UPDATED.dug me some bottles..YESSSSS...or was buried for a reason??cleaned pics

well, today off to my closest GT, i planed a route where i was gonna hit my target the hardest. i found nothing except a old maybe toy gun parts? when i finally get to my destination i probe a little bit with my steel rod, bump bump. i dig and see glass, old glass. then i see another by it, im like whoot whoot. 1, 2, 5, 10, 30, 50, 60, around 80 total!!!! by days end im still digging and pick the keepers, 59 to be exact, packem up and relize i cant carry this stuff all way back to the car. its too heavy. i walk to the highway, stash my finds and gear, walk about a hour, get my car and pickem up;) ends up being chemical bottles, the problem, most still contain thier contents, powders, liquids. i brought my gloves but didnt bother wearing them. im searching the net and see alot of this stuff are no no's. i was lucky, i was showing my fam the hydrochloric acid bottle, and the stopper was loose, i took it out and poured onto the gravel. man when it hit the rocks it sounded very angry, even after a century. i hope i didnt poison myself today by handling the soil. yes there was chemicals in the soil from broken bottles.  i just had a baby girl and would like to stick around. these bottles are awesome, makers are whitall tatum co pat 1879, B & A C co( cant find any info on these people, they made the jar ones),  and MCW. all have seams ending before the top.
here are a few embossings, con acid hydrochloric, hydrogen sulphide, con acid nitric, indigo solution, potassium iodide, phenoiphtalein, ferric chloride, ether, nesslers solution, alcohol, potassium ferrocyanide, silver nitrate, ammonium sulphocyanide, lead acetate, sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, platinic chloride, calcium sulphat. I WOULD LIKE TO KEEP MY BOTTLEs, BUT AM NOT TO FOUND OF THE CONTENTS. WHAT SHOULD I DO??? WILL THE LIQUIDS BE FINE AS LONG AS THEY ARE SEALED? THE POWDERS I CAN CAREFULLY REMOVE. what would you do?
thanks all!!!
p.s. ill be back there soon searching for the household items  dump;)

My advice would be call the Non-Emergency line for the fire dept.  They have a Haz-Mat team and can answer all of your questions.  They may even come out and take care of the bottles content for you.....Maybe    If you have a bunch of chemicals in bottles and you are not sure what each one does and the reaction it may have to other chemicals, I would get rid of that as fast as I could!  Just my 2 cents 

OMG! First of all do NOT store them inside!   Although they are beautiful, those bottles aren't sealed tightly.
I'm not a chemist but I do know a few of those are extremely hazardous. The potential for poisoning and explosion is there.
Wear gloves and contact your nearest hazardous waste depot to find out how to dispose of them properly.
I'm sure someone here will know more on the subject. In the mean time, don't go dumping anything on your driveway!  

It is a really cool find though.  ;)

What a find.  Way to go there you have an instant mini museum of lab supply bottles. In regard to the contents and their handling and subsequesnt disposal I would always wear gloves of the heavy chemical grade. These are available where I live for a dollar a pair as military surplus items in sealed bags. Don't combine or breath the contents avoid skin / eye contact.

  Find out if there is a toxic waste disposal near you where paint ect is taken in. It could be listed in the local government  section of the phone book. Speak with the manager of the facility and state that you have museum grade antique glass containers of old lab supply chems. The manager should be able to inform you of what their procedure is. I am thinking that depending where you have these bottles stored there may be local regulations that could create a reaction depending on the quantity and toxicity they percieve ending up having a hazmat team arrive and do a clean up and maybe bill you for costs. Homeowner Assn. may go banannas if one is involved. I say this because I know of a man that was simply producing bio diesel in his garage. Someone reported seeing a possible meth lab after having spotted the fuel processing and storage tanks through the open door of the garage. Thats when all hell decended on our friend the fuel producer. He was even forced to get rid of his gas welding tanks so my brother in law ended up with them.
  It may be advisable to store your bottles that need emptying in a rural area where no curious types can get into them. Then check the options and be very careful with the contents there are some potentially risky ones keep water away from the acids keep the rest contained.   

oh man, i knew you all would say this. i guess i was not thinking, too much adrenalin. well first thing tomorrw, i will see what to do with the non labeled full ones and research each labeled full one and see if its safe. , the most i will lose is maybe 10-15. i do like oldbillin's idea. about the hazmat i dunno, questions will arise and , well we all know where questions lead to. i may call for some info, thats about all.  as for the location, whatever is still there will be safe, and so will the bottles that need to be returned. its a MIRACLE that i found it, seriously;)

sounds like there was an old photography shop around that area some of those chems were used in photo developement and some were used to do etching in metal. and be carefull ferris chloride can be dangerous if it is solid form if mixed with water it could emit hydrogen chloride fumes not a good thing .just figured i'd let you hear what little i know on the chems just be carefull when cleaning them up

That's funny!!!
Not really - but it did make me laugh a little - kind of like the dog who actually caught the car - now what do I do with it?

