^Svumler^^tg^:}    Methyl  Alcohol  and  Ethyl  Alcohol.  631 
years  gone  by  was  allowed  to  decay  upon  the  ground  may  now  be 
converted  into  substances  necessary  and  useful  to  all  mankind. 
No  one  knows  exactly  when  wood  first  began  to  be  carbonized  and  it 
probably  dates  back  to  the  beginning  of  civilization. 
At  first,  however,  and  even  up  until  approximately  a  century 
ago,  charcoal  was  the  only  by-product  obtainable,  and  it  was 
not  known  that  the  vapor,  which  passed  out  into  the  air  as  "smoke," 
contained  valuable  elements  which  would  some  day  play  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  affairs  of  the  world.  From  the  primitive  method 
of  burning  charcoal  in  pits  to  the  modern  tubular  condenser  has 
been  a  long  stride.  The  tubular  condenser  is  equipped  with  vertical 
copper  tubes  set  in  specially  made  tube  sheets  and  surrounded  by 
water  contained  in  a  steel  tank.  The  vapor  dome  and  liquor  re- 
ceiver are  of  copper  and  a  copper  trap  is  provided  at  the  outlet,  so 
that  the  non-condensable  gas  may  be  piped  off  to  be  used  as  fuel. 
This  condenser  represents  the  results  of  years  of  research  and  ex- 
perience and  its  high  efficiency  is  a  distinguishing  feature. 
Equipment  and  Method  of  Distillation—Modern  hardwood  dis- 
tillation plants  are  equipped  with  oven  retorts  which  insure  economy, 
efficiency  and  surety  of  operation  so  essential  to  the  success  of  the 
business.  In  the  employment  of  ovens,  the  wood  to  be  carbonized 
is  loaded  on  cars  and  no  further  hand  labor  is  required  in  connec- 
tion with  it,  as  the  cars  convey  it  into  the  ovens,  where  it  is  carbon- 
ized, and  the  resultant  charcoal,  still  on  the  same  cars,  is  carried 
through  a  succession  of  coolers  and  sheds,  finally  arriving  at  the 
point  where  it  is  transferred  to  bins  or  to  railroad  cars  for  shipment. 
Even  in  this  last  transfer,  hand  labor  has  been  reduced  to  a  mini- 
mum by  the  use  of  some  of  the  modern  charcoal  unloaders. 
Cars.— The  first  step  in  the  process  of  distillation  is  to  load  the 
wood  on  cars.  These  are  made  especially  for  the  purpose  and  are 
all  of  steel  construction,  except  the  wheels  and  drawheads,  which 
are  of  cast  iron.  The  bottom,  sides  and  ends  are  made  of  steel 
bars,  securely  riveted  in  place.  The  sides  are  quickly  detachable 
to  provide  for  easily  loading  the  wood  and  unloading  the  charcoal. 
The  frame  is  rigidly  made  of  structural  steel  members,  thoroughly 
braced  and  securely  riveted  together.  The  wheels  revolve  on  spec- 
ially made  bearings,  so  that  the  cars  are  comparatively  easy  to 
move.  After  being  loaded  with  wood  the  cars  are  placed  in  front 
of  the  ovens.  An  oven  of  10  cords  capacity  holds  four  cars  to  a 
charge,  and  these  are  placed  in  a  line,  all  together,  on  the  track  lead- 
