The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-10-01

fellows nor the dagger Of hired assassinAo The
article in the Diario Espanol is "beneath his
contempt, but he still replies 10 it All this
from the accredited Minister Of this great coun-
try to the editor Of Madrid newspaper.
Now the case of Mr.. Soule is not one worth
much notice, but we allude to it to show how
the ar of letter-writing is liable to suffer at
the hands of public men in this country. What
q curious lot of epistles will be gathered to-
gether half century from this timei Perhaps
the Scarlet Letter itself may turn up! Then
the glories Of Walpole, Madame De Sevigne
Miss Burney, Madame De Stae and other popu-
lar letter writer's will sink into insignifcance be-
fore the epistolary triumphs of our great men.
We can add some gems to such collection.
Seriously, however, we think that something
should be done to instruct our public men in
the art of letter-writing. Why not have a
school at Washington for the purpose The
book stalls abound in interesting publications,
after the style Of 1.-The Complete Letter Wri-
ter" but still there appears to be lamentable
lack Of knowledge on this important subject.
There is good opening for missionaries in this
field. Shall we have them?
PRINTING PApER.-Newspaper and book pub
fishers are very much perplexed nowadays in
their endeavors to procure white paper of firm
even quality. The price of the article that we
are obliged 70 take at this time is high-twenty
five per cent increase in two Or three years is
heavy item Of expense, to say nothing of the
greatest annoyance of all, the danger Of being
left without any paper at all. Several efforts
have been made to remedy this difficulty by the
use of a material other than rags for the manu-
factuie Of paper and some i've or six specimens
have been sent to the Patent Office. We regret
to learn that no available new material has yet
been discovered.
We have offered premium for the discovery
of new material, and we have received seve-
raj answers to the offer. "A b. writes us
thus
am farmer, and have been using corn husks for
baronges trees where The bark has been injured By
the plough or harrow. find they stand the weathe-
better than rags; and il has suggested itself to that
ban any other material for they will bleach easier are
tough, and now used only for cattle fodder
If straw win make good paper, perhaps salt hay or
sedge would make better but at ali events tbs fax
thrown the dung heap in tho Western regions OF
country might with very tilaexpense and labor make
the best of paper.
We give these suggestions for the benefit of
the public, but we may say en- PEASANT that We
have not yet any good specimens OF paper made
from vegetable fibre. We have received from
Lee, Massachusetts, o specimen Of paper made
from plant called Gnaphalium," or Life
Everlasting" it is similar to the straw paper in
color, and is full of wood spots. 1t is said that
it can be whitened by the bleaching process. It
takes the impression of ink with considerable
clearness. The plant grows in great abundance
in Canada, and from it paper may be manufsc.
iured ten per cent cheaper than from rags. Two
correspondents have also written to us suggest
ing vegetable fibre, and one has sent us speci-
mems of new material somewhat resembling
hemp. Should this correspondent succeed in
his experiments we think that the material will
be cheap enough, at all events.
The demand for paper at present is so great
that we presume the manufacturers have taken
advantage Of it to increase the price, and the i'm
porters Of rags have not been backward in the
same movement. But that there is a real reason
why the price should be raised we have no doubt,
and we trust that some new and available ma
terial will soon be discovered In the meantime
we solicit information and invite proposals with
reference to this subject.