Nitric acid may be disposed of by neutralizing with water and alkaline material (such as soda ash, lime, etc.)

Just look at the contents and google  "Nitric acid disposal" or whatever (_____disposal), to get the answer.


Have fun!
Nice bottles!

Dang, I would be very careful. Especially with the ones containing cyanide. You don't want to mix anything with those to cause fumes or smoke. You could have some DEADLY stuff there. Honestly, I would be afraid to handle those. I work with chemicals for a living. Some of the ones you listed are very dangerous. A hazmat team would be my next call. Here are 2 links to search for the chemicals so you can see how dangerous they are. Some of the names are outdated but you can see what the main ingredients can do to you. Some are cancer causing, mutagens and teratogens. I wouldn't even touch them again if it were me.

http://web.doh.state.nj.us/rtkhsfs/...&carcinogen=false&new=false

http://www.msds.com/

those are cool finds! I thought digging up grenades were dangerous, but at least you have an idea how to take those apart. I hope they don't take your bottles away I would research how to do it safely, if possible.. and take the contents out yourself, using safety gear, etc. keep us updated

Yeah i would get some opinions, but the bottles are sweet.  Reminds me of Chem class making hydrogen balloons.  Pretty sweet when you light them with a lighter I would do some research and dispose of the chems, properly, hydro in the toilet with lots of water, it'll definitely get any rings out.  Just flush it a few times. If some of the acids are still good, i don't know the shelf life, maybe use them for whatsit identification, acid tests on rocks etc, You know you know,  Watch out for cyanide.

In this day and age of Post 911 I would not be suprised that someone who has read this post has not already alerted the authorites on this... who knows what kinda stash you stumbled on... and the board who have to give up your info (ip address email address etc etc etc...)  to the authorites...

(I say this is 100% seriousness) there are posts on the net that people have done as a JOKE... and have later come back to bite that person in the rear later on...

IF I were you.... and I am hoping you have as much sense as most of the replies here... you alert the authorities... and have them resolve this mess asap... otherwise your looking at being fined for possibly dispoing of 1. evidence? 2. haz materials the list could go on...

I removered my post as I don't know US law and get scared when someone mentions the patriot act.

I nocticed in your photo that your holding a bttle by the neck-people get HAMMERED for that at uni! They're delicate there so please always get a good grip-I've actually SEEN jeans that were 'eaten' off someone who spilt acid on themselves.

Be careful. Don't eat it. Don't drink it wear gloves and you'll be fine. Nothing super scary there.

Contact your local uni and talk to a lecturer or whatever they have in chemistry-they'll set you on the right path.

Here if you call in Hazmat you lose it-full stop-no arguements. I think that would be a bad outcome for such beautiful bottles!

Have fun,
Salvager

yep busting them up and thus blindly mixing the chemicals could have been a real nightmare, poisonous gas a real chance with some of the stuff-- but great find--just becareful with them --at the least store stuff outside to be on the safe side.

Just my opinion again, but I would not just dump those chemicals out because the EPA could fine you big time. Depending how serious it is you could serve jail time. Just pouring them down the drain could get you in trouble. Please don't think I'm trying to be a know it all or just being paranoid. Some of those ARE carcinogens and mutagens. The EPA does not take it lightly when people discard those chemicals outside or pour them down the drain.

WOW, Lotta Bottles 

             Very Cool !

DO NOT just dump 'em, it's EXTREMELY dangerous. some of the chems you listed are VERY VERY volatile if mixed, even explosive. If you neutralize them, that does not always make them safe, and probably will not make them mixable(even if poured out). The other problem in self-disposal is that many of those chemicals are very dangerous environmentally, and it would be a very large federal felony to dump them.

