Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-06-21
MADE OF PAPER MACHE.
IN ITS RAW STATE AND AS IT lS
 MANUFACTURED.
Gsrnany ana Hranoe she Chief Places Where the Proesss is Worksd-some of tho Articles Understanding About
 the Process or Cenpr~sssd Paper

whers the Proeess is Worksd-Soms of
 she Articles Aade-SonsthisE About
 the Process or Csnpr~sssd Paper
 1aanuHacture.
 Of papier mache the most familiar ob- ject and that oftenest in use Is the ordi- nary shoe button. Of these little arti- cles something like $500. 900 gross come into the country every year, or $1OO, 600 worth. The manufacture of papier- mache goods is confined almost entirely to Germany and France. The French on carton lacque." There are manu- factories in the United States, but here are only made the coarser and more serviceable goods, as pails for instance, and for the finely vanished novelties, fancy goods and oddities the foreign manufacturer must be depended upon
 The rate of wages is SO comparatively facturing, paying freight and the S0 per cent. papier mache import duty he can sell at a price too low for the American to enter into competition. But the pail class of goods he does not send over. Papier mache. in its raw state, Is simply pulp, cohering mass, worked up into that condition by fiery tempera- stage, known only to the manufacturers. for much of the process Is secret, 1t is ] stamped into it's design and set aside to cool and harden. The original process. 1 the method of 100 years ago, when snun boxes were about the only thing made of 1t, was that of molding. Within the last forty years, however, since when all these fancy articles have commenced to be made, this has been discarded for the stamping method. The papier-mache dolls heads one sees. however. are still | nodded. -.---.
 The varnish or lacquer which Is over- laid upon the article. now hard and tough and rather of @ dirt color. is another | trade secret. It has high polish, and neither fire, water nor acid has any effect upon it. For this reason pan or vessel of papier mache Is of the greatest value l in the laboratory and to the chemist and | physician. It is about the only mate rial upon which no acid whatever has any | effect. Unless very thin indeed an ar With vase or piece of bric-a-brac, and these are susceptible of and frequently seen with fine painting and elaborate 1 decoration. this has it's advantages.
 These goods, in the polish and tint of l their r-surfaos-those of the black surface for varnishes of duller brown are also in use-seem wonderfully like Japanese l lacquer work. And in the small, finely l finished boxes, with their covers care
 fully painted in Japanese picture designs,
 the resemblance Is complete. It Is quite l an important part of the trade of the papier mache manufacturer to sell such ] articles as these to the dealer In Japan ese goods, by whom, it Is to be supposed
 they are passed off upon the public as
 genuine old Japenese lacquer"
 Of the innumerable objects which
 ind their way here from the continental
 factories there are firemen's helmets,
 used extensively in Germany, and very
 much lighter than those Americans wear i;
 canteen flasks. replacing the old glass
 and wicker ones of the German Army
 1,OOO, 900 of them are said to be in use in the ranks; tables, stands, with an elab-
 crate top swinging downward on & hinge,
 fancy articles, calenders, picture frames,
 trays, fower pots of very imaginable
 style and description.
 Another manufacture closelyfdentitied
 with paper mache Is that of compressed
 paper. The process here consists of
 tightly rolling and compressin2, an ad-
 hesive chemical preparation of albumen
 being added. As completed. the manu-
 factured article has the wearing quail
 ties and the hardness of steel and an ad-
 ditional elasticity. It becomes valuable
 and Is much needed for such things as
 axle washers. dust guards and portions
 of railroad wheels. formerly manu-
 factured of steel. It has the advantage
 over the latter that 1t does not cause so
 much friction. The duty here on manu-
 as to be prohibitive. Thus the foreign
 manufacturers of papier mache who also
 mako articles of compressed paper, do not send the latter products over here. | There are American manufacturers to | look out for this industry