Lighting:
Candles, Lamps, and Matches
Articles from Civil War Era Southern Newspapers
ALBANY [GA] PATRIOT, January 19, 1860, p. 1, c. 5
Crockery, crockery ware, coal oil, and fluid lamps.
Home again. I have just returned
from Europe, where I bought the largest and finest stock of fancy, gilt &
white china, ever in this market. Also
a large Stock of common and white Granite Ware, of the best patterns that comes
to this country. I would call the
attention of Merchants to my samples now on hand, which I am sure are preferable
to any thing in this section. I
have a good Stock now on hand of Waiters in sets, castors, china tea setts
[sic], cheap, coal oil lamps, fluid lamps, goblets, tumblers, &c.
I have a fine lot of coal oil no. 1, to be here in a few days.
All the above goods offered cheap to make room for stock coming in.
R. P. McEvoy.
Macon, Ga., July 21st, 1859.
ALBANY
[GA] PATRIOT, March 22, 1860, p. 3, c. 5
T. R. Ripley's New Cash Crockery, China, Glass, and Lamp Store, Washington
Street, Near Hill & Co's Livery Stables,
Albany Geo.
Where can be found a good supply of the above named articles of the latest
styles.--Burning Fluid, Alcohol, Camphene, Kerosene Oil, &c., to which the
undersigned would most respectfully invite the attention of the citizens of
Albany and surrounding country, flattering himself that he can please the most
fastidious.
W. T. Mead, Agent.
December 1, 1859.
NATCHEZ
DAILY COURIER, March 19, 1861, p. 3, c. 4
Star candles--100 boxes Proctor & Gamble's full weight Star Candles,
received and for sale by Ray & Grant, Natchez Landing.
Soap--200 boxes Proctor & Gamble's Soap, received and for sale by Ray &
Grant, Natchez Landing.
ATHENS
[GA] SOUTHERN WATCHMAN, August 7, 1861, p. 4, c. 6
Kerosene
Lamps.
As the long winter nights are approaching, when "More Light"
will be required, we would call attention to a large and varied assortment,
which we have just opened, which we will sell at a small advance for cash.
Nov. 8
A. M. Wyng & Co.
ATHENS
[GA] SOUTHERN WATCHMAN, August 7, 1861, p. 4, c. 6
The Subscriber has just received an assortment of Kerosene Centre Table Lamps.
Lard Lamps altered to burn Kerosene Oil.
A. K. Childs.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
September 11, 1861, p. 2, c. 1
Charleston Made Matches.--We have received a box of Lucifer Matches,
manufactured by Mr. W. M. Sack, of this city.
On a trial, we found the matches to inflame with great facility, even
after being wet for a short time. We
hail with pleasure this new effort of native industry.
AUGUSTA [GA]
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, September 12, 1861, p. 3, c. 2
Charleston Made Matches.--We have received a box of Lucifer Matches,
manufactured [by] Mr. W. M. Sack, of this city.
On a trial, we found the matches to inflame with great facility, even
after being wet for a short time. We
hail with pleasure this new effort of native industry.--Courier.
AUGUSTA [GA]
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, September 27, 1861, p. 1, c. 1
To Consumers of Kerosene Oil.--The Mobile Register warns those who are using
Kerosene Oil, that in consequence of the scarcity and high price of the article,
inflammable and explosive fluids are mixed with the oil, endangering life and
property. Those who burn kerosene
should test a small quantity by fire before putting it in lamps.
AUGUSTA [GA]
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, October 9, 1861, p. 3, c. 4
The following items are clipped from the latest Texas papers received:
Texas Oil for Burning.--The Hempstead Courier has an editorial showing
that the castor-oil plant can be easily cultivated, grows well in Texas, and the
oil extracted from the beans, on a yield of 30 per cent., is not surpassed for
illuminating purposes by the best whale oil.
NATCHEZ
DAILY COURIER, October 25, 1861, p. 1, c. 6
Candle manufactory. The undersigned has established in the City of
Natchez, a candle manufactory, where he has now and will constantly keep on hand
a good supply of Candle.
His place of sale will be at his residence near the Gas House, and
opposite the store of Hunter & Mariner, at the Landing.
N. Levin.
More
Light. "Cotton is King."
Cotton seed oil--a lamp burning every night at my store throws light upon
the subject. Just received and for
sale by W. H. Fox.
AUGUSTA [GA]
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, October 26, 1861, p. 3, c. 1
Soap and Candles.--A writer in the Charleston Courier says:
We have been so long dependent on our Yankee enemies for supplies of the
above named articles of universal use, that we have forgotten that we can make
them ourselves. To our shame we
admit that, even on our plantations in the low country and seaboard, abounding
in materials for making the best candles in the world, millions of pounds have
been annually permitted to mature and decay unused.
The low bush myrtle, indigenous to our coast from Virginia, ad libitum,
South, the berries of which are now mature, will afford a supply of wax,
that, with the addition of one-third tallow, will furnish candles sufficient to
light every house in the Confederacy,
for the next year, and put a stopper on the exorbitant extortion now practiced
on the people for that article. So,
also, on every plantation, nay, in almost every kitchen, the monthly waste of
ashes and grease, with the addition of a little lime and salt, and the labor of
one person for one day, will make soap enough to cleanse every man, woman and
child, and their clothing. Now, why
should we any longer pay thirty cents a pound for soap and sixty cents for
candles? I for one will not.
SAN
ANTONIO HERALD, November 2, 1861, p. 2, c. 1
Friction matches are now being made in Galveston--the first probably ever
made in the State, if not in the South.
AUGUSTA [GA]
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, November 2, 1861, p. 2, c. 6
Kerosine Oil.
Just received,
Kerosine Oil. For sale by
Chichester & Co.
oct30 3t.
NATCHEZ
DAILY COURIER, November 8, 1861, p. 1, c. 3
A great curiosity was sent us by Mrs. Blanchard.
It is a "model economical candle," sixty yards long and it is
said will burn six hours each night for six months, and all that light at a cost
of about fifty cents. It is made by
taking one pound of beeswax and three-fourths of a pound of rosin, and melting
them together; then take about four threads of slack twisted cotton for a wick,
and draw it about three times through the melted wax and rosin and wind it in a
ball; put the end up above the ball and light it, and you have a very good
candle. Ours is very fancifully
wound on a corn cob, and makes a pretty ornament.--The curious can see it at our
office.--Vicksburg Whig.
DALLAS HERALD, December 4, 1861, p. 1, c. 1
Economy.
The Vicksburg Whig notices a favor sent to the office by a lady as
follows:
A great curiosity was sent us by Mrs. Blanchard.
It is a model economical candle, sixty yards long and it is said will
burn six hours each night for six months, and all that light at a cost of about
fifty cents. It is made by taking
one pound of beeswax and three-fourths of a pound of rosin, and melting them
together, then take about four threads of slack twisted cotton for a wick, and
draw it about three times through the melted wax and rosin and wind it in a
ball; pull the end up above the ball and light it, and you have a very good
candle. Ours is very fancifully
wound on a corn cob, and makes a pretty ornament.—The curious can see it at
our office.
