Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1886-03-06
CANDLES.

/
Providence Journal.
Notwithstanding the great improve
ments made in the methods of lighting
since the time when our ancestors were
content to sit by the Pickering light OF
an old-fashioned tallow candle and read
the bible, the "Pilgrim's Progress" or the
religious weekly paper, great number
OF candles are sold every year. It was
thought when kerosene oil was intro
duced and finally came to be generally
used, that candles would be drug on
the market. Later, when gas came into
use, it was concluded that the demand
for oil would soon amount to nothing.
Still later, when the electric light was
taken up as means of Illuminating the
darkness, some were bold enough to pre-
dict that gas would ere long become a
thing of the past. But, as matter of
fact, more gas is used now than ever be-
fore on account of the increased number
of uses for it.
The production and sale of kerosene
oil is enormous. And the demand for
candles has appreciably increased dur
ing the past ten or fifteen years. They
are used more extensively for church and
other religious purposes, and for dinner
parties. Plumbers require great manv
of them. Nearly every housekeeper has
candle in her house to light her way
down cellar or up stairs. A great many
burn them in their sleeping room in
preference to the kerosene oil. especially
in the summer time at seaside resorts
They are more largely used for festival
days, and great many well-to-do per-
sons purchase many of the finest for Or
namentation. Their use for dinner par
ties especially is increasing.
A millionaire's grocer in New York re-
Gently purchased for his use at fashion
able dinner party twelve dozen of can
dies worked in beautiful forms and hay
ing truly artistic appearance. In fact
the decoration and ornamentation of can
dies has come to be quite an art. The
best candles for ornamentation are of
pure beeswax. When the wax is hot they
are worked in very beautiful shape and
ornamented with great degree OF nicely.
The wax when hot is drawn up by nip
pers into great variety of forms and
colored red, green, blue, yellow, purple,
etc. The wax is drawn up by nippers
in the form of flowers, fruit, green leaves,
etc. Some of the candles thus worked
are purchased solely to look at. These
beautiful candles, burning at dinner
party, either on the table or in the
chandelier arranged expressly for them,
present very pleasing appearance. A
great many of these are produced in
western New York.
Among the various kinds of candles
now sold may be mentioned parafne,
sperm, stealine, adamantine, tallow, and
wax. The last named are cheaper now
than they have been in ten years, al
though the demand for them is increas-
ing. Beeswax, when hot, can be worked
into different shapes better than the
other kinds, which are comparatively
brittle. In many places bees are now
grown simply for the wax which they
make, and many beeswax manufacturers
take care of and feed their bees in such
a way as to produce the most possible
and best wax. The bee that lives on
clover blossoms, it is generally conceded,
generally produce the best wax; and it is
stated that there are some persons SO
expert in the business that they can, by
tasting the wax, tell what the bees have
fed on. Some of the bees thus grown are
very costly, instances being cited where
they are worth more than 81 each. The
workof breeding and training them has
becomea great industry.