The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-01-05
Making Charcoal.

| lON lOl UlO DOIC pul
pose of making charcoal, and the
place IN which they made the char
coal was called the pit. Now char
coal is one of the incidental pro-
ducts of another business, and the
place in which it is made is called
an acid factory.
In the old days, the charcoal
burner drove stake in the center
of piece of cleared ground, or
cleared off piece of ground around
a small sapling, and then proceeded
to stand cord wood up around it on
end until the pile was about forty
feet in diameter and two lengths
high. Then he piled sods and
earth all over the pit, leaving a
small hole here and there around
the bottom, and one small hole in
the top. When the wood was well
covered in he set it on fire, and let
it burn IT'LL well ablaze, and then
closed up the draughts around the
pile.
For two weeks thereafter the
charcoal burner, with another man
with him, sat by the pile and
smoked his pipe. Now and then
the fire would break through the
covering land he would have to Gov
err up the hole. Some time he
would have to make hole on a
side where the fire was not dis
posed to go. In few days a black
tar would begin TO ooze out from
little drains made for its escape
around the bottom. Daring all the
time the pile was burning a pic
turesque column of smoke out of
the Chimney hole left in the top.
When the tar ceased to flow and the
smoke to rise the charcoal burner
knew that the pit was burned out
and after allowing a day or so for
coolin2 he shovelled off the sods
and earth, pouring water on such
chunks OF coal as happened to be
on fire, I and and was then ready
to load the product of his labor in
to dusky, black covered wagon,
and with his mules to pull it, drive
to town and make himself hoarse
shouting "Cha a-r-coali Char-c-o-
alp He got about twenty five
bushels of coal out of a cord
of wood and twenty five cents
out of a bushel of coal. Consider
ing the value OF the wood and the
time required to make and sell. the
charcoal burner didn't get rich very
fast. In fact, he was always a la
borer, dressed in blue jeans.
But he fonnd time to mediate.
and that after long years amounted
to something. Out OF his medita-
tions grew the revolution ia the
business. Singular as it may seem,
the most valuable product of the
charcoal pit was the picturesque
smoke that rose up and was dissi-
pated in the air above the pit while
the fire lasted. 1t was like throw
ing money into the river to let that
smoke blow away. Some bright
genius discovered that the smoke
was in good part alcohol. and that
The alcohol for mechanical purposes
was just as good as grain or fruit
alcohol, though not at all good to
the taste. In fact it would take
the throat out of street tramp.
The problem of getting the alco-
hol out Of the smoke was simple.
Instead of burning the wood in a
pit, the genius borrowed capital
and built retorts just large enough
ty hold two cords Of wood each.
They were made in the shape of
round steam boilers and mounted
over brick furnaces as boilers are.
The retorts were filled with hard
wood, soft being of no account, and
tires were started in the furnaces.
The wood was baked, and the VIOLA
tile elements OF the wood were
driven of through pipes that were
laid IN big trough of running wa
tor 80 as to form a condenser on
the principle of q steam con-
deDser. OF course, the factory had /!
to be located on stream of water !
that had a good fall in order to |
run the water into the condenser
economically, although a steam
engine would pump the water
through.
The liquor that ran from the
condenser was simply condensed !
smoke. 1t was conducted to
tank where it was mixed with lime. |
The lime combined with certain
acid constituents of the smoke and
left the wood alcohol free. The al
cohol was drawn off and distilled
once or twice to refine it, just az it
would be distilled in q Craiu dis
tlllery. From five to six gallons of
alcohol were obtained from q cord
OF wood.
Then the compound of lime and
acid was taken out of the watts and
dried down in shallow watts, until 1t
became the commercial substance
known as acetate of lime, About
800 pounds of the acetate were OBJ
from cord of wood. Here.
then, were two very valuable sub
stances obtained from the smoke
and although some additional labor
and valuable plant had been nee
essary to secure the smoke, the ex-
ira expense was a trifle compared
with the value Of the new products.