These lights have been used in Texas for many years, and a good joke is
told of a certain "root-doctor" who, once upon a time, visited the
house of a very economical lady, and mistook a roll of these "wax
tapers" for a bundle of Sarsaparilla roots.—Thinking here was a good
chance to enlarge his stock of roots, the doctor incontinently pocketed the
bundle and went home. He did not
discover the mistake until he had plunged them into a pot of boiling water, for
the purpose of making a decoction of Sarsaparilla.
His consternation can be better imagined than described, when he saw his
long yellow roots melting rapidly away before his eyes. His patient was disappointed in her promised decoction, and
the doctor became a wiser, if not a better, man.
NATCHEZ
DAILY COURIER, Dec. 6, 1861, p. 2. c. 1
Castor
Oil--How Made.
The following communication to the Houston Telegraph, from Mr. E. T.
Duffau, of Austin, will be read with interest:
... The following is the process for preparing it on a large scale:
The seeds having been cleansed from dust and fragments of capsules, are
conveyed into a shallow iron reservoir, where they are submitted to a gentle
heat, insufficient to scorch them, and not greater than can be borne by the
hand; the object of this step is to render the oil sufficiently liquid for easy
expression; the seeds are then introduced into a powerful screw press.
One bushel of good seed will yield about six quarts of the best oil.
The yield of the seed is from 40 to 60 bushels to the acre, or say 75
gallons of oil, which, at the low price of $1 per gallon, is $75 to the acre.
The mode of cultivation is to plant and attend to the crop the same as
corn, thinning out to two stalks in a hill, and leaving a space between the rows
of four feet.
The oil will give about 10 or 12 per cent. more light than lard oil, and
can be used in the same lamps.
The plant may be found growing in Texas almost anywhere.
There are stalks of it in the streets of Austin, and on my visit to your
city I found it all along the roads.
From the statement I make, you will at once see that it will pay better
than any crop which can be planted in Texas.
BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, December 11, 1861, p. 1, c. 5
To Harden Tallow, Suet or Lard for Candles.—To half a lb. each of alum
and saltpetre, pulverised coarsely, pour on it a quart of boiling water—take
from 12 to 20 lbs. of tallow, according to its firmness, the former quantity for
the oily tallow we get from a fat beef in summer, or for lard, and the latter
for tallow that will stand in a cake; put it in an iron vessel near the fire,
and when melted, stir in the dissolved alum and saltpetre and boil until the
water is all expelled from the tallow. Have
the wicks smaller and of finer thread than is usual for home-made candles—dip
them in a strong solution of saltpetre, and when perfectly dry mould the candle
in the usual way. If any one, after
giving this receipt a trial, goes in darkness, it is because their deeds are
evil.
AUGUSTA [GA]
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, December 12, 1861, p. 3, c. 1
Candle Manufactory.--The necessity of something to give us light in place
of the oils and fluids we have been in the habit of using, is becoming every day
more pressing. The consumers of
kerosene fluid, the article being so dear and inferior in quality, will be glad
to resort to tallow candles for light. A
candle manufactory in this city, on a scale commensurate with the demands of the
community, is therefore a desideratum. Mr.
J. V. Clark, of Hamburg, has given his attention to this business of late, and
has now, as he believes, gotten up an article of candle which will fully meet
the wants and wishes of the people. A
few days since he gave us some specimens of his make, and we have given them a
fair and most satisfactory trial. They
give a pure, steady light, do not smoke, and will burn much longer than the
"star" candle. If all Mr.
Clark's manufacture are as good as those he gave us, his success is certain.
Mr. C. encourages us to hope that he will start a candle manufactory in
this city; and as he intimates that his terms will be reasonable, we hope he
will set about it with the least possible delay.
The people, although not in mental darkness, are almost physically so,
and are getting clamorous for "more light."
ALBANY
[GA] PATRIOT, December 19, 1861, p. 2, c. 3
The following receipts have been furnished us for publication by Mrs. Gen.
Hansell of Marietta--a lady whose elegant accomplishments, and skill in all the
departments of housewifery, will entitle her experience to the highest
consideration. They have come in a
good time, and will be properly appreciated by the country at large:
For Making Tallow Candles.
For every 10 pounds of tallow, have 4 pounds of alum; dissolve the alum
in 2 gallons of hot water; boil the tallow first in clear water 2 hours.
After it is perfectly cold, cut the tallow out, scrape off all the
sediment from the bottom of the tallow, and boil it in the alum water 2 or 3
hours, skimming it well. After it
becomes cold, again scrape off all the sediment, which adheres to the bottom of
the tallow; and simmer until all the water is out of the tallow, which may be
known by any one accustomed to boiling lard or tallow.
After every drop of water is out, it is then ready to mould.
To make the tallow still more firm, though not so white, add 3 pounds of
beeswax to every 10 pounds of tallow, and boil it with the tallow in the alum
water. As the common candle wick is
too large, split the wick and put it in the moulds.
ATLANTA SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, December 21, 1861, p. 2, c. 2
Valuable Recipes.
The following recipes are furnished by one of the most experienced
house-wives in our State, and we can assure our readers that they are good.
These recipes have been going the rounds of the press with a very
material error in one of them, which we now correct--our attention being called
to the mistake by the excellent lady who furnished them.
How to Make Tallow Candles.
For every ten pounds of tallow, have one pound of alum; dissolve the alum
in two gallons of hot water; boil the tallow first in clear water two hours.
After it is perfectly cold, cut the tallow out, scrape off all the
sediment from the bottom of the tallow, and boil it in the alum water two hours,
skimming it well. After it becomes
cold, again scrape off all the sediment which adheres to the bottom of the
tallow; and simmer until all the water is out of the tallow, which may be known
by any one accustomed to boiling lard or tallow.
After every drop of water is out, it is then ready to mould.
To make the tallow still more firm, through not so white, add three
pounds of beeswax to every ten pounds of tallow, and boil it with the tallow in
the alum water. As the common
candle wick is too large, split the wick and put it in the moulds.
TEXAS STATE GAZETTE
[AUSTIN, TX], December 28, 1861, p. 3, c. 2
Economy.
The Vicksburg Whig notices a favor sent to the office by a lady as
follows:
A great curiosity was sent us by Mrs. Blanchard.
It is a "model economical candle," sixty yards long and it is
said will burn six hours each night for six months, and all that light at a cost
of about fifty cents. It is made by
taking one pound of beeswax and three-fourths of a pound of rosin, and melting
them together; then take about four threads of slack twisted cotton for a wick,
and draw it about three times through the melted wax and rosin and wind it in a
ball; put the end up above the ball and light it, and you have a very good
candle. Ours is very fancifully
wound on a corn cob, and makes a pretty ornament.--The curious can see it at our
office.
These lights have been used in Texas for many years, and a good joke is
gold of a certain "root-doctor" who, once upon a time, visited the
house of a very economical lady, and mistook a roll of these "wax
tapers" for a bundle of Sasparilla roots--Thinking here was a good chance
to enlarge his stock of roots, the doctor incontinently pocketed the bundle and
went home. He did not discover the
mistake until he had placed them into a pot of boiling water, for the purpose of
making a decoction of Sarsaparilla. His
consternation can be better imagined than described, when he saw his long yellow
roots melting rapidly away before his eyes. His patient was disappointed in her promised decoction, and
the doctor became a wiser, if not a better man.--Dallas Herald.
