ft4 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
even miles from the place where it is mane, to be 
burned. The success in gas making depends upon 
usiu" the proper amount of heat to convert into gas 
as much as possible of the volatile matter of the 
coal. A lower degree of boat slowly applied, 
produces from the coal but very little gas, but What 
would have otherwise been gas, is obtained as a 
thick tarry oil. This is the first step in preparing 
the coal oils, and by refining this crude oil, several 
products are obtained. Sulphuric acid (oil of vit- 
riol) is added to the crude oil which helps separate 
the tar and other impurities, then lime is added to 
neutralize the acid, and the thinner portions of the 
liquid are poured off and distilled. This liquid con- 
tains several distinct oils which have different boil- 
ing points. In the distilling processes the beat is 
applied'very gradually ; at about 80 s , a very volatile 
liquid is obtained aud as the heat is increased, other 
oils having higher boiling points are distilled, the 
last of these requiring a heat of over 500° to con- 
vert them iuto vapor. 
The liquids first obtained, which boil at so low a 
degree, are unsafe to use for illumination. They are 
known as Naptha and Benzine, aud are of great 
value in the arts. They have the power of dis- 
solving all greasy and resinous substances, and are 
used for cleauing clothing, dissolving iudia rubber, 
mixing with paint in place of turpentine, etc. 
After these very volatile oils have distilled, 
others arc obtained, having higher boiling 
points, and these are used as burning oils, 
and are known as Kerosene, and by a number 
of other trade names — all beiug essentially the 
same thing, but differing in their color, density and 
boiling points. The oils which are obtained by 
distilling at a high temperature are used for greas- 
ing machinery. There is deposited from the oils 
after distillation, a whitish substance which is col- 
lected, purified, melted, and made into cakes. This 
is Paraffine ; it looks something like white wax, 
aud is made into beautiful candles of great illumina- 
ting power. It melts so readily that it cannot be 
used pure for candles, hence those sold as Paraffine 
candles are iu part composed of spermacetti and 
other substances, to render them firm in warm 
weather. Great quantities of illuminating oil are 
obtained from the Petroleum or oil from the oil 
wells. Here the first step in the process is done by 
nature, and crude oil is furnished ready for the re- 
lining process. The illuminating oils from Pctro* 
leum, known as Carbon Oil, and by other names, 
are essentially the same as those made from 
coal. All these consist of mixtures of oils, hav- 
ing different boiling points, and those are the 
6afest which have the least admixture of naptha. 
Kerosene and similar oils, when properly prepared 
and burned in suitable lamps, are not liable to form 
explosive vapors, but if from carelessness or fraud 
on the part of the manufacturer, they contain 
much naptha, they are dangerous. No oil is safe 
to use which will give off an explosive vapor be- 
low 110°. The coal oils in the market generally 
form an explosive vapor when heated to 130° or 
110 s , and those from petroleum do so at 100° to 
120°. The density or weight of a sample of oil is 
uo indication of its freedom from explosive qual- 
ities ; this can only be ascertained by experiment. 
Apparatus is made aud sold for the purpose ; but 
a sufficiently correct test can be made by putting 
a little of the oil in a tin cup, which is to be placed 
in a large vessel containing water A thermometer 
is placed in the water, and the whole put upon the 
stove, and allowed to heat very slowly. A lighted 
match is applied from time to time to ascertain 
when the oil in the cup forms an explosive vapor, 
the temperature at which this takes place is indica- 
ted by the thermometer. The light should not be 
applied to the oil, but should be held just within the 
edge of the cup. It is wonderful to think as we sit 
by the cheerful coal fire and read by the light of a 
Kerosene lamp, that we are enjoying the same light 
and heat which came to the earth ages and ages ago. 
The plants which produced the coal and rock-oil 
grew by the aid of the sun's rays, and — as every plant 
is now doiug — locked up a portion of light and heat 
iu their stems and leaves. Whether we burn the 
wood which has grown within our own observa- 
tion, or that which grew longer ago than we can 
calculate, and has become coal, we only set free the 
light and heat which the sun furnished it to en- 
able it to grow. Then how wonderful the human 
skill which takes these " black diamonds" from the 
dark mine, and by aid of chemistry makes them to 
shine aud fill our homes with their brilliancy. 
