The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1903-09-09

that were experienced by
those who lived in the Southern States
Mt that time. The continual blockade
along the waterfront on the east and
south, the armies on the north the Mis-
sissippi River and the mountains on the
west, made 1t almost impossible for the
introduction of materials essential for
the proper carrying on of great war.
The heroic struggle waged under these
! dlsadvantageous circumstances make
the four years combat one of the most
| remarkable wars of modern times.
A description OF the efforts made in
scientific directions has never been sat
lsfactorily written, but within a few
I weeks, in a pleasant way, under the
title of applied Chemistry in the
South During the Civil War" Profess
sor John w. Mallett, of the University
of Virginia, spoke before the Chemical
Society of Washington of some of his
experiences.
In beginning, he referred to the great
lack of preservatives that were essen
tlal, and indeed required, for the pres
ervation Of food. Fortunately, the salt
deposits in Louisiana were promptly
thought of, and advantage taken of
their existence for exploitation and pro-
duction of that everyday essential, SO
that an ample stock at least Of the pre-
servative was soon available. The sup
plies of coffee and tea were very soon
exhausted, and substitutes were intro.
duced. For coffee roasted beans Of
various kinds, sweet potatoes, and
cereals, came into everyday use, and
the leaves of various herbs were en-
ployed in place of tea. The JOY OF the
first cup of coffee after the close Of the
war formed q delight that can never
be forgotten. The necessity of preserv-
| ing the cattle, and the employment of
horses in the army as well as the de-
mand by the soldiers for shoes, soon
exhausted the leather supply. AS re-
suit leather became such q rarity that
q good pair of boots at the close of the
war was worth several hundred dollars
In Confederate money. AS substitute
fibres We're worked up and coated with
n varnish, forming a sort of material
similar to oilcloth, which came into use
for many purposes. The employment
| of petroleum oil as an illuminant was
at its beginning. Cola and other oils
were similarly used at that time, but
these soon disappeared, and the old
time candle dip prevailed. For pur-
poses where an oil was absolutely es-
sential, recourse was had to fish oil.
Paper was very scarce, and there We're
but few, II any, mills in the South, and
these produced very inferior quality
Of paper, so that for writing purposes
the blank leaves of old account books
were employed, and for printing pur-
poses wall paper, on which many news
papers of the time were printed, was
largely used. Only the crudest kinds
Of ink were to be had, and in most
cases they were made by adding water
to the refuse in the ink bottle until the
writing became SO faint as to be scarce
ly visible.
The great coal deposits of Pennsyl-
vania being no longer available for
fuel, recourse was had to the bitum-
inous beds OF Virginia, although of
course In MANY cases wood was all that
was required. 1t goes without saying
that the supply of paint rapidly disap-
peared. However, there were numer.
Gus deposits of ocher that were availa-
BILE, and crude varieties of paints were
soon manufactured in sufficient quaint.
ties to supply the demand.
One of the important, indeed, neces
sary, elements in the carrying on of q
war is artillery, and to fight without
gunpowder is practically impossible
Accordingly, gunpowder mills were es-
tablished at several localities in the
South. The supply of niter was soor
exhausted, and search was made fol-
that material in caves and elsewhere
throughout the South. These yielded
certain amount, but the future was
provided for by the establishment oi
to permit Of their being available
There were no sulphur deposits in the
South, but fortunately at the beginning
OF the war there was a large amount
of that article in New Orleans, where
1t had been used in the clarification Of
sugar. Charcoal was of course NOR,
readily obtainable, and after some ex
perlments 1t was found that the woot
from the cottonwood tree yielded tn,
most satisfactory material.
The manufacture Of illuminate o.
mercury for percussion caps was car
ried on to a limited extent, and tn,
copper for the caps was obtained from
the turpentine stills, which were al
collected from North Carolina and uset
for that purpose.
There were four principal medicine
required, namely, quinine, morphine
ether and chloroform. These were pre-
cured, so far as possible, by smuggling
either through the lines or by blockad
runners, and numerous substitute
were introduced. For instance, for gu
nine bitter barks were used whereve
. possible, especially dogwood, and til
dread malaria was by this means hel
N pra Cticallp I'm pheclx MOrnhina was n