On to the next issue. with what you typed in your description, if this site is monitored at all, other "people" now know what you are in possession of. Several of those chemicals are illegal to possess without a proper federal permit, so if they are aware that you have them and you don't turn them in you could get in BIG trouble. Possession of potential explosive-making ingredients is a violation of the "patriot" act.

In the good news, if you contact the fire department/haz-mat, you should be able to get the bottles back. I would contact a local historical society to make sure you have some kind of protection for a historical find. I don't think any FD in the world wants to go up against those history fanatics when it comes to destroying a historical find.

It all comes down to the fact that you really do need to contact someone for proper disposal, just make sure you cover your bases and it shouldn't be a problem.

DO NOT just dump 'em, it's EXTREMELY dangerous. some of the chems you listed are VERY VERY volatile if mixed, even explosive. If you neutralize them, that does not always make them safe, and probably will not make them mixable(even if poured out). The other problem in self-disposal is that many of those chemicals are very dangerous environmentally, and it would be a very large federal felony to dump them.

On to the next issue. with what you typed in your description, if this site is monitored at all, other "people" now know what you are in possession of. Several of those chemicals are illegal to possess without a proper federal permit, so if they are aware that you have them and you don't turn them in you could get in BIG trouble. Possession of potential explosive-making ingredients is a violation of the "patriot" act.

In the good news, if you contact the fire department/haz-mat, you should be able to get the bottles back. I would contact a local historical society to make sure you have some kind of protection for a historical find. I don't think any FD in the world wants to go up against those history fanatics when it comes to destroying a historical find.

It all comes down to the fact that you really do need to contact someone for proper disposal, just make sure you cover your bases and it shouldn't be a problem.

My point to the "T"..... I honestly hope you do contact  the correct folks on this issues and do not end up having them contact you.... and I hope you can keep your finds as well..

GREAT BOTTLES!!! Not to mentioin a very deadly combination. I don't think HAZMAT should even be JUST an "option". I think it should simple be the ONLY OPTION! They can dispose of the chemicals safely and I am pretty sure they would reward you for finding such hazardous material and getting them out of the ground. Talk about an Eco hazard. WOWZA!
~Nash~

No advise... just sweet digs!!  Hopefully you can get them displayed without an bio-hazard team tearing your house apart! LMAO....

Either way... AWESOME!!!!!  I'd be happy with just the stoppers!!!!!!!

Fantastic Bottles!!! Congrats on Finding them!!!

Hey, it's me again. On the lighter side of it all, you have found some really nice bottles. I would be very happy to add some of them to my collection. Have a good one, DANGLANGLEY

What ever you do, don't mix contents in the same container...

If you do, you may be in orbit for quite a while

Or dead

hey don't jump the gun, i didn't say they all had contents. Thanks for the advice, i'm figuring it out right now.

First thing's first... I'm not recommending that you dispose of this stuff yourself.
Personally, I think the place you dug up was more likely a textile mill than a photography studio.

con acid hydrochloric = Concentrated hydrochloric acid.  Nasty stuff.  To get rid of it, pour it into water.  DO NOT POUR WATER INTO IT.  It reacts like if you pour water into hot grease.
hydrogen sulphide - This stuff is pretty much sewer gas, and can be fatal if inhaled.  It will also explode.  This is one for hazmat to take care of.
con acid nitric = Concentrated nitric acid.  Also really nasty; it burns, it's toxic.  You can take care of this the same way as the hydrochloric acid.
indigo solution - A solution of indigo and concentrated sulfuric acid.  You can dilute this as well.  Don't touch.
potassium iodide - a skin irritant, but pretty safe at the same time.  This is what is given to people at nuclear danger spots to prevent radiation poisoning.
phenoiphtalein - ever seen CSI?  This is the chemical they use to detect the presence of blood (first the area is swabbed, then alcohol is applied to free up the blood cells, then this chemical is dripped on, and finally, hydrogen peroxide is added.  the color indicates blood).  Small amounts are generally harmless.
ferric chloride - this stuff is used to etch circuit boards.  It's toxic and corrosive, very nasty stuff.  Hazmat this one for sure.
ether - I'll let you guess
nesslers solution - a solution of potassium iodide, potassium hydroxide and mercuric iodide. Was used to detect the presence of ammonia.  Hazmat.
alcohol - duh.
potassium ferrocyanide - A chemical used in conjunction with blue dies.  See the cyanide part? Hazmat.
silver nitrate - We used to dilute this stuff in chemistry and stain our hands black (silver naturally turns black with light, it's a reaction that's very important in photography).  Of course, it was quite diluted.  Even a small quantity of undiluted silver nitrate can kill you.
ammonium sulphocyanide - an old stabilizing agent in photography.  See cyanide?
lead acetate - used in textile printing and dying.  It's very toxic
sodium carbonate - baking soda's big sister. used to stabilize the pH in photography and possibly printing.
sodium hydroxide - better known as lye.  used in textile manufacturing.
platinic chloride - How much of this, exactly, do you have? 10 ml of the stuff runs $130.  Probably because it contains platinum.  It's a skin irritant, and will pretty much affect any part of your body that it touches.  There may actually be some demand for this stuff.
calcium sulphate - this is used as a dessicant.  It's also used in blackboard chalk and tofu.  Weird, huh?

