S. F. Peckham

“ Frequent and dreadful as these disasters are, it is with great difficulty that the public can be convinced that all grades of naphtha and all fluids containing them, when burned in any kind of lamp (explosive or non-explosive) , are more dangerous than gunpowder, because so much more carelessly used. These inflammable and, under certain circumstances, terribly explosive fluids, are nearly worthless as articles of commerce, and they burn so rapidly that they are of comparatively little value to the consumer as materials for illumination. ”

“ Nearly every state in the Union has passed similar laws, and in many sections of the country kerosene may be purchased with comparative safety, as the different kinds of naphtha are regarded as dangerous, and are sold under proper restrictions. Yet notwithstanding these laws, and the general recognition of the fact that poor oils are very unsafe, a great deal of bad kerosene is burned every year, particularly in our large cities, and at the same time much property is destroyed and many lives are lost. ”

“ Salt water commonly comes up with the oil, and is separated from it by standing in the vats into which the products are received. The proportion of this to the oil is very variable, and the quantity of oil daily pumped from a single well is far from being regular. Sometimes the oil, when first struck, rushes up with great violence by reason of the pressure of the carburetted hydrogen gas that accompanies it. ”

“ Though we obtain oils resembling petroleum by the destructive distillation of coals, shales, and even animal substances, its occurrence is not confined to localities contiguous to large deposits of these substances. On the contrary, springs of it issue in different parts of the world from all the stratified rocks, and from the volcanic and metamorphic formations. In Ohio and West Virginia it is found in the coal measures, and the wells are in some instances sunk through these into the sandstones and slates before they become productive. ”

“ The victims are generally women and helpless children. Good kerosene is always safe under all conditions attending its use. It is naphtha that injures the quality of kerosene, and naphtha is never safe under any circumstances. So alarmingly frequent have these accidents become, and so disastrous have been the results, that in all civilized countries very stringent laws have been enacted, restraining and regulating the sale and storage of petroleum and its products. ”

“ When they reach their destination they are emptied into iron tanks, often of immense size, when the oil is again allowed to settle so that the last traces of water and any sand or other impurity may be removed.—The apparatus for manufacturing petroleum consists of stills of various forms and sizes, with worms for condensing the vapors, and agitators in which the oils are treated with chemicals. ”

“ That obtained nearer the sides of the tract is darker, gradually changing to a yellowish green, then reddish brown, and finally to asphalt. Those of southern California are leek-green when taken fresh from the rock; but they soon become brown and black, changing to maltha and asphalt. The Canadian oils are black, but those of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Rangoon, and many other localities, are for the most part of the ordinary color. All have a disagreable, pungent odor. In the province of Ontario oil has been obtained remarkable for its garlicky odor. ”

“ These purchase the heavy waste products from the large kerosene manufactories, and by special processes convert it into useful commercial articles.—The manufacture of petroleum products from the crude oil is carried on either to obtain the largest number of products of the finest quality, or to obtain the largest yield of kerosene without regard to any other product. Probably the finest petroleum refinery in America, if not in the world, is that of the Downer kerosene oil company of Boston, Mass., and Corry, Pa., of which Joshua Merrill is the manufacturing chemist. ”

“ They have sunk two wells, which are now more than 400 ft. in depth; one of them affords a very strong and pure water, but not in great quantity. The other discharges such vast quantities of petroleum, or as it is vulgarly called ‘Seneka oil,’ and besides is subject to such tremendous explosions of gas as to force out all the water and afford nothing but gas for several days, that they make but little or no salt. Nevertheless the petroleum affords considerable profit, and is beginning to be in demand for lamps in workshops and manufactories. ”

“ Sometimes the stills are encased in wood or brick work to prevent loss of heat. Superheated steam is frequently introduced into the stills, especially during the distillation of the heavy oils. The very large stills recently constructed are used for carrying on the process known as “cracking.” After the removal of the gasolene and different grades of naphtha, the remainder is subjected to destructive distillation. Any method that will heat the vapors above the boiling point of the oil will decompose the heavy oil, with deposition of carbon and the production of lighter oils richer in hydrogen. ”

