St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-07-09
The USES OF PAPER.
a Review Of the Manifold
Ways in Which 1t Is
Utilized.
Wonderful Developments in
the Perfection Of It's
Texture.
Vast Numbers Of People in
the Business of Working
It. Into Beauty.
All the Colors of the Rainbow
Reproduced by Artistic
Makers.

A few years ago we, in our self-Suffi-
cheney, were accustomed to laugh about
the uses to which the Chinese and Jap
aneSe put paper. We used it, to be
sure, to write letters Oh and tie up par
GELS in or as a medium for spreading the
daily news; but beyond that we scoffed
at the idea of its usefulness. Even
now few people are aware of how many
are the uses to which it can be put. We
thought III those days that it was only a
travellers tale when we were told that
the Chinese used it III building houses;
and, indeed, this state of mind is not to
be wondered at when we knew it only
as the frail thing that bore the name
with US. We knew that paper, at one
stage of its being. was pulp. but we
did not know 10 what that pulp could
be brought by immense pressure and
the JudiciOuS use of chemicals. Then we
began to hear Of certain kinds of paper
that were being made 10 be used in in
creaSing the warmth of our dwellings.
Then our gr0cerS showed us buckets
and pans and plates of various kinds
that they said were made of paper.
And next six head of car wheels and
beams for buildings and boxes and
trunks; i'll fact, there was scarcely
any purpose for which we had been &C
cuStOmed TO use wood for which this
Light. Strong Stranger
was not better fitted. AS long ago as
any OF US can remember we have seen
paper used i'll making flowers; but the
stltf-lOoking bouquets, in their sitter
vases, that graced the high mantels and
round tables of the seldom used parlCrS
of our youth, filling i'll some vague way
the craving for brightness and beauty
III the dull lives OF the women of that
day, have very little to recommend
them. And even later, when this thin,
soft material began to assume more
artistic form, the term paper bric-a-
brac" was used as reproach, or to deS-
lgnate various articles that made their
appearance at art rooms and fairs. 1t
must be admitted that the first punches
OF blue roses and red, blue and
green SnOWballs were more gorgeous
than tasteful, and even when the roses
ceased to be blue and blushed more nat
urally, and the SnowballS paied to their
garden hue, stiffness and eXaggeratiOn
were WarrantaUle criticisms
There were still, however, some dis
corning, artistic souls among manufact-
urers, who were conscious of the posi-
bilitles that Slumhered in paper. and
kept to work trying to realize them.
They brought 1t out in ever-increaSing
beauty of fiber and widening variety
OF tint, till the display of long, dropping
sprays of wisteria. showing every grad
uatlOn of color, from ashes of roses
through lavender and heliotrope
20 deep violet. the thick cluster looking
so like nature that one almost bent to
feel their perfume, opened the eyes of
Scoffing public to the artistic beauties of
this delicate fabric. Now we had
Achieved Success
in working with plain surface paper,
and among those who had made the
most signal success was a young woman
III an Eastern town, who may be called
the founder of paper tiowermaking. Left
while quite young to earn her own Iiv.
ing, as we'll as to aid her mother and
sisters in making theirs, she began to
experiment in copying natural flowers
IN paper. Where the shading required
she made use OF her brush and water
cOlOrS. Her limitations were so true to
nature that they were soon being used
as accessory to the natural flowers for
decorative purposes, and 10! the ques-
ton of how one family was to gain all
honest living was answered. From
one room IN her mothers house to
little shop apart was only a step; from
the shop in a suburban town to a big
store IN New York city was only an
other step, and the business was
launched on the world. Now there are
shops i'll every town of any size where
one may purchase not only the required
material for making any flower, but the
finished flowers themselves. And the
uses to which these flowers are put are
numberlesS.
The introduction of the exquisite Jap
aneSe crepe paper has opened up an al
most unlimited vista of decorative posi-
bilities. This paper is a deucately fin
ished product Of the manufacturers art
with what might be called a corrugated
surface. 1t Is soft to the touch, yet very
strong in fiber. We knew it first in the
paper napkin which gained a somewhat
tieeting popularity at church suppers
and picnics. The paper is bought by
the yard and is twenty inches wide.
The cOrrugatiGn is caused by some me-
chanlcal manipulation which creases
the originally smooth paper into tinv
folds or tuckS that run across its width,
SO that lengthwiSe piece is capable of
being stretched to twice its length. It
is this quality OF stretching that gives it
special value in making any of the
dainty things produced by the clever
fingers that have become skilled in its
use. Once the knowledge of fashioning
it is acquired, it is possible to COPY al
most any flower that grows, so wide is
the variety of color and shade to be had,
The list includes probably
100 Different Hues.
And when color tints are wanted on
either light or dark bodies water coIors
produce beautiful effects, because the
paper is highly porus and the color
spreads fast enough to prevent hard
outlines. The list of articles that can
be made of this material is almost
limitleSs. There are lovely SPRAYS of
morning glOrieS to decorate clusters of
Violets, life-like punches of shaggy
chrysanthemumS and stiff but stately
tulips. Single large flowers are used for
table decorations in this way. Tulips
of crepe paper are especially realistic,
and are made of bright red paper and
given spread enough to admit of a
pastboard box being put inside.
The stem is curled up on one side
serves for a handle. These are used
for water ices. Beautiful bonbon boxes
are made by using plain pasteboard
box for foundation, covered on one
side with white on the other with violet