Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1874-02-07

1oi ohiy u SuOrJ tlme, Wnen the nrSt
water is drained off and fresh water
poured in, the washing being repeated
three times"
Mynephew George shuddered, and I
asked him what was the matter.
II was thinking" he replied in a
paradox. how horrible it would be to
be washed three times at once"
And then to be bleached also, as
the oil is" remarked the clerk smiling.
For when it has been agitated and
treated it is brought to another part of
the works with that necessary object"
Suffocating fumes had been coming
from the bubbling oil while we stood
on the platform, and now we were glad
to descend the stairway again.
The fumes, of course, are the ex-
plosive part of the oil, and the fewer
there are in the oil the safer it is"
Doctored once more in the bleaching
pans, il is at last pure, colorless and
odorless, and is transferred to one of the
storage tanks resembling gasometers
that we saw when entering the works.
The government test of petroleum is
110o but the astral oil safely bears the
test of 1852. Thus while the former
will ignite the moment fame touches
it. the astral will not; and owing to
the thoroughness of its refinement, it
would not explode uuder any circuln-
stances. We were induced to expert
ment, not without misgivings. A
lighted match was held close to a cup
of astral oil, SO close that the fame ap-
peared to touch the liquid, and, in
fact, did so once or twice; but the
match burned its length and the oil was
as little disposed to light as cup OF
cold water.
The clerk next conducted us to the
tin-shop, which occupies the entire Sec
ond floor of the main building. Here
crowd of men and boys were making
oil-cans, of which about nine thousand
are finished daily, each holding five gal
Ions. At one ponderous machine the
ends were being stamped with the COM
pany's trade mark; at another the sides
were pressed into shape, and at bench
across the room nimble workman was
soldering them as fast as boy could
hand them to him. AS the cans were
completed they were shot through a
slide to cart waiting in the yard be.
low, and thence they were conveyed to
the packing-room. In this department
we saw an arrangement which looks like
a weaving machine, and ranged in front
of it were rows of five-gallon measures,
filed with oil through patent faucets.
Six measures are filled at once and six
cans are placed beneath them. The
cans when full are sealed and packed in
wooden cases-two cans or ten gallons
in each case; the case is stenciled, and
the astral oil is ready for the vessels
lying at the foot of the wharf. How
quickly all this is done may be imag-
ined from the fact that on an average Is
cans are made, filed, sealed, cased and
marked every minute.
"Beats the very lightning" observed
Cousin James.
Mr.. Sibthorpe's attention was called
to a number Of casks stamped Impe-
rial Astral Oil, manufactured expressly
for the English market" The clerk
informed him that the company exports
immense quantities, not only to Eng
land but to other countries also, and
that while it chiefly depends on the rep
utation it has acquired in the produc-
ton of perfectly safe oil for household
use, it also carries on the ordinary bus
mess of an oil refinery.
Our visit now ended, and we went
home. I think it has been profitable in
its results. Cousin James has since
had an opportunity to taunt some one
for not visiting Shakspeare's birthplace,
and has refrained.
I saw the two lads gazing intsntly at
my lamp one evening, and on the next
day | discovered them pouring over a
treatise on oil refining. In parting,
word of thanks is due, therefore, to the
firm which so courteously aided us in
our search for light.
@ Avoid a contest if possible, for
you can never be sure how contest
will end.
T Silence ia the safest course for