Christian Science -- Fiction; People with disabilities -- Fiction
cents a gallon to Leakin like innocent little lambs. Of course, the
inevitable occurred. Buenos Ayres and Berlin not only refused to pay,
but returned the consignment, and the Savannah factors now refuse to
touch wood turpentine at any price.
"It seems that, when the Northern owners sent their representative down
to investigate, Leakin frankly told him that he did not intend to make
money for any ---- Yankees. They thereupon swore out a warrant for his
arrest, but he wrecked the plant at night and was hurried out of town by
his relatives.
"Now, so far from discouraging me, this serves my purpose well. For
with sixty per cent. profit on the manufacture of wood turpentine on
paper (as per my previous reports), which cuts to between forty and
fifty in actual operation, it is one of the future industries of the
South. Of course the little plant I propose to build at Guildford or
near by will only be a mouthful. I figure that between ten and twelve
millions of dollars would corner the turpentine market, and then put the
price of orchard turpentine so high that it would practically be off the
market. Then we could force the consumers to take wood turpentine in
its place, and in this way show them that it will do the same work and
bring the same results as the regular orchard turpentine. They are
afraid of it now, so they must be reduced by compulsion to giving it a
fair trial. I bought ten barrels of wood turpentine made by the company
at Lightning, and sent a small sample to every paint and varnish
manufacturer in the United States, with a letter giving them the
chemical analysis and asking the recipient to give it a fair trial.
About one-third replied that it seemed satisfactory, and sent me orders
for from five to ten barrels for a trial, but they want it at about ten
cents per gallon less than the orchard. It seems that no one will pay
within ten cents of the regular market price. I turned these orders over
to the Lightning company on a commission, and am making quite a neat
little sum out of it, though I never thought of that end of the
proposition when I sent out the samples. I tried the experiment to see
what sort of a market I could look for. There is no reason why this
wood turpentine should not be shipped and sold as regular turpentine,
and one good strong corner on the market will bring this about.
"To continue my investigations, I want you to organize a small company,
giving me control. I shall erect a twenty-cord plant between Enterprise
and Guildford, within wagon distance of the wood-supply of the estate.
Recollect that this process uses only the fallen trees and stumps of the
long-leafed pine, which are reduced to a sawdust, and this is then put
into the retorts. Steam is then injected, which tries out the
turpentine, which is then run into the refining still.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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