Sistersville daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1902-1905, 1903-07-20
MANY Substances from Petroleum

many substances iroln Petroleum.
In the early days of petroleum
refining 1t was discovered that In
the crude petroleum were a variety
of substances besides kerosene
awaiting only isolation from the
compounds with which they were
mixed. OF fluids more volatile
than kerosene, there was whole
group of napths;o f subjects brought
to boil. thoee was such products
as parafine. parafiue oil, vaseltne.
awide variety of other lubricating
oils, and a number of different sorts
of pitch. Some of these were to be
had simply by condensing and saw
Ing the vapers given off by distilla'
ton, at different degrees of heat:
some were available only after
special processes supplementary
to distillation had been carried out.
In almost all cases the product,
once separated from other com
ponents of the petroleum or Its dis
tillates, needed to be carefully re-
fined.
Little time passed before kerosene
ceased to be the only material tor
which crude oil was treated by
water, acid, alkali and fire. The
chemistry of the substance was
fairly we'll known before the dis.
covery of the great Pennsylvania
fields In 1861. A substance very
much like petroleum had been dis
titled In the late forties from the bi.
luminous camel found In parts OF
Scotland. From the heavy fluid
obtained by heating shale to about
500 degrees Fahrenheit and con-
densing the vapor resulting, the
Scotch manufacturers were making
an illuminating oil already la 1913.
For nearly forty years the conpeti-
ton has proceeded, though, to be-
sure, with growing proof that the
British coal oil, despite It's econo.
mics of manufacture and ingenui
ties OF invention, was no CONNER
cia1 match for the rock oil Of the
Americans. Partly IN Scotland,
partly in America, there has beea
worked out a system OF the utiiiza-
ton OF the by.products for which, In
brilliance, and completeness there
are few parallels IN the whole
history of manufacturing technique.
The products other than kerosene
finally derived from petroleum
show wide Emergencies In both
their physical characteristics and
the uses to which they can be put
Some of them are so volatile that
at ordinary temperatures they take
the gaseous form; others cannot be
separated from the mother liquid
short of aired heat. Certain of the
commodities are solid, the majority
however, are fluids, though here
again there Is wide range of diff.
ference In point OF specific gravity.
In a broad way they may be
grouped as products obtained be-
fore and after the dlstillation of ker-
oSene.
One use for crude petroleum Is In
the protection OF levees and EN-.
bankments against the burrowing
of gophers and squirrels. The
Stanislaus News says: "Crude oil Is
so distasteful to these pests that
they shun the ground covered with
It. The Suffer county experiment
has also proved that an oil covering
on the levees forms splendid safe
guard against the damaging effects
oft-e tapping ofthe food waters,as
the latter slide harmlessly up and
down the oiled surface of the bank.
The discovery has been of incalcu-
able value to all valley land owners
whose property Is protected from
overflow by levees, as the friction
of the water on their unprotected
slopes Is always source of danger.
Carter's shops have never been
50 busy in years as they are at the
present time. On account OF the
amount of work on hands, they are
not only compelled to put in extra
time, but to work on Sundays. TIE
full quota of men Is employed In
every department, and more could
he used IF they were available.