Good luck with hazmat.  Once after a flood, a container of pesticide drifted into my family's yard.  We called the municipal center to find out how to dispose of it, and they sent two fire trucks and three police cruisers out. 

Great bottles!  The hazardous materials have been covered, probably best to ask the fire dept.  Kinda looks like your hand has been contaminated, just kidding, LOL!  HH, Mike

i contacted hazmat, they will call me in a few

Who do you want to play YOU in the movie??

WHatever you do, don't pour the contents into the same container for disposal. You have the makings of your own gas chamber there. Cool bottles BTW.

Topic Summary
Posted on: Today at 11:45:34 AMPosted by: packerbacker  
Insert Quote
Who do you want to play YOU in the movie??
 
i dont get it?
ok, well they came out, i dunno why because it was like show and tell and i was the teacher...... they were checking them out in a amazment way. first they pulled up, 8 of them asked about the liquids, if they were cloudy exct..... if i was feeling ok.  i took them into the yard and they were looking at them like cool. they said they cannot take them cause they have no way of disposing of them. i would have to contact a enviromental agency. they gave me some names. not what i expected. FOR EVERYONE OUT THERE, I WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO OPEN THESE TO RID THIER CONTENTS, I WILL HAVE THEM DISPOSED OF PROPERLY!!!!!!!! i apreciate everyones concerns deeply. to prove they came by i tried to snap a photo of the truck, and one of the gentlemen was very concerned for me. he gave me his buisness card and told me to contact him if the agencys wont do anything. he said i know what you are thinking and PLEASE dont keep them. so from a awesome find this has turned out to be a real pain in the BUTT!!!!!!! and for all of u out the if you ever find anything of great value ( that spanish loot) ah hem.... plese be smart and dont share with anyone no matter how much you wanna brag, cause word get around WAYYYYYY to fast
THANKS ALL

What a big bummer.   You find some awesome old bottles and can't display them.   Sheesh.  I love the government's handling of this whole situation.  Why don't THEY contact the enviro guys?   Why don't THEY suggest how to counteract the ones that aren't too dangerous?  So there is a HazMat team AND an Enviro Team?  What a racket.  Should have taken them back and reburied them ASAP.  The BS and redtape makes people into criminals.   Sorry about your find!!!!  LOL, that's the first time I've ever said that.  LOL   

now thats out of the way...... maybe i can start reserching. what would these chemicals be used for? a chemist a doctor, to essay? they were found in the area of a small mining town, so if i could narrow it down i could find some history on them and the owner. any insight would be good. my theory is they used them for essaying or to find mineral contents. help if possible

now thats out of the way...... maybe i can start reserching. what would these chemicals be used for? a chemist a doctor, to essay? they were found in the area of a small mining town, so if i could narrow it down i could find some history on them and the owner. any insight would be good. my theory is they used them for essaying or to find mineral contents. help if possible

For the reasons I stated before, I think they belong to a textile printing company.

[LOTS]

Take lots LOTS LOTS of pictures and make a photographic display!!  I don't see why you couldn't keep some of those loose toppers! (see my avatar... I give free BAD advise)


Sorry about the rest of them... damned cool, and damned shame.  

now thats out of the way...... maybe i can start reserching. what would these chemicals be used for? a chemist a doctor, to essay? they were found in the area of a small mining town, so if i could narrow it down i could find some history on them and the owner. any insight would be good. my theory is they used them for essaying or to find mineral contents. help if possible

Frankly, I think the bottles were disposed of by somebody who didn't want to deal with them either.  In the old days, those chemicals would have been poured onto the ground and nobody would have thought anything about it.  It's only been in the last 50 years or so that people became concerned about proper disposal.  My guess is they weren't buried by the original owner because he wouldn't have bothered to bury them.  I bet somebody found them somewhere, in an old house or storage building, and buried them to get rid of them without all the redtape..maybe in the last 30 years.   

