Rations

[Vicksburg Dave]

Re: Hardtack and Ammo Box Stencils

Thanks for the pointers folks. Here's what I found:
Dixie leather works has a few Selma and Frankfort Arsenal, and hardtack stencils left in stock at bargain prices. They won't last long. Charlies Boat Works, while not selling stencils, will sell the hardtack box lids, already painted and cut, for $25.00.

[Parault]

Confederate tin labels

I am looking for period labels for cap tins. I have one of Federal issue ie,. J Goldmarks Perc. I called myself looking here in the search for labels. I have even went through pages of search engines. I have found several good choices for my Federal impression. I know that the Confederate Goverment had suppliers too. Any help on where to look, would be appreciated

[Jim Mayo]

Re: Confederate tin labels

Infantry received their caps with cartridges in the cartridges packs in both armies therefore I assume you are talking pistol cap tins?

[Tom Ezell]

Re: Confederate tin labels

To expand a little on what Jim was referring to, arsenal-made small arms ammunition included a tube of caps in each 10-round packet of musket or rifle cartridges. US-made packs included 12 caps per 10 cartridge pack; Confederates tended to include 13 due to the lessened reliability of the caps. So, when you were issued your forty rounds in four packs of ten, you got your caps included with it. See Thomas' Round Ball to Rimfire... for a good coverage of small arms ammo from the Federal perspective.

One exception is the British-made cartridges for the Enfield rifle and rifle-musket. While British cartridges were still bundled in packs of ten, they came packed in a wooden keg rather than a box, and the caps were all contained in a tin canister packed in the middle of the keg. See Roads' The British Soldier's Firearms, 1850-1865 for details and images of these.

[Parault]

Re: Confederate tin labels

Thank you guys for that information.

[JLHurst]

Re: Hardtack and Ammo Box Stencils

Good info. I, along with a messmate were enlisted to make 400 pieces of hardtack for "Life on The Line". I'll be reproducing a couple of boxes for that as well. I just can't see paying that much for them + shipping for something I can accuretly reproduce myself.

[DougCooper]

Re: Hardtack and Ammo Box Stencils

Am a little late here but Sam Doolin of Colorado made me several extra box lids with varying dates that really came in handy. I no longer have Sam's contact info but will search for it. If anyone else is up with Sam, sing out. His boxes are superb.

[coastaltrash]

Re: Hardtack and Ammo Box Stencils

Doug,
A number of people have had problems contacting Sam.

Jeremy,
Don't worry, I have a box already.

[Joe Walker]

Re: Hardtack and Ammo Box Stencils

David- I have the period brass stencils but you need the contractor logo as well. (i.e. "mechanical baking company") I can send you the stencils if you just want them. Not a problem.

Joe Walker

[Amtmann]

Re: And speaking of coffee

Rick,

That reminds me we probably need to have a conversation about reproducing a certain original shoe polish tin and tinned match safe of the cylinder variety at some point. Since these are both in public collections, perhaps access is not too terribly difficult to manage.

Shhhh.... I'm not supposed to talk about that kind of stuff. Someone will cry to the other Moderators that I'm trying to "advertise" something.

[kevin]

Re: And speaking of coffee

Gents,
I can only speak from my own limited experience with camp coffee. I am a boil then add kind of man. This way I am occupied by grinding my beans while my water boils. I boil in a boiler then carfully pour the coffee into my cup using my pocket knife to hold back the grounds while the liquid flows under. It takes a little patience and you still get some ruffage in the bottom, but oh what a good cup!
On the argument of boil then add or add then boil, allow me to share a piece of wisdom from Leander Stillwell in "the Story of a Common Soldier"
The author states that while stopped on a march, the boys would always build thier fire and then boil the water adding the coffee only when the water was ready. This way if the order was given to fall in, the water could be thrown away without the waste of the coffee or if the coffee was done, it could be taken along. Of course this was the practice as L. Stillwell of the 61st Illinois when on the march. Who knows how it was done in more civilized camp surroundings.

[boreguard]

Re: And speaking of coffee

Couldn't resist chiming in on this conversation early this morning while drinking my Community Dark Roast...a pot a day !

Ronnie, I buy community beans, keep them in a ditty bag which has a nice dark patina and aroma from a few years of use. I also have a smaller bag that I transfer some bean to, use the butt of my rifle, hatchet, or other to grind, I have sat with the bag in hand and just kneeded it and accomplished the same thing.. I then add the bag to my billy cup, close the lid and boil. After what seems like probably 20 mins or so I take it off, let it cool some and my taste and need for strong coffee is met.

I hang the ditty bag that I used for boiling the grinds from knapsack or haversack for a little while after removing the grinds and stuff it in my haversack later.

I don't eat much breakfast, but can fight the world as long as I get a cup of coffee in me in the morning.

