The Savannah morning news., 1900-09-08
NAVAL STORES TRADE GROWS.
REMARK AnLE DEVELOPMENT ~
THIS GREAT INDUSTRY.

THIS GREAT iNDt slNh.
Had ~ Not Bccn for the spring
Floods the output for the season
of I0UO-GDOi Would Save Been the
Greatest on Record-isariy Process
- OF Disabling ia the CRroIiuas
stepped shipping Of crude Gam GO
EngiRnd-PHth of the Operators
south steady One-Thcy Follow
ed the building Of RniIroads-Iiow
the standard oI Company Handles
Turpcntinc--A Review Of the In
dustrs From It, beginning la This
Country.
The Roadway which has been made In
the development 81 the naval stores in
dustry in tho south due largely 20 the
steadily advancing prices the product COM
mauds hy reason OF the general conaump-
live demand bids fair 90 make this second
70 none OF thc south's great sources Of
wealth. Its progress IN the past reveals
o. future. AZ Is estimated that spirits
turpcnune alone brought si3.ooooo into a
small section Of the South last season.
cd by capital are engaged in developing
he naval stores country. aud will soon
nave under operation al the small re-
mainder at virgin lands An evidence %
what Is being done was shown In the
preparations made for one OF the largcs;
output. this season In the history Of the
Industry. but which was intcrfercd with
BY the floods the early parl OF the year.
which inundated o large portion Of the
naval storcs country, and delayed far
mers in the prosecution Of their work.
Had IL not been for this and other draw
backs. amcnr them a lack Of farm labor.
remarkable progress would have been
made IN ali branches Of the industry.
Early Processes Of DistiiIing.
The forward strides which have been
made tn handling the product from year
20 year l. an object lesson 20 those who
lake q passing glance az present methods
amnloyed iu the business. a. compared
Aith the past. Three distinct stages nave
been passed through since the bfawny
Tar Heel commenced the tapping OF pines
over sixty years ago.
Before much was known VI the process
of dstiiiing the product In this country
the farmers sold the crude gum from the
trees. which was packed in barrels and
shipped to England for distil.ing, Ia about
ne same kind OF packages 10 which rosins
are shipped IA present. In those days the
profits 10 be derived later from the more
intelligent handling OF naval stores was a
transient dream and was probably not
realized any more ghen than were the
manifold uses 10 which the electrical cur
rent WIS., 10 be- put. while the exact time
Is not known, b o. said 20 have been
many years before the American turpen-
tine farmer found that greater profits
were IN store for him by distiling ot home
Ia place Of sending the gum abroad. ana ~
result the wiiy fellow on the other side
continued 60 reap the harvest.
Tradition has Il that the trst dtstilling
Of crude pine gum ln this country was
done IN New York a shor time before ~
was generally taken up by the farmers
"a North Carolina when the knowledge
Of distilling started n spread rapidly and
was a powerful encouragement 20 those
engaged in the business. shortly after
stills found their way 10 farms the ship
ment 81 gum abroad was "a thing Of the
past and ln its stead the distilled pro-
ducts o. rather by-products. went direct
- the consuming centcra This may be
considered the second great stride for
ward Ia handling ana marketing naval
stores
The work of the Chemist.
The keen eye 60 progress soon found
other and greater uses for naval stores
she result Of which has been an enormous
increase in home consumption. Again %
b the hand OF the chemist finding more
uset Tor resins. Factories are being cs.
tahiisned Ga the south. one large one AZ
Savannah. for the manufacture from rosn
or such by-productg as rosln oil. used
largely as a lubricant. and pitch. for
which there is also a large demand, IL
may b. surprising 60 some 70 know that
rosin has become formidable competitor
OF mutton tallow yet this o. the case.
Many by-products are being derived from
resin. and the chemical tests which are
constantly being made. give promise 81
as much progress IN the future as has
been made during the past ten years.
Path of the Farmers south.
Like all other industries the appear
ance 81 cool profits attracted general ut
tention % che business. as shown bv the
length and breadth Of the producers path
South during the past atty years Tur-
pentine farming WAS being prosecuted OK
teus.vely IN North Carolina as early as
1880 where che pine fiourished Ia great
forests and was very productive tfntu
the field became crowded and the Yield
showed signs OF Failing on. the work WIS
prosecuted. Nest Of the exporting then
was done through the port OF Whining
ton. AZ that time ID b. said the principal
railroad reaching the belt was that con-
meeting Columbia ana Wilmington. Nor
keting naval stores was therefore. 70 the
great disadvantage OF the farmer. a.
much OF his cine was taken up 10 hauling
the stun to market though much ~ this
work was done during the slack season
In no other Industry probably are the
effects OF raiirood path finding shown
more than they are 10 this. Trarsporta-
ton has had much 20 DO with achieving
the third step in iis development
South Carolina was the second state
that got the attention OF these farmers
While the output there Was large for "a
few years. a became exhausted IN less
time than 70 did 30 North Canolina
Charleston was the main shipping point