ATLANTA
SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, January 11, 1862, p. 2, c. 4
How to Make Candles.--Mr. N. A. Isom has discovered a new and valuable
process for making good candles from tallow, equal to the star.
It is this: To a quart of
tallow add two or three leaves of the prickly pear, and boil out all the water
that may gather. When of the right
consistency, mould in the usual way. We
are of the opinion that a little alum would improve the candles. Try it, everybody. The
prickly pear grows abundantly in this neighborhood.--[Oxford Intelligencer.
SAVANNAH
REPUBLICAN, January 16, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
Pea Nut Oil.—Messrs. Grant & Tennant have commenced the manufacture
of oil in this city from the pea nut. We
are in receipt of a specimen, which we expect to try on our power press in a day
or two. Oil made from the pea nut, near Wilmington, N. C., has been
successfully used down there, both for illuminating and lubricating purposes.
The specimen now before us has a clear, handsome appearance, resembling
sperm. It is an enterprise that must pay the energetic manufactures
handsomely for their trouble and outlay. Whale
oils have almost entirely disappeared, and but few will use lard oil, if that of
the pea nut is accessible.
WEEKLY COLUMBUS
[GA] ENQUIRER, January 21, 1862, p. 2, c. 6
How to Make Candles.—Mr. N. A. Isom has discovered a new and valuable
process for making good candles from tallow, equal to the star. It is this: To a
quart of tallow add two or three leaves of the prickly pear, and boil out all
the water that may gather. When of
the right consistency, mould in the usual way.
We are of the opinion that a little alum would improve the candles.
Try it, everybody. The prickly pear grows abundantly in the
neighborhood.—Oxford Intell.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
March 10, 1862, p. 1, c. 3
Richmond, March 6.
. . . We had gas last night in the streets, for a rarity.
Beef is selling at 25 cents a pound.
More rain is promised by the weather.
Hermes.
NATCHEZ
DAILY COURIER, April 4, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
Light! Light!!
Light!!! Blockade or No
Blockade! The greatest invention of
the age. Confederate Illuminating
Oil, for burning in Coal Oil Lamps. The
greatest illuminator in the Southern Confederacy!
It can be burned in all kinds of Coal Oil Lamps by a simple patent attachment
applied to the wick tube, at the trifling expense of fifty cents, which can be
attached or removed at pleasure. The
Oil can be used with perfect safety, as it cannot be exploded, and produces as
brilliant, soft and beautiful light as the best article of Coal Oil.
One gallon of it will afford as much light as one gallon and a half of
the best Coal Oil, or four gallons of Cotton Seed Oil, or 18 pounds of Sperm
Candles.
J. S. Murphy & Co., New Orleans, are the manufacturers of
the Oil, and proprietors of the patent attachment for burning it in Coal Oil
Lamps. Agents wanted in all the
principal cities of the Southern Confederacy.
An unlimited supply of Oil and Lamps for sale at the Drug
Store of W. H. Fox, Main street, Natchez, Miss.
NATCHEZ
DAILY COURIER, April 4, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Improvement in Candles. Steep the
cotton wick in water in which has been dissolved a considerable quantity of
nitrate of potassa--chlorate of potassa, answers still better, but it is too
expensive for common practice--by this means a purer flame and a superior light
are secured, a more perfect combustion is insured, and snuffing is rendered
nearly as superfluous as in wax candles. The
wicks must be thoroughly dried before the tallow is put to them.
TEXAS STATE GAZETTE
[AUSTIN, TX], April 19, 1862, p. 3, c. 2
HOW TO MAKE CANDLES.--Mr. N. A. Isom has discovered a new and valuable process
for making good candles from tallow equal to Star.
It is this. To a quart of
tallow add 2 or 3 leaves of pricly [sic] pear, and boil out all the water that
may gather. When of the right
consistency, mould in the usual way. We
are of the opinion that a little alum would improve the candles.
Try it, everybody. The
prickly pear grows abundantly in the neighborhood.
AUGUSTA [GA]
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, May 2, 1862, c. 3, c. 1
Soap and Candle Manufactory.--Two most essential articles, for which we
have heretofore depended on the North, are soap and candles.
They are indispensable in all well regulated households.
Mr. J. V. Clark, whose advertisement appears in another column, is
engaged in the manufacture of a superior article of candles, of various grades
and prices, and suited to the season. We
have tried some of his candles, and found them to be excellent, as we noticed in
our columns sometime since. He is
also making good hard and soft soap. At
a considerable outlay, he has embarked in this enterprise, and he should be
encouraged and patronized. Having
cut loose from the North and its manufactured wares, let us stimulate home
industry by all available means.
Mr. Clark's establishment is near the corner of Broad street and Bridge
Row.
AUGUSTA [GA]
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, May 6, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Terebene Oil.--This is certainly the most economical light now to be
obtained, as we can testify from experience.
It does not give as good a light as Kerosene, and the lamps require more
care and attention. But the light
is much more brilliant than that of a candle, and not one-fifth the cost.
Kerosene lamps can be altered to burn Terebene oil at a trifling expense,
and families who are not within reach of gas facilities will find their interest
to give it a trial. Chichester
& Co., have the oil for sale, and the lamps can be altered at Buckmaster's.
AUGUSTA [GA]
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, May 22, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
Matches.--Imported matches are now about used up in this community, and it is
absolutely necessary that their domestic manufacture should be encouraged.
Mr. A. J. Pelletier has shown us some very good samples of matches which
he is having made at Hamburg, S. C. He
turns out a large quantity daily. The
attention of the trade is directed to his advertisement, in another column.
ATHENS
[GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, August 6, 1862, p. 4, c. 4
The Cheapest
Light in the World!
A New Southern Discovery!
Terebene Oil!!
It
can be used in Kerosene Oil Lamps with a slight alteration.
Lamps altered and oil sold at R. M. Smith's Drugstore.
June 4.
SAVANNAH
REPUBLICAN, June 7, 1862, p. 2, c. 6
The
Cheapest Light in
the World!
New Southern Discovery
Terebene Oil
It can be used in Kerosene Oil lamps, with a slight alteration, and
retails at $1.60 per gallon. For
sale by
John B. Moore, Druggist
Gibbons' Range.
AUGUSTA [GA]
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, June 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 4
Cheap Light. Lamp Oil, for the
ordinary oil lamp, giving a good and cheap light.
For sale by Plumb & Leitner, Druggists, Augusta, Ga.
je6-tf
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
June 19, 1862, p. 1, c. 2
Light.--Spirits of turpentine, burnt in a lamp, invented about two years
since, costing about $3, makes a beautiful gas light.
