St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1893-02-16
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RAMIE FIBRE.
.,,jne about a Curious ana tsefui
Somo' Material.

.ol;a in Hayti-ln nearly all
nrr, climes where the proper
Conditions prevail-there grows a ma
;re 6bre-bearing plant OF many lam
lies. and called by many differing
~amcs, but allied throughout The
'" ,n,ercial name by which we
,.o,y it is China Grass" or
"pamie" 1t grows as our wild
..ombIe or blackberry grows,
MANY stalks from four to six feet
,ono from one root or set. These
..olts contain soft pith like "alder.
The crop Of stalks are cut as often
three or four times a year under
cultivation. The pith is removed
mechanically and then there remain
o,m fibre and outside bark, 1t is
then washed, the bark partly
scraned. baled wet, and under pow
rrfuI press packs is almost without
moisture when ready for exporta-
ton
For thousands OF years the inhab-
;,anrs OF those islands in the Pacihc
have used this furious plant to pro-
doce nets for fishing sails and lines
tor their boats, and clothing for
themselves. For countless genera
nons have the Chinese manufactured
cloth from it, and from one select
.necies do they make the unique
mandarin cloth, the use of which IS
prohibited except for the mandarin
only,
The crude methods employed to
obtain the fibre, and thegreat beauty
oft, have for 100 years called the
nossibilities OF this fibre 10 the at
tention of textile men. Some 4C
wears ago a quantity of this hbre II
bale and the gum and bark on it wa:
imported into England. The meth
cd employed to extract the gum ant
remove the bark was an improve
ment on, but substantially the sam
as before-machinery being employ
ed instead OF hand, but washln;
and macerating and boiling ant
beating to separate and remove tn
cum. Although much i'll advance Q
the native method, ii was but par
tial success, and much time and la
Dor was spent to make it a CONNER
cal success. 1t was found that
though possessing many new an
desirable qualities, it was q mos
stubborn subject; it could not b
made to work kindly as mixture
nor alone, because ii still retained
certain amount otlateut gum, gul
OF the most viScouS quality, and tt
thread would remain SO why, :
elastic, so strong and harsh thu
when the cloth showed signs OF wef
it was found that the mixture W.
gone, but the new thread was il
tact, thus giving no help or prote
ton, but rather cause OF wear.
This proved too much. 1t VIZ
abandoned commercially. But the
were men who saw and believed
the future of this fibre and were sa
iShed that the nou-SuccesS lay not
the fibre but in the process to o
tam it. They kept on experimental
some on one line, some on others.
was found most difficult and We
tedious to expel satiStacto
amount OF gum by macerating WI
either hot or cold water. 1t led al
to the discovery that any eXhibiti'
OF chlorine gas as basis OF t
bleaching had for result the paral!
ing of this fibre, which after a III
began odisintegrate and fall in pc
der Finally there was arrived at
chemical combination that wot
rapidly and completely eliminate
last trace ofgum, leaving the fibre |
shorn of its strength, soft, pliable a
'''NiO JUS containing NOipi ~ i'''N
only This was speedily followed
combination that does also elil
nate the colorng matter, and WI
leaving the fibre of pure pc
white, the strength and quality o
remain intact. These combinatit
have been experimental with dur
years of patient effort and at
over 5000 separate recorded tri
to assume permanent and unto
results, and now it is enabled
say that there is in practice toe
no other known process that will
thoroughly, so quickly and chea
develop this fibre.
The question of developing
hbre to the fore then remained;
question of manufacturing with
making great waste was now
1t was still needed that the II
should be reduced to length SUITE
Tor cotton and wooden machine
This caused great waste, and w
IN the case of wooden machines
was used with this fibre the lu
had vanished; and when tor
poses in combination with colt
the reduction caused much WI
and expense. 1t does not yet el
INTO its appropriate sphere OF b'
tiiul textures, urder present meth
OF manipulation. Again an impr'