The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1883-07-12
SOMETHING ABOUT PAPER.

II
1t has been proposed to call the pres
ent the cage of paper;'' and when we
consider the amount Of this material !
which is being continually produced
from rags, straw, wood, jute, rice, etc, |
the name would seem appropriate
enough. There are said to be nearly
four thousand manufactures of paper
distributed over the globe. These pro-
duce, it is calculated, some eighteen
hundred million pounds-weight per
year. Half of this quantity is employed
for printing purposes, and the remain
der for various purposes. The paper
used for newspapers alone represents,
it is said, a surface exactly double that
of Paris within its present limits. Since
the diminution of the tax and other
causes, we are told that more than five
hundred new periodicals started in
France in 1881.
The paper-manufactories of the world
employ, it is stated, ninety thousand
men, and one hundred and eighty thou
sand women; and besides these, one
hundred thousand persons are engaged
in collecting rags. The importation of
esparto grass from Algeria for paper
making purposes has reached vast pro-
portions. 1t has been pointed out that
should war in that country very much
reduce the supply, manufacturers might
experience great difficulty in finding n
substitute. Even if they found one, it
might be of a kind requiring expensive
changes in their machinery. We are
reminded that some years ago samples
of a material, the supply of which would
at least equal the esparto supply, were
shown to paper-makers; but though
they were satisfied with its suitability in
every respect but one, they could not
adopt it, because that one defect was
that their machinery was not adapted
to its manufacture.
China and Japan are. as is well
known, great producers of paper made
from rice. How paper is there utilized,
we have an example from the expert
ence of the clever authoress of "a Voy-
age in the Sunbeam. The Japanese
are described carrying paper umbrellas
and the '.ji919ibisbds wearing large hats
and cloaks either of reeds or oiled
paper, besides oiled paper hoods and
aprons as n protection from the rain. "
These ingenious people are also said to
employ paper instead of india-rubber
for making air-cushions. Paper cush-
ions roll up smaller than india-rubber
ones; they do not stick together after
being wetted; and having no Odor, they
arc more agreeable for pillows than
those of caoutchouc fabric. Their
Strengths marvellous, considering the
apparent frailty of the material out of
which they are made; a man weighing
one hundred and sixty pounds may
stand on one without bursting it. They
are said to be waterproof, too, and to
make good life-preservers. The Japan
ese are, it seems, rs clever in the man.
ufacture of the tougher sorts of paper
as the finer. One of their latest
oh -, IN, foil
is the production of a paper belt suit
able for driving machinery. Now that
European machines are being adopted
in that country, this invention will
prove exceedingly useful; for the Jap
anese are inferior tanners, and do not
make good leather.
Though paper is not utilized in Britain
quite in the same way as it is amongst
e the Japanese, recent exhibitions have
shown what an important part this ma
terial can play in the furnishing and
decoration of our houses. A mode of
hanging paper on damp walls, not long
since patented in Germany, may here
be mentioned. Lining-paper coated on
one side with solution of shellac in
spirit of somewhat greater consistency
than ordinary French polish, is hung
with the side thus treated toward the
damp wall. The paper-hanging is then
proceeded with in the usual way with
paste. Any other kind of resin easily
soluble in spirit may be used instead of
shellac. A layer of paper thus satur-
ated with resin is said to be equally
efiectual in preventing the penetration
of damp 1t is not stated how long
lining-paper in the manner described
viii adhere to Il damp wall; but the eX-
pertinent in our damp climate IS worth
trying. Another authority informs us
that strong impervious parchment
paper is obtained by thoroughly wash
ing wooden or cotton fabrics so as to
remove gum, starch and other foreign
bodies, then to immerse them in bath
containing a small quantity of paper
pulp. The latter is made TO penetrate
the fabric by being passed through roll
ers. Thus prepared, it is afterward
dipped into sulphuric acid of suitable
concentration, and then repeatedly
washed in bath of aqueous ammonia
until every trace of acid has been re-
moved. Finally, it is pressed between
rollers to remove the excess of liquid,
dried between two other rollers which
are covered with felt, and, lastly, calen-
dered.
Two new kinds of preservativeS of pa
per have lately come into commerce.
One is said 10 be produced by dipping
sou ApNl III a btAAtA IA olAlN Nv N4Ni tttAN4
then drying. The bath Is prepared by
mixing a strong solution of the acid in
alcohol with much water. The paper
is used for covering apples, etc. The
other paper, meant to preserve from
moths and mildew, consists of so-called
Manila packing-paper dipped in bath
and dried over heated rollers. The
hath is formed of seventy parts spirit Of
TAR. five parts raw carbolic acid-con-
tanning about half of phenol--twenty
1,srts Of coal-tar at one hundred and
s;xty degrees Fahrenheit, and five parts
refined petroleum.
A method of utilizing old newspapers
t,s we are told, been discovered by NJ.
.Jonalet lie asserts that he can 50
eleanse printed paper as 10 make it suit
ehle for receiving fresh impression,