The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-08-09
lessons THE COST OF PAPER
Invention of Wisconsin Man BY
which Pine Slabs Are irais-
formed.

James Lappen, the young paper max
err of Appleton, has discovered a new
liqllid for making paper pulp of wood.
He is now in Milwaukee getting pat
ent and looking for capital to start a
stock company.
Mr.. happens invention has aIreaay
received a great deal OF attention III
American and English newspapers.
The new liquor" as Mr.; Lappen Terms
if. is made OF chemicals mixed IN d
manner which Mr.. Lappen keeps Sc
cret. The advantage of the new liquor
over that now used in paper pulp man
ufacture are, he says, many and great
By means of the powerful liquor now
used only spruce can be made into pa
per pulp, but Mr.. Lappens mixture
transforms pine, especially SLABS anu
edgings, spruce, Eastwood, poplar, heIh-
lock and tamarack into paper pup ne
liquor now used in the paper mills eats
the tanks and machinery and gives OFF
violent fumes of sulphur, he states,
while his liquor does not corrode and
has no disag reeable odor
The inventor claims further that his
LIQUOR is much less expensive than that
in use. and he guarantees to reduce the
cost of making pulp from 90 to 10 per
cent. This, he claims, will enable hlm
to sell paper II cent pound less than
now and still make good proht
AS an incidental saving Mr.. Lappen
mentions that spruce costs 81 a cord
at the paper mills in Appleton or Min
eral Point, while the pine which his
LIQUOR can transform into paper pulp
costs half as much or less.
One of the important advantages
claimed by Mr.. Lappen for his liquor
is that it cooks the wood to pulp in the
digester in six hours or less. Inc pa
per pulp process at present requires
that the pieces of spruce be cooked LOT
a much longer time.
The quality Of paper produced by Mr..
happens improved method is remark
ably good, judging from the samples
which he has. They were wonderfully
firm and pliart and the color was very
good.
One of the samples shown is as thick
and firm as leather, and this sample
has attracted the attention OF three
Milwaukee shoe manufacturers, with
whom the inventor is now negotiating.
They believe the leathery paper can be
used for inner soleS, heels and Shanks.
The complete success of Mr.. Lappen's
improved method of making paper pulp
was demonstrated a few weeks ago in
the plant of the Mineral Point Linen
and Fiber company. The tests were
thorough and Mr.. Lappen convinced
the paper manufacturers of Mineral
Point, Appleton and the valley. Tons
of paper were made by Mr.. Lappen,
and Phil Allen of the Linen and Fiber
company especially inspected the tests.
Mr.. Allen is cashier of the First Ma
tional bank of Mineral Point, and he
has interested himself in Mr.. Lappen's
behalf Figuring slab wood at $3.50 and
labor at $3.50 a day, the cost of the
paper pulp which Mr.. Lappen made at
Mineral Point was SIT a ton. The cost
by the other process, using the old sui
phurous liquor, is, Mr.. Lappen says,
from $50 to $35 a ton.
One of the experts who have inves-
tigated Mr. Lappen's improvements is
Elmer Pope Of Kaukauna, who made
paper at the Worlds fair. He, too, was
convinced by the Mineral Point demon
stration, Mr.. Lappen says.
While experimenting with the new
liquor Mr.. Lappen found that it would
separate the sEive from flax far better
than any other known process, leaving
a clear linen fiber, which can be used
for twines and fine paper. The cost of
separating the shive by Mr.. Lappen's
process is only $25 ton, including the
cost of the straw. This feature alone
is, in the inventors estimation, enough
to make his discovery of great value