Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1875-06-16
SCIENTIFIC.

japanese Poper Ciothing.-In the JAP
ton was displayed . remarkable va
riety of objects of common use made
entirely from paper, the mode of man.
ufaeture of which has hitherto been
unknown out of Japan. The articles
included handkerchiefs. napkins, gar
ments, lanterns, umbrellas, and many
others. all made from q fabric notice
able for its strength and sOlidity.
A member of the German Society of
Orientalists, NJ. Zappe. has recently ex-
planned the process by which this paper
is produced. The material used is the
bark OF the Broussonetia pdpyrifera or
paper mulberry, the same source from
which the natives of Polynesia derive
their tapa cloth and mats, though
treated in an essentially different man
ner.
The culture of the plant is quite
simple. Pieces of root. some three
inches in length, are placed in the
earth so a. to protrude slightly above
the surface. These speedily send forth
shoots, often of nine inches in length
during the first year. and increasing
threefOld in size during the following
twelve months. By the end of the
third year. the plant attains a height
of about thirteen feet, and by careful
pruning ia eventually brought to a
broad and strong shrub.
In winter, the branches are removed
and chopped in bits about two inches
in length, which are boiled in water
until the bark comes off readily in the
hand. Drying of the bark in the air
for two or three days follows; and
after immersion in running water for
twenty-fOur hours, the material Is
scIaped on a cutting blade SD as to sep
arate the two kinds of fibers of which
it is composed. The exterior fbers are
of dark color, and are called "sdru
kdWd": they serve to make paper of
inferior quality.
The interior filaments, known as
"sosori,n which are used for fine paper,
are rolled in balls weighing some 35
lbs. each. These are washed in run
ming water and left 10 soak for a short
time, after which they are removed
and squeezed dry. Boiling then fol-
lows, In a lye made from the ashes of
ckwheat bran, care being taken that
the contents of the vats are constantly
stirred. Another washing in water
removes all remaining impurities, and
the fibers are then pounded, for twenty
minutes at time, upon blocks of hard
wood. They are finally massed into
balls, and these, by ordinary means.
made into pulp. Into the latter small
proportion of liquid extracted from
the root of the hebiOcus mdRihOt is mixed
and quantity of rice water, to pre-
vent the ravages of insects. The sub
sequent treatment of the pulp is SIM
liar to the usual process of paper
making.
Leather paper, so called, is made by
the superpOsition of several sheets of
the material previously soaked in an
oil derived from the yOnOkO (cellis WI
denOgidnd), subjected to strong pres
sure, and lastly covered with shellac.
Clothing is made from a paper called
"shefun, which is cut into threads more
or less fine according to the fabric to be
produced. These are twisted by the
fingers, previously mOisteDed with
milk of lime, and are woven into cloth
either alone or with silk. The stuff
can be washed and is of great strength
and durability. Papier crepe, SO called
by the French from its having the
wrinkled appearance of Grape. is pro-
duced by moistening the sheets and
pressing them under rollers having
suitable cOrrugatiOns on their periphe-
ries.