Richland beacon., 1881-10-01
THE HISTORY OFPAPER.

Preceding the use Of papyrus by the
Egyptians, records were kept and cor
respondence carried on by inscribing on
clay bricks, metal plates, ivory tablets,
ETC., the matter to be preserved or COM
municated. This WAS the common
method of Egypt at the time of the exo-
dus Of the children Of Israel. Stamped
upon clay cylinder, an Assyrian ac-
count Of the delnge has been found, and
similar cylinder in the museum of the
East India Company contains portion
of the annals or DEGREES Of Nebuchad-
nezZar.
According to authorities, papyrus,
reed which could he unrolled into
sheets, began to be of use as paper g.,
95l years before Christ, and thencefor-
ward, for 5000 years or more, papyrus
was the only paper. The prophet Isa-
iah speaks of this material when he SAYS
in chapter XIX, 1.-The paper reeds by
the brooks and everything sown by the
brooks shall wither, be driven away and
be no more, prophecy that has been
literally fulfilled, for the papyrus plant,
once abundant enough TO he the worlds
only paper. is found no more anywhere.
The use of parchment began 200 years
before Christ, ana had tins origin
Ptolemy ILL.,, Of Egypt, heard that II
val King was beginning the formation Of
library to equal his, which consisted
of thousands Of volumes of books written
on papyrus. To prevent the success OF
the rival, Ptolemy stopped the sxporta-
ton Of papyrus. The rival then had
recourse to parchment, the prepared
skins of animals, and thus parchment
the twelfth century, papyrus was used,
Papa Tull, dated 975, written Oh
papyrus, being, until 1871, in the Mu-
scum Of the Louvre, Paris. The books
of ancient Rome were written ON papv-
rus by slaves educated for this business
Europe learned the art of paper-mak-
ing from the Saracens, or Arabs, i'll the
seventh century, and they probably
learned it from the Chinese. The pro
cess that the Saracens brought to Spain
after their conquest in 7O4 had been i'll
vogue in China over 1000 years. The
process was simply beating to pulp, III
mortars. Of vegetable fiber, and then
drying it in sheets. The Chinese make
paper the same way to-day, as they are
opposed 10 the Use Of labor-saving ma
chinery. The only machine admitted.
to the Flowery Kingdom is the Yanke.
sewing machine.
The use Of paper for documents Uegan
about the tenth century. The use of
rags for paper making began in the
eleventh century, prior to that cotton.
fax, ETC., being used. The earliest rec
ord of the building Of mill for paper
making is 1870, the mill being erected
in Germany. The mill was, however,
only for reducing the fiber to pulp by
stamps run by water power, and was i'll
ho way like our modern mills. In 1855
o German made such good paper tina,
Queen Elizabeth knighted him and gave
him almonopoly Of gathering rags in the
kingdom for ten years. The real value
of paper-making began to be best appre.
ciated when the art Of printing was dis
covered in the fifteenth century. Had
printing been discovered earlier there
would have been little use for it, AZ
neither the bark nor straw paper of tho
Chinese, the papyrus of the Egyptians
nor the parchment of the Greeks woulC
have been sufficiently plentiful for th'
demands of the printing press. Ger
many, using cotton, fax anu rags, am
her water and wind power for their re
duction to pulp and fiber, was ready 70
xhe printer and his press, and thes
made possible the Reformation.
The rag engine, by which the raw MA
t.r;.l il reduced to pulp, is Gernla
;nv.ntion less than 200 years old. 4
late .s 1756, in this land of ingeniou
-orkmsu. rsgs were reduced to pulp b