St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-02-12
From Northern Miohigan---No. 2
TRAVERSE CRY. Mich, ia

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich, Jan. 30.
To the Editor of The CaIedOnian:
1t is hard to find an industry here
that does not involve the destruction
of the forests. At Elk Rapids, in An
trim county are located iron and chem
ical works which use a vast amount of
wood in the production of alcohol,
acetate of lime and tar. Elk Rapids
is a village Oh one of the bays that
push into the land from lake Michigan,
and here Elk river, the outlet of u long
chain of lakes, descends in the last
half mile of its course by a succession
of rapids into the lake.
These lakes, lying in country near
IL level, have many bays and iniets
that reach far into the land around
them. and form a connected chain of
navigable waters thirty-five OF forty
miles in length. Tue surrounding
country is heavily wooded, and barges
lowed by small tugs receive the wood
where it is piled upon the shores, and
convey it to the yards at the works,
Hard wood only is used. The works
are on an extensive scale, and are well
worth a visit. Twenty five kilus or
retorts, built of brick, each of which
holds when charged no cords of wood,
are arranged side by side in a long
line, and over them, supported by a
framework, passes a huge pipe to re-
ceive the smoke. Light circular kilns,
holding 50 cords each, stand by them
selves. These kilns, when full charged,
use nearly 300 cords of wood at one
time.
When one of these kilns is charged,
all the doors are bricked up, the whole
exterior white washed to render it air
tight, fire is set, and the whole allowed
to shoulder till the mass is reduced to
charcoal. This process employs eight
or ten days, and the smoke from the
burning mass, with its gas and steam,
is drawn along the pipe over head by
an engine which fuses it through q
labyrinth of pipes, immersed IN mas
sive tanks, where cold water is con-
stantly flowing. By this process it is
condensed and becomes black, sticky,
ill-smelling mass called sugar" 1t is
then mixed with lime, the mass further
condensed by boiling, and the product
dried in pans. This is the chemical
known in commerce as acetate of lime.
Alcohol is evolved from the smoke
when condensed by a long and intri-
cate process, carried on in dark, damp
mass of buildings full of great tanks,
giving out from its tall iron chimReys
clouds of steam, which issue from every
crevice in the buildings, like the steam
from an immense sugar house. 1t is a
pungent, acrid vapOr, and its peculiar
odor may be detected in the air miles
away, and clings persistently in the
clothing of the visitor for days.
Tar is taken where it cOndenses from
the smoke along the pipes, and is of
peculiar quality, altogether unlike that
from pine wood. The acetate of lime
is sent to Philadelphia to be used in
making white lead.
Iron ore is brought by rail and boat
from the mines on Lake Superior,
and the charcoal produced in the chem
ical works is used in the reduction of
the ore About 80 tons day of pig
iron are turned out. These works run
day and night, Sundays and all.
1t does not need TO be said that there
is a crowd of rough, ignorant men en-
ploved about the works, who need to
know no more than to handle wood or
ore, aud who drink and are hard char
acters. Mingled with these are the
skilled workmen, who are familiar with
all the details of the business, intelh
gent men, with that mental readiness
that comes from long familiarity with
the curious processes of nature and art.
Consequently there are all kinds of So
ciety at Elk Rapids. Many of the men
are Swedes and live in small, poor
cabins. They save money if they keep
from drink aud when they have saved
u little, move into a better quarter of
the town, and build respectable houses.
There are many curious features in a
place like this. F. P. W.