The Hardwood Distillation Industry in New York 27 



Revenue Department removed the tariff on grain alcohol, 

 which took effect September 1, 1907, the price of crude wood 

 alcohol dropped to about 16 cents per gallon, and gradually 

 came back to 26 cents. The approximate present price is 45 

 cents per gallon, a price stimulated largely by the European 

 War conditions. Before the war the price was about 28 cents 

 per gallon of crude 82 per cent alcohol. 



Processes of Manufacture. 



Within thei past fifty years the developments in the pro- 

 cesses of manufacture followed in hardwood distillation have 

 been remarkable. The history of the industry represents an 

 evolution from the old wasteful charcoal pits. To recover 

 the condensible gases lost in making charcoal by the old pit 

 process, brick kilns were used. This was a very crude 

 process, but represented a great step in advance. ISText came 

 the round iron retorts placed in " batteries " of two each in 

 long bricked-up rows, and within comparatively recent years 

 the steel oven, which is a great labor and time saving device. 

 The following are brief descriptions of these three processes 

 which followed each other in rapid chronological order. 



Brick Kilns. 



The brick kilns supplanted the old charcoal pit as a means 

 of manufacturing charcoal when the iron industry in this 

 country assumed large proportions. Brick was substituted 

 for the open air sod or clay covered pit because manufacture 

 was simplified, the loss of carbonization was minimized, and 

 ■burning, therefore, could be carried on with greater safety. 

 However, a good portion of the vapors are lost with the brick 

 kilns as they are with the old open air pit since the yield is 

 only about 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the yield from the 

 oven process. These brick kilns are made with a circular 

 base, with holes in the base for drafts of air regulated by 



