Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1893-09-01
USEFUL Is THE BAMBOO
THE RAW MATERIAL COMES FROM
THE FAR EAST,
And American Machinery Works II
Up Into Many Articles, Including
Whetstones Its Unique Properties

q t1eu up IN long cyllnur1cal
bundles; and the packages of it that
one may frequently see unloading in
South street are not good samples of
the bamboo of the East Indies, except
for business uses. The immense stalks,
sometimes foot thick and sixty feet
long, seldom come here, because they
are not needed. Our bamboo goods
are better made from small growths,
and it is not much matter whether the
stalks are straight or crooked They
are often crooked, but they are easily
Strengthened. From the ship they go
to the factory and one of the largest
makers of bamboo goods in Brooklyn
gives to a New York Sun reporter this
account of their manufacture in this
country:
"Our raw material, he says, "comes
principally from China, Japan and
India. In these three countries we
find more than sixty varieties, rang
ing between two feet and sixty feet in
height and half an inch and eight, ten,
twelve inches in diameter. Every one
of these varieties is noted for its dura-
bility, its great tendency to bend when
steamed, its unique property of split
ting into pieces of any thickness de-
sired, and the high polish it will take.
For any of these qualities no other
wood compares with it. In some vari-
cites the joints are only from five to
eight inches apart, and in others they
are upward of five feet apart. These
larger kinds are rare and are used only
in the manufacture of the more costly
furniture.
''What bamboo articles do we make
A great many, and still not nearly as
many as we might, nor as many as we
probably shall when Americans come
to know bamboo better. We make
Sidarris, or Japanese curtains, screens,
fret work, baskets and hampers, fancy
boxes, parasols, chairs, stools, flower
stands, settees, hat racks, tables, cab
inets, brackets, easels, portieres, scrolls,
and fancy wood work of every descrip-
tion. Most of these things, you will
notice, are fancy articles Palmer and
more useful things will come in time.
AS soon as there is demand for them
we are ready 10 make half the furnish
ing and fitting of house from bamboo.
''Such as what you ask? Water
buckets, for instance, to begin with
There is no better water pail in the
world than section of big bamboo,
fitted with solid bottom and han
die. Then bottles, ornamental columns,
fancy water pipes, whetstones-fa far too
many things, in fact. for me to men
tion. Among the more important I
may mention flower pots. You have
no idea of the beauty of bamboo flower
pots unless you have seen them, and
there is no end to their durability. In
the botanical gardens of Jamaica, at
Castleton, thousands of these bamboo
flower pots are III use, ranging from
three inches to foot in diameter. each
fitted with wooden bottom. They
cost fraction of cent each, and they
last forever.
"You are surprised at my mention
ing whetstones among the products OF
bamboo? 1t makes capital whetstones,
being as hard as firt In Eastern
countries the natives frequently make
knives of it. But that requires the
best kind of bamboo. Only three
species of the plant grow in this coun-
try, and they are all inferior kinds
The Cinnamon in Califor nia have raised
considerable quantities, but the quality
is not good.
"We regard bamboo as a mammoth
sort of grass. 1t bears flower, and
sometimes, though not often, pro-
duces seed. The stalks decay and
drop away. but new shoots rise to take
their place. The tips and buds are
edible, and in times of want the ma
tives live upon them. The leaf of the
plant is succulent, and is often fed to
cattle. We could use American BAN
boo for some purposes, but it is SO
cheap in the East that its cultivation
in this country could hardly be made
profitable. 1t reaches us generally in
the Chinese-American merchantmen,
and bears very close stowage. The
only secret in our business is the use
of steam, and that is no secret at ALL
Hard as bamboo is, when steamed it is
as pliable as putty, and may be bent
into any desired shape. We put the
stalks into long steam boxes, and
steam them until they are almost
pulp. While in this state the crooked
ones are Strengthened and the various
articles are made. They are then
dried, and become as hard and sub
stantial as they were before. We
have slarge rooms expressly for the
drying of finished articles with artifi-
cial heat. After the drying, whatever
fancy touches are needed are put on
with hot iron. This if the only salts
factory way, for when the bamboo is
dry it is so hard that it is difficult to
work it even with the best instru-
ments.
"Those joints in the bamboo cur
tains? You will readily see how the
joints in a dozen strips are exactly
parallel when you see how they are
made. The stalk is run through .
splitter, n little machine which cuts
ten, twenty, perhaps fifty strips from,
each stalk, making them of any width
or thickness desired These strips are
then taken up by the binders, the
cords which hold them together in the
curtain, and if the bamboo is large
one, the same knot or joint may run
through fifty or hundred strips.
''We do not put as many fancy
touches to our bamboo work rs the
foreipners do Nearly all foraion