Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 January 1913 — Not Really Naval Stores. [ARTICLE]

Not Really Naval Stores.

The terming of turpentine, tar, pitch and rosin as naval stores is a misnomer. It originated many years ago, when tar and pitch first were used to coat the bottoms of vessels to make them watertight and to cover the rigging of ships to preserve it from the action of the weather. All ships carried always a supply of tar among their stores, and hence the original of the term "naval stores.” It was used only by ship builders and ship owners and others who had to do directly with shipping, and was a nautical term only. Then, when the products of the gum of the long-leaf pine came into general commercial importance, the term was accepted as a fitting one for all articles of commerce manufactured from that substance, and is maintained to this day, although the uses that created It have little to do with the interests of the trade.