You might try getting a merchant's directory for the mining town (from the historical society or the library) and look through it for photographers.  Textile printing probably didn't happen in a small mining town.  I'd also question the assaying possibility...not likely to use such small quantities.  Are these the ingredients for nitro glycerine?  Maybe the owner was a chemist who combined the compounds for blasting? 

Great looking bottles, hope you'll keep us updated on your hazardous material disposal AND your research.  Good luck.

its possible they were dumped recently but i dont think so, i found broken sodas and whiskeys and the clay essay cups as posted before, also this is where i found a previous whiskey. and also they were some old bricks laying around, which attracted me to the spot.
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index....opic,67482.msg494864.html#msg494864

its possible they were dumped recently but i dont think so, i found broken sodas and whiskeys and the clay essay cups as posted before, also this is where i found a previous whiskey. and also they were some old bricks laying around, which attracted me to the spot.
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index....opic,67482.msg494864.html#msg494864

Was the whiskey full?

na, the whiskey was empty, that woulda been some good aged stuff eh;)

You can't see the movie possibilities here? It was my tongue-in-cheek way of saying, "holy krist, you've done it now!!" Innocent treasure hunter uncovers buried chemicals. You can come up with a dozen different stories from there. I'm not a chemist but I do know silver nitrate is used in photography and.............explosives. I believe it is a mixture of silver and nitric acid. They used to recycle old photographic negatives to reclaim the silver content. Anyway, good luck with that stuff. We deal with methlab folks dumping their stuff on public land and it is very costly to dispose of. I don't know if you've mentioned where this property is or whether it's public or not. I'm very surprised the hazmat folks didn't drill you on that question. Stay safe bud

Nice bottle's Chong....I know you'll deal with the situation at hand but I want to see the cleaned-up pic's......Awesome find's. Congrat's

thats what i thought;) yes the silver nitrate is on my dispose list, the bottle is empty but sealed shut, as for the location, it took me hours to refind it, by a miracle, and im positive i will never locate it again. its once again lost in history........

cleaned up pics will be posted in bottles and glass in a few days, thanks

[Tuolumne County Incident Feedhttp://incidentfeed.com]

I saw several of the same type bottles today in an antique store (empty of course) and they were going for between 65 to 100 dollars each.  Good Job nice find

May I suggest you contact a privately owned chemical co. They could and possibly should ,by law, supply you with MSDS (Material safety data sheets) and may possibly have an interest in the product inside.Also you could potentially transfer the product to other containers and label them as to match the current labels.I've had dealings with the Gov. on like matters,and I'll take good ol capitalist every time.Especially if you want progress in this lifetime.

I hope the blue one in the back middle is one you can save and clean up. I sure would like to see it close up. Very nice bottle.

Nitric is some seriously bad stuff..............get rid of it. It is very difficult to even buy the stuff these days, and with good reason (can't mention why). In some states, it is illegal to posses it. These sound like mining chemicals.

Paul

mmmmmmmm..... money..........

~Laughing~
                 I thought Silver Nitrate was good for removing foot corns or ingrown toenails! 

                 Seems like you kinda dug up Pandora's box huh?

                 

~Stopped Laughing~ Don't try it on your feet or body.
 
                             Nice haul of bottles. I hope you can keep at least some.

                             Be Wicked Careful & Good Luck

awesome find....lots of really cool bottles, like everyone else said, be careful...

OMG!!1!!HOLYA$$!!WTFITB!!
You should be very careful about any and all bottles that still have stuff inside, because many chemicals when exposed to the air can either A) have a reaction to the humidiy (water) in the air and react, or B) there might be fumes in the bottle that can KILL you.  A few years ago some Moroccans were arrested because they had a plan to pour Potassium Ferrocyanide into the US Embassy's water supply in Rome.  Be careful with that suff, many of the chemicals you listed are known to create birth defects and cancer. 

On a lighter note, definitely the nicest bottle find I've ever seen!  Can't say that I'm jealous though!

  WOW 

Those indeed are the most incredible bottles & truly amazing find I have ever ever heard of!  Outstanding!
Knowing a bit more about the dangers of the substance inside makes my mind really ponder what the hey hiddey hey!! 

