The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1883-07-04
NATURAL GAS WELLS.
IN Important Industry Developing In Penn
sylyaniu.

The great natural gas wells in Western
Pennsylvania are developing an industry
which will some day be Of vast import
ancc TO this country. 1t is the manufoc-
turc Of lampback. 70 n large number
Of people the existence Of this industry
in the United States is comparatively I'M.
known. The fact that hundreds of thou
sands Of dollars in profits are realized an.
mIully in Pennsylvania 10y simply gather
ing the SCOT which is condensed from the
flames and smoke at these wells is some
thing That very few persons have even
thought about. For years past the bust
ness has been rather obscure, hut Of late
il has been growing in size and import
.ancc, and no little public attention has
been attracted by it. New gas wells are
being BOUGHT on leased in this region by
Eastern capitalists for the purpose Of cx-
tending the industry and utilizing the
gas, which otherwise would only go 10
waste. The quality Of carbon black that
Is male from natural ga, has been found
10 be- so much superior to that manuiac-
turcd 10y other methods that it is in de-
mand everywhere, and il is significant
fact that nearly the entire product in that
State gocs direct to Germany and other
foreign countries. This finer grade Of
the article is Il pigment of great value in
the arts and is expensive, bringing the
highest prices.
The process Ivy which lamphack is
made would at first Thought appear very
simple to the casual reader, hut its de-
, tails are novel and interesting. A carbon
black factory ut the side Of roaring gas
well is wonderful! place. There is one
in Butler county, about thiry-cight
miles from Pittslurg, which is the most
extensive in this country. 1t is located
at Saxon station, on the West Pcnnsyl
vauin Railroad, and is owned by {
wealthy New York company. The modm
0pcraHd Of the manufacture of lamp
black, in brief, is the burning Of "a
against shcct-iron plates. In this factor,
at Saxon 10000 gus Jets are burning da,
and night. The building is about II,
feet square. From til" gas well, Il few
wards distant, II foul-inch pipe extends I,
the factory. AT the main entrance i
branches oil in two directions, and iron
these two distributing mains eight lonj
pipes, running the entire length Of tn
building, draw their supply. Along cacl
of these pipes are small jets, thin an,
very close together. As stated above
they number fully twenty thousand
Over each "bcnch' on which the loni
pipe rests are continuous plates Of shcc
iron, and il is against these that the tim
flames from the myriad Of Jets burn
The windows Wd doors are always KEY
tightly closed with close fitting shutter,
so rs to prevent the admission Of 10
much air. The temperature of the il
terror must be sufficiently regulated {
avoid perfect combustion. and thus say
the carbon. Little by little the LAM
black forms ON the sheet iron until
small mass not larger than u cherry, pc
haps, haugs over each jet. At rcgul
Interval, If twenty minutes small ire
"carriagc' or Il sort of scrapcr is n
along each of the rows Of iron, and Il
matter thus collected is cmpticd into
receptacle in another department. FIR
qucutly water is run over the top of Il
, iron to keep it cool The heat of Il
( place is intense and cannot be endur,
. long.
q When this finely divided carbon is I
/ moved from the sheet iron it is ready (
4 packing. This is the most difficult pi
of the work. Being such IN cXtrcm,
y, light substance it would require but
!. very small quantity TO fill II barrel if
were thrown in loosely. Ingenious II
y rhinery has been invented, however,
1 obviatc this difficulty in measure.
v it is dropped in by the painful heavy rC
crs and stampcrs run by II steam cngi
press it down as tight Ms possible, |
! notwithstanding all this labor only fiji
II pounds of lampblack can be put in
1 Ordinary sized barrel. The capaci
- of the factory at Saxon is 800. pounds I
day, or only five barrels. 1t is stated IL
q all the mmphlack manufactured the
:; goes direct to Grmany. There it is MS
II for various purposes. 1t forms the pri
cipal part Of coloring matter for pam
u Printers ink and marking inks are al
~ made from it, and it is becoming II
II sirablc article for the polish and prepa
', ton Of shoe leather.