The Red Cloud chief., 1898-07-22
OIL IS EXPENSIVE.
bEST KINDS HAVE A MARKET
VALUE OF 500 A GALLON.
Refining Ia . secret In rart-Metsl
Disks Arc Used 10 Determine the pur-
ity OF the Refined Liauos-A rs.,
That 10 Always Infauibie.

The general impression Is that oil Is
cheap stun. But do you know that a
Tiny h~alf-ounce vial OF the lubricant
which the matchmaker or repairer ap-
piles to the delicate mechanism of a
pocket timepiece Is worth n quarter OF
! dollar True, a gallon OF kerosene
can be bought for ten cents; on the
other hand. this finer oil, which must
remain unchanged In character amid
all the changes OF temperature, has a
market value OF $50 q gallon, says tho
Philadelphia Inquirer The engineer
sitting In the cab OF his locomotive.
ever glancing at the dial Of his watch,
knowing that II never makes mistakes,
Is confident of the safety OF his train.
For this he and the passengers should
give thanks to the blackhsh and the
~porpoise that once swan In the sea Of
the coast Of New England. These ma
rine animals furnish what is known as
head" oil. n product which In very
small quantities IL extracted solely
from the under paw and the peculiar
fatty growth on the rostrum Of the
skull in front OF the blow hole. Black
hsh head" oil has almost tripled In
value. In the crude state. at Province
town, down In Cape Cod, where the
bulk OF It IL landed, within the short
period OF seven years. That brought In
whaling In 1890 was sold to refiners
for $3.50 a gallon. and In 1897 the price
had advanced to $40 a gallon. No sin
gle ship arrived with more than twelve
gallons on board as the result of a
seasons work. although. OF course.
there were other trophies OF the voy-
ages to be disposed Of for cash. The
present scarity of Blacklist admits of
but one explanation-to-wit, the al
most complete determination of the
species, the result Of a terrific slaugh-
ter along the In the past. Prov
incetown Is the greatest head" oil en-
porium OF this country. or the total
quantity produced in the United States
during the last nifty years seven
e!ghths were contributed by that cape
town. where a limited quantity, mel
lowed and bleachod to q purity and q
Wilderness that are marvellous during its
long period OF storage. remains a pro-
vision to be relied upon TO an extent
In time Of need. A visit to the fac
tory of a %refincr. whose products are
furnished to the leading watch manu-
f%acturers and repairers of this country
and Europe. elected the fact that the
work Of refining is q secret In part.
This gentleman mas no assistant who
might discover and perchance reveal
the exact nature Of the art. To de-
termine the purity Of the refined II
quid metal disks are used at this fac.
tory. These are OF brass. apparently
about the size OF an old-time copper
cent. OIL dropped upon these disks
will reveal It's imperfection. II there bs
any. In the deposit or formation OF q
corrosive substance OF n greenish hue
not unlike the color of salt-corroded
copper. This. although but one OF
, several methods used at various stages
OF the work. Is an infalllble test and
the oil which does not tarnish the
brass detector is Individually up to
, standard and equally certain to pass
on It's merits. To successfully under
go all tests. to fully win the favor oil
the exacting watch. clock and chro-
nometer makers and ~rejuvenators, the
refined product OF the factory must be
entirely devoid Of acidulous proper.
ties. absolutely gumless. be free
have ability to Withstand the rigors q
the coolest climate without c~ongealing
be able to maintain It's body" OF sta
bility In a high temperature. and last
but not least. 1t must be Of uniform
quality. One other reQuirement--im.
perative--is the production OF an oil
the hue OF which IL exactly to the lik-
ing of the purchaser OF the two head
oils. blackfsh and porpoise. the former
is the favorite by a slight margin. II
$ having a trlhe heavier body" than thu
| latter. but tho ~porpoise oil ia a very
4 close second in point Of favor. Tit
t melon" and Jaw Of the blackish yielt
a fair quantity Of oil. three gallons be-
I ing the medium product. The porpols'
gives but little head" oil, say one-halI
pint. and one pint from the jaw and
melon" of average specimens Of har
Dor and sea ~porpoises, respectively
Chicago Daily News.