Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1906-12-28
SEE MONEY IN STUMPS
SETTLERS MAY START FACTORY TO
EXTRACT TURPENTINE.
Northern Wisconsin Cleared Land May
Prove Valuable Through Discov-
cry of Young Russian.

LADYSMITH, Wis. Dec oO.-An ef-
fort is being made here to interest CAPT
tai in the manufacture of turpentine
tar. oil of tar, acetates and charcoal
from the pine stumps. This proposition
has been discussed for several years,
and tests have been made to show the
available contents of the stumps. but
nothing further has come of the project
In the meantime II. Copilovich, Il Rus.
sian, who had worked at the business in
Europe. and who had run Il hardware
store in St. Paul, went to Hinckley and
nine miles east of that town started in
a small way the conversion of worthless
stumps into very desirable commercial
products.
After visiting the Hinckley plant. the
Ladysmith News has taken up the mat.
ter of securing an institution of this kind
here.
The process of manufacture is by two
distinct operations. One. commonly
termed obstructive distIlation,' is tC
extract the crude material from the
stumps which have already been cut into
blocks on circular saw. To accomplish
this, large iron retorts are constructed.
like fiueless boilers standing vertically,
These are encased with brick. allowing a
fire space. The retOrtS are filled with the
blocks, sealed alright, and fires are
made in furnaces at the bottom of the
structures. Three days are required tc
run off a retort, the liquid passing out
of pipes leading to cOndenSerS. When the
process Of extraction is completed the
residue is charcoal.
The raw material is refined in a dis.
tillery similar to those used in ordinary
distillation.
The concern at Hinckley is run only
on Norway pine stumpS, the concern
, there not believing that white pine
stumps are available. However, opin.
ion is divided upon this point and own
ers of white pine stump land purpose 4
test to determine this point.
The popular opinion that this industry
exists only i'll imagination IS forced to 8
hasty retreat when the contents anG
value of Il cord Of Norway pine stumps
is stated. according to figures given out
by the Hinckley concern, as follows:
Turpentinc, is gallons. $9.6l
Tar, 20 gallons. ................ 2.0L
Tar oil, 10 gallons. Observation-Disclosures. 2.Ol
Charcoal, 80 bushels. .,.............. 1.5l
Total product Observation-Disclosures SO. Il
1t should be noted that the above is
jobbers' prices, and that at retail the
product of cord of stumps would be
double or treble the above figures.
In addition, it may also be noted that
the above figures do not include the ace.
tates of soda, lime and lead or wood al,
cohol which would add materially to tho
totRl.
A plant of six retorts would consume
ten cords Of stumpS per day, or convert
rubbish worth less than nothing into
commodities worth, at jobbers' prices
over $16O. Such a plant would consume
in year the stumps on 300 to 400 acres
of heavy pine land, leaving the ground
| ready for the pillow. 1t is estimated that
the removal of the stumps will increase
the market value of pine lands $40 tc
$40 per acre, or $1,000 to $1,000 for each
years operation.
The price fixed for stumps is about
81 per cord which is more than the cost
of pulling and delivering them, so that
another way of viewing the case is that
the devious ways of industry purpose
converting the eyesore of the pine see
tons into valuable asset.
Thus does it come to pass that the
general public is left to guess which is
a reality and which a dream. and the
investor to speculate on the future value
of a present proposition. The plant al
Hinczley is in the third year of its
operation and in prosperous condition.