By now you are probably already well aware of this, but poking around I came across a few things I found interesting. . hopefully you do too & maybe they will be a bit helpful as well 

MCW = Medical College of Wisconsin? 

or

"M C W ................Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, St. Louis, MO (1867-to date). I believe most, if not all, of the bottles found with this mark are hand-blown and date from approximately the 1880-1920 period. The actual glass factory which manufactured these bottles is unknown, but Illinois Glass Company, Alton, IL, would be a likely source. "

&

"B.& A.C.CO............Baker & Adamson Chemical Company (1881-1913). Producer of acids and other chemicals. Although not the mark of a glass factory, this may be mistaken for one. Seen on the base of chemical and acid jars and bottles, most of which probably date from the early period -- 1881 to 1900. B&A was bought by General Chemical in 1900, and in 1913 General became a division of Allied Chemical & Dye Corporation, later Allied Chemical Corp. ACC merged into Allied-Signal and that company is now part of Honeywell, Inc. "

Which I located at http://myinsulators.com/glass-factories/bottlemarks3.html. . one of my favorite of favorite places to poke about for info 

And this may give you a bit more information on Whitall Tatum & Co:

http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache...v/historic_bottles/pdffiles/WTandCo


I seriously believe you have one grand find there & quite a story to go with it!
Please keep us updated!

Bogart 

thanks for the info and the compliments. i actuall started looking up the makers marks and i too found that on the insulators website. im surprised i couldnt find it in "bottle makers and thier marks". i know this is not a awesome privy dig, but its darned cool to find bottles in these conditions in the harsh desert. no offense but people on the east coast have it real good with your soft soil. ;)
anyone know of anyone ever finding or have a jar or container made by Baker & Adamson Chemical Company
"B & A C co???

i was not aware of the mcw, but didnt get that far yet, i apreciate it

Nice bottles, but I don't know if I would have brought them home...the wrong two get mixed and.....

Be careful, and I hope things turn out OK for you.

new cleaned pics of what i could keep. not the cleanest but pretty clean
;)
all except for 2 blown bottles have embossing on the front or the base ;)

You're still alive!!!!!??  Now that we know their contents didn't do you in - great looking bottles.  LOL  Nice collection, congrats.  What did you do with the other ones?  Or dare you say? 

Sweet collection.  Thanks for the follow up...

Great collection ,  Ron

I am so glad you showed us the new pictures!
Your bottles are absolutely positively BEAUTIFUL!!! 

I truly envy you! I am glad you got to keep some of them that had the writing on them. . how cool!!

Congrats again! 

Bogart 

Very nice!

Personally I wouldn't have had a problem with the contents of most of those bottles. I've used many of the chemicals doing assay's in relation to prospecting and gold panning. But then, I'm in Canada and I'm not in a city. Also, I know enough to be careful and handle most of these items only under a fume hood, or to stay upwind of them when used in the outdoors. I would have loved to have found a horde of a cache like that. I'd get ahold of the suitable labratory containers and, (under proper conditions), place the contents of the old bottles into the new ones.

I'm just guessing here, but those bottles might have been part of a prospectors assay kit and as someone else suggested, they could have been burried later, perhaps when the person passed away and relatives didn't know what else to do with the stuff, so they burried it? Or maybe the owner routinely burried the chemicals when going away on a long prospecting trip to keep them safe.?

F.
P.S. If anyone in western Canada runs into a horde of chemicals like this, I'd be happy to hear from them. I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination, (haven't found the motherload yet), but at least I could get the bottles back to you without the chemicals.

So how did you decide which ones you "could" keep?  Did someone else decide?  Or were these the ones that weren't damaged.

upon further examination, the ones i thought had substances in them was actually dirt. the ones that actually contained stuff are the ones i gave up. decideing not to risk endangering myself or others.  which was about 7. not a bad turn out.

Hello,

Spent 32 years on the Railroad and unknown to the public if its a chemical we handled it. Have taken many classes on chemicals and you are in a dangerous position. First get them out of the house and away from anybody. Will take just one of the names listed and look It up in my HazMat book. Even though my book is dated 2000 it still has the proper hazards listed.
HYDROGEN SULPHIDE -
Health- May be fatal if inhaled or absorbed through the skin.
Fire or Explosion-Extremely Flammable
The above descriptions are taken from my 2000 Emergency Response Guidebook and this is just part of the description.

