Fernoline Chemical Wks

[bottle_girl]

Hi all. Need help with info on this bottle.
This is one of my first bottles I got ($2 off EBay). This is the info:

FERNOLINE CHEMICAL WKS
(On one side - CHARLESTON, S.C.)
(On another side - NEW YORK)
Nothing on the bottom

Aqua / 5 1/16" tall / Rectangle Shaped / Seam ends 3/4 of the way up the neck so dates 1870s-1890s right?
Heavy staining of minerals and dirt around the top and the neck. The opening for the neck is very narrow. The bottle is cruedly made.

I tried to find info for this on the internet, but I couldn't find anything on it. No info at all on anything Fernoline Chemical Wks. Any info would be great.

Thanx, Bottle Girl

Picture reduced in size - Admin

 

[loris19]

Found one of these recently on a construction site in the low country of South Carolina. Very little info out there about this company. Interesting little bottle - one side says Charleston SC and the other says Free Sample.

 

[surfaceone]

Hello loris19,

Welcome and thanks for bringing the Fernoline up again. I'm sure that we'd all like to see some photos of yours. Not often that wood preservatives get shown in these parts.

"WOOD PRESERVATIVES.
Sir: We notice In your Issue of April 11 an article headed "Fernollne for Preserving Wood," and are very much astonished at the chemical analysis of fernollne given therein. The article says that fernollne Is the product of the destructive distillation of yellow pine, and Is said to be composed of 50% of wood creosote, 40% of oil of tar, and 10% of pine tar. We think this is not only incorrect, as far as the chemical analysis is concerned, but also does a grave injustice to the wood preservative obtained from the destructive distillation of yellow pine. As far as known to us, there are only two concerns in this country which distill yellow pine for the purpose of making a wood preservative, namely, the Fernollne Chemical Works, of Charleston, S. C, and the Fernandlna Oil & Creosote Works, of FernandJna, Fla. The wood preservatives manufactured at either of the above two places are practically the same, differing in name only. The Fernollne Chemical Works has adopted the old Scandinavian name for Its product, while the Fernandlna OH & Creosote Works gives Its product the American name of "Plnollne."
Reichenbacb, a prominent German chemist, who has given much time and study to the destructive distillation of woods, says that he first discovered creosote in the heavy tar oils obtained from leaf-bearing trees, but also fonnd it In less quantities In needle-bearing trees, to which latter order the yellow pine belongs; in no case dJd he find more than 20%. Speaking further of creosote, he says that when separated from the heavy oils It Is soluble to some extent In water, but more so In ammonia-ted water (rain water).
The Pennsylvania R. R., through its chemical labaratory, has Issued a specification for a wood preservative to be used particularly for such purposes as named In the article above referred to, and this specification says:
The material desired under this specification is a product of the distillation of yellow pine, containing as large an amount as possible of the preservative acids characteristic of this distillate, viz.: neutral oils, 50%; tar acids, 45%; tarry matter, 5%.
From the above It may be seen that a wood preservative In which a substance soluble In rain water predominates, as claimed in the published article, can hardly be called a wood preservative. We also would like to know the name and address of the chemist who has discovered 60% of crude creosote dn the product derived from the destructive distillation of yellow pine. Such a discovery would yield Immense fortunes to the discoverer, as well as to those engaged In that particular business.
Fernandlna Oil & Creosote Works.
Per B. T. Burchardl.
Fernandlna, Fin., April 18, 1895.
(This pinoline is said to be a pure wood oil, con
taining about 60% of neutral insoluble oils (paraffines), 25% of woo'd and tar acids, and 15% of crude creosote. The chemical composition of fernoline, as given in the article In our issue of April 11, was taken from the catalogue of its makers, the Fernoline Chemical Works, and as the material is used by the Pennsylvania K. R., it is evidently of a quality to meet the requirements of that company's specifications, which are given below. A similar preservative, not mentioned by our correspondent, but which is also used by the Pennsylvania R. R., is known at "Spirittlne," and is manufactured by Hansen & Smith, of Wilmington, N. C. The makers state that it is manufactured by a special chemical process from the destructive distillation of pine and cedar. A sample tested by the Pennsylvania R. R. gave the results shown in the following table, which gives also the requirements of the Pennsylvania R. R. specifications:
P. R. R. Spec. Spirittlne.
Flashing point 200" F. 214° F.
Burning point 220° F. 235° F.
Specific gravity 1.05 1.05
Temp, at w'ch material Willi run. 15° F. 15° P.
Tarry matter 5% 5%
Tar acids 45% 64 25%
Neutral oils 50% 30.75%
The specifications further say that material will not be accepted which flashes below 172° P., bums below 200° P., has a gravity less than 1.03, will not run at 20° F., has more than 12% of tar or less than 30% of tar acids.
It is probable that all these preservatives are really very much alike in chemical properties.—Ed.)" From Engineering News, 1895.

There's an 1886 letter from the New York office on Italian ebay now, that shows the address as 18 Broadway.

 

[loris19]

Surfaceone

Thanks for the info. I had no idea thats what the bottle would have held. I will try and post some pics soon. Thanks