Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-02-03
fSITTHEPAPER AGE ]?
SINCE PULP CAME INTO USE THERE
 HAVE BEEN MANY CHANGES.

Paper Is Taking the Place of Wood, Stone
 and Iron-It Is Now Made Absolutely
 Fireproof-shi Bosoms That Don't
 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. 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 moro effective elementary substances. Boots, money, boats, gas pipes, impermeahle casks, toys, bottles, pipes, floors, doors, ceilings, architectural ornaments. roof ing, ohimneys and even complete flre- proof houses are now made of paper. Many claim that it will eventually sup plant wood, for it will neither crack uor warp It can be triturated, put un- der great pressure and subjected to eer- tain chemical treatment and will then take high polish and will resist the ef- feets of fire better than any other ma terial known. Paper is gradually SUD- planting metal in 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 a re- mote possibility. Paper has largely talk en the place of linen. We have paper collars and cuffs and blankets An in- eenioua inventor has devised paper shirt bosoms, which can be torn off like the pages from q calendar, thus enabling the wearer to have clean shirt front as often as he desires. It is only a mat ter of time before cloths, dressing gowns and entire suits of clothes will be made from paper. The soldiers of tho Japanese army wore paper trousers and jerseys during their famous winter campaign.
 Wood pulp is the most effective sub- stitute for rags in the manufacture of paper Nearly every species of wood can be used Some kinds yield more than others. Mora pulp can be got from will low and chestnut than from walnut. Different woods givo various qualities and effects Aspen will yield g very white paper, but defective in solidity, and is therefore mixed with fir. This latter wood is most generally used. It was first imported from the Black forest, in Germany. The chief supply is now obtained in Norway and Finland, in the form of blanks or poles, never exceeding 8 feet 2 CT inches.
 l For the last half century the world s l production of paper has increased ten fold Tn 1850 it was 231, GOO metric 2,000,000 metric tons. The European manufacturers arc suffering from glut in production. The price of paper has fallen one-third, while wages have dou- bled 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 mRnufao- turers have substituted machinery for hand work, and as a result of the de- crease in tho 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. 1 It is made from tho 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 0 very thick trunk While it rarely attains height of 25 feet, the trunk Is usually 90 to 90 feet i'll diameter. The branches arc pen dulous and bear an edible fruit. The in- uer 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 tho tree, a fresh growth supplants that taken away, and in couple of years the tree is again i'll normal condition. The bark is peeled off but 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 eontaminate the paper. An English firm has produced paper  which is impregnated with ahantiseptic substance which kills all germs that may come ill 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 and during the rage of future epidemics.
 Chinese and Japanese papers haye 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 in 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 | kt. 70 &L.. sr