The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1894-02-03
MANUFACTURE OF PAPER.


The announcement that good quar-
ity of coarse paper has been made in
Kansas from the stalks of the sun
flower that have given the state its
nickname is not of very great inn
portance, but each utilization Of .
waste product or a useless growth is OF
interest and marks one step, even
though it be a short one, in the
triumph of man over matter. Pretty
nearly every vegeta BILE substance with
any strength of fiber has now been
utilized in the manufacture of paper,
and in the vegetable, as in the
animal and mineral Kingdoms,
the list of absolutely useless sub
stances is fast diminishing be-
fore the progress of invention and the
perpetual demand for cheaper methods
of production that the labor of day
may exchange for greater number OF
articles needed by man.
While the ingenuity of the paper
maker in this country has been ap.
piled to the problem OF cheaper pro
duction, and ono substitute after an.
other for cotton rags has found its way
to the paper mill, a portion at least OF
the French ingenuity has been applied
to the production of an exceptionally
durable paper, and ramie, or China
grass, has been found to yield q paper
of remarkable pliability and durabili-
ty. From it are made the notes OF the
Bank of France, and this paper is said
to last far longer than any other bank
note paper and to be much more dill.
cult of imitation. Thus the ramie
finds a field Of limited but very honor.
able usefulness, though 1t has disap.
pointed, with great loss of money,
those who had hoped to see
it displace all other vegetable fibers in
the production of textiles. When our
civil war cut of the supply of cotton
from Europe there were those who saw
in ramie the successor of the innocent
cause of African slavery in America,
and of the secession of eleven states
from the American Union. Ramie did
not supplant cotton, and has since been
offered as substitute for linen. 1t is
said to wear five times as well, and to
retain its gloss. But it is no cheaper;
it is rather more expensive, and Amer.
lean housekeepers have not yet grown
accustomed to spreading their tables
with its woven tissues. 1t is not less
serviceable as substitute for hemp,
but the difficulty of getting the fiber
free from the rest of the stalk thus far
limits its utility. The French manu-
facturers who usc it import it from
China partly decorticated by print
tive process that is justified only by the
extreme cheapness of Chinese labor, Of
which we have heard somewhat in this
country, and the process is completed
with French machinery.
And so, while ramie has not yet de
throned cotton or linen. it has proved
it's very great superiority to silk in the
manufacture of banl-notc paper. and
now that the Sherman law has beer
repealed and the retirement of silver
suggests an increased use of notes AND
perhaps the creation of banks of issue
by each member of our political Onion
the superiority of ramic paper for cur
rency purposes is worth the careful
consideration of the treasury officiall
and of the state bank superintendents
Were it not too expensive for promis
cuous nse ramie would bring comfort
to the anxious souls that have of late
been sorrowing over much because oul
paper was NOT nearly so durable as the
paper Gutenberg printed on, and oul
books are destined to crumble into dus'
before they acquire sufficient age Il
interest the collector. The fragility
of our paper, however, is q subjec'
for congratulation rather than regret
When books were produced by scribel
it was well that they should be made
of vellum, for the results should be q,
durable as the process was tedious
With the slow and clumsy printing
from the time of Gutenberg to thu
utilization of steam as the motive pow
er of the preas-room it was we'll thal
books should be printed ON paper made
from pure linen, for the reproduction
of book was matter of some ex
pense and time. But with the extraor
binary activity of the present day and
the wonderful development of printing
machinery, each seeking to outstril
the other, and leaving the astonishet
beholder wondering whether the writ
ers or the presses will win, the result
would be disastrous If pages and bind
ings were as durable as they wers
once, and as it was then for thu
| interest of mankind that they
should be. Indeed, the material o
books is not yet sufficiently cvenescent
Most of the books and magazines AMI
papers are designed to be read bu
once, and if they would resolve them
selves back into dust within Eve year,
it would save labor and probably pro
mote the reproduction of the reall,
durable things in literature. Tha
which was worth keeping could easil,
be reprinted, and that which was no
worth keeping might better be in tn
dust heap than REMEMBERING tn
shelves. The invention Of paper tina
will not last may cause great distress
of mind to those book lovers for whom
q volume is ruined when the leaves ar
cut, but it il tho salvation Of an az
when every woman wishes to write /,
book and every man desires to writ,
for the papers, and the too ingeniou
pressman has invented machinery capa
BILE of printing all that everybody cal
write.-N. Y. journal of Commerce.
Egyptian Fapyri.
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