For the foregoing description and the accompanying illustrations of tar manufacture we are indebted to the American Naval Stores Company. The pictures showing kiln operations are very unusual and were secured only after several trips. The others were taken at the Company’s yards at Wilmington, North Carolina, where the tar is carefully inspected, strained and then re-barreled for shipment to our two factories.
TAR HANDLING AT NAVAL STORES YARD
1. INSPECTING
2. STRAINING
3. LOADING FOR SHIPMENT
4. TAR YARD FROM RIVER
Part III
CHAPTER I
Buying, Grading and Storing of Fiber
In Part II we described the various fibers from which rope is made and pointed out the importance of expert knowledge and foresight in the buying of these raw materials. Purchasing power and the resources for grading and using each bale of fiber with strict regard to its particular fitness for his products are also of special value to the rope manufacturer.
We have already shown that Manila fiber or hemp, as it is commonly called, is the principal and for most purposes the best cordage material. Including the numerous commercial grades and the brands of individual packers, the market designations or marks of Manila hemp run into the hundreds and cover a wide range in the four important qualities of strength, texture, length and color. A single mark may, furthermore, vary greatly in one quality or another from time to time, so that the market designation alone is not a safe sign of the fiber’s fitness for a certain purpose.