The Portland daily press., 1896-09-08

needle or root up tree. /" He declared
that ''if the difficulty OF separating the
fibre can be overcome, the benefits to In
dia and the world will be incaIculable. -
IL 1s this problem that the chemists and
maohiniBts of Europe and America have
during the past thirty years been en-
deRvaFing to solve. France and Germany
ct once entered the field with factories
for the extraction OF the fibre. They
worked it up into many forms, from
ropes and sail canvas to plushes and
dress pieces resem bling silk goods In ap-
psarsnce. They failed, however, to pro-
duce flasse. or clean fibre, which should
be at once cheap and servioeable. No
machine or merely mechanical operation
eliminated the resins with perfection
which yielded fine yarns, except at cost
prohibitive of their general use.
The chemists seemed for a time to be
more successful They produced by
means OF various Reagents a flasse
which was at once cheap and apparently
sound. Beautiful fabrics were woven
on the Continent, and the inventors laid
out large capital, in the belief that
they had solved the problem. But by the
the consumers, indeed often before they
passed from the shops Of the retail deal
ers, 1t was found that the chemicals had
injured the fibre, and the goods were
often returned to the makers. Process
after process and machine after machine
failed to extract Rhea fibre which
should be both durable and cheap
The honor Of solving the problem has
fallen to an English chemist, born, we
believe, in India. Mr.. CONFESS after
many experiments elaborated process
which the Indian governments is at
length able to pronounce complete sue
cess. "The difficulties which previously
existed" says the official memorandum
lately issued by its Inspector General of
Forests, lin regard to the extraction of
the valuable textile fibre from the bark
of the Rhea plants have been entirely
overcome by what Is known as
the CONFESS process and large demand
has sprung up for ribbons of dried bark,
with every probability Of its increasing
to enormous proportions.
After referring TO tho operations of the
Rhea Fibre Treatme Mt Company in Lon
don and its dependent associations now
being established throughout India, Eur
npe and America, the official memoran-
dunn proceeds to indicate how the pro-
duotion of the fibre may be increased in
practically unlimited quantities to meet
the demand. "These facts seem to point
to the conclusion that we are on the
es to rival jute cultivation" The In
spsotor- General then draws out a scheme
for aiding the cultlvators by official in
formation as to the areas most suitable
for the growth Of the plant and the va
rieties best adapted to each locality, and
by government experiments as to the
best modes of stripping. dying and
baling the bark. The subject. he insists,
becomes all the more important and
urgent as reports reach us from the
French colonies Of considerable activity
in the Rhea fibre trade, and as Ii would
not be convenient to be outstripped by
them.
The CONFESS process adopts zincate Of
soda for the elimination of the resins,
and effects it without the slightest IN
jury to the fibre. After the ribbons"
or strips of bark have been freed from
dirt they are placed In weak acid baths
for night. Next morning they are
passed through a mild alkaline bath, and
then boiled in weak solutions of oaustic
soda to which zinc has been added. When
washed and dried by the usual mechani-
cal means the fbres emerge as a long
silky, f1lasse, entirely free from the out
icle and res1nous gums in which they
were embedded; clean, white and ready
the most beautiful dyes and can be
worked into every variety Of fabric.
from gorgeous velvets to cheap dills and
delicate laces. The combined lightness
and toughness of the fibre render it
peculiarly suitable for tents and ship
canvas. Three-ffths more cloth Of equal
strength can be made from Rhea than
from the same weight Of linen-that Is
to say, 1000 yards of the Rhea canvas
Its durability and resisting power to
strain are also much greater. The gov
eminent of India ia taking effectual steps
for the rapid extension OF it's cultivation.