This light is very brilliant, perfectly safe, and costs about three cents
per night. By distilling, you get
clear of the particles of rosin, which makes it a more cleanly, but not a more
brilliant light.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
July 22, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
A New Oil.--Mr. B. Schur announces that he has succeeded in the
production of an oil, to which he has given the name of "Palmetto
Oil," and which for softness and brilliancy, is said to equal the Kerosene
Oil, at a cost of only a quarter of a cent per hour.
See his advertisement in another column.
MEMPHIS
DAILY APPEAL [GRENADA, MS], July 24, 1862, p. 1, c. 7
To make hard tallow candles.--Wm. Summer, of Pomaria, S. C., furnishes the
following to the Charleston Courier:
To one pound of tallow take five or six leaves of the prickly pear,
(cactus opuntia,) split them and boil in the tallow, without water, for half an
hour of more; strain and mould the candles.
The wicks should have previously dipped in spirits of turpentine and
dried.
If the tallow at first is boiled in water, and the water changed four or
five times, it will be bleached and rendered free from impurities.
Then prepare, by frying with prickly pears, to harden it.
In this way we have made tallow candles nearly equal to the best
adamantine.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
July 25, 1862, p. 1, c. 2
About Friction Matches.--The value of the friction or lucifer match will
never be realized by the coming generation, for they will know nothing of the
difficulties of obtaining and preserving fire previous to their invention.
So rapidly do we move on, that persons that remember the tinder-box are
getting old. Then matches made by
hand were valuable and carefully preserved; now they are as abundant as
dew-drops of an autumn morning, and almost as cheap.
An English writer says that one firm, Messrs.. Dixon, of London,
constantly employ four hundred workmen in making matches, and make twenty-two
hundred millions in a year. The
average consumption in England is two hundred and fifty millions a day, or eight
to each individual in the Kingdom. It
is as large or larger in the United States.
There are two manufactories in Austria and Bohemia that turn out
forty-five thousand million in a year. The
friction match is therefore one of the institutions of modern times, and one
that, having once known and employed, we could no more do without and move on at
the rapid rate we are doing, than we could live without air or water.
SAN
ANTONIO HERALD, September 13, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
Match Manufactory.--Our neighbors, opposite the Herald Office, are
manufacturing friction matches, of a very superior quality, and selling them at
one dollar a thousand, or 50 cents for five hundred.
A cheaper or better article could not be desired.
MEMPHIS
DAILY APPEAL [GRENADA, MS], September 22, 1862, p. 2, c. 8
Southern Match
Works.
We are prepared to
fill orders for a superior article of Friction Matches, Equal to any of Eastern
make. They will be sold very low to
the trade. Send cash orders
immediately, before it is too late to A. Eyrich, & Co.
Columbus, Miss.
MEMPHIS
DAILY APPEAL [GRENADA, MS], September 23, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Another Enterprise.--Mr. Wm. Magoffin, of Carrolton, Miss., has forwarded us a
specimen of matches of home manufacture, which will answer the purpose as well
as the best Yankee productions. We
need be no longer dependent upon our enemies for lucifers.
MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, October 11, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
[For the Evening
News]
Tallow Candles Equal to Star.
Messrs. Editors: It may be
of interest to your numerous readers to know that, with not a cent of additional
expense, tallow candles can be made fully equal in point of merit to the common
star candle.
To two pounds of tallow add one teacupful of good strong ley from wood
ashes, and simmer over a slow fire—when a greasy scum will float on top; skim
this off for making soap, (it is very near soap already) as long as it continues
to rise. Then mould your candles as
usual, making the wicks a little smaller—and you have a pure, hard tallow
candle, worth knowing how to make—and one that burns as long and gives a light
equal to sperm. The chemistry
demonstrates itself. An ounce or
two of beeswax will make the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks in
spirits turpentine will make it burn some brighter.
I write with one before me.
Yours, W.
West Point, Miss., Oct. 5th, 1862.
SAVANNAH
REPUBLICAN, October 16, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
The Wood Gas.—The supply of coal being exhausted, we commenced last
night the use of wood gas. The
effect of the change was very perceptible, especially in the streets, where many
of the burners had not been attended to, to suit the new state of things. The new or altered burners seemed to emit a sufficiency of
light, but we observed that all of them gave forth a forked instead of a solid
flame, owing, probably, to the roughness of the tube.
This defect remedied they may be made to answer a good purpose.
The old burners afforded a light about equal to a sperm candle, and we
care not how soon they are got rid of. In
our office the light was very fair, though the first night can hardly be
regarded as a test, there being considerable quantity of coal gas still in the
pipes.
ATLANTA SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, October 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
Tallow Candles Equal to Star.
Messrs.
Editors Mobile Register & Advertiser:
It may be of interest to your numerous readers to know that, with not a
cent of additional expense, tallow candles can be made fully equal in point of
merit to the common star candle.
To two pounds of tallow add one teacupful of good strong 'ley' [lye] from
wood ashes, and simmer over a slow fire--when a greasy scum will float on top;
skim this off for making soap, (it is very near soap already) as long as it
continues to rise. Then mould your
candles as usual, making the wicks a little smaller--and you have a pure, hard
tallow candle, worth knowing how to make--and one that burns as long and gives a
light equal to sperm. The chemistry
demonstrates itself.--An ounce or two of beeswax will make the candle some
harder, and steeping the wicks in spirits turpentine will make it burn some
brighter. I write with one before me.
Yours,
W.
West Point, Miss., Oct. 5th, 1862.
SAVANNAH
REPUBLICAN, October 18, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
The Gas.—Our lights from the new gas continue intolerable.
It is clear to our mind that the difficulty rests at the gas works, and
consists of a lack of the proper amount of pressure.
We tried a still larger burner last night, but with little effect.
WEEKLY COLUMBUS
[GA] ENQUIRER, October 21, 1862, p. 2, c. 5
Tallow
Candles Equal to Star.
West Point, Miss., Oct. 5, 1862.
Editors Mobile Register & Advertiser:
It may be of interest to your numerous readers to know that, with not a
cent of additional expense, tallow candles can be made fully equal in point of
merit to the common star candle.
To two pounds of tallow add one teacupful of good strong ley from wood
ashes, and simmer over a slow fire, when a greasy scum will float on top; skim
this off for making soap, (it is very near soap already), as long as it
continues to rise. Then mould your candles as usual, making the wicks a little
smaller—and you have a pure, hard tallow candle, worth knowing how to make,
and one that burns as long and gives a light equal to sperm.
The chemistry demonstrates itself. An
ounce or two of beeswax will make the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks
in spirits turpentine will make it burn some brighter.
I write with one before me.
Yours,
W.
WEEKLY COLUMBUS
[GA] ENQUIRER, October 21, 1862, p. 2, c.
5
How to Make Chimnies [sic] for Kerosene or Palmetto Oil Lamps.—Take a
common sweet oil bottle, cut off the bottom, by burning a string wet with
turpentine, around the bottle. Then
make a bottom of tin to fit the lamp, and fasten it to the bottle with plaster
of Paris, and you have as good a chimney as you can buy.
This is something worth knowing at the present time.
When one chimney breaks, the same tin bottom will do for another.
Please let this be known for the public benefit.