“ The entire product was exported.—No manufactured articles put upon the market vary more in quality than the products obtained from petroleum, especially kerosene. While new applications are constantly being found in the arts for the various grades of naphtha, still the purposes for which it can be used are comparatively few. Vast quantities of it have been burned under stills, and in some localities have been thrown away or sold at the purchaser's price. As a result, refiners of oil constantly labor under the temptation to throw the largest possible amount into the illuminating oil. ”

“ The wells are in beds of sandy clays which rest on sandstones and argillaceous slates, and are sometimes sunk to the depth of 60 ft. Under the slates is said to be coal; but this and the other strata may be of the tertiary epoch. Symes (“Embassy to Ava,” vol. ii.) says the number of wells in this district exceeded 520, and the annual yield of petroleum was more than 400,000 hogsheads. The natives use the oil in lamps, for preserving timber against insects, and as a medicine. Petroleum is found at several places in upper Burmah. ”

“ The conglomerate which underlies the coal formation caps some of the hills in the oil region, and attains a thickness of from 100 to 300 ft. The shales and sandstones that succeed below this rock belong to the Chemung and Portage groups of the New York geologists, and extend over a large portion of southern New York, west of Binghamton, and of northwestern Pennsylvania. The oil wells are bored in this group through alternating layers of shales and sandstones, and an occasional stratum of a bluish sandy limestone. ”

“ The productive wells vary greatly in depth. In some large supplies have been afforded at 60 or 70 ft., and in others at greater depths to over 1,000 ft. Most of the oil is from wells over 180 ft. deep. Shallow wells, that are exhausted by pumping, are successively made to yield again by sinking them deeper. The oil is found at several zones or oil-producing belts at different depths. Several wells may continue in successful operation near together without seeming to draw upon each other ”

“ The branch establishment at Corry, Pa., is used only for the distillation of crude petroleum, the distillates being shipped to Boston for treatment. The processes employed at Boston are as follows: The crude oil is pumped from the tank cars into settling tanks placed under ground. After settling, it is pumped into large wrought-iron stills or upright cylinders which hold about 12,000 gallons each. In these stills the oil is heated by steam alone, which removes the various grades of naphtha, they constituting about 15 per cent. ”

“ In N. W. Pennsylvania or in New York the wells are entirely outside of the coal field, and so remote from it that we cannot well imagine any connection between the oil and the coal beds. The strata in which the oil is found dip S. and pass below the coal measures at least 500 or 600 ft., the nearest coal bed to the more northern springs occurring in the tops of the highest hills, perhaps 30 m. ”

“ The trade is carried on by means of large boats that come up the Irrawaddy to the town of Rainanghoung, a place inhabited by potters, who are constantly making the earthen jars in which the oil is kept. ”

“ As a lubricator for heavy journals, either pure or mixed with tallow or animal oils, it is of great value, especially for the axles of railroad cars, in rolling mills, &c. For fuel it has been made the subject of many elaborate experiments and voluminous reports from the government engineers of this and other countries, many of which have been highly favorable. ”

“ In many establishments all the oils treated are alternately agitated with about 5 per cent. of strong sulphuric acid and the same amount of strong solution of caustic soda. In others, solution of caustic soda is put into the stills, and sometimes the soda is used solid. The sulphuric acid removes a number of unstable compounds, by decomposing some of them and uniting with others. The caustic soda removes the excess of acid and acid compounds, and leaves the oils pure. The odor of the crude distilled oils is exceedingly offensive ”

“ Both these mixtures and the pure oils have been used instead of the animal oils in immense quantities for oiling wool and machinery, the latter being considered especially valuable for oiling spindles in cotton mills. The ordinary paraffine lubricating oils are of various qualities, much depending upon the care and expense involved in their preparation. ”

“ Those prepared by simply fractioning the distillate from petroleum are dark-colored, of very rank disagreeable odor, and are adapted to comparatively few uses, while some of the better qualities are nearly as valuable as the neutral oil prepared by Mr. ”