Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1894-11-01
PAP ER MAKING LORE.
EGYPTIANS WE'RE FIRST TO DISCOVER
 TIE GREAT ART
rron verbai Message nearers Q Insoril'-

From Verbal Message nearers to InscriE'-
 tioss Upon stonos and Then Upon Metals.
 maisins feyntian Paper Ti,e Ingenuity
 of tho Chinese.
 Inallages people have been compelled l to communicate with each other. At a very carly period of She world $ existence sonl8 material on which to inscfibe any information waieh they wished toeonvey to others was found necessary. Verbal messages, tboueh often employed by an cient nations asa means of communlea- tion, were not always possible to use Secrets had often 10 be transmitted, and it was d sa9e1o tfial of bearcr's fidelity to inhust him with private affairs Many tales arc related in history and Ill legends of trusty noslenseTs who yiold- ed mp thoir lives rather than make known theacres. which 10 tortureceul drag from their lips. Still failures were not uncommon. and human ingenuity set to work 10 invent soluo material on which to ihseribe signs which could be understood at Q distance
 T mand arose for some material on which records and histories might be written and handed down to posterity. Stones were probably the earliest form of writ iDg nateIial Even at the present day in la&av narts af the world stones are found henina inscriptions It would geea that among tha earlier races of mankind any reeord of great importance was generally engraved apon stone, as being the more likely to Do permanent. The same feeling may Do traced in tho present generation, tho inscriptions on tombs, foundation stones of public build ines and monaaeats.
 Stones not being convenient for the transmission of long messages, though admiralty adapted for receiving insorip- tions intended to outlast dgnastias, oth- CT materials were tried. Lead, brass and bricks were all found to resemble stone too much in it's property of not being portable. Lead was found to be the best. a. 1t could be beaten out into thin sheets and written upon with iron or steel instruments. Its weight, however, was against it Tablets of wood, WAX and ivory. skins Of fishes intestines of serpents, were all employed as substi- tutes and were found te combine the requirements of portability durability and facility of receiving writing.
 Yhe bark of trees when once tried was found to Do superior to most of the other materials, and 1t was employed largely till the Introduction of paper. There aro but few kinds of plants or trees which have not been used in the manufacture of books and paper, and the various terms employed by the classic authors denote the several parts which were written on. such as biblos, codaX, liber. tabula and others
 or paper pfepor itself, 1t is perhaps needless to remind our readers that the name is derived from the papyrus, 6 reed growing on the banks of the Nile. Thonsh Esypt is generally supposed to bo the source whence came the idea of making paper, evidence is not wanting in favor of tue theory that the Chinese were acquainted with the art at Q very early period The Chinese process is more ingenious than that Of the ancient Egyptians, being more of 9 mmlufae- ture, properly speaking, than the other
 The Egyptian paper made from the papyIus was made by laying thin plates of tissue taken from the middle of tho paper rash, side by side, but close to- gether, on a hard, smooth table Other pieces were then laid across the first at right angles. Tho whole was moistened with tho Wator Of the Nile, which was supposed to have some agglutinating property {thousa this probably resided il the plant itselfa and pressure was then applied for certain number of honTs 4has 9 sheet of paper was formed winch required no other finish ing shan rabbing and polishing with q smooth st0no or with asolid glass hem isphese aud drying in tho eun.
 This si1npl process gaa rather Q ptep- arar5en of q natural paper than a1aanu- factare The process adopted by the Chinese eoncss as already ro1narkod, more logif mataly unaer that Lead
 Tho small brauellaa of a tree fesera- bling ? nialbe1ry tfea are eat by them iH lengtlis of abnnt feet and boiled iR on ail.alino lyo for tho saIceof looseniHg the inrc rind 9i bark, which is then peeled oG anddtied fer use When 2 sufiioieat quantity of bark has been thu laid Hp, 1t is 2 zain sofieuad ia water for three CT faW days end the oute parts arc serapel off as usel Theres is boiled ih oiear lye, A5hi1h is keps strongly agitatea all tbe time until tie bull fas become tender and separated into distinct fibers, 1t is then placed in a pan or aiave and washed in a running stream, being at the same time worked with the hands until Il becomes a deli cate and soft pulp.
 For tho finer sorts of paper the pulp receives 6 second washing in linen bag. 1t is then spread out on a smooth table and beaten with q wooden mallet until it is extremely fine So far the manufacture is very much like what is carried on by the paper makers of the present day they having the advantage of better materials than the bank of trees, and machinery HOW pegfea5sis all tho laborious washing @id 1ulpine proc esseS The ingenuity of the t'hineso ilI inventing 50 complicated U process is far superior to that of He Egyptians - Paper Makers .l9alHal
 Did Her Isst.