The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-22
TURPENTTNE IN OLD DAYS.
Great Britain Once Taxed the Product
Of the CaTOlilaS.


War-How Cotton Batting Game to
Be Adopted as a Percolator-Labor
Better in 1871 Than at Present.
Lyons, Ga, Jan. 16.-The naval store S
industry, concerning which an interest
ing article appeared in the MORNING NEWS
of last Sunday, is not a new industry, by
any means, in either North or South Caro-
lima 1t is historical fact, recorded
think, by Gilmore Simms in his history
of South Carolina, that as early as 1850
the British government required the two
Cardinals to pay tax on their produc-
tions of turpentine and tar. To corroborate
the fact that the industry is not new
can say from actual experience that Fl o n
the year 1856 to 1880 l cut boxes every
winter in Charleston NOW Berkeley and
Colleton counties in South Carolina,
and it was very common thing, in both
of these coun ties, to find old fiat light
wood" stumps in which could be traced
very easily the old boxes of century be-
fore.
But to lay these bygone days aside and
come TO more recent date, or, as we
might say the revival of the industry in
South Carolina. Sometime during the
decade of lS40 Col Sam Palmer operated
on what would now be considered a
very small scale on his place
considered a big business. About
the same time Col B. PRESLEY Smith
worked turpentine along the Santee
canal, while few others worked along
the line of the South Carolina railroad
| which had not been very long completed
| AS already stated, the writer himself en-
| gagged in the business in 1865 and has con
| Guided that it might be interesting to
| those in the business to be told some
| thing of the working of turpentin in the
| old days.
saw the first cast iron hack weight
the kind that is used to-day, in 1859
| Previous to that time we made our hack
weights by cutting off four of five pounds
| of an old cart tire, heating it and bend
! ing it around as compactly as possible
! leaving a hoe in the middle for the
| handle. Often black-gum with large
| swell at the bottom was cut and dressed
| of, leaving the swell at the bottom, which
was followed out and filled with lead
Our hacks of those days were what is
| known now as the whole round" The
| dip barrels were made on the farm, oil
| pine slaves and wooden hoops.
The greatest improvements, however,
| have been made in distilling and strain
ing the rosin. Until about 1877 the grades
of rosin were not lettered, as they are now,
but were known as Nos 3, 2, /, extra J.,
extra 2, pale, extra pale. low pale and
window glass. II was seldom that any
window glass was made Up to about
| 1869 those of the operators who at
tempted to make any of the finer grades
of rosin strained it through blankets,
using from one to two pair a day. But
this proving very expensive, coarse vel
low homespun was adopted in its place,
and was used until 1871, when the cotton
batting of to-day was tried and found to
be success.
About that time nS71) the writer was
running still for a firm at Ridgevlile, S.
G. IL was suggested by some one that
cotton would be a good thing 20 strain
through. The idea was accepted, a bale of
cotton and pair of cards were bought, an
old negro woman hired, little shanty was
built to card bats in. These cotton bats
were laid carefully in the bottom of the
strainer and the rosin run through them,
which proved to be the very thing needed /;
but it was expensive. After
using the cotton bats for
several months, one day gentleman by
the name of j. w. Moore came to the still.
He was in some way interested in the cot
ton factory at Graniteville, S. G.. He saw
the still hands laying the bats in the
strainer, and said to me: why, sir, ]
have the very thing that you need"
and described to me that at a certain
stage in preparing the cotton to be spun
it was in the very condition that we
needed it. He sent us sample for trial
it came all right the old woman
was discharged and the cards
were thrown away hence the cotton bat
ting of to-day.
About this time an old Frenchman by
the name of Leibenrood invented and
patented a plan by which he used tin
buckets for boxes. These had wings ex-
tending up the tree under the hacking,
by which the turpentine was conveyed
into the bucket. After about six
'streaks" were put on, the bucket
and wings were moved further up
the tree. BY this means he made virgin
turpentine all the time. He oper-
ated very extensively around Mornicks'
Corner and Mount Holly, then in Charles
ton county.
In those days negroes used TO chip IL, 900
TO Il, 600 boxes. and dip from four To six
barrels of turpentine day. Now it is
hard to get many of them that viii chip
10000 regularly, or dip more than three
barrels of turpentine. Wages are better
and the necessities of life cheaper than
3 laarF