Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-25
MANUFACTURING CANDLES
ADVANCES THAT HAVE BEEN MADE
IN THE INDUSTRY.
From the Scientific American Supplement.

The discovery of gas lighting and i'm
provements in lamps have done much to
curtail the manufacture of candles, but It
Is vet vast industry An estimate of the
consumption in the United States places 1t
at 30. 100000 pounds annually. Candles are
still the staple illuminating medium for the
poor of large cities and for all classes In
small towns and villages where there are
either insufficient or no gas works Coun-
try hotels and taverns are large consumers.
and the preference OF many people for can
dies over lamps, as portable lights Keeps
up constant demand in all sections. Can
dies likewise are the true aristOcrats among
iHuminators. and the renaissance in art
taste which holds no Illuminating medium
to be quite 50 beautiful and effective as the
candle for dinner tables and party and ball
rooms calls for extensive manufacture
of fine grades Now ii Is not the beauty of
the polished brass or silver candelabrum
alone which makes appeal to the aesthetic
judgment, for, except the yet imperfect
electric light, no illuminator can give so
pure and white light a perfect candle.
The finest fruit of science applied TO the
once hOmely industry is the Stearlc acid
mold candle of today. which is not only
quite as handsome in appearance as the wax
candle. but burns with equal brillancy and
purity. and has to a great extent uSurped
the place of the more costly light. The
mines of the far west share with the bou-
doris and salons and dining rooms of the
east in the consumption Of the best of these
candles. a very large proportion of the fin
est grades goes to Nevada. Colorado and
the other mining states and territories of
the Pacific slope the high temperature of
the mines dema nding very hard and pure
candle. The old candle would be entirely
useless here for talloW meltS at from 20
degrees to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, and the
temperature of the deep mines of Nevada
often reaches 12O degrees and even $50 de-
greeS. n good Stearic acid candle will with
stand "a temperature of from 10 degrees to
IT. degrees more than this
The stearic acid candle, which is now the
principal candle OF trade, represents the
high-water mark of the progress in candle
making which began seventy years ago.
mike its primitive predecessor, the tallow
zip. 1t is product OF scientific study, and
one OF the many triumphs Of philosophic
Chemistry. The movement which effected
complete revolution in the industry and
ran d rapid growth after once it was start
Nj. e. Chevreul, the French chemist pub
hshed 10 the world IN 1923, in his book
Recherches sur les Corps Gras d'Origine
Animate" In il lies the foundation of all
our present knowledge of the chemistry of
fatty oils, and this knowledge is the start
ing point OF modern candle making Chey-
reul established the scientific fact that,
as a rule, all fatty oils, both liquid and
solid, are neutral compounds Of glycerine
and the so-calied fatty acids. In candle
rats these acids are stearic and oleic.
Stearlc acid is a crystalline substance
unctuous TO the touch, but not greasy. 1t
melts at temperature a little short OF
10 degrees and when burned through q
WICK gives out a white and clean light
-olelc dcld Is liquid at common temperatures
and was the cause of the melting of the
ola talIow candles at temperature 80
degrees lower than is withstood by pure
stearic acid. The glycerine base caused
them TO burn yellow and to smoke with
an offensive odOr. The discovery of the
chemical properties Of these constituent
elements of candle fat led with a single
step to the fundamental idea of the i'm
provement in candle making; oleic acid and
glycerine are deleterious TO the candle and
must be removed: and all the steps since
taken-and they followed hard on the heels
or the frst-have looked TO the doing of this
IN the most expeditions and cheap manner
ana the perfection Of the mo!ding machin
cry Naturally the first processes were
cheflical, out they put great obstacle OF
costiiness in the way of the manufacture.
which almost proved fatal. The early in
oustry after surrounding this difficulty by
combining mechanical means with chemi-
cal in separating and purifying the fats
again came near suffering shipWreck from
ahother cause 1t was found by the
frencn chandlers; to whom belongs much
credit for developing as well as originating
the modern method. that the stearic acid
on cooling in the mold Crystalized and the
candles became unsighty. brittle and un-
even or combustion. The remedy appeared
TO lie in breaking the grain OF the acid and
this was done by the Introduction of pow
der.
Unfortunately white arsenic was the
powder chosen, and the result was so notice
ably injurious TO health that Cheyreui's dis
coveries were brought into disrepute and
the early art of stearic acid candle making
was almost annihilated. Better study found
simple and harmless remedy to lie in low
ering the temperature of the acid before
pouring II into the mold and in heating the
mold TO receive IT. improvements were alsn
excessively made in the methods of ore-
pairing the fat. and when, finally American
ingenuity was brought to bear upon the
mechanical side of the problem a machine
was developed out of Sieur de Brez's last
century mold that has marvelousIy sinplt-
fled and cheapened the manufacture OF
candles. The publication of the fat had
done much to improve the combustion and
the smoke had been abolished: the flame,
too, had become much brighter and clearer
and the snufftng of the wick had become
less necessary, for the combustion being
more perfect. the wick. whose only duty Ia
70 conduct the Oil to the flame was more
nearly consumed, little attention to the
making of wicks soon banished the snufre re
and the SNUFF tray 20 the curiosity shops of
the antiquaries.
The od-fashioned wicks were simply
twisted. Cambaceres conceived the plan OF
plating them. with one strand tighter than
the others. In the candle the wick Is KEEP.
straight by the hardened fat but when
released by the flame. the frightened strand
draws the end of the wick over to one side
80 that IL Is brought I'm contact with the
outer envelope of the flame where the com.
bustion Is most perfect because of the lib.
erai supply Of oxygen received from the
air, and Thus the wick Is continuously con.
Sume0