Tim Bunker on Extravagance, 
— • 
" Forty-five thousand dollars for jewelry in New- 
York, at one store, iu one morning!" said Mrs. Bunk- 
er as she took off her specs, and laid down the 
Times, in which she had just read that account. 
"And how many stores do you 'spose they've 
got in New-York, where theysellthem 'erefixius," 
inquired Mrs. Seth Twiggs, who had dropped in 
with her knitting, and sat iu a meditative mood, 
while Mrs. Bunker read the war news. (Seth used 
to take the daily paper himself, but since the rise in 
price, he says he can't afford it. Twelve dollars a 
year for a daily paper, hesays, is a leetletoo mighty 
for a poor man who works for his living. That 
would more than buy a barrel of flour, aud it only 
takes two barrels to carry his little family through 
the year. I have noticed, however, that be aud his 
wife are more neighborly than common, since they 
stopped the daily paper. I am not particularly 
sorry, for Seth is good company, if it wasn't for his 
everlasting pipe, which I abominate, as all sensible 
people should. What upon earth a man should 
want to make a chimney of his nose for, I never 
could see. We are kind o' lonesome, since Sally 
got married, aud John went off to the war, aud 
neighbors don't come amiss. Seth also has a son in 
the war, and we have a considerable fellow feeling.) 
" There's a huudrcd of them stores at least," re- 
plied Mrs. Bunker. 
" You don't mean a hundred on 'em !" exclaimed 
Mis. Jacob Frink, whom the neighbors all call 
" Polly," for short — except a few of us older people, 
who say " Aunt Polly." 
"What a sight of silver spoons and forks, tea- 
pots and tureens, fruit knives and porringers, they 
must have down there, if all the. stores sold as 
much as that 'ere one you read about." 
"It would make four millions aud a half of dol- 
lars, spent in gewgaws in one morning," said I, 
willing to increase Aunt Polly's astonishment. 
"You don't say so, Squire Bunker!" said she. 
" That is more than Jacob could carry in his cart," 
" Well I guess it is. It would line Broadway with 
silver, from the Battery to Central Park," said I. 
" Provided you did'nt lay it on too thick," added 
Mrs. Bunker, squirming iu her chair, at the extrav- 
agant expression. 
" I said line it, Sally, not cover it." I responded. 
" Wa'll, it is an awful sight of money any way !" 
said Aunt Polly. " I fear I should covet, if I see it." 
"And where do you suppose it all comes from?" 
asked Mrs. Twiggs. 
"I can tell you where some of it comes to," an- 
swered Aunt Polly. " You see Kier has just got 
home from the war, wounded in his left arm. And 
he stopped in New-York jest to see the sights, and. 
to get something to bring home to the old folks, 
and to his family up at the White Oaks.. Aud don't 
you think he brought me borne a pair of gold specs 
aud a gold thimble for his wife, and a silver trump- 
et for bis boy, Jacob Frink jr., who aint more than 
six mouths old. Now we didn't need these things 
any more than a eat needs tew tails. I had a pair 
of steel-bows that Jacob got me five years ago, and 
they are jest as good as new, aud I can see in 'em 
jest as well as iu the new ones, and a trifle better. 
And then bis wife had thimbles enough, rather 
more than she used, any way, judging by the looks 
of Kier, when be used to drive the coal cart. She 
never kept bim tidy, and I don't believe gold thim- 
bles will help her case, if she had a cart load of 'em. 
