Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-04-09
TSITTHEPAPER AGE ]?
SINCE PULP CAME INTO USE THERE
 HAVE BEEN MANY CHANGES.

and Iron-It Is Now Made Absolutely
 Fireproof Shirt Bosoms That Don't
 Have to Be Washed.
 Without steam and railways modern society would undoubtedly exist But what a state of intellectual darkness would be that of civilized mankind without paper and the secret of it's man. ufaoturel For many years the rag met all demands of the paper industry. The increasing diversity of uses to which paper and paper pulp have been put in the last decade have made it necessary for manufacturers to cast about for more effective elementary substances. Boots, money, boats, gas pjros, impermeable casks toys, bottles, pipes, floors, doors, ceilings, architectural ornaments, roof ing, ohimneys and even complete fire. proof houses are now made of paper. Many claim that it will eventually SUD- plant wood, for it will neither crack uor warp. It can be triturated, put un- der great pressure and subjected to cer- tain chemical treatment and will then take high polish and will resist the efe feets of fire better than any other ma terial known. Paper is gradually SUD- | planting metal ill certain lines. Loco motive wheels have been made of it for several years, and even rails for rail- roads The 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 i'll genious inventor has devised paper shirt bosoma which can be torn off like the pages from q calendar, thus enabling the wearer to have a clean shirt front as often as he desires. It is only mat ter of time before cloths, dressing gowns and entire suits of clothes will be 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. Moro pulp can be got from will low and chestnut than from walnut. Different woods give various qualities and effects. Aspen will yield a very white paper, but defective ill solidity, and is therefore mixed with fir This latter wood is most generally used. It WAS first imported from the Black forest, i'll Germany. The chief supply is now obtained ill Norway and Finland, in the form of blanks or poles, never exceeding feet or inches.
 For the last half century the world 8 production of paper has increased ten fold. In 1850 it was 221, 900 metric tons The latest recent estimate was 2,000, ,000 metric tons. The European manufacturers are suffering from a glut in production. The price of paper has fallen one third, 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 manufae- turers have substituted machinery for hand work, and as result of the de- crease in 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. It 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 of low growth and has very thick trunk. While 1t rarely ettains height of 20 feet, the trunk is usually 20 to 25 feet ill 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 tenaoity. When the inner bark is stripped from the tree, a fresh growth supplants that taken away, and in couple of years the tree is again iD normal condition. The bark is peeled off 6n5 once in four years
 The latest addition to the paper in- dustry is 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 contaminste the paper. An English firm has produced a paper which is i1npregnated 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 meritorious invention and will become generally used by hospitals ana during 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 in 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 the bark of the Broussonetia papyrifera is used. This is gathered in tha snring of the year 1t is