Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-09-25
OLD ROPES.
Taken From Dill Wells md Made into
Paper Sacks.

A"ROA o"SASs
Everything which comes from an
oil well has a use," was at one time the
boastful remark of a petroleum pro-
Queer. The only mistake he made was
that he did not include everything used
about an oil-well. One of the most
useful, when it seems useless, is the
MANILA rope used in boring of the we'll.
This is generally a cable three inches in
diameter. Its strength is great, but on
account of the immense weight of the
bits, bars and jars used in drilling, the
cable is soon worn out and laid aside.
1t is always full of water, and by lying
long exposed it is completely worthless.
At this period a Pittsburgh dealer in
old rope puts in an appearance. AL.
though the cable is useless to the driller
it has a value of one to one and one
half cents per pound to the junk-dealer.
This dealeris either an agent for some
firm which has its headquarters in Pitts
burgh OF one of the oil towns, or is in
business for himself. The rope is hauled
away, baled, and then becomes an arti-
Gle of commerce. Its use is now to
form the basis of a pulp from which is
made the heavy MANILA paper used in
making four-sacks, or the heavier
grades of wrapping-paper. For these
uses the cable must be what the paper
men call clean, which means that the
rope must be clear of oil. The part Of
the rope which is down nearest
the Kit is always more or
less saturated, and when the oil
fills the hole the rope always becomes
greasy. After the reception of the
baled cable at the papcr-mill the first
part of the transforming process is to
clean, as much as possible, the oil away
from the rope. This is done by steam,
although the rope cleaned is never of
such good quality as that which has
never been in the oil. As it has not
the strength necessary the pulp is
mixed with wood. and the paper made
from it is used for lighter grades Of
wrapping paper and the small bags
used by grocers. The method Of
manufacture is the same as that used
in making up" the straw or wood.
The stock is first softened by means of
steam and lime. 1t is then taken to
the grinders and from them to the
paper machine. The clean MANILA
cable is an article much sought for, and
has wen become an article Of export.
Not only is the oil-well drillers' re-
fuse lines used, but a trade is carried on
in the MANILA rope used by rivermen.
The headquarters Of the trade are in
New York, from which place the baled
goods are distributed all over the world.
Mr.. Godfrey was seen yesterday and in
terrogated concerning the size of the
trade. ''You a get some idea of the
size of the business from the fact that
two tons of the clean rope will make
one ton of heavy paper. In u mill,
when running full, we use six tons Of
stock per day. Ordinarily clean rope
is quoted at three dollars per hundred.
Now, however, in sympathy with every
thing else, it is down to two dollars an(
sixty-two cents. The greasy rope is
worth but about one-half as much al
the clean, as it is impossible to ever
make as good paper, even when mixed
with higher-pr.ced stock. The princi
pal supply comes from the deserted OF
towns of northwestern Pennsylvania
The usefulness of the cable is passed
and it is bought cheap by dealers, WIZ
bale it and ship it in tons"
And thus it is that the thousands O
yards of dirty. greasy rope that smell
SO loudly at the petroleum dcrricks o
upper Pennsylvania, and which hav
unloosened the geysers of oil for tn
worlds illumination, are at last trans
formed into the neat little paper bags
in which sugar, tea. coffee and flour are
brought to the breakfast-table, o
wrapped about the packages of dr.
goods carried from every store in Pitts
burgh. - Pittsburgh Commercial Ga
zette.