The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-15

table house would use poor paper and no
reputable paper manufacturer would send
out poor article, but as a rule paper is
not as good as it used to be. 1t is possi-
BILE to make as good and in some ways
better paper now than formerly and
books are printed which will be as last
ing as the best specimens which the
Monks used to make hundreds of years
ago.
TOO MUCH WOOD PULP USED.
At the Scribners' publishing house the
truth of all this was confirmed even more
emphatically. Mr.. Marvin. who buys all
the paper for the firm, and who is an ex-
pert, says
'In the bindery the other day took
down some paper which was thirty years
old and found it as good as it ever was.
Then took down some that was only ten
years old and found it absolutely unfit for
use from discoloration. 1t had been made
from wood pulp. The manufacturers
have forced the wood pulp paper on the
country by saying it was much better. 1t
certainly Is much cheaper, and paper that
we used to pay 10 cents a pound for we
now buy for 4 and even less.
pure rag paper sells for ~ cents In
treating the wood pulp with soda ash for
the purpose of extracting the resinous
matter 1t is possible to get rid entirely
OF the chemicals, and in time the paper is
affected by them. l believe it would be
an excellent policy for publishers to use
entirely pure rag paper. IL would in
crease the cost of books, but / think peo-
pie would be willing to pay the advance
for the sake Of getting something durable.
don't mean to say that we do not use
pure rag paper TO great extent, for we
do, but 1t is true that the majority of
books published in the country and in the
world will not last. am sorry to say
that ten years ago / believed the manu-
facturers and advocated wood pulppaper,
but now l am firm believer in rag paper.
1t is not always so pleasing to look at or
to touch as paper that has been treated
in different ways, Just as the most honest
man is not always the handsomest, but
it is honest and durable"
AMERICAN PAPER BAD.
Mr. Richard OHara, who is an extern
sive paper manufacturer, and one of the
few fine rag paper-makers, had some in
teresting testimony TO add. He has a
large rag depot in Alexandria, Egypt. He
had seen Mr.. Cross interview, and said:
"Dont make any exception about Ameri-
can paper IL is as bad, if not worse, than
others 1t won't last. The trouble is
that people won't pay for pure rag paper
and almost force US to manufacture the
cheaper kinds. We can and do make to-
day paper which is as good and durable
as any ever made, but there is no market
for it."
IN THE LIBRARIES.
The men who handle thousands Of books
yearly in the big city Libraries say the
same thing. Librarian Peoples of the Mer-
camille said "This talk about the perish
ability of paper used for books nowadays
is perfectly true, and our experience here
in the library confirms it only too strong
ly Especially does 1t apply to newspa-
pers. The paper they use is such misera-
BILE stun that have no idea our bound
files will last many years. have taken
down German books and found the pages
crumbling from the mixture of clay
with the paper. Books made out OF the
paper ordinarily used cannot last and
win not last. Book lovers OF the future
will not be able 70 get first editions Of
what are standard works now"