The Elbert County tribune., 1911-09-15


ceived the idea of building. The maltha-lined els
terms found in Egypt and at Petrma, although of
unknown antiquity, still in a perfect state
OF preservation and At for practical 1t is al
SO well-establshed fact that In the preparation
OF material for embalming and encaustc painting
In Egypt and Mexico maltha formed the principal
part.
Many theories have been advanced to how
btumen has been produced. but no general chem
ical formula can be given for the occurrence OF
the several curious forms OF the product There
10 no doubt. however. that bitumen represents
substance that is obtained from petroleum,
found In Its liquid state in the containing rocks.
and by the process of natures laboratory has
been gradually converted into its more solid form
This process may be described as evaporation
As the oil seeps to the surface generally by its
own gaseous pressure the natural gases, spir-
itnous and light oils evaporated by the sun.
and the residues, asphaltum and maltha, formed
Indications OF the presence Of petroleum fire.
quently found the surface in the form of btu
men, but there is fixed rule and recent dis
coveries seem to upset the theory that oil can
only be found under certain conditions. Wells
have been sunk and oil found along the coast OF
California, where the operations have even ex
tended FOR some distance into the In a
variety OF climates and from the level up
through the lofty ranges Of the Andes has this
remarkable light Of the world been secured.
Petroleum, also known mineral oil, crude
OIL and stone oil, may be described as liquid
form OF bitumen. found seeping from the crevices
of rocks and floating about the surface of the
water. Its color varies from light straw.
through amber. red and brown to dark green
and black. 1t Is mixture of hydrocarbons. or
compounds of hydrogen and carbon. varying con-
sderably. according to the locality in which 1t Is
found in both composition and consistency, and
of two distinct varieties, asphalt base and paran
base, with many constituents
The more volatile and infammabe portions of
the raw product separated by refining, each
constituent being taken off and collected sep
arately by gradually raising the temperature OF
the oil and passing the consequent vapors or
gases through series Of condensers. The prod
ucts from the paraffln bases usually taken on
follows Gasolines and naphthas, kerosene OF
standard white. MS 1t is now known. other ilumi.
mating oils light and heavy lubricating oils. par
affn and greases of various descriptions The
percentage OF each product recovered from the
crude varies according to the character of the
crude A fair average of Pennsylvania crude oil
follows Gasoline, " per cent; naphthas,
IA per cent; kerosene 65 per cent; lubricatng
oils. TN per cent: parann per cent and residue
Of pitch, etc.. 10 per cent. Many varieties of
petroleum require special treatment in order to
eliminate sulphur and other Objectionable ele-
ments. From the asphalt-base petroleum is de-
prived OF residuum employed in the manufac-
ture OF insulating. water-proonng and roofing ma
terials a residuum known coke" is also
used as fuel and In the manufacture of carbons
for arc lights and electric batteries
Along the banks OF a stream In Pennsylvania,
now known under the prosaic title of OIL Creek.