Omaha daily bee., 1896-11-01

fabrics OF various kinds and put to the or
dinary uses. Still, another Frenchman has
found way to make excellent sailcloth out
of pulp, and another genius makes very
good grade OF carpet lining, which furnishes
a mothproof and elastic foundation for the
carpet. Yet another inventor, of Vienna,
has found process for the manufacture OF
artificial leather from reed beech and claims
that a sole leather can thus be obtained
superior to animal leather in firnness and
durability
A pair OF English chemists have discov-
cred a way to make waterproof paint of
wood pulp, which is sprayed over buildings
ships and the like. The process is simple
and inexpensive and for painting large sur
faces much is expected Of it. Still, again, a
Frenchman has found a way to make paper
bags that are impervious to water, and a
Berlin inventor has produced a fireproof
paper, thin and of good quality. For that
| matter. not long ago wood pulp works con-
structed a stove out of paper, which an
swered every purpose as II 1t had been made
of iron. 1t was, however purely an expert
| ment. Paper window panes were made sew
eral years ago in this country, and these
have latterly been much improved on in
France. They have the appearance of milky
glass and are admirable for greenhouse use.
In the latter country, too, portable houses are
now made of wood pulp, very successfully,
and good grade OF pulleys as well.
FUTURE POSSIBILITIES.
Paper boats and especially paper canoes
are not at all new but they have not come
into general use as II was expected a few
years ago that they would. Paper cuspidors,
however, are to be found everywhere, and
pals. flower pos and similar articles are
now in common use. Paper furniture, tables,
chairs and the like are as yet a novelty,
So too, is imitation porcelain ware,
paper barrels, wagon wheels. horse
shoes and the like. But all OF these are
hnin do in, nd Ind 20
possibilities fer the future
The latest advance in the art, that of silk
making, can now be said to be successful
beyond question or doubt Artificial silk is
being made in considerable quantities by
two English mills, and by several others in
France. There is really nothing so very
wonderful about 1t, since it is simply doing
mechanically and chemically what the silk
worm does. The latter simply eats up the
leaves of the mulberry tree digests them
adds certain glue and spins the celulose-
like stuff thus formed into its cocoon. The
new process similarly takes a suitable wood
pulp, treats it chemically, and forces this
mixture through fine tubes into running
water, where ii hardens and the thread thus
formed is caught up by delicate fingers,
dried and spun into an ordinary silk thread
| The fabric made from this thread is said
to be detectible from real silk only by means
OF the microscope; II is susceptible of the
highest finish, can be dyed in any colors is
strong and durable. and is very much
cheaper than silk fabrics made from the
product of the silk worm.
Perhaps 1t would be regarded as hoax
II were to say that a fine Havana cigar
may likewise be made from ordinary pulp,
which only an expert can detect. but 1t is
nevertheless a fact; and the sole reason
that the manufacture is not general is that
1t is not now commercially profitable. Here,
too, is nothing wonderful. since the source
OF smokers delight is simply a mesh OF
taEtnless vegetables. favored with certain
chemicals The laboratory process OF the
soil may be perfectly duplicated in the
laboratory of the chemist, just as the work
of the silk worms belly may be duplicated
by machine. II is a wide and stretching
vista which these facts suggest, and 1t re-
quires no vivid imagination to plot the bor-
ders OF the future OF synthetic chemistry.
II. F. J0KOSA.