Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-06-21
SAN FRANCISCO LETTER.
NOTES ALONG A RURAL STROLL
OVER THE BAY.
- NIoonshiners New Uses for the
"Anti-hfalarious" Gum Tree
Mrs. Iangtry-Etc.
SAC FRANo1sco, June IS. 1881

from the road, which reminded me o.
those stories of moonshiners" and con-
cealed distilleries in poor Sherwood Bon
ner's" vivid Tennessee stories. Two sheds
of implanted pine boards and beams stood
out crudely from the surrounding foliage
and attached to one of them by iron pipes
was low hut matched with large withered
branches Of the eucalyptus tree The mel
low gray and brown tones of this sere
thatch were carried out in u large mound OF
withered and sodden eucalyptus leaves
preserving their lance form even in decay
The mound was higher than the hut, and
gave wild, desolate look to the place. A
big dog came running towards me- and
TWO MYSTERIOUS STRANGERS
Also dawned upon the scene, and dis
tillery it certainly was, but of very inno-
cent Iiquor-the juice of eucalyptus leaves
/ have followed the rise and fall of the
eucalyptus tree as an institution, with in
terest, partly because it is such a familiar
object TO all CalitornianS-a plantation OF
them always arises in our most primeval
forestS-and partly because a very fine
specimen shaded the windows of my earli-
est recollection. There was an hour when
the grand and potent medicinal and disin-
fecting qualities of the eucalyptus made-the
world resound with their fame; the Ro-
man marshes, all marshes, were to be
planted with it, and malarial fever was to
be a thing of the past. This eliminated in
the usual reactionary rumor that the plant
ing of eucalyptus trees in the Roman
marshes had been a fiat and barren failure,
and the suggestion that the tree should be-
come the characteristic California tree, and
be profusely planted along our city streets
for shade, was made at the reactionary mo-
ment, and was greeted with howl of re-
sentiment and repulsion A great many
trees were planted, but it is the fashion to
decry them, and one writer Of comic squibs
always Classics the species as eucalyptus
disqualification.
REMOVING SCALE IN BOILERS.
| made inquiry of the two mysterious
strangers as to what good end was to be OBJ
tanned by sleeping eucalyptus leaves, and
was informed that the tea so obtained
was useful in preventing the formation of
scale on the inside of steam boilers. | had
never seen the inside of a steam boiler and
! did not know there was a scale on it, or,
| if there were that it required removal or
prevention, but it appears that a certain
| incrustation is the bane of the engineers
! life All waters contain more or less solid
matter held in solution and this under
pressure, heat and evaporation is deposited
! on the tubes and plates of steam boilers
| forming hard scale, varying in density
and thickness with the style of boiler the
manner in which it is used and the. kind of
water The body of the scale is usually
| sulphate or carbonate OF lime, or both,
with other ingredients, including some iron
| from rust of the iron of the boiler. Salt
|
| and fresh water carbonate scale The
scale is poor conductor heat, so that more
! fuel is required for the boiler in which scale
| is formed, the iron, owing to the fact that
| the water does not touch it, gets q burned"
as pots set empty on the kitchen range will
and so weakened as to cause most of the
| boiler explosions. Whenever a steamer
comes into port, men and boys are put into
the boilers with hammers and chisels TO
break off the scale. The boys are sent into
| the smaller parts of the boilers, yet after
all many places cannot be reached. The
regular examination of all steamboat
boilers by United States Inspectors of
Boilers, and the strict insight exercised as
to the qualifications of engineers for their
positions, account for the comparative in
frequency of explosions, which TO those
familiar with the rapid decay of steam
boilers from the raYages of scale, is simply
marvellous Of course it is a boon TO the
travelling public, whose lives are in the
engineers hands, that inspectors should be
alert in discovering flaws and condemning
injured boilers, but it is extremely expen-
siYe for owners. The discOverer of the
eucalyptus preparation to remove scale
happened upon it by the mere chance that
his fuel expenses for his steam mills, where
he was compelled to use very bad water,
oh ha g
scale in the boilers that he sacrificed fine
grove of eucalyptus trees for tire-wOod
From the outside to the inside of his
boilers SYas but step. and his discovery
was made
THE GUN TREE DIsTILLERY.
SO much for the necessity in the boiling
world of a delaminatOr. Now for the work
ings Of my little distillery. l went into the
larger Of the deal sheds and saw three iron
boilers Of graduated sizes standing side by
side. About q ton Of the leaves are stripped
from the cut branches of eucalyptus and
put into the first and largest boiler with the |
proper amount Of water, and cooked four |
hours. The essential oils of the eucalyptus
are more used in Europe than here In |
Germany especially they are a staple in |
medicine. The supply has hitherto been |
from Australia. As these oils pass off from |
condensed and clarified as sort of side |
industry to the scalc-removing liquid |
When the leaves have been cooked four |
hours in the largest boiler under about 40 |
pounds pressure 10 the square inch, the |
liquid is drawn off and put into the boiler |
next smaller with more leaves, and again |
cooked four hours; in the smallest boiler
the same treatment The extract is drawn |
Off from the smallest boiler in the condi-
ton in which it is TO be used, a brown liquid |
very like muddy water. The oils having
been extracted the liquid is mixable with
water, and is to be sent into the boiler in
proper quantity at the same time and with
the feed water. The pipe leading from
each boiler led out TO my little distillery
under the withered eucalyptus thatch and
wandered to and fro in q tall narrow
trough filed with water. which cooled the
essential oils which each pipe brought off
from each boiler, and which, being cooled !
was carried back to the big condenser under
the same roof as the boilers. In the spirit
which Ruskin has made familiar, almost
hoped that the enterprise would not sue
coed for that would mean the erection of
q big, ugly square mandatory somewhere, |
a systematic planting of trees to be system
atically topped, and the end Of the pict-
wild little encampment and the
matched distillery and mound of cooked
Ieaves-a whole that carried no impress of
the thirty odd patents that defend it,
but on the contrary looked delightfully."-
illegal and secret and small as il was
urned out 800 gallons 4 day and $1,000 D,
gallons 4 month, when it did its prettiest
went TO E,
MRS LkNGTEY's FIRST NIGHT, '
and never saw 50 many ladies III the au- c
Hence Most of them wore white hats. 8
Two | saw with bare heads, while only c
mall minority of men wore evening dress. |
There is no reason why San Francisco men !
hould deviate from their usual custom of
appearing at the theater in afternoon dress
or Mrs. Langtry's engagement any more v
han for any other actress, but il was dis s
ussed as holly as many other triaes are c
Is for Mrs Langtry, if ever woman might t
lisarm criticism and obliterate the remem- n
france Of gossip by her prepossessing beauty n
md manner, the Jersey Lily is that thrice s.
ortunate one. The words gentle, refined, C