The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-10-08

fumes modern women use are MOT
delicate products of the perfumef :
art than the famous walls OIL scent
treasured as priceless by Catherine
di Medici and other medieval royal
ies-so we are told by the mead
chemist of perfume laboratory
here.
Queen GATHERINGS official per-
fumer held many secrets OF a mosi
secret business, but he could learn
things from modern perfumers, 4
the art was not still a secret ana
mysterious one Many of the lad
oratories in which perfumes are
concocted admit no visitors, but a
big factory to family" plant here
agreed to show the reporter
through its perfume section.
The head chemist of the depart
ment led the way through rooms
fragrant with flower scents where
huge rolling tanks hold the es-
sences. Pipes run along the cell
ing and end in spigots labeled rose,
hyacinth, jasmine, and so on 10
mix q perfume for bottling, a tank
is rolled up and the desired spig-
OTIS are turned on
But perfume making is not so
easy as this might lead you 70
think. Other processes first refine
the natural essences, and long BE-
fore quantities of any perfume can
be mixed, the formula must be
painstakingly evolved in the labora-
tory by a master peTfumer- This
is where tbs most important secrets
of the business are guarded. 4
formula for a successful or prom
Using perfume is as valuable as q
state paper II other firms should
i learn the ingredients and proper
tons of the formula, the work Of
many laboratory experiments neces-
sary to produce it would be loss.
The master peTfumer is an art
ist, often a temperamenta1 one. He
sits among his walls, test tubes and
| bits of cotton soaked in mixtures
of scent, always mixing and sniff
! ing for the elusive combination that
will be new and at the same time
appealing in some way-suggestI
of fresh summer fields, of the
subtle, langourous orient, or of the
old-fashioned garden.
When he gets it-and he may
work for months with some trouble
some yet fascinating problem
feels that he has given the world
a work of art. Over here the mas
ter perfumer gets less recognition
than he does in Europe. In Paris,
his productions bear his name and
he is regarded with the same re-
spect as the creators of beautiful
clothes. In this country the manu-
| featuring firm takes the limelight
The master perfumer may be no
| less a master, but he remains IN
| known.
The Raw Materials.
In one corner of the perfume
department of this plant is the
steel door of a vault. The head
chemist swung open the heavy door
and stepped into a fairly large
room. Here. he explained. are
stored a quarter of million dot
lars worth of the imported in
gradients which go to make fine
perfumes. Shelves and tables are
loaded with large glass bottles,
cans with Chinese labels, foreign
looking kettles and canisters, and
great stone crooks.
Turning on the lights, the chem
ist went the rounds. OF the shelves,
showing how the different natural
essences look when they are ship
ped from the foreign manufactur-
ers, before they are refined, and
also allowing the visitor the inter
esting if not always delectable
privilege of smelling the heavily
concentrated odors.
Violet, for example, when import
ed from southern France, Is a
greanish. lardhke mass. The eS-
sence has been extracted overseas
by pouring large quantities of pet
ais into a mixture of melted suei
and purified lard. This is stirred
with wooden paddle and allowed
| to stand several days until the fat
! has absorbed the flowers fragrance
Then the mass is strained and cool
ed until it congeals.
Eagerly you bend over the jar OF
greenish stuff when the top is lift
ed, expecting to catch heavenly
Whit Of pure violet. but the scent
which arises is more like green
Soap, and not very healthy soap al
that. The essence is so strong that
| it seems to bear no relation 10 the
delicate perfume which it eventual
/ " becomes
Altar of roses, too. is here in the
form of liquid essence. This pre-
cious oil is shipped from Bulgaria
| in fiat, round metal canteens with
! big shoppers. Surely, you think
/ this will fill the room with sweet
ness. but altar of roses at this stage
| is more suggestive of honeycomb-
as near is these strong. almost par
alyzing odors can be compared &c
anything else.
| Beyond. on the shelves, are Law
ender from the Alps in big glass
bottles, and bergamot in copper
I