Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-07-15
USES OF WOOD PULP.
HOW THE FORESTS ARE BECOMING
 RAPIDLY DEPLETED.

A Vast Industry-How It Is Supplanting Other and More Common Materials. Light, Strong. Elastic, Tough and Dura- ble-Process of Its Manufacture.
 [Specirl Correspondence.l
 ARLINGTON, Vt., July 9.-One has need to visit these mountain or woodland dis tricts and to como in contact with practical woodsmen to realize in even an approxi- mate degree how vast an interest is that of making wooG pulp and how completely the product is supplanting other and moro familiar ones.
 The simple statement, made on un- doubted authority, that the daily supply of one New York paper requires ten acres of available spruce lumber, or the yearly consumption 3, 500 acres, is in itself suffi- cient to startle the average reader and to account for much of the forest talk that is heard on all sides. In the United States there are upward of 20, 900 periodicals, and their ombincd consumption is something enormous. When one reflects that these figures, big as they are, represent only the newspaper demand, can he wonder at the apprehension felt lest in time we have no forests?
 The average householder is familiar with wood fiber in D hundred convenient forms, and tho term instantly suggests to him lightweight utensils, convenient boxes and the like. To learn that the same product is utilized for sails, for boats, for shoes, stock ings, bicycle tires, bricks and rake teeth is to sustain a surprise that is almost a shock Yet all these objects and more arc alrea y on the market, and daily expert ments sce constantly bringing to light flu ture possibilities and adding to the list. Cloth From Wood Pulp. England, Germany and France all arc ahead of us in manufactures and have ap- piled tho pulp to moro uses than we have, ] but ono has only to indulge in an hours | chat with a clever woodsman to discover | that our vast forests are fast melting away. Just at this spot there is no factory, but am told local interest has been aroused l and there is to be one built close by. All | around Us, however, arc the hills with | their spruce growth, and the actual manu- 1 facture is now going on not many miles | away. A piece of the crude damp paper | just out of the press was put into my hands only a few days ago, and it is indeed | difficult to realize that this curious dbrous substance, exhaling a decided odor of tho woods, can, in slightly different form, be | made into q cloth so closely resembling cotton as to pass Cor such to inexperienced l eyes. To be sure, the manufacture of cloth | from wood pulp is as yet in its infancy, | but recognized organ of the wood in- l dustry tells us that samples have como | from Leeds England, and that the fabric is certain to be put upon the market before long, and that at prices which are aston ishingly cheap. The wood is put through some chemical process which rcduH3s it to soft white pulp, which in turn is put through perforated plates, the resulting threads being dried by a steaming process and being so turned out in perfect condi- tion for the wcavcr'S hand. When woven, it is found susceptible of taking any dye | and requires only to be perfected in strcnGt.. ID become a formidable rival to cotton ,..... Experiments arc daily being made owe this one weakness, and it is .'....'. ..n that within an extremely short time that last drawback will be re- moved.
 In Gcrmany good, durable stockings are already made, and shoes arc being expcri mcntcd with SD successfully that it is not improbable VIC may yet bc clothed entire with products made wholly from the wood pulp.
 l Bricks are being made from it already or rather substitutes for bricks, and ont EngliShman of q pioneering frame of mint is said to have constructed his entire house both within and without, from the pulp il its various forms.
 | Horses arc already shod with the heavy | substantial paper, so called, and it i: l claimed that the new shoes have many ad vantagcs oveT the old. They arc assuredly lighter, which fact the horse must consider a great gain, and they havc the great nd l vantage of securing better footing O1 slippery roads.
 ] If perforated with the necessary hole while damp, tkey can be nailed to the hoo after the usual method, but arc frequentl, made fast with glue, a possibility whicl in itself comments them to the human, mind. Burning tho hoof and driving nail into it may be painless, but surely a ligh shoo glued fast is an improvement.
 Durable Window Panes.
 Sails made from it are airtight are elas tic, arc durable and do not easily tear With such a list of virtues, can they fail tC mako their place? Tho pulp yields t' pressure and returns to it's normal stat after tho manner of rubber, while at tn same time it is much lighter than tho Int ter substance, SD that sails made from | get all the advantage of the elasticity witt nonc of the disadvantage of weight. GuI turrctS, by means of this samc quality O elasticity, have been vastly improved whel made of pulp, and as if to add still anOth or terror to modern warfare the pulp ron dcrs tho sharpShootcr approximately not entirely safe. His cage, so to speak is bound and braccd with steel, but tn pulp makes tho entire surface and receive such shots as arc aimed at the eXpcr | within. It is soft and yielding yet firm It receives the bullet, which imbcds itsel and does no harm. From the loopholc 0 rifle slip cut for his use the sharpshootc can pursue his deadly work and feel littl alarm because of return fire. This neN product can be made perfectly translucent is unbrcakakle, or practically so, end is iu different to atmospheric changes Unlcs
 destroyed with n h;,tchNt