D. B. Haselton.
We have received from our ingenious friend, Haselton, a bottle prepared
as above directed, and a mate to one he has used successfully.
It may be seen at the Courier office.—Charleston Courier, 14th.
ATHENS
[GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, October 22, 1862, p. 4, c. 2
How to Make
Chimnies for Kerosene or Palmetto Oil Lamps.
Take a common sweet oil bottle cut off the bottom, by burning a string
wet with turpentine, around the bottle, then make a bottom of tin to fit the
lamp, and fasten it to the bottle with plaster of paris and you have as good a
chimney as you can buy. This is
something worth knowing at the present time.
When one chimney breaks the same tin bottom will do for another.
Please let this be known for the public benefit.
D. B. Haselton.
We have received from our ingenious friend, Haselton, a bottle prepared
as above directed, and a mate to one he has used successfully.
It may be seen at the Courier office.
Charleston Courier, Oct. 14.
SAVANNAH
REPUBLICAN, October 27, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Homemade Candles.—Mr. L. N. Felitgant [sp?] has presented us with a
sample of his Forest City Adamantine Candles, manufactured by himself. They are well made, very firm, emit a good light and require
no snuffing. They also consume all
the tallow, thus wasting nothing by running.
It is the best candle we have seen of home manufacture, and Mr. F. will
doubtless find a ready sale for all he can make.
Though the light is very fair, we would suggest that it may be improved
by saturating the wick in a weak solution of saltpetre.
SAVANNAH
REPUBLICAN, November 4, 1862, p. 1, c. 3
Practical
Hints for Hard Times.
"What man has done, man may do."
No.II—LIGHTS.
Our fathers used little artificial light.
They preferred the cheap light of day.
For this reason they went early to bed and were all the more healthy and
wealthy for their practice. The
chief light of their houses, like that of the nobility of
England a few centuries back, was a ruddy glare from the hearthstone.
1. PRIMITIVE LIGHTS.—The earliest artificial illuminators of
which we have any record, were lamps. These
at first, consisted of nothing more than a cup of oil or grease, with a wick
lying against its side. Its shape
was soon improved in convenience and elegance.
2. A HASTILY EXTEMPORIZED LIGHT.—The writer was one of a
family party who were belated in the mountains of Georgia and compelled to seek
shelter with a family who owned neither lamp or candle.
Our ingenious hostess, however devised a light for the table.
It was made by means of a slice of fat bacon, (do not laugh, reader, I
tell the simple truth.) This slice
was spread in the bottom of a saucer, and on this was laid some candle wick, the
burning end of which was kept elevated by being passed through a tailor's
thimble.
3. RUSH LIGHTS.—Among the poor of Europe, a very cheap and
easily made light is constructed of the ordinary bulrush stripped of its skin,
except enough to hold the internal pitch together, and saturated with suit [sic]
or wax.
4. CONFEDERATE CANDLE.—This rivals the rush light in
simplicity, and far exceeds it in serviceableness.
To make it, melt together a pound of beeswax and a quarter of a pound of
rosin, or of rosin fresh from the tree. Prepare
a wick 30 or 40 yards long, made up of three threads of loosely spun cotton.
Saturate this well with the mixture, and draw it through your fingers to
press all closely together, and to keep the size even.
Repeat the process until the candle attains the size of a straw or quill;
then wrap around a bottle, or into a ball with a flat bottom.
Six inches of this candle elevated above the rest will burn for fifteen
or twenty minutes, and give a very pretty light, and forty yards have sufficed a
small family a summer for all the usual purposes of the bed-chamber.
5. LARD TAPER.—Equal to our mountain friends bacon light in
cheapness, and yet more pleasantly available for the necessities of the sick
room, is a light made up of a saucer half full of lard and a little wisp of
spongy paper. The paper twisted so
as to form a short pointed wick with a broad base—say two thirds of an inch
high and an inch broad—is set in the midst of the lard, and by the heat it
generates, aided by the shelving sides of the saucer keeps itself supplied with
fuel until the lard is all consumed. The
papers can be shaped on the point of one's finger, and the burning and twisted
quite small. It should rest on the
bottom, and the vessel should be shallow—a saucer, not a cup.
6. LARD LAMPS.—At the present prices of illuminating material,
the most economical by far for those who live in the interior and afar is lard.
This requires a lamp whose wick tubes are of thick metal for the purposes
of conveying the heat of the flame into the
midst of the lard, and keeping it melted around the wick. The
lard must be melted when the lamp is lighted or it will not burn well.
The wick should be several thicknesses of spongy cloth.
7. LARD OIL.—When combined with one fifth spirits of
turpentine, will burn in an ordinary lamp and afford a beautiful light.
To obtain the oil, enclose lard in a strong, close canvas bag, and
subject to gradually increased pressure. The
indurated mass left in the bag is not required for culinary purposes.
8. CANDLES OF TALLOW AND PRICKLY PEAR.—Whoever can command
tallow for candles, will greatly improve them in firmness and in illuminating
power, combining with a few leaves of the prickly pear, in the proportion of
about one part by weight of the last, to four or five of the first.
The leaves should be kept in the heated tallow until all commotion
ceases, and until the tallow itself reaches the boiling point.
Of course, the heated mixture will need straining.
It is said by those who profess to know, that the longer tallow is
boiled, the whiter it becomes in case it is not burned.
The vessel containing the tallow should be heated in a sand bath (another
vessel partly filled with sand) and not set immediately on the fire.
9. WAX CANDLES.—Beeswax gives a light almost equal to sperm.
It may be moulded like the tallow candles; or it may be rolled by
enveloping the wick in a thin stratum of wax spread on a board, and afterwards
smoothed evenly by rolling between two boards.
The combination of wax and tallow need not be suggested.
10. Wax and rosin, mixed in equal proportions, afford an
excellent light though liable to smoke unless supplied with a suitable sized
wick.
11. Myrtle Wax is
obtained by boiling the berries of the swamp myrtle, on which it is to be seen
as a greenish white cover. The
myrtle is found abundantly in all our seaboard counties, and has been seen by
the writer as far inland as Macon and Forsyth.
Its favorite locality is a swampy though not wet ground. The berries should be boiled in a bag, and the clarified wax,
which is of a pretty green color, mixed more or less largely with tallow.
12. The value of our ordinary pine tree as an illuminator remains
yet to be developed. Camphene
is nothing more than the highly volatile spirits of turpentine—it is that part
of the spirit which first rises from the still after heating the virgin gum.
That which comes after is more or less mixed with the heavier rosin.
Burning Fluid is made by mixing camphine [sic] (or even the purer
varieties of spirits of turpentine) with four or more times its bulk of alcohol.
The high price of alcohol has
arrested the manufacture of burning fluid; but the camphene remains as abundant
as ever in the pine forests of the whole South, and awaits only the magic touch
of some who will devise a plan for rendering it inexplosive, to furnish
the country with one of the best and cheapest lights. WILL NOT SOMEBODY TRY? Rosin
is the inspissated juice of the gum remaining in the still after the volatile
part, or spirit, has been separated by heat.
