Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-04-19
fS TT THE PAPER AGE !?
SINCE PULP CAME INTO USE THERE
 HAVE BEEN MANY CHANGES.


 and Iron-Tt Is Now Made Absolutely
 Fireproof = shirt Bosoms That Don,s
 Have to Be Washed
 Without steam and railways modern society would undoubtedly exist. But what state of intellectual darkness would be that of civilized mankind without paper and the secret of it's man. ufaoture! For many years the rag met all demands of tho paper industry. The increasing diversity of uses to which paper and paper pulp have been put in the last decade have made 1t necessary for manufacturers to cast about for more effective elementary substances. Boots. money, boats, gas pigs, impermeabls casks, toys, bottles, pipes, floors, doors, ceilings, architectural ornaments, roof Ing, chlmneys and even complete fire proof houses are now made of paper. Many claim that it will eventually sun. plant wood, for 1t will neither crack uor warp. It can be triturated, pat un- der great pressure and subjected to cer- tain chemical treatment and will then take high polish and will resist the ef- fects of fire better than any other ma terial known. Paper is gradually SUD- planting metal i'll certain lines. Loco- motive wheels have been made of it for several years, and even rails for rail- roads. Tie next progressive step will be to use it for. the manufacture of ord. nance, which is not by any means re. mote possibility. Paper has largely talk. en the place of linen We have paper collars and cuffs and blankets An in. genious inventor has devised paper shirt bosoms which can be torn off like the pages from calendar, thus enabling the wearer to have clean shirt frons as often as he desires. It is only a mat ter of time before cloths, dressing gowns ard entire suits of clothes will he made from paper The soldiers of the Japanese army wore paper trousers and jerseys during thei~ famous winter campaign
 Wood pulp is the most effective sub- stitute for rags ill the manufacture of paper Nearly every species of wood can be used Some kinds yield more than others. Nor pulp can be got from vii. low and chestnut than from walnut. Differeht woods give various qualities and effects. Aspen will yield very white paper, but defective i'll solidity, and is therefore mixed with fir This latter wood is most generally used. 1t was first imported from the Black forest, in Germany. The chief supply is now obtained in Norway and Finland, in the ferm of blanks or poles, never exceeding feet 2 or inches.
 For the last half century the worlds production of paper has increased ten fold. In 1850 it was 22l. 900 metric tons line latest recent estimate WAS 2. 1000, ,000 metric tons. Tie European manufacturers arc suffering from giut in production. The price of paper has fallen onetbird, while wages have dou- led. The European plants are not SC progressive as those in this country They depend too much upon manual Ia. bor In the United States the manufao- turers have substituted machinery for hand work, and as result of the de. crease ill the number of their employees are enabled to pay high wages.
 Attention has recently been called to the utility of little known species of paper called the boabab, or Ansonia. 1t is made from the wood of the boabab tree, which is native of west Africa, and is known there as the monkey bread tree, It is found in Abyssinia, Senegal and south of Coyo river. It is If low growth and has very thick trunk While 1t rarely attains q height of 25 feet the trunk is usually 20 10 25 feet in diameter The branches are pen dulous and bear an edible fruit. The in- ner bark of this tree is very fibrous. It is used for making superior wrapper pa pers, which have great tenaeity. When the inner bark is stripped from the tree, q flesh growth supplants that taken away, and in q couple of years the tree is again ip uo1mal condition. The bark is peeled off Dut once i'll four years.
 The latest addition to the paper ill dustry is a sanitary note paper which is claimed to be germproof It has long been known that letters frequently spread infectious diseases by means of the germs that contaminate the paper. An English firm has produced paper which is impregnated with an antiseptic substance which kills all germs that may come in contact with the paper. If this paper proves to be what the proprie- tors claim, it is certainly meritorions invention and will become generally used by hospitals anl daring the rage of future epidemics
 Chinese and Japanese papers have long been noted for their quality. It has recently been ascertained, however, that even finer grades are produced ill Korea One eminent authority states that "the Korean paper excels the very best that is made ill China and Japan. It is manufactured entirely by manual labor No machinery whatever is employed For the better grades he bark of the Broussonetia papyrifera is used. This is gathered in the spring of the year. It is