The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-15
HOUSE BUILT OF PAPER.
Pulp building Blocks May suppIant
Those of stone.
From the Philadelphia Record.

Without steam and railways modern
society would undoubtedly exist. But
what a state of intellectual darkness
would be that Of civilized mankind with
out paper and the secret of its manu-
facture. For many years the rag met all
demands Of the paper industry. The in
creasing diversity of uses to which pa
per and paper pulp have been put in the
last decade have made it necessary for
manu- acturers to cast about for more
emectlYe elementary substances. Boots,
money, boats, gas pipes. impermeable
casks, toys, bottles, pipes, floors, doors,
ceilings, architectural ornaments, roofing,
chhnneys and even complete hre-proot
houses are now made of paper. Many
claim that it will eventually supplant
wood, for 1t will neither crack nor warp.
IL can be triturated put under great pres
sure and subjected to certain chemical
treatment, and will then take high pol
ISM ana VIII resist the effects of fire better
than any other material known Paper Is
gradually supplanting metal in certain
lines. Locomotive wheels have been made
or II Tor several years, and even rails
LOT railroads. The next progressive step
VIII be to use IL for the manufacture of
ordnance which is not by any means
remote possibility. Paper has largely taxi
en- the place of linen. We have paper
collars and cuffs and blankets. An tnge-
NOUS inventor has devised paper shirt
Dosoms, which can be torn off like the
pages from calendar, thus enabling the
Wearer 10 have clean shirt front as often
as he desires. 1t is only matter 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 their
famous winter campaign.
wood pulp is the most effective substi-
tute for rags in the manufacture of pa
per Nearly every species of WOOD can
be used. Some KINDS yield more than
others. More pulp can be gotten from
willow and chestnut than from walnut.
Dl1erent woods give various qualities and
rrrfVV rrta1 r1af 70
per- but detective in solidity, and is there
Tore mixed with fir. This latter wood is
most generally used. Ut was first import
ed from the black forest in Germany. The
chlef supply is now obtained in Norway
ana FINLAND, in the form of planks or
poles, never exceeding feet or inches.
or the last half century the worlds pro-
ductlon of paper has increased tentold. In
1880 1T was 22l 600 metric tons. The latest
recent estimate was 100000 metric tons.
Inc european manufacturers are suffer-
ing from glut in production. The price
or paper has fallen one-thrd while wages
nave doubled. The European plants are
not so progressive as those in this eoun-
try; they depend too much upon manual
labor. N the United States the manufac-
turers have substituted machinery for
hand work, and as result of the decrease
IN the number OF their employees, are en-
aDled TO pay wages several times greater
than those received In Europe The Amer
lcan paper manufa cturers produce a pro-
duet that is the equal of any in the world.
Attention has recently been called to the
utihty OF a little known species of paper
called the "boabab" or "AndsOnia." 1t is
made from the wood of the boabab tree,
Whlch is native of West Africa and is
known there as the monkey bread tree"
1t is found in Abyssinia Senegal and south
OF Coyo river, It is of low growth and has
a very thick trunk. While it rarely attains
hight of twenty-five feet, the trunk is
usually twenty to twenty five feet in diam
eter The branches are pendulous and
bears an edible fruit. The inner bark of
the tree is very ibrous. 1t is used for MAX
which
great tenacity. When the inner bark is
stripped from the tree a fresh growth
Supplants that taken away, and in cou-
pie OF years the tree is again in normal
condition. The bark is peeled off, however,
but once in four years.
The latest addition to the paper indus
try is sanitary note paper, which is
claimed to be germ-proof. 1t has long been
known that letters frequently spread in
fectious diseaseSTby means of the germs
| that contaminaTo the paper. An English
| firm has produced paper which is i'm
| pregnated with an antiseptic substance
which Kills all germs that may come in
contact with the paper. If this paper
proves to be what the proprietors claim 1t
is certainly a meritorious invention, and
will become generally used by hospitals
and during the rage of future epidemics.
Chinese and Japanese papers have long
been noted for their quality. 1t has re-
| Gently been ascertained, however, that
| even finer grades are producA in Korea.
| One eminent authority states that the
Korean paper excels the very best that
is made in China and Japan" 1t is man
ufactured entirely by manuel labor; no
| machinery whatever is employed For
the better grades the bark of the brous-
tonetia papyrifera is used. This is gather
ed in the spring of the year 1t is placed
in water mixed with wood ashes, and IS
then beaten until il is reduced to a thick
pulp. which is dipped out in good-sized
| ladies and spread out in thin sheets upon
bamboo frames A different grade of pa
per is made from the fragments of bark,
which are trodden under foot, in a man.
ner similar to that employed in the grape
presses in some countries. This process
of making the pulp is very tedious, but
it Possesses the great merit OF preserv-
ing the tibers intact and not breaking
| them, as is done when machinery IS USED.
The pulp is then metamorphosed INTO
| paper, and the sheets are stacked up in
| piles six feet high and cut into pieces.
| Then the piles of paper are compressed
by the stamping of feet. The roots and
| seeds of a plant called "tackpaul" are
added TO the pulp when grade possess
| ing greater tenacity and toughness is de-
Sired. 49,
been discovered in Norway. Tiles Tor
roofing purposes are now made from pulp,
as a substitute for slate or shingles. They
are said to be far superior to any other
material, of excellent quality and reason
able in price. Insurance companies have
pronounced them as very desirable and
safe roofing material Some of the feat
ures of these paper tiles are their light
weight, exceeding hardness, Suthcient
elasticity and non-conducting of heat and
sound 1t is claimed that the new ma
| terial prevents dampness. II Is only step
from paper tiles to paper building blocks,
and ere long some shrewd man will dis
cover method for making them. They
would be far superior to stone for the rea-
son that they could be made uniform in
shane and of any size desired. Being proof
against thermal changes and moisture,
they would be preferable to any material
now in use, and cheaper
CASHIER or A NATIONAL BANK.