Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1880-11-18
Good Use for Sawdust.

Good Use for Sawdust.
What shall We do with the sawdust?
is the question which puzzles the eco
nomic brain Of the man who realizes
that the utilization Of the fast deple-
ting forests is accompaied with an
amount Of absolute wastefulness appal-
ing. Make it into railroad car
wheels, " says an enthusiastic inventor
of Chicago, who has discovered a
means Of COMPRISING sawdust, bran,
tea. and kindred bulky substances, in
to from one-tenth to one-third Of their
original bulk. The L,mJerman some
weeks since spoke of this invention in
terms somewhat Of disparagement,
which it subsequently modified on see
ing specimens of sawdust and bran
compressed into a remarkably small
compass. It's credulity is further
shaken on being shown a model of
car wheel consisting of an iron rim Of
seven inches, outward diameter by
one half inch thick, fitted with a we'll
proportional hub, the space between
the hub and rim filled with pine saw
dust, pressed in SO sohdly that we are
ready to believe the assertion that,
resting the iron rim upon bearings,
pressure equal to % tons applied to
the hub failed to develop any signs of
weakness. We hesitate in these DAYS
Of progress to assert that anything is
impossible, and we begin to think that
even sawdust possesses elements of
value hitherto unsupported, and that
the day may come when the filled
grounds adjacent to all saw mills may
be seen to hay6 great value in the
mechanical development and utiliza-
ton of the now useless debris placed
upon them to get it out of the way.
Sawdust car wheels, sawdust brick,
sawdust fence posts, railroad ties, and
even sawdust window and door frames,
wainscoting and mouldings, begin to
appear among the possibilities Of the
imm ediate future Sawdust hair pins,
watch chains or cases, sawdust knives
or forks, or sawdust shovels, pitch
forks, or hoes, viii probably not be
urged upon this generation, which will
remain satisfied with utilizing sawdust
in place Of the more expensive bass
wood in the manufa cture of hams and
cakes Of soap, but the field of posi-
bilities is still large enough to utilize
vast amount of this valueless material.
Seriously, however, the compression of
bran and oats into one tenth Of their
original bulk, without injury to the
substance, means cheaper transporta,
ton, which will enable their shipment
to foreign lands at profit which their
bulk has rendered impossible. while
with the freight on tea from China,
costing about S25 per ton on account
of the space it occupies, compression
into one third its bulk would mean a
saving Of from th-ee-quarters of .
cent to one cent pound on freight
and labor Of handling. 1t is not by
any means impossible that We may buy
s'brick of tea in the near future
which we can carry home in our vest
pocket, or that the housewife may
keep her truant husband at home
evenings to saw the coffee mp into
thimblefuls suitable for the preparation
of the morning draught.
Verify it would seem that with the
recent discoveries Of Rip Van Win
kle of the press, who after being alb
sent from home fer year had to have
a pilot to show HIM about the city OF
his former residence, and who in his
absence developed a sixty year stock
of pine on the Menominee, and about
as large supply throughout the State
of Michigan, there is no danger after
all Of timber famine, at least so long
as the sawdust holds out.-N ".