It has resisted all efforts hitherto made to mould it into candles or to
use it in lamps, being too hard for the one and too soft for the other; and,
moreover, it burns with a dense and unpleasant smoke. But the smoke may be consumed by attaching a glass chimney
with a strong draught, when a flame is produced almost as brilliant as that
of Kerosene, and, no doubt, a suitable lamp for it can be constructed.
I venture the prediction that it is yet to be used as an illuminator in
other ways than at the gas works.
Marooners, Sr.
Any person having valuable hints, of a practical character, on the
subjects already discussed, or on those of clothing, food, &c., to
communicate, are invited to publish them, or to address "Box 154, Macon,
Georgia," not 54," as published in No. 1.
ATHENS
[GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, November 5, 1862, p. 4, c. 1
Tallow Candles
Equal to Star
Messrs. Editors:--It may be of some interest to y our numerous readers to
know that, with not a cent of additional expense, tallow candles can be made
fully equal in point of merit to the common star candle.
To two pounds tallow add one teacupful of good ley from wood ashes, and
simmer over a slow fire, when greasy scum will float on top; skim this off for
soap, (it is very soap already,) as long as it continues to rise.
Then mould your candles as usual making the wicks a little smaller, and
you have a pure hard tallow candle, worth knowing how to make, and one that
burns as long, and gives a light equal to sperm.
The chemistry demonstrates itself.--An ounce or two of beeswax will make
the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks in spirits turpentine will make
it burn some brighter. I write with
one before me.--Mobile News.
ATLANTA SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, November 7, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
Practical
Hints for Hard Times.
"What man has done, man may do."
No.II—LIGHTS.
Our fathers used little artificial light.
They preferred the cheap light of day.
For this reason they went early to bed and were all the more healthy and
wealthy for their practice. The
chief light of their houses, like that of the nobility of
England a few centuries back, was a ruddy glare from the hearthstone.
1. PRIMITIVE LIGHTS.—The earliest artificial illuminators of
which we have any record, were lamps. These
at first, consisted of nothing more than a cup of oil or grease, with a wick
lying against its side. Its shape
was soon improved in convenience and elegance.
2. A HASTILY EXTEMPORIZED LIGHT.—The writer was one of a
family party who were belated in the mountains of Georgia and compelled to seek
shelter with a family who owned neither lamp or candle.
Our ingenious hostess, however devised a light for the table.
It was made by means of a slice of fat bacon, (do not laugh, reader, I
tell the simple truth.) This slice
was spread in the bottom of a saucer, and on this was laid some candle wick, the
burning end of which was kept elevated by being passed through a tailor's
thimble.
3. RUSH LIGHTS.—Among the poor of Europe, a very cheap and
easily made light is constructed of the ordinary bulrush stripped of its skin,
except enough to hold the internal pitch together, and saturated with suit [sic]
or wax.
4. CONFEDERATE CANDLE.—This rivals the rush light in
simplicity, and far exceeds it in serviceableness.
To make it, melt together a pound of beeswax and a quarter of a pound of
rosin, or of rosin fresh from the tree. Prepare
a wick 30 or 40 yards long, made up of three threads of loosely spun cotton.
Saturate this well with the mixture, and draw it through your fingers to
press all closely together, and to keep the size even.
Repeat the process until the candle attains the size of a straw or quill;
then wrap around a bottle, or into a ball with a flat bottom.
Six inches of this candle elevated above the rest will burn for fifteen
or twenty minutes, and give a very pretty light, and forty yards have sufficed a
small family a summer for all the usual purposes of the bed-chamber.
5. LARD TAPER.—Equal to our mountain friends bacon light in
cheapness, and yet more pleasantly available for the necessities of the sick
room, is a light made up of a saucer half full of lard and a little wisp of
spongy paper. The paper twisted so
as to form a short pointed wick with a broad base—say two thirds of an inch
high and an inch broad—is set in the midst of the lard, and by the heat it
generates, aided by the shelving sides of the saucer keeps itself supplied with
fuel until the lard is all consumed. The
papers can be shaped on the point of one's finger, and the burning and twisted
quite small. It should rest on the
bottom, and the vessel should be shallow—a saucer, not a cup.
6. LARD LAMPS.—At the present prices of illuminating material,
the most economical by far for those who live in the interior and afar is lard.
This requires a lamp whose wick tubes are of thick metal for the purposes
of conveying the heat of the flame into the
midst of the lard, and keeping it melted around the wick.
The lard must be melted when the lamp is lighted or it will not burn
well. The wick should be several
thicknesses of spongy cloth.
7. LARD OIL.—When combined with one fifth spirits of
turpentine, will burn in an ordinary lamp and afford a beautiful light.
To obtain the oil, enclose lard in a strong, close canvas bag, and
subject to gradually increased pressure. The
indurated mass left in the bag is not required for culinary purposes.
8. CANDLES OF TALLOW AND PRICKLY PEAR.—Whoever can command
tallow for candles, will greatly improve them in firmness and in illuminating
power, combining with a few leaves of the prickly pear, in the proportion of
about one part by weight of the last, to four or five of the first.
The leaves should be kept in the heated tallow until all commotion
ceases, and until the tallow itself reaches the boiling point.
Of course, the heated mixture will need straining.
It is said by those who profess to know, that the longer tallow is
boiled, the whiter it becomes in case it is not burned.
The vessel containing the tallow should be heated in a sand bath (another
vessel partly filled with sand) and not set immediately on the fire.
9. WAX CANDLES.—Beeswax gives a light almost equal to sperm.
It may be moulded like the tallow candles; or it may be rolled by
enveloping the wick in a thin stratum of wax spread on a board, and afterwards
smoothed evenly by rolling between two boards.
The combination of wax and tallow need not be suggested.
10. Wax and rosin, mixed in equal proportions, afford an
excellent light though liable to smoke unless supplied with a suitable sized
wick.
11. Myrtle Wax is
obtained by boiling the berries of the swamp myrtle, on which it is to be seen
as a greenish white cover. The
myrtle is found abundantly in all our seaboard counties, and has been seen by
the writer as far inland as Macon and Forsyth.
Its favorite locality is a swampy though not wet ground. The berries should be boiled in a bag, and the clarified wax,
which is of a pretty green color, mixed more or less largely with tallow.
12. The value of our ordinary pine tree as an illuminator remains
yet to be developed. Camphene
is nothing more than the highly volatile spirits of turpentine—it is that part
of the spirit which first rises from the still after heating the virgin gum.
That which comes after is more or less mixed with the heavier rosin.
Burning Fluid is made by mixing camphine [sic] (or even the purer
varieties of spirits of turpentine) with four or more times its bulk of alcohol.
The high price of alcohol has arrested the manufacture of burning fluid;
but the camphene remains as abundant as ever in the pine forests of the whole
South, and awaits only the magic touch of some who will devise a plan for
rendering it inexplosive, to furnish the country with one of the best and
cheapest lights. WILL NOT SOMEBODY TRY? Rosin
is the inspissated juice of the gum remaining in the still after the volatile
part, or spirit, has been separated by heat.
