, 1873-08-23


scarcely twenty new and important pro-
duce have been added to the raw materials
OF industry. Jute, coir, the agave, MANILA
hemp, piassava fibre, gutta-percha, petrole.
um,' "a few vegetable wakes, some minerals
and it is but by chance that these products
have been discovered by observing eyes.
A few facts will prove this. In 1912, an
English surgeon, DR.. Montgomery, as he
was walking about the e~uvirons OF Sin
gapore, saw o woodcutter cutting wool.
The handle Of bis axe being Of a peculiar
substance Attracted his attention. He in
terTOgated him, and ascertained what the
substance was, and thus gutta-percha was
made known. No one is ignorant Of its
various uses, and it can be truly said that
there is no known substance which can re-
place gu|t(a-percha for Geographic cables
Lin 1870, England impor ed from SlnLG-
pore $1,000 CWt., of the value OF nearly
500, 00OL. About the same time, IA chemist
of Calcutta received from the infelior If
I0dja some bottles wrapped up in u ibtou5
substance, which attracted the attention
of q rope manufacturer this substance
was jute. One Of the principal effects of
the Exhibition Of 1851, says NJ. BIanq#i,
was the extensive uti!isation Of lutte. At
tie present moment gunny bags are found
in nearly every quarter Of the world. In
1872, England imported $1,000, 600 bl'es
of iute, and 1850 persons are employed
in England in spinning and weaving it.
1t was in 1846, in widening the source of
"a water mill, that Californian gold was
found, which led, by observation Of the
similarity Of the rocks, to the finding Of
gold in Australia in 1851. These two
countries now furnish upwards Of 400 900
lbs. Of gold yearly. In 1859, in searching
(again ia America) for q salt spring, the
enormous petroleum beds of Oil Greek, in
Pennsylvania, were found, This product
Was for a long time known to the India0s,
aud the a|ncients also were acquainted with
it. UD to 1871, 33,25O,O00 barrels had
been obtained of this oil. In 1860, "a
shepherd of Mr., Hughes, a proprietor at
WalIaroo, in the peninsula of York, Sonth
Australia, remarked that a wombat, in
digging its hole, threw to the surface a lit
tie green stone he took it to his master,
who recognised it as copper. A min9 was
opened on the spot, and a magnificent vein
of this mineral found. Thus the mines Of
WalIaroO were added to those of Kapnnda,
found ia 1914, and those of B~urra-Burra,
found in 1945. The peninsula of York,
which was nearly deserted, has now about
5000 inhabitants, and the copper facto-
ries are, with the exception of those Of
Swansea, the largest in the world. Some
few years ago, a ship arrived at Liverpool
from Brazil. To keep the ship from be-
ing damaged by striking against the sides
of the dock, the captain had had a round
fender made of some strong unknown fibre.
This, after use, was thrown away on the
quay. A brush manufacturer, struck with
its appearance, made some brushes of it,
which were found good, and thus the pias-
saVa of South America was introduced in
to commerce and industry. Il was at first
imported merely to mix with other sub
stances, but it soon became an article of
freight, and now one sees everywhere
brushes and brooms of piassava. In the
year 1850, an engineer noticed in q little
church in California some decorations of a
beautiful red. He learnt how it was pro-
cured, and found it was a red ore, which
the Indians living in the mountains brought
to their Padre, the poor missionary. 1t
was clnnabar, or sulphate OF mercury.
Such was the origin of the mines of New
Almaden. which now supply 800, 900 lbs.
of quicksilver per anuum, so that Califor-