The Chickasaw messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1880-1900, 1881-03-17
TsEE 0uEgls Old mA0.
whose Head o Pulled Win al.
Eantic Ideas.
aao1r iie Has lfiiized tlsc Useless
tiautnnd Discovered she IA.
pcr stock 81 thr E'uture.

Sew 0na1a Democrat
There f.. rc-haps. u9 msl. oae wll
rcct onito streets ,iss sae-hinv aat
ann viii atira-t less stscuuoa rau
Thomas J Spear. Ileisa4. AN at,l I
alVanced in years. an.l iaihri uof-t
81 in bis contest with umc Iis
stature IS ,maii. be namctcrt sl.gat. /
his hair Vain aud eras, aud h.s whole |
appearances thss VIA person lot Ion. I
iorthis world. Stop BIN and he viii |
look &C you with q startled eye and /
hurried gesture as irt 20 ward or Dan |
ger speak TO him and be win answer |
10 a shaky, uncertain voice which |
will, with evidently difficulty, make |
itself head
Beneath this unpromising exterior |
dwells the heart Of as persevering
man as ever lived In Louisiana;
man with well fixed purpose, who
has almost reached bis object aud
says now: Forgive my persistence
II this matter, but I have gone so
tar that ! cannot turn hack nov "
His energies have, for some yeal
past, been turned to the experiments
With Louisiana plants, striving to
separate the fibre and utilize itin the
making Of bagglng, rough cloths,
and, finally, paper. He experiments
With jute, cotton and banana stalks,
riz de Nile, olra, indigo, blood grass,
coclebur aud other plants Of which
there is over o hundred varieties in
this State
Alter long study, with the assis
lance Of bis son in law, Mr.. Paul
surgi Mr.. Spear exhibited a senara-
tor which was pronounced q success.
/ The fbre Of okra, OF cotton stalks.
lot bagasse, Of jate, etc, was svpara-
ted from the pulps OF those plants
and discovered to be long, strong,
smooth, plie5io and silky. Partieu
larly was this the case with the tlbrc
OF the cotton stalk and the okra
plant Amer using this fibre as ma
terial for bagging, Mr. Spear turned
bis attention to manufacturing Il into
paper. He drst tried bagasse fibre
and produced thick, heavy, and ye
smooth paper, Of strong texture
equal to he best brown manila. an,
: worth sig cents per pound
He then sent okra aud cotton stalk
TO the paper mill, near Mobile, ant
had it manufactured into paper Tn,
results be exhibited in the States Of
dee yesterday The first sample ex
1 h.bted was strong brown paper
glossy or silky on the surface ant
3 very aexiblo, considering its weight
This sample was manufactured from
the woody portion OF the okra plant
Tho second sample manufacture,
2 from the outside fibre OF BACK OF th
g okra, appeared ia the shape o
I smooth, although thin white wrap
+ ping paper possessing a good soil,
surface without any nap upon IT,
The third sample was a whit,
wrapping paper, thinner than tn,
; sample just mentioned, but possess
D ing the same characteristics. Thi,
sample was made from the entire
. plant, the bark, fibre and pulp being
crushed together to make The Paper
stock This sample vas of mar
= velous whiteness, ana smooth on the
surface as iflt had silk in ita oompo
siuou, It presented a gDod writing
surface. Both okra aud cotton be
long to the same botanical family
and the fibre and paper made there
from present much the same genera
, appearance
Aside from the merits Of the pa
e per- per se-for in this matter on,
J must remember that this is only o.
experiment so far-the cheapest o.
s the stock must be taken into consid
. Grafton Cotton stalks, okra stalks
S baeassc, etc. can DO had in immens,
quantities 10 ihis State, and at a COS
G really triaing as compared with th0
G paper stock in general use, and
: therefore, Mr. Spears exertions ar
3 likely to prove Of pecuniary advan-
q tage, not only to HIMSELF but to al
the people OF the South. He is try.
ing to make something exist wher
3 nothing existed before, or to utiliz
i TO The benefit OF himself and others
s substance which has heretofore beel
g thrown away as useless.
At his time of lie il would b
most convenient and pleasant 70
:. him to lie down and take his resi-
but be never seems to take reces
from his business, and all day lon,
o ls struggling With his great problem
t AS he truly says, he has gore too 70
/. to turn back now, and il is hope
c that he viii have strength and cour
y age to continue on until he has de
? monstrated to the fullest extent on
8 Of the, until now hilcen, resource
Of wealth in louisiana.