Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-25
c O IN TALK PIT H
It is to Be an Element Of National De-
Tense.
CellulOse for Armored Vessels IL to
BE Produced In Large Quantities
mt a Western Mill.
From the Chicago Record.

From a nuisance in farm economy the
ccrnstalil has become a valuable product
1t has attained to the dignity of "a a ton
rating, and now is daily arriving in great
loads from all parts Of Winnebago county
and is being piled in immense stacks on the
grounds of the Marsden Development Com
pany at Rockford.
Already there are several thousand tons
of the stalks collected and by the time the
crop is all in there will be many times as
many on hand. The present year was not a
good one for stalk development and the
average crop does not exceed 1000 pounds
an acre, but normally nearly twice this
amount would be realized and valuable
addition made to the farms bank balance
at the end of the year.
The vast piles of stalks will be turned
into marketable product before summer
comes again and the beginning of a great
Industry will have been fairly made in Hi
noiS.
Ii the claims and hopes of the officials of
the company are realized the benefit to the
world at large will be stupendous financial
ly and great waste in agricultural econ
omy will be stopped 1t Is stated on good
authority that the crop of cornstalks in the
United States for 1895 reached the immense
aggregate of l60,0OO,O00 tons, and this of q
product unfit for food for man or beast.
Although the process Is secret and the
agents of the concern will neither allow in
spection Of the plant nor Indicate the
methods employed, the general idea Of the
operation which converts the stiff fiber
covered pith into merchandise is quite SIM
pie. The stalk is ground very fine and the
resulting commnuted mixture of pith and
fiber, the two differing greatly in specific
gravity, is separated by the use of strong
air blast and the action of gravity, the
heavy fiber first falling, while the pith is
carried on by the blast to another RECEIPT
acle There is no waste product; the
heavier part the fiber which has composed
the stalk and blades. is put in sacks and
goes as stock food, while the pith is sacked
and as corn cellulose goes to the eastern
market to aid in armoring battleships.
The stalk yields pith and fiber in about
equal quantities, but on the scales the tale
Is different, the pith not being more than
~ per cent of the product. The stock food
IS estimated to be about equal TO hay as a
STOCK ration, and serves the same purpose
that of a base for feeding heavier rations
The discovery of the possibility of utiliz-
ing the cornstalk was made through the
use Of cellulose in naval construction. It
was found soon after the adoption of az
mored craft that they were more liable to
dangerous leaks. If the armor were once
penetrated, than wooden vessel would be-
being less buoyant. With the DEVELOPMENT
of modern heavy ordnance of wonderful
penetrat1ve power the question became a
serious one. 1t was solved by French de-
slsners The vulnerable of the ship
is not large the most dangerous breaks be-
ing but little below the water The French
plan provided for the construction of all
arching false deck from point few feet
below the waterline to the deck leaving a
space about thirty inches wide between this
deck and the outer shell Of armor the side
OF the battleship. This space is densely
packed with cellulose, slowed by hydraulic
pressure. In the French construction CO.
ccanut fiber was used and answered fairly
!ne requirements. 1t remained for Mr.
Marsden to apply the despised pith of the
corhstalk IN place of the more expensive
Cocoannt
To decide the fate of corn celulose n
pulkhead was built of armor plate and filled
with cellulose the corn product and Cocoa
nut article being given equal chances 1t
was arranged to puncture the arrnor and
hiling with an eight-inch and six-inch nro-
Jecuie and Instantly to flood that side of
the bulkhead from which the shots entered
so mat the holes would be five feet under
wafer, giving a test pressure of two and
ohe-nait pounds to the square inch Under
this test the cocoanut showed leakage of
one gallon of water a minute through the
eiSht-inch wound. while the smaller amer
ture admitted the passage of one-half gal
ION But the corn pith had allowed the hall
TO pass through and had sprung back into
place. swelling so that the water had not
even dampened the celulose at the point
where the ball made its exit
the corn pith possesses in n remarkable
degree the property of swelling when moist
ure is at hand The moment water enters
wound tn, packing swells to meet the
incursion and in a few moments tho ni,h
nas sWeied into a solid bod that vii reIth
er tdmit the water nor wash away
ne celluiose from the Rockford plant is
shipped TO the main warehouse of the com
p 'y at Philadelphia and thence is dis
tiiouteu TO consumers. As vet there 10
shSnt consumption of the materal in the
west although there are several ipstitu
IONS experimenting with it,