Semi=weekly graphic., 1897-04-07
TS 1.-THE PAPER AGE ,
SINCE PULP CAME INTO USE THFpr
 HAVE BEEN MANY CHANGES

Paper Is Taking the Place Of yooa e.
 and It Is Now Made Ab.o,,+a,e
 Fireproof shirt Bosoms That na-..
 Have to Re Washed.
 Without steam and railways modern society would undoubtedly exist. pnt I what state of intellectual darkoase would be that of civilized menlzina without paper and tl.a gecret of it's man ufaeturel For many years the rag mo. all demands of the paper industry. The increasing diversity of uses to wb;ol, paper and paper pulp have been mt t, the last decade have made it neoeqsarn for manufacturers to cast about for ,no.o effective elementary substances. Boots money, boats, gas pjros impermeablo casks, toys, bottles. pipes, floors. doors i ceilings, architectural ornaments. rooe ing, chimneys and even complete fra. | proof houses are now made of nonor Many claim that it will eventually Snr plant wood, for it will neither ersal, nor warp. t can be triturated, put mn der great pressure and subjected to cas
 tain chemical treatment and will tban take Q high polish and will resist the ef feots of fire better than any other ma. terial known. Paper is gradually spn. planting metal ill certain lines. Iaea. motive wheels have been made of if fo, several years, and even rails for rail
 roads. Tine hext progressive step will ba 1 *. bf c.
 nance, which is not by any means ra. mote possibility. Paper has largely tat
 ell the place of linen. We have nanar collars and cuffs and blankets. An ;n
 genious inventor has devised nanar shirt bosons. which can be torn off lila the pages from ecalendar, thus enabljpg the wearer 10 have a clean shirt frons as often as he desires. It ia ohly q mat. ter Of time before cloths, dressing gowns and entire suits of clothes will be mada from paper. The soldiers of the Japaneqa army were paper trousers and lerseya
 dg5.s winter champaign,
 Wood pulp Is the most effective snb.
 stitute for rags in the manufaeture \, paper. Nearly every species ofwood can l be used. Some kinds yield more than
 others More pulp can be got from vii.
 low and chestnut than from walnut l Different woods give various qualities
 and effects. Aspen will yield q very
 white paper, but defective in solidity and is therefore mixed with fir This
 latter wood is most generally used. t
 was first imported from the Blackforest in Germany The chief supply is now
 obtained in Norway and Finland, inAe
 form of blanks or poles, never exceeding
 3 feet ' or 8 inches.
 Tor the last half century the worlds
 production of paper has increased ten. 1 fold In 1850 it was 22t 1000 metrs l tons. The latest recent estimate was i 2, 900, GOO metric tons. The European manufacturers are suffering from gut
 in production. The price of paper has fallen one.thiras while wages have don.
 led. The European plants are not 50 I progressive as those in this country ] They depend too much upon manual la
 Dor. Tn tho United States the manufao
 turers have substituted machinery for i band work and as a result of the de- i orease in the number of their employees l are enabled to pay high wages.
 Attention has recently been called to
 tue utility Of little known species of | paper called the boabab, or Ansor9
 E is made from the wood of the boabab tree, which is a native of west Africa, and is known there as the monkey bread tree It is found in Abyssinia Senegal and south of Coyo river. Itis If low growth and has very thick trunk. While it rarely attains height Of 25 feet, che trunk is usually 20 to % feet in diameter Tho branches are pen dHlous and bear an edible fruit The in- Her bark of this tree is very flbrous. It is Bsed for making superior wrapper pa pefs, which have great tenaoity. When the inner bark is stripped from the tree, 3 fresh growth supplsnts that taken as4ag, and in 6 couple Of years the tres $ again ID normal condition. The bark is peeled eff Dat once in four years.
 The latest addition to the paper in- dCstrg is 2 sanitary note paper which is claimed to be germproof. It has long haen known that letters frequently spread infectious diseases by means of the germs that contaminate the paper. An English firm has produced paper which is impfegnated with an antiseptic snbstaneo which kills all germs that mayeeme in contact with the paper If tiis paper proves to be what the proprie- tors claim, it is certainly meritorious invention and will become generally gsed by bospitals anl during the rage of future eEidemios.
 Chinese and Japanese papers have long been noted for their quality. It has recently been asoertained, however. that egen finer grades are produced in Korea. One eminent authority states that s.the korean paper exoels the very best that IS made in China and Japan. Itis manufactured entirely by manual labor 1so machinery whatever is employed 1or the better grades the bark of the Broussonetia papyrifera is used. This is gathered in tho spring of the year. It is placed Ill water, mixed with wood ash. es and IS then beaten until it is reduced to thick pulp, which is dipped out ill good sized ladies and spread out in thin sheets upon bamboo frames. A different grade of paper is made from fragments of bark. which are trodden under foot n manner similar to that employed in me grape presses in some countries.