I love the bottles but tread lightly. Hope this helps
Jimmy T

again please read the entire post before commenting, there are NO contents, thanks for your concerns

[huge]

 I meant to ask but forgot 

Did you ever find out any more info on the area you found the bottles? Why such a huge lot of them were dumped?


Bogart 

no bogart i havent yet, i tried a local library and belive i found a pic of the area, still not sure, there are still a few inhabitants in the area, gas stations exct.... i am going to speak with them next time im through the area. and belive me i will keep you all updated. im still saying an essayers lot. some others say tiling and photoshop, we'll see;)

Man... great followup and awesome pics!  Thanks for getting back here to this post and sharing the pics.

You did good on that find... wonderful!  ;)

Hey chong2mry?

Just a thought here. I don't know if you've been back to that spot, or not, or if you plan to go back. If you do return there, I was just going to suggest that based on the high probability that the bottles and the prior contents belonged to an assayer, (assayist?), then you might want to watch for certain items, as the person likely had other items associated with doing assay's.

Like:
a bunsen burner,
balance beam scale with weights,
prospecting style pick/hammer,
maybe a copper, or brass mercury retort,
bottle of mercury, which would likely be small compared to the bottles you've found,
etc.

I posted this link for an eBook:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18751/18751-h/18751-h.htm
The eBook relates to assaying and I posted the link previously to the "Free Stuff" and "Recommended Reading" forum's recently. It contains several pictures of items used in the trade, some of which are rather old style equipment, but they still do the job. If nothing else, knowing what the equipment looks like, might help you identify a partially buried find in the field.

Good luck and continued great finds!

F.

What process or cleaner did you ultimately use to clean them?  it must have taken some elbow grease to get them so clean. 

TREASURETALES, to clean them i got a big metal bin from a restraunt 25gallon, filled with water, mixed with half a gallon bleach and the remaining contents of the bottles marked acid, and some goo gone. i then just dumped everything in there and let them soak,after about 3 min the water started turning blue then green to black, smoke started rising from the bubbles like dry ice. thats when i decided to use my latex gloves. for some reason the gloves didnt help my hands started burning with my eyes. i guess the latex had holes in them.  the really wierd thing is the metal bin started getting hot to the touch ................ now im thinking to myself what yourthinking to yourself......
so this is when i say im just JOKING. seriously people, do not try mixing chemicals!!!!!!!!!!  just normal soap, water, steel wool, and those little brass and wood brushes. i thought of trying using some different cleaners but was afraid there may be residue i didnt notice and cause a reaction. when i get more time when my display is ready ill put some real elbow grese into them. right now they are cleaned just for catologing and storage.FUNCTIONAL, thanks for the info on the essayers tool,  if i come across this site again, yes i will try detecting the site, but like i said before its a miracle i found it, and seriously doubt i can find it again. i shoulda had my gps with me  
p.s. i did have my md with me when i found these but was tooo pumped on recovering the glass. 

By the way, those glass stoppers are hand lapped to mate with the bottle and are not interchangeable from one to another. Hope you kept them together.

ya, i found that out the hard way

humm assaying chems---then I'd be checking the area for GOLD nuggets and viens as well.
just a thought.

I noticed a couple of posts that talked about chemicals that may not go by their original names today.  I remember that in the old Dixie Gun Works catalogues that I have, there was an appendix in the back that gave modern names for older, obsolete, or out of production chemicals.  This may come in handy for identifying some of these while in the field.  May not be a bad idea to make a photocopy of the list and keep it in your bottle digging field kit.

Another thing that I thought of, is if digging behind a pharmacy site, be cautious of containers that may contain ILLEGAL substances.  100 years ago, it was perfectly legal to buy over the counter cocaine, laudanum, morphine, hashish, etc.  I can just picture a pharmacist from way back then disposing of a bottle of tincture of cocaine for one reason or another, and someone today finding said bottle.  May be kinda tricky explaining to local law enforcement what your doing with that bottle of white powder. 

GL & HH

ill look into that book your talking about, hm i wonder........... u think cocaine is like alcohol??? u know, the longer it sits the better it gets;) jk, thats a very true statement, everyone be care ful, dump the contents right away, unless they r not enviromently friendly. u know, i think bottles with original contents are worth alot more tho.

This is sure an unusual find. The bottles cleaned up real nice. Glad you did not have problems with the contents.