It has resisted all efforts hitherto made to mould it into candles or to
use it in lamps, being too hard for the one and too soft for the other; and,
moreover, it burns with a dense and unpleasant smoke. But the smoke may be consumed by attaching a glass chimney
with a strong draught, when a flame is produced almost as brilliant as that
of Kerosene, and, no doubt, a suitable lamp for it can be constructed.
I venture the prediction that it is yet to be used as an illuminator in
other ways than at the gas works.
Marooners, Sr.
Any person having valuable hints, of a practical character, on the
subjects already discussed, or on those of clothing, food, &c., to
communicate, are invited to publish them, or to address "Box 154, Macon,
Georgia," not 54," as published in No. 1.
ATLANTA
SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, November 7, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
Lamp Wicks.--A correspondent gives the Columbia Guardian the following useful
bit of information:
"It might interest some of your readers to know this when it is so
difficult to get lamp-wicks that the tops of old home-knit socks cut into strips
of the proper width, make as good ones as the best that ever came from Yankeedom."
WEEKLY COLUMBUS
[GA] ENQUIRER, November 11, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
Lamp Wicks.—A correspondent gives the Columbia Guardian the following
useful bit of information:
It might interest some of your readers to know at this time when it is so
difficult to get lamp-wicks that the tops of old home-knit cotton socks cut into
strips of the proper width make as good ones as the best that ever came from
Yankeedom.
SAVANNAH
REPUBLICAN, November 13, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Matches.—Our thanks are due Mr. Wm. H. Farrell, for a liberal supply of
Matches, from the Confederate Match Company's establishment, Macon, Georgia.
They are a very good article, and we take pleasure in recommending them
to the public. The establishment
has cost the Messrs. Farrell & Co., near $20,000, and is now in successful
operation, giving employment to some thirty families.
While it is a money-making enterprise to the proprietors, it is doing a
service in assisting others.
SAVANNAH
REPUBLICAN, November 14, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
A Cheap Light.—"Take a saucer and cover the bottom of it with
lard, a quarter of an inch. Then
cut a piece of newspaper in the shape and size of a silver dollar.
Pinch up the centre about a quarter of an inch in height, so as to form a
slight protuberance. Saturate the
paper thoroughly with the lard, before lighting.
Set fire to the little pinched up knot, and you will have a light about
one-fourth the intensity of a candle. The
lard in the saucer will last a week, 2 hours a night.
The paper must be replaced once or twice a week."
The foregoing is from the Educational Journal.
SAN
ANTONIO HERALD, November 15, 1862, p. 2, c.3
Tallow Candles Equal to Star.--Messrs. Editors:
It may be of some interest to your readers to know that without a cent of
additional cost, tallow candles can be made fully equal in point of merit to the
common star candle.
To two pounds tallow add one teacupful of good strong ley from wood
ashes, and simmer over a slow fire, when a greasy scum will float on the top
skim this off for making soap (it is very near soap already,) as long as it
continues to rise. Then mould your
candles as usual, making the wicks a little smaller, and you have a pure, hard
tallow candle, worth knowing how to make, and one that burns as long and gives a
light equal to sperm. The chemistry
demonstrates itself. An ounce of
two of beeswax will make the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks in
spirits turpentine will make them burn some brighter.
I write with one before me.--Mobile News.
DALLAS HERALD, November 15, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
Tallow Candles Equal to Star.—Messrs. Editors:--It may be of interest
to your numerous readers to know that, with not a cent of additional cost,
tallow candles can be made fully equal in point of merit to the common star
candle.
To two pounds of tallow add one tea-cup full of strong ley, from wood
ashes, and simmer over a slow fire, when the greasy scum will float over the
top; skim this off for making soap, (it is very near soap already,) as long as
it continues to rise.—Then mould your candles as usual, making the wicks a
little smaller, and you have a pure, hard tallow candle, worth knowing how to
make, and one that burns as long and gives a light equal to sperm.
The chemistry demonstrates itself. An
ounce or two of beeswax will make the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks
in spirits turpentine will make it burn some brighter.--—write with one before
me.—Mobile News.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
November 19, 1862, p. 1, c. 2
Confederate Candle.--This rivals the rush in simplicity, and far exceeds
it in serviceableness. To make it, melt together a pound of beeswax and a quarter of
a pound of rosin, or turpentine fresh from the tree. Prepare a wick thirty or forty yards long, made up of three
threads of loosely spun cotton. Saturate
this well with the mixture, and draw it through your fingers to press all
closely together, and to keep the size even.
Repeat the process until the candle attains the size of a large straw or
quill; then wrap it around a bottle, or into a ball with a flat bottom.
Six inches of this candle elevated above the rest will burn for fifteen
minutes, and give a pretty light, and forty yards have sufficed a small family a
summer for all the usual purposes of the bed chamber.
WEEKLY COLUMBUS
[GA] ENQUIRER, November 25, 1862, p. 2, c. 7
Confederate Candle.—This rivals the rush in simplicity, and far exceeds
it in serviceableness. To make it,
melt together a pound of beeswax and a quarter of a pound of rosin, or
turpentine fresh from the tree. Prepare
a wick thirty or forty yards long, made up of three threads of loosely spun
cotton. Saturate this well with the mixture, and draw it through your
fingers to press all closely together, and to keep the size even.
Repeat the process until the candle attains the size of a large straw or
quill; then wrap it around a bottle, or into a ball with a flat bottom.
Six inches of this candle elevated above the rest will burn for fifteen
minutes, and give a pretty light, and forty yards have sufficed a small family a
summer for all the usual purposes of the bed chamber.
BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, December 6, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
Tallow Candles Equal to Star.—Messrs. Editors:
It may be of some interest to your numerous readers to know that with not
a cent of additional expense, tallow candles can be made fully equal in point of
merit to the common star candle.
To two pounds of tallow add one teacupful of good strong ley, from wood ashes, and simmer over a slow fire, when a greasy
scum will float on top; skim this off for making soap, (it is very near soap
already,) as long as it continues to rise.
Then mould your candles as usual, making the wicks a little smaller, and you have a pure, hard tallow candle,
worth knowing how to make, and one that burns as long and gives a light equal to
sperm. The chemistry demonstrates
itself. An ounce or two of beeswax
will make the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks in spirits turpentine
will make it burn some brighter. I
write with one before me.—Mobile News.
MOBILE
REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, April 4, 1863, p. 1, c. 6
How to Make Lard Candles.—To every eight pounds of lard add one ounce
of nitric acid; and the way of making is as follows:
Having carefully weighed your lard, place it over a slow fire, or at
least merely melt it; then add the acid, and mould the same as tallow, and you
have a clear, beautiful candle. In
order to make them resemble sperm candles, you have only to add a small portion
of white bees wax.
BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, May 9, 1863, p. 1, c. 4
Candles.—Eight pounds of lard one ounce of nitric acid; melt the lard
and let it cool down so as to be merely in a liquid state, then add the acid,
and mould the same as tallow, and you have a beautiful clear candle.
Add a small portion of white beeswax and they will resemble sperm.
WEEKLY COLUMBUS
[GA] ENQUIRER, July 7, 1863, p. 1, c. 3
From
the Richmond Christian Advocate.
