The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1884-01-10
PAPER LUMBER,
Initiating All SOrts Of Natural Wood
in Grain. Color and Solidity.
T.,rk Nm

Initiating All Sorts OF Natural Wood
in Grain. Color and Solidity.
New York Sun.
A tall, elderly man, with q round,
pleasant face, took from the marble
mantel Of room overlooking Printing
House Square, yesterday afternoon, q
section OF what appeared to be walnut
board
THAT is paper lumber" he said.
"You may not he aware that a process
has been invented for utilizing paper
pulp in the manufa:t ure of substitute
for natura; wood. A mill has been erec-
ted in Western town for the purpose
Of manufacturing artificial lumber, and a
number of capitalists have taken hold
of tn matter. We are thoroughly con
vinced of the perfect practicability oil
paper lumber in the manufacture of all
articles at present made from wood. It
is only question of very short time
when paper lumber will come into gen.
eral use. I feel confident that it will
prove much cheaper than wood, equally
rs durable, and fully as good for fine
Work"
Attention was directed to several arti.
cies OF cabinetware made Of the M terial
Two Of these were ordinary parlor tables,
one Of which resembled the peculiar
mOttled appearance seen in some choice
hard woods. The surface OF the table
was vanished and high polished. The
other table was finished in exact imita-
lion of rosewood. A panel door was al
so shown, the finish resembling NAH og.
any. A couple OF ladies' work-boxes,
made after an elegant p tern and high
~ finished, were also exhibited.
"The p ,per board" continued the gen.
tleman, "is susceptible Of the finest pol.
ism, and will take any tint or Dior. TIE
lumber is made principally OF the pulp
Of wheat, rye and oat straw, and other
vegetable fbers, combined with.chemical
ingredients AND cements. 1t is formed
in layers about one quarter OF M inch in
thickness, and these are pressed together
Ivy powerful machinery, and thus rem
tered as hard as the hardest wood, be-
sides being much more dense. The
boards are ais, rendered waterproof in
varying degrees, according to the pur'
pose for which they are to be used. The
material Is as durable as tine, and car
Oc 6OIU 1T b kOOu pTOuC AOT dIur5oI uhI!
lie s than ordinary pine lumber. 1t will
AXE any finish, and in this respect alone
is EQUAL to the finest hard wood. More
over, it can be marbleized in imitat on
OF any kind OF marble, both IN respect Il
high degree of polish and An exact imi
,ation of grain. 1t will not warp, anC
can be rendered perfectly waterproof i
desired, thus making it suitable for the
construction of burial caskets. 1t make:
Just as solid surface as any wood, and
NAV be made Of the hardness of stone
AS a substitute for wood in the con
s'ruction Of buildings it possesses quail
ties o. per ect adaptation, 1t will max,
the finest material in the world for roof
ing, not excepting slate Or iron. 1t Cal
be saved, split or pIaued, and board
made of it arc perfectly smooth and fla
from end TO end on both sides, wlthou
any knots, cracks or l1emishes of any
kind commonly met with in wood"
'Do yo; think that tile supply of pe pc
stock is suffici Mt to permit the genera
},se Of paper lumber as substitute TO-
wooG?'
"Why not? The production Of stray
alone is sufficient. lttakes ne hundred
years to grow 20.(OO feet of natural lum
Der on an acre of ground. This is accord
ing to official statistics. On the othe
hand, an acre of ground will produc,
every year straw enough to make 2,OU
'eet of artificial lumber, and hence in
hundred years it will produce 200, OO
feet-ten times as much as the quantity
,c~ o%,, 1,,r,