HARDWOOD DISTILLATION 203 



Whereas the charcoal is emptied from the round retorts into round 

 containers, sealed tightly to cause the slow cooling of the charcoal with- 

 out admission of oxygen, the charcoal, after the heating process is com- 

 pleted in the oven retorts, is left in the cars and drawn into the first cooling 

 oven and left for twenty-four hours. This is of the same type and con- 

 struction as the charring oven. The cars containing charcoal are then 

 drawn into second coolers, where they remain for twenty- four hours; 

 then left in the open air forty-eight hours, so that there is a period of 

 ninety-six hours which elapses between the time of the completion of the 

 heating process and the time when the charcoal is loaded on the cars. It 



Photograph by \elson C. Brotrn. 



FIG. 58. Alley between first and second sets of cooling ovens, showing the character of 

 doors and method of banking around the base. The trucks of charcoal are retained in 

 each of these ovens about twenty-four hours. 



must remain on the freight cars at least tweive hours before shipment, 

 so that 1 08 hours elapse to the time of final shipment. This precaution 

 is taken to prevent fire, which otherwise sometimes causes the loss of 

 charcoal and cars in transit.' 



Distillation. 



Although many changes have been introduced in the manner in 

 which the wood is heated for distillation purposes, very few changes 

 have been made within the last twenty years in the refining of the crude 

 distillate. 