A Cheap Light.
As times are very hard, or rather as it is quite difficult to get some
articles of domestic use in these days of home-spun and Southern Rights, I send
you two receipes [sic] that may be of some value to some of your subscribers.
For Making Copperas.—Take a stone jar, fill it with pieces of rusty
scraps of iron, fill the jar with very strong vinegar, cover it, and let it
stand for two weeks. One quart is
equal to a pound of copperas.
To Make a Good Light at a Light Expense.—Take a cup of grease of any
kind (lard or tallow) and into it put a sycamore ball, saturate it in the same,
and then light it—you will have a light superior to two candles.
One ball will last three or four nights.
The expense will be about three cents a night, till usual bedtime—not
more, even at the present prices of tallow.
You can publish these or not, just as you choose; they have been fully
tested.
Your brother,
Geo. C. Vanderslice.
ATHENS
[GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, July 13, 1863, p. 4, c. 3
From the
Richmond Christian Advocate.
A Cheap Light.
As times are very hard, or rather as it is quite difficult to get some
articles of domestic use in these days of homespun and Southern Rights, I send
you two recipes that may be of some value to some of your subscribers.
For Making Copperas.--Take a stone jar, fill it with pieces of rusty
scraps of iron, fill the jar with very strong vinegar, cover it, and let it
stand for two weeks. One quart is
equal to a pound of copperas.
To Make a Good Light at a Light Expense.--Take a cup of grease of any
kind (lard or tallow) and into it put a sycamore ball, saturate in the same, and
then light it--you will have a light superior to two candles.
One ball will last three or four nights.
The expense will be about three cents a night, till usual bedtime--not
more, even at the present prices of tallow.
You can publish these or not, just as you choose; they have been fully
tested.
Your brother,
Geo. C. Vanderslice.
GALVESTON WEEKLY
NEWS, July 22, 1863, p. 1, c, 3
Tallow Candles.—It may be of some interest to our numerous readers to
know that, with not a cent of additional expense, tallow candles can be made
fully equal in point of merit to the common star candle:
To two pounds of tallow add one tea-cup full of good ley from good ashes,
and simmer over a slow fire, when a greasy scum will float on top; skim this off
for soap, (it is almost soap already) as long as it continues to rise.
Then mould your candles as usual, making the wicks a little smaller, and
you have a pure hard tallow candle, worth knowing how to make, and one that
burns as long and gives light equal to sperm.
The chemistry demonstrates itself. An
ounce or two of beeswax will make the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks
in spirits of turpentine will make it burn some brighter.
I write with one before me.—Mobile News.
SAN
ANTONIO HERALD, August 15, 1863, p. 2, c. 3
To Make White, Clear, Hard, Tallow Candles.--For 40 pounds of unrendered
tallow take eight or ten prickley-pear leaves, of ordinary size, burn off the
prickles, slice up the leaves into small strips and cook them with the tallow.
After it is strained put in about two pints of strong ashes-lye, and boil
until the lye is all out, skimming off that which rises to the surface, which
may be used in making soap. The
tallow will then be very clear, and will make a very superior candle; which will
give a good light, and be in all respects equal to the star candle.
We have seen and used candles made by this process, and we know it will
work as stated above. For a less or
greater quantity of tallow the other ingredients should be used in proportion.
DALLAS HERALD, September 9, 1863, p. 2, c. 1
To Make White, Clear, Hard, Tallow Candles.—For 40 pounds of unrendered
tallow take eight or ten prickley-pear leaves, of ordinary size, burn off the
prickles, slice up the leaves into small strips and cook them with the tallow.
After it is strained put in about two pints of strong ashes-lye, and boil
until the lye is all out, skimming off that which rises to the surface, which
may be used in making soap. The
tallow will then be very clear, and will make a very superior candle, which will
give a good light, and be in all respects equal to the star-candle.
We have seen and used candles made by this process, and we know it will
work as stated above. For a less or
greater quantity of tallow, the other ingredients should be used in
proportion.—Telegraph.
ATHENS
[GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, September 23, 1863, p. 4, c. 1
Matches! Matches!
Made
by the Confederate Match Company in Macon, Ga.
A better match has never been offered for sale here.
Sept. 8.
I. M. Kenney.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
December 16, 1863, p. 1, c. 2
Blockade Gas.--Nearly all our Southern cities are now supplied with gas
manufactured from pine, and it is an undeniable fact that it is equal to that
manufactured from stone coal, if it is only manufactured as it ought to be.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
January 18, 1864, p. 1, c. 1
How to Make Lard Candles.--To every eight pounds of lard add one ounce of
nitric acid; and the way of making it is as follows:
Having carefully weighed your lard, place it over a slow fire, or at
least merely melt it; then add the acid, and mould the same as tallow, and you
have a clear, beautiful candle. In
order to make them resemble sperm candles, you have only to add a small portion
of white bees wax.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
February 3, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
A City Without Gas.--Charleston has passed a dismal night.
The streets were dark, and no light was to be seen anywhere, save the
occasional flicker of a tallow dip from the window of some unfortunate, whose
work happens to carry him far into the night.
We wonder whether the Gas Company meant to perpetrate a joke on the
public by cutting off our gas on Candlemas Day. If so,
the day having now duly passed, we trust that the joke may pass with it.
Seriously, the cessation of the gas supply is too great an inconvenience
to last, and a remedy of some kind ought to be provided without delay.
At any rate, there was a wonderful rush for candles and candlesticks,
which of course rose in price with a corresponding "rush."
The stock of candles now in town is pretty well exhausted already, and we
trust, therefore, that something may be done to-day to return to us our gas.
ATHENS
[GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, April 13, 1864, p. 3, c. 3
Important
Discovery.
We are informed that a gentleman has recently obtained a patent for the
manufacture of Kerosine [sic] oil, which has been thoroughly tested and found to
be equal, if not superior to the Yankee article.
He has made some from the Alabama coal, which gives a brilliant light.
The material is inexhaustible. We
expect soon to have some of it, when we shall say more about it.
This will prove very pleasant news to those of our readers who are using
tallow dips at one dollar each.
ATHENS
[GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, July 9, 1864, p. 3, c. 5
To Gas
Consumers.
Notice
is hereby given that from the 1st of July, instant, I will charge $25 for 1000
feet for gas. According to
instructions I have made a close calculation for the cost of producing gas for
the last six months, and find it exceeds the income at present prices by several
hundred dollars. Those who do not
wish to burn it at the above advanced rate, will please notify me, or Mr.
Starnes at the Gas works, and it will be cut off from their houses.
July 6.
Wm. H. Dorsey.
Agent for W. S. Grady.
ATHENS
[GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, October 12, 1864, p. 3, c. 5
More New Goods. Bleached homespun, spool thread, flax thread, fig. blue
indigo, madder, copperas, logwood, bluestone, cotton cards, best article,
cavalry spurs. Pocket and case
knives, tooth brushes, sealing wax, gum camphor, pepper, spice, alum, castor
oil, spts. turpentine, pistol caps, tobacco, sperm candles, factory thread, for
money or barter.
&