The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1898-03-03
A LAND OF NAPHTHA.
ynhammab1e Nature Of Things at
Baku Petroleum Wells.

Probably there is no spot on earth
where more highly infiammable mat
ter lies exposed to such terrible con-
flagrations as that just reported from
Baku than in the district lying just be-
yond that own on the shores of the
Caspian. Everything seems saturated
with petroleum; the air one breathes
! is laden with a greasy odor. and the
waters of the bay are covered with an
iridescent sheen which at night may De
set On fire with most weird effect Not
only is black naphtha to be seen in
monster fountains playing from the
very earth. but white naphtha flows of
itself IT. places, and a short way of
are the natural gas vents over which
the natives do their cooking without
coal. and which once fed the sacred
Zoroastlian fires. No wonder that the
ancient Persfans 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 eXtant and by the modern Per
sian or Parsee of Bombay and Gujerat
kindles the oil shipped to him from Ba-
toum without a sigh for a vanishing
belief When the late Shah of Per
STA visited Ballu it was necessary to
import number of priests for the oc-
casion, that he might witness in the
portion of the Persian Empire that had
been Wrssted from him by Peter the
Great 4 specimen of the worship that
his predecessors had all but stamped
out IN the portion 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
gaspi1es, and a number of cells. With
affairs for the once sacred fire, and some
ancient inscriptions.
Everything round is saturated. and
have stood in those sheds the only dry
OBJECT, with naphtha spout playing
above and failing deafening upon the
roof No one objects to naphtha there,
and the men even wash in it, using
sand Herewith. while all employed have
fixed. 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 seething naphtha, which, when
clear of sand and stones, will be
pumped into iron reservoirs. The
roads have naphtha streams by the
sides, and naphtha pipes of all sizes
cross and interlace in all directions UNI
til they are hardly passable. One rash
ly thrown match would set miles in a
blaze, and the most stringent regula-
tons are wisely enforced. But for them
disasters would be terribly frequent.
A very different appearance is pre-
scented by the palpitating Black Town.
where in gigantic furnaces the naphtha
is distilled and churned and distilled
again as benzine. kerosene and vase
line, and many valuable chemicals are
one by one removed, till only the thick.
black residue of use for fuel. is LETT,
and much of this is used TO feed the
furnaces themselves. Boilers so heat
ed closely resemble those intended for
coal and wood. except that on the m
side OF the fire doors are stout Jets,
through which it is pumped the
length of the firebox forming bright
tongues of heat giving flames Rail-
ways and steamers alike are so heated
in Russia.-Pall Mall Gazette.