The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1881-05-06

9 forms the British Empire which Daniel
9 Webster haseaIled 4 power to which,
for purposes of foreign conquest and
subiueation. Rome, in the height Of her
glory, is not to he compared power
which has dotted the surfaca of the
, whole globe with her possessions and
military posts, whose morning drum
beat, following the sun in his course,
, and keeping pace with the hours,
circles the globe with one continuous
! and unbroken strain of the martial
airs of England"
/ THE ART OF PAPER-MAKING.
AN ESSAY READ. BEFORE THE CHICAGO
sTATIONERS' BOARD OF TRADE, APRIL
| 18th, 1881, BY j. w. BUTLER,
The art of paper-making is consider
ed one of the greatest blessings, yet
brought out by the ingenuity of man :;
Iaffording means Of communication,
making of records, and toa large ex-
tent the carrying On Of the commerce
of the world. In the earliest ages of
our race, very simple means were mes
cessarily adopted to preserve the rec
ord Of impOrtant events. DuringmanV
centuries, traditions, perhaps solely,
served to represent that which in mod
ern times has been more completely
effected by the art Of printing. At
other periods, we find trees were plant
ed, heaps of stone, affairs or pillars (as
we read in sacred history,) were erect
ed, and even games and festivals i'll
stituted to keep alive the memory of
important events. Since, however, the
art of writing was invented, various
materials have from time to time been
utilized for the purpose of. transmit
lting to posterity the discoveries and
deeds of ancestors Thus, for instance,
the most ancient remains Of writing
which have been handed down to us
are hierOglyphics, cut upon hard sub
lstances, such rs brick, stone, and mate
trials which We're made use Of by the
Bancients for all matters of public noto-
riety abundant proof of this ehave
in recent discoveries. Josephus, in the
third chapter Of the lirst book Of his
"Jewish Antiquities" tells lis that the
descendants OF Seth, leading happy
life, found out, by study and 0bserva-
ton, the motions and distribution of
the heavenly bodies and, that their
discoveries might not be lost to men,
they made two pillars, one Of brick and
one Of stone, and engraved their dis
coveries thereon. Herodotus also mem
tlons letter, engraved upon plates of
stone, which Themistocles, the Atheni-
an General, sent to the Ionians, five
hundred years before the time of
Christ. At an early period the history
Of both Greeks and Romans appears to
have been written on wooden boards.
or boards covered with wax. The use
| OF boards was IN some measure super
seded by that of leaves Of palm, olive,
| poplar, and other trees /; and although
in Europe all of these disappeared up
on the introduct'on of papyrus and
parchment, in some countries the use
OF them continues even to the present
day. Before the art of making paper was
known to the Chinese, they appear to |
have cnt pieces Of silk 10 such sizes as
they wished tu make books, and there |
| upon painted the letters with pencils, |
the silk being first stepped iii kind of |
size, to prevent the color from running |
But, such material being liable to de- |
cay, various animal substances were
| afterwards employed. us being .of a /
more desirable nature. IIerodOtns NJ |
ludes to sheep and goat skins among |
the Ionians, about 400 years before the |
Christian era. Papyrus. from which |
l tho form n0pay WING II ;c +t,> 4>,,,,, /
of celebrated plant, once extensively |
used by the Egyptians for making vari-
Gus articles of utility, such as baskets, |
shoes, cordage and the like. One writer
states that Of this plant the little ark |
was made III which the parents Of |
Moses exposed him upon the banks OF |
| the Nile, and it was this of which most |
of the ancient paper was mannfac-
ture1 not, "a would be customary now.
by first redncingit to pulp. nor, indeed, |
IL any way, us resembling modern pa,
per, except that in both vegetable fiber
is the basis. That Il plant 50 useful.
and for ages. in Egypt, so commercially
valuable, should have disappeared, be-
ing altogether unknown to modern bot
anistS, appears scarcely creditable, yet
so it is. .
To enumerAte all the advantages
which the invention of paper has af-
forded mankind it is indeed useless to
attempt. In estimating these advan-
tages we may look at the man of sci
ence, who, being neither artist nor
manufacturer, yet is thus enabled to
communicate his plans and projects,
with accuracy and ease, for mechanics
to improve upon and perfect or we
may view the growing youth, educated
with such facility in the principles of
their duty or go backward to barbar-
GUS States, softennd and enlightened
by means of this discovery or we
may take an instance. that book of
books which Pollock very beautifully
describes as
1.-THE only star
BY which the BARK Of mn clald navigate
The seas of life ana gun thu col;t of bliss
! securely -
Although now beautiful copy,
printed on fine paper, gilt-e lgaI and
well bound, may be purchased for
, twenty-five cents, in the reign of Henry
III. it is recorded that two arches of
the London bridge were built for less
sum than that asked for one copy of
the Bible.
The first paper was probably made in
Egypt from papyrus. The ancient
Mexicans used kind of paper prepar-
. ed from the Agooe Americana, or
Maguay plant, which grows upon the
tablelands. 1t resembled the Egyptian
papyrus, and took ink and color well,
as preserved specimens attest. The
: Chinese were the first to form from
vegetable fiber the web which consti-
+, tutes our modern paper. They used
, the inner bark of several trees (especi-
| ally the mulberry and the bamboo
reduced to pulp by beating, rice and
other straws, silk, cotton and rags. The
Japanese exhibited IN the Paris Uni
3 Versal Exposition of 1867 beautiful
, specimens of paper made from the
mulberry tree. Among the numerous
materials used for making paper have
been American aloe, asparagus, aspen,