Of course this subject has brought out all variety of opinions' from "the coffee thing is too represented", to "we shouldn't be using coffee if in Confederate impression". Bottom line is I gotta have my coffee as I'm sure you do, so I share what has become an easy, tried, and as quick as is can be expected method that gets the caffine into my system and doesn't require a lot of noise, rustling, discussion, opinions, help, scholarly input or disertation...
This method/process works for me.

[Huck]

Re: Candles

While bored at work I google a search against the words "adamantine candles" (from the US Army QM museum web site) and came across this: I don't know if this has already been posted, but I figured I would share:

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.
I. M. Kenney.
Oct. 12.

MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, November 2, 1864, p. 2, c. 5
Matches.—How could we now do without these conveniences? which yet within the memory of us old folks were not even known—that is, in the form which the word "match" at present suggests to the mind. No wonder they were about the first thing we Confederates started to manufacturing. They came to us, until recently, from all quarters, but most of them, we suspect, were forwarded to more distant points, and now we hardly see any at all but Cherry's, whose manufacture, while it is the best extant, (there may be others as good, they cannot be better), is at the same time ample for the demand. He is constantly employing new hands, and advertises this morning for three or four girls.

ALBANY [GA] PATRIOT, November 10, 1864, p. 2, c. 4
More New Goods at Welch's Drug Store, for Family Use. Fine green tea, black pepper, spice, cloves, mace, soda, sperm candles, bar soap, Bro. Windsor soap, toilet soaps, starch, mustard, &c., &c. L. E. Welch. Albany, Nov. 10, 1864.

ATLANTA SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, November 24, 1864, p. 2, c. 4
To Make Good Candles.--A lady correspondent of the Houston "Telegraph" furnishes the following receipe [sic], which, in our present condition, will be found universally useful:
"To Harden Tallow, Suet, or Lard for Candles.--Take a half pound each of Alum and saltpetre, pulverize coarsely, pour on it a quart of boiling water; take from 12 to 20 pounds 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 in an iron vessel near the fire, and when melted, stir in the dissolved alum and saltpeter, and boil until the water is all expelled from the tallow. Have wicks made smaller and of rather smaller and finer thread than is usual for home made candles--dip them in a strong solution of saltpetre, and when perfectly dry, mould the candles in the usual way. If any one, after giving the recipe a trial, goes in darkness, it is because their deeds are evil."

DALLAS HERALD, November 26, 1864, p. 2, c. 4
We were called upon Saturday to witness the operation of a very ingenious machine for braiding or plaiting candle wick, invented and made by Ralph Hooker and Baker Jamison, of this city. It braids three strands with great rapidity and evenness, and is a curiosity worth looking at. The ingenuity of these mechanics is well known to our citizens. This machine will prove one of the most useful of their inventions, furnishing a self-consuming candle wick, hitherto a great disideratum [sic] in domestic candle-making. We believe Frank Fabj, of the Houston Soap and Candle Factory, has secured this machine.—Houston Tel. 14th.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, December 30, 1864, p. 1, c. 3
To Make Hard Tallow Candles.--To one pound of tallow take five or six leaves of the prickly pear, split these and boil in the tallow without water, for half an hour or more; strain and mould the candles. The wicks should have been previously dipped in spirits of turpentine and dried.
If the tallow is at first boiled in water, and the water changed four or five times, it will be bleached and rendered free from impurities. Then prepare by trying with the prickly pears to harden it.
In this way we have made tallow candles nearly equal to the best adamantine.

ATHENS [GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, January 4, 1865, p.1, c. 5
To make hard tallow candles. To one pound of tallow take five or six leaves of the prickly pear, split them and boil in the tallow without water, for h half an hour or more; strain and mould the candles. The wicks should have been 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 f from impurities. Then prepare by frying with the prickly pears, to harden it.
In this way we have made tallow candles nearly equal to the best adamantine.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, January 13, 1865, p. 1, c. 2
To Candle Makers.--Those who make for use or for sale will find the following suggestions very important in making good candles:--Melt the tallow and strain of all impurities; then get clean, soft wick, make it of moderate size and plait it, be sure to do that and you will never or seldom have use for snuffers. This is our plan and we give it for the benefit of the public. We can't find any candles in market equal to ours.--Register.

[ArtilleryNick]

Re: And speaking of coffee

I personally prefer to take my coffee ration preground, it's easier for me personally since I don't carry a weapon or weapon accessories that could easily be used to crush up the coffee beans. Either way there's nothing quite like a nice cup of coffee early in the morning when it's gotten the strength to strip paint.

[hiplainsyank]

Re: And speaking of coffee

Which begs the question, how did artillery and cav fellows grind their beans? Rocks on bags full of beans? Obviously not bayonet sockets...