Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-04-06
IS THE PAPER 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 Shirt 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 ufaoture 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 1t necessary for manufacturers to cast about for more effective elementary substances. Boots, money, boats, gas pjfas, impermeable casks toys, bottles, pipes, floors, doors. ceilings, architectural ornaments. roof. ing, ehimneys and even complete fire. proof houses are now made of paper. Many claim that it will eventually sup plant wood, for it will neither crack uor warp. 1t can be triturated, put un- der great pressure and subjected to cer- tain chemical treatment and will then take high polish aud will resist the eff. feets of fire better than any other ma terial known. Paper is gradually sup. planting metal i'll 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 ell the place of linen. We have paper collars and cuffs and blankets An in geHious inventor has devised paper shirt bosoms. which can be torn off like the pages from calendar, thus enabling the wearer to have 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. Nor pulp can be got from will low and chestnut than from walnut. Different woods give various qualities and effects. Aspen will yield very white paper, but defective i'll solidity, aud is therefore mixed with fir. This latter wood IS most generally used. 1t was first imported from the Black forest, ill Germany. The chief supply is now T it, klo form of blanks or poles, never exceeding 3 feet z or 6 inches.
 For the last half century the worlds s production of paper has increased ten fold. In 1850 it was 22l 900 metric tons. The latest recent estimate was 2, GOO, ,000 metric tons. The European manufacturers arc suffering from q 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 manufac- turers have substituted machinery for hand work, and as a result of the de. crease in the number of their employees alO tIapAch bO p0y i1Ash h0SSc.
 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 aid has very thick trunk. While ii rarely attains height of 9 feet, the trunk k usually 20 to % 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 teDacity When the inner bark is stripped from the tree, fresh growth surplants that taken away, and ill couple of years the tree is again iD uelmal condition. The bark is peeled eff ra4g once in four years
 The latest addition to the paper iii dustry is Il sanitary rote paper which is claimed to be germproof Ii has long been known that letters frequently spread infectious diseases by means oi
  An English firm has produced papef which is ilnrregnated with an antiseptie substance which kills all germs that may come ill contact with the paper. If this paper proves to be what the proprie- tors claim, ii is certainly 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. It has recently been aseertained, 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