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Views of the Borax Industry, ca. 1898-ca. 1915
BANC PIC 1905.17174--PIC  
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Container Listing

 

:1 Bayonne Refinery, looking at front of building from the dock, showing warehouse in the foreground and trestle.

 

:2 Bayonne Refinery - north side of building.

 

:3 Bayonne Refinery - west view of building showing Glycerine Lye tanks in the foreground.

 

:4 Engine room Bayonne Refinery which develops power and light to operate the plant.

 

:5 Boiler room Bayonne Refinery, with a capacity of 2000 H. P.

 

:6 Storage bunkers Bayonne Refinery where Borate of lime and coal are received from canal boats and stored.

 

:7 Laboratory Bayonne Refinery where analyses of the Crude material and other working tests of the process are worked out.

 

:8 Mill room in Bayonne Refinery where the Crude material is crushed and ground.

 

:9 Filler press room Bayonne Refinery where the liquor is leeched from the residue Lime which forms a part of the process.

 

:10 This shows Borax crystallizing tanks, the method of crystallizing and the men removing the finished product from the tanks.

 

:11 Showing Refined Borax in cars after it has been taken from the crystallizing tanks. It is then broken from the wire hangers, put throught [sic] rolls and run up to storage bins.

 

:12 Mill at the Bayonne Refinery for grinding Borax into powder which is afterwards put into barrels and packages.

 

:13 Borax Glass room Bayonne Refinery showing the Borax Glass in lump form in the background and the mill for grinding Borax Glass in the foreground and the finished product is shown on the left-hand side of the picture.

 

:14 Packing room Bayonne Refinery showing 20 Mule Team Package Borax and other cartons being folded on machines prior to being filled with the various 20 Mule Team Products.

 

:15 Filling and weighing machines where 20 Mule Team Borax is packed into cartons by automatic machinery.

 

:16 Boric Acid crystallizing room in the Bayonne Refinery showing the Boric Acid in process of crystallization and also showing the finished product in the hands of a workman.

 

:17 Boric Acid powdering mill in Bayonne Refinery showing the packing of powdered Boric Acid into barrels. Crystal Boric and Granulated Boric are also packed into barrels in this same room.

 

:18 Stripping room Soap Department Bayonne Refinery showing the method of removing the sides and ends of Soap frames after the soap has cooled.

 

:19 Slabbing and cutting tables Soap Dept. Bayonne Refinery showing the frames of soap cut into slabs by machine on the left, which are then sent to the cutting table shown at the right-hand side of the table, where the slabs are cut into bars and sent to the tunnels for drying.

 

:20 Press room Soap Dept. Bayonne Refinery showing tunnels where the soap is dried before going to the presses. The presses are in the foregound. After the soap is pressed it is put on a belt and delivered to the wrapping room.

 

:21 Soap Wrapping Room, Bayonne Refinery, showing automatic machine for wrapping soap. This machine wraps 115 cakes a minute. The girls place the soap in cases which are afterwards nailed up and sent down in the elevator in the background to the Shipping Room below.

 

:22 Soap chipping room Soap Dept. Bayonne Refinery showing man feeding soap into soap chipping machine which cuts the soap into chips which are delivered into barrels on the floor below.

 

:23 Stock room Bayonne Refinery showing the various products ready for shipment.

 

:24 Electric railway Bayonne Refinery showing a train load of 20 Mule Team Products being sent to the dock for shipment to all parts of the country.

 

:25 Borax Refinery at Alameda, Cal. on the shore of San Francisco Bay.

 

:26 Wash-pans in the Alameda refinery where the crude mineral is washed for all the Borax it contains.

 

:27 View of the Crystallizing Room in the Alameda refinery.

 

:28 Another view of the Crystallizing Room in the Alameda refinery.

 

:29 Showing the Mill for powdering borax and the method of preparing it for shipment in barrels.

 

:30 The famous 20 Mule Team crossing the desert.

 

:31 A fine picture of the Mojave desert in California, over which the 20 Mule Team made regular trips from the mine to the railroad.

 

:32 Showing the 20 Mule Team resting at one of the camps on the way.

 

:33 A portion of Death Valley, Cal., showing Mount Blanco, the great borax deposit. This is the white mountain in the center of the picture.

 

:34 The Pacific Coast Borax Company's office in Death Valley, near Mount Blanco.

 

:35 Showing a salt marsh in Death Valley, over which it is practically impossible to cross with safety.

 

:36 Showing the grave of some prospector or teamster who perished in Death Valley.

 

:37 A remnant of an old emigrant's outfit left by the emigrants who perished while attempting to cross Death Valley in 1850.

 

:38 The remains of some ill-fated ox who perished in an alkali flat.

 

:39 Showing the superintendent of the mines in Death Valley approaching the works. The white streak showing in the distance is alkali.

 

:40 This shows a pile of crude borate mineral near Death Valley Borax Works.

 

:41 Grease-wood material used for fuel in Death Valley.

 

:42 Greenland Ranch, an oasis in the desert. The property of the Pacific Coast Borax Company in Death Valley.

 

:43 A party of prospectors on the desert searching for Borax.

 

:44 A view of one of the Borax mines during the days of the 20 Mule Team.

 

:45 A Borax miner about to enter his home in an abandoned tunnel. Note the miner's candle in his right hand and the canteen of water by his left side.

 

:46 20 Mule Team unloading at railroad in Daggett, Cal., after its long trip across the desert.

 

:47 The cabin occupied by Mr. F.M. Smith to Nevada when he discovered Borax.

 

:48 The first boiling pan used by Mr. Smith in Nevada.

 

:49 Borax transportation in the future. A dream, but not an impossibility.