Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-04-19
cHeApNEss AND DURABILITY.
Old Time Productions superior To Mod
ern Articles-Cheap Paper.

80
The application Of science to the useful
arts has not been an unmixed blessing.
1t has rendered many things cheap that
were once very costly. IL has made
numerous things common that were
formerly scarce. IL has shortened ;he
time required to produce various articles
needed for the common wants of life. 1t
has been chiefly employed for producing
things quickly and cheaply. 1t has sub.
stituted very common and sometimes
waste materials for those that were rare
and possessed of considerable value for q
variety of purposes. 1t has explained
many old processes, like that of making
steel, leather and mortar, but has not
improved them. In truth, these and
many more articles made before the era
of scientific Invention were much
superior 10 any produced now.
No steel Of modern manufacture equals
that made ut Damascus, centuries before
there was a science of chemistry. No
leather compares with that made by the
Saracens, specimens of which are pre-
served in many public museums and pri-
waite collections in Europe. The mortar
and cement used in the construction of
buildings in the old cities Of Italy was
much superior to any produced in any
part Of the world today. What is true
of mortar is substantially true of brick.
The brick made by Nebuchadnezzar. ac-
cording to a report of a traveller, having
outlasted their original purpose, are now
employed for paving the streets of mod
ern Bagdad. The temples built by tho
shepherd kings Of Egypt are still in q
good state of preservation. having been
used in turn by the believers in three or
four forms Of religion.
Science has greatly cheapened the pro-
duction Of paper, but it has given us an
article that is very perishable. The gov
eminent of Prussia lately commissioned
some chemists and expert manufacturers
TO examine the paper used for official
records of the greatest importance to the
nation, the registers Of marriages, births,
and deaths, and that employed for print
ing books. magazines and newspapers at
home and abroad. They have just sub
mittcd a report that is as alarming as it
is interesting. They state that the paper
on which many public records are written
or printed will not last fifty years. Some
used twenty years ago is already exhibit
ing signs Of decay. OF ninety-seven
German and foreign magazines and
other periodicals of the better class
examined the commissioners report
that only three of them can go down
TO pOSterity, the paper on which the
others were printed being SO poor that it
will lose all its strength in from twenty
TO fifty years. Some Of the paper OF
which magazines are printed is decaying
so rapidly that q near approach to the
date of the issue can be determined with
out referring To the year of publication.
The three magazines that seem destined
to immortality are printed Oh paper made
from cotton and linen rags. while the
others are printed on paper made from
substitutes like straw and wood pulp. In
the preparation Of all the cheaper kinds
of paper scientific methods have been
employed and many chemicals used. The
paper on which many Of the very old
books and magazines were printed is
pronounced to he in a perfect state of
preservation. Such is the case with
most Of the paper used in books printed
from forty TO a hundred years ago.
Paper made from straw, wood pulp
and other similar materials by the en-
ployment Of chlorine and caUstic alkalies
may answer for printing newspapers and
cheap novels, hut something better should
be used for printing standard books, oil.
cial reports and magazines. The people
who live during the e century may he
grateful to the manufacturers who sub
jected cat straw 10 the action Of caustic
soda and produced the paper ON which
our sensational novels and tariff speeches
were printed, They will. however, want
the deeds TO the property they hold and
the books in which they are recorded.
Tie report Inale by the experts in Prus-
sia should claim the immediate attention
Of our national, state. county and muni-
cilnl officials. Ii should also interest the
publishers Of library editions of standard
works. Chicago Times.