Daily Kennebec journal., 1898-01-17
4 LAND OF NAPH1HA.
Highly Inflammable Nature Of Everything al
the Baku Petroleum Wells.

Probably there IS no spot on earth
where more highly intiammable matter
lies exposed to such terrible coniiagra-
tions as that Just reported from Baku
than in the district lying Just beyond
that town on the shores of the Caspian
Everything seems saturated with pctro-
leum: the air one hrcatheS is laden with
Il greasy odor. and the waters of the
bay are covered with an irridcscent
sheen which at night may be set on lire
with most weird effect. Not only is
black naphtha to be seen in monster
fountains playing from the very Garth.
but white naphtha flows of itself in
places and a short way off are the nat
ural gas vents over which the natives
do their cooking without coal. and which
once fed the sacred Zoroastrian fires.
No wonder that the ancient PersianS
looked on this as holy ground. where the
eternal heaVen-fed flames of life burst
forth in sacred buildings. the remains of
which are still cXtant, and the modern
Persian or Parsee Of Bombay and Gu
ierat kindies the oil shipped to him from
Batoum without Il sigh for Il vanished
belief. When the late Shah of Persia
visited Ballu it was necessary 10 import
a number Of priests for The occasion,
that he might witness in the portion of
the Persian Empire that had been wresl-
ed from it by Peter the Great Il speci-
men of the worship that his prcdecoS-
sors had all but stamped out in the por-
tion they had conquered and retained.
For less distinguished visitors to see
there is only ruined tower, from the
top of which flare natural jets, through
iron gaspipes, and Il number of cells,
with affairs for the once sacred fire" and
some ancient inscriptions.
Everything round is saturated. ANA |
have stood in those sheds the only dry
object. with Il naphtha spout playing
above and falling doafeninsly upon the
roof. No one objects to naphtha there.
and the men even wash in il. using sand
herewith while all employed have Il
liked allowance for fuel and light. No
dwellings more dismal than theirs can
be imagined. Dante should have visited
the spot.
All around between the wells lie lakes
of Soething naphtha, which, when clear
of sand and stones will be pumped into
iron reservoirs. The roaaS have naphtha
streams by the sides, and naphtha pipes
of all sizes cross and interlace in all di-
rections until they are hardly passabe
one rashly thrown match would set
miles in Il blaze, and the most stringent
regulations are wisely enforced But for
them disasters would be terribly fire.
quent.
y very different appearance is present
ed by the papitatinS Black Town. where
i'll gigantic furnaces the naphtna is dis
titled and churned and distilled again as
b"nZnc. kerosene and vaSelnc. and
many valuable chemicals are one oy one
removed. till only the thick. black resi-
due of use for fuel, is left. and much of
this is used to feed the furnaces them
selves. Boilers so heated closely resaIrl-
bic those intended for coal and wood
except that on the inside OF the lire
doors are stout jets, through which it is
pumped the length of the tirebox. form
ing bright tongues of heat-giving flames.
Railways and steamers alike are so heat
ed in Russia.-The Pail Mall Gazette.