Editing Astral Oil Works (section)

===1870s: Spread of the Astral Oil brand===
Specializing in illuminating oil, which had earlier been derived from [[whale]] oil, the products of the Astral Oil Works [[kerosene]] refinery became famous worldwide in the late 19th century. Company advertising used the slogan, "''The holy lamps of Tibet are primed with Astral Oil''."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5R7XCwAAQBAJ&q=he+holy+lamps+of+Tibet+are+primed+with+Astral+Oil&pg=PA83|title=The Millionaire and the Bard: Henry Folger's Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare's First Folio|last=Mays|first=Andrea|date=April 5, 2016|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9781439118252|language=en}}</ref> In September 1870, Astral Oil was exhibited at the American Institute Fair, after Charles Pratt of No. 108 Fulton-street had a "splendid array of specimens of illuminating oils" displayed.<ref name=nyt-fair>{{cite news |date=September 10, 1870 |title=American Institute Fair. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1870/09/10/archives/american-institute-fair.html | work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York City, New York |access-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref>

The Pratt's Astral Oil Guards, numbering 200 men, were organized on the night of August 30, 1871 on [[Long Island]]. Mr. Walter of the machine department was elected captain, with most of the men employed at the Pratt establishment at [[Hunters Point, Queens|Hunter's Point]].<ref name=nyt-long>{{cite news |title=LONG ISLAND. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1871/08/31/archives/long-island.html | work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1871 |location=New York City, New York |access-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref>

Around 10 o’clock in the evening of January 26, 1873, Pratt's Astral Oil-works on the northern Williamsburg block “bounded by North 12th and North 13th street and extending from First-street to the river”<ref name=nyt-great/> (First Street was renamed Kent Avenue in 1880<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://forgotten-ny.com/2009/01/i-kent-explain-a-brooklyn-waterfront-avenue/|title=KENT AVENUE, Brooklyn, Part 1 - Forgotten New York|website=forgotten-ny.com|date=January 2009 |language=en-US|access-date=December 22, 2017}}</ref>) was the scene of a large fire, creating shoots of flame at the building that “formed large spiral columns of flame which shot into the air fifty feet high.”<ref name=nyt-great/> Nearby houses were far enough away to not be harmed,<ref name=nyt-great/><ref name=nyt-minort>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Minor topics |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1873/01/28/archives/minor-topics.html | work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York City, New York, United States |date= January 28, 1873|access-date=May 13, 2017}}</ref> although great alarm was reported in the neighborhood as different barrels were heard exploding. At the time, about 250 boys and adult men were employed by Pratt, including the workers in the packing-house and box-factory. A small number were employed in the refinery. No deaths were reported due to the fire.<ref name=nyt-great>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Great Oil Fire; Total Destruction of Pratt's Astral Oil- Works Loss Between $50,000 and $60,000. Another Account. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1873/01/27/archives/great-oil-fire-total-destruction-of-pratts-astral-oil-works-loss.html | work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York City, New York, United States |date=January 27, 1873 |access-date=May 13, 2017}}</ref>