
which candles made. Barrels OF this were open In
the chilling lofts waiting storage, and, in the search
after knowledge tasted the paraiue. nice knd OF
chewing gum il chewing can I've nice, Is made from
It by melting little spruce resin with H. ana Is sou
largely by druggists In its crude state tS ludilhe
IKE fakes Of yellow asbestos and tasted like
tuowed When distilled IL into immense iron vats
coo, and 70 be stl further refined. In these vas the
the LIQUID has the most beautiful tlnges sometimes II j.
emerald hue, and onyx yellow shadhg lAtQ p'ue,
a. rich as the cOlors in Bierstadts Emerald
Pool or those Swiss lakes that hang on knoedlers
walls from wear 10 year One peep after jumping On the
ledge Of the SQUARE watts enough the heat and 0dor
are too pungont to endure. Pipes and sopcocks CON
meet this row of vessels. that the contents can be
changed from one to the other at will and carried ot
a. - -, roln Tu NOR
what seem TO greenhouses, rooted with glass where
i'm shallow tanks choice quality Of oil lies bleaching In
the sun Day by day it loses it's yellow nge, but never
its blue shade. The manufacturer says that the direct
light OF the does not seem to he engaged III te
bleaching process; for, often a clear sunny week
in Summer, 1t does not show half the adj
vance made in a foggy day in November
Whom beached the oil IS ready for market. There Is
large coOper-shOp tie ground where al the barrels
used by the manuac0ry made. This shop turns OUT
coo barrels Of oil per week, beside paraine ana nahtha
These barrels are the stOuest slaves Of beech aud oak
wood glued AID pressed together and held by six wiie
iron tDs When finished each barrel has several gal
Ions OF Glue poured in the bunghole; by rolling the
inside receives coating Of glue, aud the barrel Is t1e
empd In the course Of time after the barrel has stood
on trestlework to drain with the bung downward,
tbe wood is so soldly Joined that the hoops can he
knocked of Every barrel il painted before leaving the
works and will stand model Of soundness so lnuch
for thorough piece OF work. II 1t be only an Clbarrcl
II
the penetrating OIL 1t is massive casting, 81 Inches m
dqeter and composed OF plate at least five inches in
thickness The superintendent says the boilers can only
lie filled six or eight times, when the oil eats out the
bottom. Upon tie balcony in front OF the dis
tUlery one can see the great, close cald1ons,
joined by pipes, through which the oil is forced
from the other but the air Is POO III these boiler
chambers and one look enough Al the end Of the row
is large boiler, holding 500 barrels The floors under
the boilers Of solid bricwork made strong enough
10 resist the pressure if caldron Should burst In
case Of fire at the works, all the oil can be turned on
these tight floors, whence it will 0w off to great cs-
tern Of the yard and again be collected
This il necessary for water put out burning
keosene the only remedy in Of fire is to close the
chambers and force into them. An gnc belong
ing TO tie works is kept constantly ready for this pur
pose The horrd cry has twice been raised at the
works and it is than suspected they set on
fire each instance by young empioy6 in revenge for
the Conpany's action in degrading ha from the Office
TO the yard The good people Of Cory spend their lives
IN halfexpectaOn OF seeing the town destroyed by
fire at the DOwIer OIL Works.
But how does all the oil get herei ASKS looking
10 the group OF huge iron reservoirs that darken part Of
the yard The smallest Of these monsters holds 1900 bar
1e and there are whose capacities respectively
aud 10 o1J barrels People do not talk about gallons
down here Most OF the oil by pipes laid under
ground direct from the wells. At 1usvle, the heart Of
the oil REGION thc product of all the outlying wells flows
in for miles around shipped there 1t is forced by
pump from point 10 point, and raised 10y pumps at the
end saving the risk and trouble OF handling but inter
ferng sadly with the profits Of the OIL Creek and Ale
chany Railroad As the product Of the wells Of the oil
region proper diminishing, prospecting for oil pushed
into new regions well has just been opened on the
Nahonng River, in Ohio, giving daily 20 barrels OF the
finest ubrcating OIL which sells AT price varying from
60 10 so barrel company OF Iitusvile capitalists