New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-04-14
TURPENTlNE.
A New Mandatory at wo,.


The factory of the Louisiana Ros;n
Turpentine Manufacturing Company
of Messrs. A. X. Lee and w. G. Hodps,
the managers. is locatad in the three 49,
brick building corner Of Front and P,s.
streets. 1t has been said that piney wy
land, though inclined to barrenness, was -.
good for sweet potatoes. which could bs ~ ~
piled to many uses; that by clearing and min
ing the forest the best lumber in the wo,
could be obtained, and many ingenious ,ns
fertile expedients have been proposed :.
turn these barren acres to account. D.,
the use of turpentine orchards will NAL.
these barren lands as profitable as cot,,s
plantation, useful as kitchen garden. ANA
ornamental as flower bed. Balancipon.
cost of farm laborers with turpentine p.,,
erers, the big amount is on the profit sjd.o,
the column. In the first place, the en-.
never fails. Nor rain nor storms, worr,
bugs nor beetles, rust nor rot as.,
the crop Of dip and scrape, 4h,
falls as the rain tails. and is pl4ns
full as dew. A fortune can be made on. a,
the pine forests anywhere within hupd,.d
miles of the city, and, if intended for Inn
Der, the trees are even better that if M.
tanned at all. 1t is only one more add.a
to the list of invitations to energy and no,
severance which our rich Southern couns,
affords to labor without capital, the orl,
stock in trade Of a gumg atherer consistiD,
OF pair Of hands, an axe and a barrel. tia
latter selling in the city at the rate Of S3A
to 81 so when filed with dip, virgin din O.
scrape. No harvest birds or other des.,o,
ing agency interferes with the gum-ga,be,.
ers profits, as in other cases. where one a.
tempts to bring out of the earth some,bi,,
good to eat. In short, turpentine cultivs
ton is gold mine. and now lies yawnin,
ready for hands and heads. VIA the v;s,
of assisting at the development of this ons
of the chief resources of our country tbs
enterprise Of the Louisiana Manufacture.
Company has been inaugurated, and ia IL
ready success. DistillatiOn of turpeu,irs
has been going on in the good old way d,
years.
AS it prevails in the Rip Van Wnk4
state, where tV, pitch and turpentine con-
stitute the WJble occupation, the distiLa
ton was such a dangerous process il ~.
Guired all outdoors to perform it. Thema
chinery was a still placed on top of bake
oven, in the boiler of which the crude stuff
was put. An immense heat of light wood
fires being applied. the refuse and woody
mixtures were carbonized, and had to b.
treated to constant dose of cold waterto
prevent them from exploding like modern
kerosene lamp, such as the historical COW
kicked over at Chicago. This awkward
process goes on all over the State, and the
traveller on the Seaboard railway. as be
looks out of the window of the passing
train, can see them on all sides common "a
adobe kitchen chimneys, located at nones
plOsive distance from the farmhouse OF
shanty, and very often in full bias.
raising as much smoke as fitting on The
tire Of cart wheel by the old method
Charcoal mounds, rOsin pits and tar boilen
are likewise common in the same county
of piney woods. The work of making may
be simplifed, but the liquid must pass
through the same process.
1t needs no argument to set before The
people the immense advantage of running
piney woods in the interest of turpendrt
association, boxing the trees to extract tic
of it into the city, where it may be soids
prices varying from So 80 to 81 80 per bar
rel, according to the quality. The modM
Of going for turpentine gum is much The
same as that employed for maple sugar, eI
cept that the distillation or the boiling pro
cess in the latter is far more complicated
The mandatory of Messrs. Hodges
Lee is operated on a system combining all
the results of experience and science. The
crude turpentine or ''scrape" is first PLACED
into deep vat about the size of cisten
attached to an ordinary two-story hou:s
called in the factory Charging tub
Here it is charged with hot steam,
which melts it down into viseA
substance of the consistency Of mo
lasses, the scrape being when dry, in 1he
shape of gum. A screen of wire netting in-
geniously arranged fits within this tub and
impurities. From this vat it falls tl,rough
copper pipe into the still placed immeG
atelv below where the viscid mass is deyel
oped into vapor, and in an incandesceui
state, so to speak, this vapor, charged with
turpentine, water aud pyrolgenous OF
woody acid ascends through a three
inch copper pipe through the chargn.
TUE so as to retain the heat. and theme
goes into a reservoir about as large as
whisky barrel, called by the euphoniou;
name of dephlegmegator. In this tht
woody acid is separated from tht
vapor and then the wa,ery particles are
also eliminated, when the drops Of
turpentine commenced their descent
through worm about sixty feet in length,
and when they reach the end one finds the
liquid double distilled, of the proof regis
tered i'll the Dublin pharmacopeia The
rosin in the viscid mass drops from the first
still into receptacle below, called the rosn
box. and is, when crystalized clear as hard
ened syrup. The cistern which holds the
worm serves the purpose of condenser
The whole operation of distilling turpentins
from the gum simply combines several dis.
tlnct appliances used in other Installation
hut makes one process to produce what has
been subjected to several trials on the old
system.
The gentlemen connected with this new
enterprise have moved in the right direc.
ton. and they bring TO their new pursuit
ali the experience which has justified itself
IN former success, as well as those keen
business qualities which are so untrequen.
a nv N OF low