And then as to that boy, be won't be big enough 
under a year to blow a squash leaf squawker, to say 
nothing of trumpets. A silver trumpet ! It is the 
only article of silver in the whole neighborhood of 
the White Oaks, barring the small chauge they've 
got stowed away in their stockings, agin it comes 
iuto fashion agin. Now, Kier paid ten dollars for 
that 'ere trumpet, and be had no more use for it 
than his wife has for a pianuy. You see, he had 
just got paid off, and he had never seen so much 
money before iu one pile, in all bis life. lie want- 
ed to make a sensashuu in the White Oaks, and I 
guess he did it, when be bought that article. Not 
less than twenty five dollars, the price of blood as 
it were, all spent for uothin. I was riled when I 
see bim onpaek the things. Ah, if he had only got 
a raw hide for that youngster there would have been 
some sense in it." 
Aunt Polly paused for breath, and looked red in 
the face as she doubtless remembered the wallop- 
ings she had bestowed upon Kier in his juvenile 
days. But there is a deal of sense iu what the old 
lady says. You see this war has made money aw- 
ful plenty, such as it is, among a certain class of 
people. It has got iuto new hands, and they are 
itching to let the world know that they have got it. 
I know of some fellows that have gone to the war 
that are earniug more money for their famibes than 
they ever did before. There are Tucker's two boys 
that never did any thing but hunt, fish, and loaf, 
but they are now earning their rations aud thirteen 
dollars extra, a thing they never did before, without 
the extra. There are hosts of contractors for steam- 
boats, for irou-clads, for army clothing, for horses, 
for mules, for forage, for flour, for rations of all 
kinds, that are getting a big slice, aud piling up 
money by the hat full. This money is distributed 
all through the country, aud farmers come in for 
their share. Well now, it is mighty natural when 
folks that have been 6tinted for a good while, when 
they get hold of the cash, to make it fly. So it goes 
for jewelry, for bonnets, aud silver trumpets, and 
all sorts of jimcracks that tickle the women aud 
children, and don't do any body much good. 
You see, George Washington Tucker jr., that en- 
listed in the beginning of the war sent home fifty 
dollars to his intended, Miss Almeda Georgiaua 
Bottom, and told her she might swell for once, as 
she had never had a fair chance in life. The next 
Sunday I rather guess there was a sensation in the 
Hookertown Meeting House that, kept sleepy folks 
awake, if the sermon didn't. Sire had on a pair of 
ear-rings, a big gold-washed watch-chain, and brace- 
lets like Col. Smith's daughter, a monstrous swell 
of hoop skirts, one of those two story bonnets 
with pink flowers in the second story and a top 
knot of feathers, and to top all, or rather to bottom 
all, a pair of new calfskin shoes that sqneaked like 
a cider mill. She came sailing in to meeting just 
after the first hymn, when Mr. Spoon er was reading 
scripture where it says " Behold the lilies of the 
field," etc. The shoes made such a squeaking that 
he had to stop until the young woman got seated. 
Some of the young folks in the pew behind me 
tittered, and an old lady iu my own pew put a 
handkerchief to her mouth. I suppose she wanted 
to cough Just then, and didn't like to disturb the 
meeting. Mr. Spooner looked astonished, as if he 
had seen a vision. 
Now you see this sort of thing is going on all over 
the country, aud there is a good deal of extrava- 
gance iu folks buying jewelry and knick-knacks 
that they do not have any use for. I suppose it is 
rather worse than common just now, but there has 
always been a goud deal of it. If a man buys what 
he don't need, I call him extravagant, whether it is 
an extra acre of land, a two story bonnet, or a bo- 
gus gold watch chain, without any watch. If a man 
can do his business with a wheel barrow, he should 
uot invest in a horse and cart. If bis farm only af- 
fords occupation for one horse and cart, be should 
uot buy a yoke of oxen and cart. If be has only 
capital to work twenty acres to advantage, he is 
very extravagant to purchase fifty. If he has only 
feed for six cows, he should not keep eight. This is 
one of our greatest faults as a people, and I am 
afraid this war, if it ends in the triumph of the 
government, as we hope it will, will not remedy the 
evil. We buy cargoes of silks, and jewelry, wines, 
and brandies, that we have no need of. Miss Alme- 
da Georgians Bottom is nut the only sinner among 
us, not by many a hundred, I tell you. 
Hookertown, I Yours to command, 
Jan. 1st, 1863.) Timothy Box her, Esq. 
