New-York daily tribune., 1862-11-07
Imperial Corn-rHusk Cloth and Paper.

There has been no time for ten years when the
psp.rmakers were more in want Of T. substitute fo'
rags than the present; nor any time when an nven'
tor or dscoverer woud he patiently listened TO-
The consumption Of paper in this country Of readers
and writers, s and has been for years in exccss OF
supply; at one time 1854 80 much that the price
advanced q cent? per pound, and weakly Journals
Lad 10 reduce their size ncrease their rates or 90
into liquidation. That year we imported more tnah
a million dollars worth of rags, and the CURIOUS
traffic in the taters Of all nations has increased from
wear 10 year until we now importing at tho rate
OF two million dollars per annum. Say that the paper
manufacture of the aited States is worth fifty mil
lions year, aud that sone hbrons material, OF
universal production were found which could be
made up at half the cost Of rags what would II be
worth to the dseoyererl Why fabulous fortune,
that would tower above those Of all the AsoTs and
Girards who over lived ard tho hope Of realizing
such Golden dreams has stimulated inyenlors 70 re-
searoh and experiment for yesrs pGst. The straw oi
Qrsin. the stalks OF msrsb-reeds the inner bark o.
forest trees, and TIE very wood tsef have bJ rrns
been made into paper, and introduced to pnbhc
notice. All processeH and modes of treatment, from
sirnpc mac.rati0n in water TO boiling IN hot ley, and
shooting out Of stean-gun have been employed IN
tho transformation Of the organized woody-hber inio
pulp. Many failures aud NJ fortunes haye been
the result, but one Invention in 10 sooner forgotten
than another claims attention.. The latest attempt
10 furnish substitute for rags that Of an Austrian,
who IL now applying at Washington for his letters
qaten. "for the discovery OF new spinning and
weaving material, and the utility Of ts waste The
r. l.,... LAT IL ffa la tar
clause.
The Chinese have been making paper from reeds,
bamboo, rushes, and the stalk Of Wild aud tame
grasses for more than fourteen centuries. La fact,
20 many substances are employed in that empire
that each province has variety Of paper peculiar to
itself In Fo-kieu, for Instance, the material most
used ID the stalk Of the young bamboo, which by
mace ration, bleaching tho Of alkshes boiling,
and beating, is made into stout, serSoeaole paper.
The soft, yelvoty rice-psper OK which the Chinese
paintings Of flowers, birds insec,s and cldb-fooied
female beauties ere made, ID produced from thu
stems Of hardy ewmnous plant which grows
sbundantly on the manhy plains Of Bengal and
about the lakes of Calcutta. Tho Japanese use the
nuer bark Of four We species OF trees aud make
paper Of all qualities, from the thnne,, aud ues. TO
the heavier sorrs which are ufed FOR clothing, and
can hardly b. told from silken or wo3len stnhs
Mr.. Mursoll Of Albany, whose " Chronology of
Paper and paper-Mskirg" is perhaps cnr bet Anes-
ic.n authority, enumeraies 1913 snb. iancss which
have been eXpenmeugcd upOn IN various countries
by paper-ma,ers. In the Smithsonian I,stuton
there is a copy Of = work on the manuiAc,ure Of
paper fom ohcr ms,crils than rass, Which is
s.l - fn
nom as Iuauy diaerosi materials. The works OF the
Marquis de yillottc, Published in Lond in i7sG, in
2Imo., are printed on paper made from marsA-
msliog rna a. the end single leaves Of paper
manufactured at Brrges FROM twenty diairent spc-
cies Of pants including the retle, hops, moss, reed
and several kinds Of trees snd hefbs. slIloioh
New American Cyc'opediil
IL would indeed be strange Il with Ell ths expert
meni, and all this searching in swamrs ard jaugles
for paper material, plant 20 widely Disseminated as
maize should lave been overlooked la truth, We
must believe tha two mills for making coru-stalk
PAPER really existed in Italy century ago. for they
are mentioned in Dr. Schaeiier's .Sammi,eke Pop.er-
rersucte Regensburg, l752), tut the secret of the
processes employed seems to have died with the
entepribing miil-owners. Travellers tell us also
that the Chinese have long made paper from tie
woody hber Of sorghum and corn stalks, and some
ten years ogD Frenchman came TO this country %
paten, similar process. The introduction Of the
Chinese and African tuearcanss into France ty
Count de Moniiny aud Mr. Leonard Nray, in
lSJl-2, created much excitement from their sup
posed ability TO rival the tropical sugar cane and
u collateral matter tome attention was paid to the
,I.t 81 ilai-
DIR. Sicard Of Maise.lles, NM Duret, HudelFt,
Vospette and others experimental TO some extent in
this direction, and many pamphlets were written to
herald what was supposed 10 DO great discovery.
0lcon in bio " Sorgho and lmphee" (New-York,
1857, notices these experiments nnd gives most OF
tho processes; but neither has tince proved OF
sufficient practical value 70 telure adoption either
here or in France
After rost OF Ten yeas tie subject i- revived by
Counselor Auog Won Welsbach Director Of the ln-
perial Printing Establishment in Veun4, Super
nendent Of the Imperial Paper Mil at Schosei
muhie, and Member of the Austrian Academy OF
Sciences. This gentlemon was in 1876 ordered ey
Baron Bruck. Ninitcr Of Finance, TO snperntehd u
series OF experiments with new process for making
paper from con-stalks, invented by bohemian
named Moritz Diaiaant. Accordingly the resources
of the Imperial paper mill were placed at DiamInts
dfposal; but he WAS unsblo by his process to pro-
duce paper either rs cheaply or Of as good quality
as that made III the usual way from rags aud the
experiments were stopped. In 1859, he made an
other appeal TO Baron Bruck-this time backed by
such recommendations from Trieste that the Minister
agreed 10 give him another trial at the Imperial
MILL but this, Ike It's predecessor, failed. Baron
Druck did oven more, for when Diamant argued
ha, the cost Of transporting the raw material made
It impossible for Lin to produce his paper at market
ablo ,ste,. tho Government conseuiod - build hun