Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1893-11-16
THE USEFUL BAMBOO.
YANKEE MACHINERY COMPLETES
WITH JAPANESE FINGERS.

hF" iopuiar. out Contrary to General
Belief They Are Jade In This Country.
Japanese CurtaIna
The light bamboo curtain II giving the
anie privacy TO suburban New Workers
this year that the venetian blind has long
given 10 Wesd lndians mud other dvclers
In warm climates Several years ngo these
rolling cHrtains Of split bamboo made their
appearance In this city under the name Of
Sidarri-, and they were found 80 useful
that they noon became popular favorites,
particularly In the suburban towns. The
suburban New Yorker had fallen into the
habit OF living much In public when out
side the walls Of Ills house.
Fashion decreed long ago that the front
fence must come down, and the ptnzza
usually not far from the street, was go ex
posed thnt IL was useless for comfortable
lounging and demanded the 6amo dress
that must be worn for walking or calling
The BAMBOO curtain came to remedy this
evil and TO give 10 the American piazza
greater privacy and comfort. It Is cheap
enough for the smallest cottage pretty
enough for the most expensive aud useful
Tor everybody who has piazza Like
most things that nrc cheap. pretty and use
ful. 1t hns made place for itself
Possibly there may be some remote ham
let Ia the United States where the bamboo
curtain hns not yet appeared. and for TIE
benefit Of that hnmlet II NAV be ncccssn,;
70 describe IL. II Is simply rolling shade
made Of thin strips Of split bamboo, with "A
round bamboo rod mt top and bottom TO
give IL strength and ropes running through
two small pulleys TO raise IL or let IL down
IL In no loosely nude that the wind whis
ties through 1t readily, yet II has enough
solidity TO make shield from the sun II
may lie run up or down ns easily as any
shade. and II Is not only protection
against the sun but valuable screen to
shield the summer lonngcr from the gnze
OF every pnsSerby II IL used Only upon the
pinzza
The bamboo curtain Is too familiar hero
aboltH TO need nny description for the New
Yorker rrhHn or SUbuIOai, but there are
Home curious things about IL TINT must Mt
tract the idle notice Of the summer lounp
er. IL has foreign look throughout and
seems TO bear the delicate odors Of LACQUER
and line cabinet work that we associate
with Japan. The stats nre tiny things
perhaps quarter Of m inch wide and
sixteenth Of mn inch thick. Wherever the
marks Of n Joint appear they nrc not In one
Stat or two, but In enough OF tho Stats to
cover foot or moro In height, md each
one cXactly over the one below 10, showinp
that all those stats have been deftly cut
from one stalk Of bamboo So neatly aud
evenly is this cutting done that the sum.
mer louuger IL likely to wonder nt tho pa
thence and dcXterity Of the Japanese work
men who make these things
But the patient Japanese workmcn who
make these screens nrG usually good Amer
lean citizcus nnd NIL the foreign look Is
manufactured TO order and by machinery
II iS not In Toxic or Yokohama Tint TIC
bamboo curtains are made, but In New
York or Brooklyn. SidHrris IL n good name
Tor them because II hns far AWAY sound,
and few people know what IL means. The
bamboo In genuine product Of the tropics,
out the manufacturing IN all done on Gag
slue or other % 'Jn.<l.0st rivcr-largely in
Brook lyn. and not far froRl the navy yard
lhi%"pplles, h0wever, only to the bamboo
snR'lts hnd other bamboo work used In nud
about this city Nearly every large city In
the country has Mt least one factory where
bamboo goods Rre made Some of the
largest OF these factories, after those OF
New York md Brooklyn, nre in Philadcl
phia, ST. Louis md San Francisco. In all
OF these factories, although the price of
labor II 20 times higher than In Japan, the
goods nrc made ~ cheaply ~ they eau be
nihde In the east because the work Ii done
with machinery
EeyOnd few ornamental chairs and tn
blcs the bamboo curtain is the first ponu
lnr use To which bamboo has been nut In
this country. IL probably will not be the
Inst. Tor bnmboo has n habit OF making il.
sell no useful wherever II goes that It's nc.
quaintancs Is cultivated The raw mate
rial hns TO bc imported. for bamboo hasnot
yet Ucen successfully raised In this coun,
try The Chinese In California have tried
II, but without any great success Some
lonely trees grow In ST. Augustine IN Flor
Ida, but they nrc mere travVsties upon the
real bamboo OF the tropics
For commercial purposes bamboo comes
TO this country In the holds OF sailing yes
sells, tied up In long cylindrical bundles,
aud the packages Of " that one may fre
quently see unloading In South street are
not good samples Of the bamboo OF the East
Indies, except for business uses. The i'm
mcnsc stalks, sometimes foot thick md
VOfert long, seldom come here, because They
arc not needed Our bamboo goods nrc bet
ter niade from small grOwths, and IL IL rot
much matter whether the stalks nrc Strnight
or crooked. They are often crooked, but
they np easily Strengthened.
Our raw material," ,Ays n maker of
bnmboo goods, comes principally from
China, Japan and India In these three
countries we ilud more than co varieties
ranging between . feet and GO feet In height
aud half an inch aud 4. 10, IL inches In
diameter Every one ot these varieties is
noted for itS durability, It's grcnt tendency
To bend when steamed, its uuiQuc pruprrty
VI splitting Into pieces Of any thicknrS,
desirrd, and the high polish il will take
For any Of these qualities no other wood
compares with IT, In some varictic. the
joints are only from nye to eight inches
apart, aud In others they are upward OF live
!eet apart These larger kinds arc rare
aud arr usol only In the manufacture Of
the more costly furniture
what bamboo articles do we make, A
great many, and still not nearly rs many AS
W. WlkhI hoT IN mNhy IN We probably
shall when Americans come to know ham
boo better Wcmake Sidarris or Japanese
curtains scrcens, trctwork, baskets and
hampers, fancy boxes, parasols, chairs
tools flower stands SettccS, hatrarks
tables, cabinets, brackets, caScls, porticrc>
scrolls aud fancy woodwork of every de
icription Most OF these things. you will
notice, arr taney articles Palmer and
more useful things will come In time. A.
soon ~ then is demand for them we ar,
ready To make half the furnishing and nt
thug OF huUSe from bamboo
DO not coniouud bamboo work with
goods made ot rattan iiambOo is hollow