Hope the EPA does not stop by and start nosing around... they will probably evacuate the entire state and condemn it for 500 years. LOL Just kidding. Nice finds.

here are some originals from that day

here are some originals from that day

WOW, they had Marolboro menthols back den.!!!

Hey chong2mry?

Just a thought here. I don't know if you've been back to that spot, or not, or if you plan to go back. If you do return there, I was just going to suggest that based on the high probability that the bottles and the prior contents belonged to an assayer, (assayist?), then you might want to watch for certain items, as the person likely had other items associated with doing assay's.

Like:
a bunsen burner,
balance beam scale with weights,
prospecting style pick/hammer,
maybe a copper, or brass mercury retort,
bottle of mercury, which would likely be small compared to the bottles you've found,
etc.

I posted this link for an eBook:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18751/18751-h/18751-h.htm
The eBook relates to assaying and I posted the link previously to the "Free Stuff" and "Recommended Reading" forum's recently. It contains several pictures of items used in the trade, some of which are rather old style equipment, but they still do the job. If nothing else, knowing what the equipment looks like, might help you identify a partially buried find in the field.

Good luck and continued great finds!

F.

This is exactly what i was thinkin. Chance that maybe there was complete "do it yerslelf" gold miner out there years ago.Did his minin and assayin all by himself.For some reason he buried his stuff to keep it a secret. Look for the objects that Functional suggested and jist maaaaaybe the gold mine someone was workin is there also.Makes good sense that if he found gold he did it all "in house" to keep it to himself and not cuase a "rush".
 Like the fella asked above.."Who do you want to play YOU in the movie?"
 WAY COOL stuff chong.Yer on yer way to that "motherlode" bud.

Congratulations on your finds.  Very nice collection of bottles.

Rev

its six days past the anniversary of this find, actually happened the day befor my bdaylast year well this year i went out the day be4 my bday and well, ill share that later on;)

Happy Birthday Chong!!

Hal

lol, i just understood your name. habenero's:) we would dare the "new" people who came tp ours group to eat a whole one, and we always recorded it. the looks after they chewed a few moments, like oh shhhhhh, i messed up now.  too funny. actually the first time i ate a whole one, i called poision control, i thought i really screwed myself up, they just laughed at me, and actually said im in for it when i go potty. here is another quick one,at work we were bored and dared each other to eat some habs, i was up and couldnt take the fire.  my friend who is now passed away gave me some milk of malasia? the stuff in the blue bottle, he said here this will help, the nerd diddnt tell me it was a laxitive. got me good. 
thanks on the bday

ew!  I love hot food.  I always said it isn't hot enough if you aren't crying but that's one thing I would never do.  Eat a whole habenero.  You don't touch rub your eyes, ears, or nose after cutting them up.  That should say it all...
Saw my brother once adjust himself after eating habeneros not knowing how hot they were.  It was really funny watching him roll around on the ground...

I agree  with the rest of the forum I think you should call your ocal health department or poison control center. They can ell you who to contact to at least remove the contents of the bottles. oh by the way I am wildfox,s girlriend and just happen to be here looking at what was posted.

wildfox,s girlfriend, thanks for the post, and all of the contents have been taken care of. maybe you should open up your own acount too? TN always needs new members 

i talked with the wife, and called the local hist museum, im gonna take a few to them, but first i have to fill out a form, nice history..... would be better there than sitting in displays at my home, who knows, ill live to 80 and no one will get too see them till then;)
ill keep u all updated

Chong,

I have followed this thread from the beginning and I must say you have handled the situation quite well.
And come out of this with an AWESOME collection of glass.
I was very worried about you for a while there.

Well done my friend.
another vote from me for the best of Treasure net.

Thom

If the bottles initials are M.G.W. They are from the Middletown glass company N.Y. ca. 1889. You'll have to check to make sure that the "C" is not a "G". If it's a "G" that's where it was made. Hope this helps.

Wolverine.

 Just saw this Chong. Nice haul buddy. I dug some of the brown acid bottles a couple of years ago but mine were empty. Fun journey and good post
HH
TnMtns

Nice find man the EPA should be happy that u got this crap out of the ground and away from natural waterways and what not.
Beautiful blue tone to those bottles!

Not really hard to find info about "Whitall Tatum co", here's a link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitall_Tatum_Company

Thanks for the info! I donated a bunch to my local historical society museum, and traded the rest off, have like 2 left, good memories

Wow!! Incredible find!

All the best,

Lanny

very nice bottles !!