The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-07-21
PALMOLE SOAP FACTORY.
ANOTHER OF WIOHITA'S LARGE AND
THRIVING MANUFACTURING
INDUSTRIES.
Large Orders Received Daily--A Good
and Increasing Business--The Capac-
ity of the Plant and Other
Interesting Facts About
the Institution.

There is an institution in Wichita which
would pay anyone of the city who never
visited it to do so soon. 1t is place but
little talked OF, about town, yet nearly
every one knows of its existence For a
long time it was run on such small scale
that it could not amount to much, but its
present management has changed the or
der of things materially, and now Charles
Bros Palmole Soap factory is a place of
note throughout this and other states.
1t is located at SIS East Oak street, and
was visited by an EAGLE representative
yesterday, who found place of by far
larger proportions than he had ever
thought existed
This soap has quite a history, for its
origin dates back to about thirty or forty
years ago, when the settlers Of Colorado and
New Mexico found plant called Yucca,
whose roots, they also discovered, were
composed of an oily pulp which resembled
the OIL of the palm tree very much, hence
the name, palmole. These people also
found that this substance could be used
for washing the same as soap, and they at
once adopted it almost universally. The
plant now grows wild in different parts of
this and other states, yet it costs consid-
cradle 10 get it on account of the best part
of the root being that which is deepest in
the earth, and it takes much labor to pro-
cure it, The present standing price is
about $40 per ton besides the freight
1t was never made into soap until about
five years ago, when w. r. Binkley hap
pened upon a method by which it could
be converted by the use of chemicals into
an extra fine quality of soap. He at once
communicated his idea to one D. w. Stall
ings, who began manufacturing it when his
means were so limited that he made it on
cook stove, eight gallons at a time, cut
1t into blocks with knife and sold it out
on the street corners.
In few months this soap had become
so popular that a capitalist, James
GillOgly, interested himself in this enter
prise, paying 50, 900 for a half interest in
the same when the whole concern con-
sisted of only the knowledge Of how to
manufacture this root into the lower
grades of soap. Quite a good deal of
money was expended for machinery, adj
vertising, ETC., and after having changed
hands several times it is now owned and
managed by Charles Bros, who also own
a large chemical works at Evansville, Ind.
The plant now occupies large two
story building, has all the latest styles of
machinery and employs from six to twelve
men continually. 1t has capacity of
from 50 to 100 gross per day but is now
running on shorter time on account of the
orders, which now average about twenty
gross per day, being much smaller at this
season of the year.
In the manufacture OF the soap the roots
are reduced into liquid pulp by the use
of chemicals, and separated into different
grades or classes. each for a separate grade
of soap. This pulp is put into MILL to-
gether with the desired fiavoring or per-
fume, and ground, which separates the oil
from the impure parts of the root. This
mill is run by a ten-horse power engine,
which is used to propel other parts of
the works also. This pulp is then boiled
and placed in large watts to cool; they have
fourteen of these watts, which hold 400
pounds of soap each. 1t is then cut up by
a machine, patented by one of the firm,
which has a capacity of nearly 200 cakes
per minute The cakes are allowed to sea-
son for SO hours, when they are pressed and
with a machine which give each
cake pressure of 5000 pounds.
This company manufacture at present
twelve different varieties or grades of soap,
all of which are of purely vegetable ingre-
dieuts, and are putting in machinery by
which they will be enabled to put out
several new and finer grades, one
of which will be called PaImole
Boquet, which they promise will
be equal to the we'll known Colgate's
Cashmere BoqUet, and in some respects
superior because of its being entirely vege-
table in composition. They will also
make fine shaving soap. They use the
finest of all kinds of oils for perfume, which
they grind into the soap, making it per-
For the cheaper grades they have |
what they call Economy Disinfectant,
which is composed of 20 per cent. pine tar, |
per cent. spirits and gum camphor, l per |
cent. ammonia and residue palmole, which |
makes splendid soap. They have three |
grades of it.
This firm also have their own box fac |
tory in a smaller building near by in which |
they employ five girls, who make the |
paper boxes used by the institution. 1t |
axes about 1,500 of them every month. |
They also have their carpenters to make |
heir shipping boxes, of which they use
about 500 a month.
In fact it is an immense institution and |
he same company, composed of the five
Charles brothers, have similar plant at
Evansville, Ind.