The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-12-30
NO WASTE IN THE CoCoANUT.
How the Various Parts of the Pro-
duct are Utilized.

uuCL are LlllZeu,
From the San Francisco Chronicle.
a Chinese proverb says that the CO.
COanut tree has as many properties us
there arc days in the year The fruit
of the tree is the only part imported
of the tree is the only part imported to
california and it is now put to many
and widely different uses, not one atom
being thrown away. one local impor-
ter receives about 100000 CoCOanu.s u
month. Only a small portion of them
are kept cor the green trade" as it
is called when the nut is sold in its
original state, the greater bulk passing
to the factory, where the husk is re-
moved and the inner nut is steamed to
facilitate the removal of the meat.
About thirty-five boys and girls are
employed there in peeling off the thin
brown skin. This is carefully pr"
served and sent to the oil and lead
works. where a substance resembling
lard and known as cCruanut butter is
extracted. This is worked into all
sorts of toilet articles. The white.
meaty part of the nut after being
washed is thrown into different ma
chimes to be ground according 20 the
quality required, some grinding it al
into strips half an inch wide. The
| next process is the cooking. which is
done in immense brass kettles contin-
uously revolving to insure an oven re-
suit. only the mix contained in the
! heart Of the nut is used in the cooking.
! After the nut is sufficiently cooked
! that is, when the moisture has wholly
cvaporated, the Pulp is placed in shall
| low iron pans and dried III drying clos
/ cts, and TN" "dcsiccated cocoanut' If
/ commerce is the result which enters
| into many different ConfcCtiunS.
That part Of the cor0lnut Whose
| properties are not 50 well known in
! california is the outer covering or
| huSk. The inner woody shell Of this
| makes excellent fuel. If You are ini-
| tiated into the mYstcrrs-ur. rather,
/ triclsS-0f the trade you will also
| know that il does duty as "spi"c." How
! spicy it really is depends upon what
| is mixed with it.
! At any rate it is too good a fuel to
! be thrown away. Eut the hbrous out
CT shell Of the coCoanut was, until very
recently thrown into the bay. to float
| off and finally disiigurc the surround
| ing beaches There is row a factory
on the Berkeley shore of the bay which
uses this dcsrised husk in the manu-
, facture of anOthe" useful commercial
commodity. 1t is the only factory Of
its kind in California. and it assumes
position of peculiar Importance when
it is remembered that it is converting
| what was previously considered waste
matter, which WAS hard to set rid of
| and which bid fair to boCOnl" a nuiS-
ance. into an article Of great utility,
Out Of this husk a very aromatic,
perfectly sanitary and springy ma
terial is being made to serve as a sub
| Stitute in mattress making for the in
sanitary curlod hair. The huSk of the
Cocoanut shell contains tibrous ma
terlal which really makes excellent fun
niture and mattress filling. 1t is in
finitely superior to shOddy This in
dustry is only in its Infancy on this
coast. Twenty-Five per cent of the
husk is hair or fiber, the rest is dust 4;
but not even this dust is wasted, for
nui serymen have found that it makes
an excellent covering for winter flower
beds The first process through which
the husk Is put is that Of crushing,
This is accomplished by "A machine re-
sembling a rock crusher, and sounding
very much like one when at work
, ullNtn ny "a lOlIS-nulSe power cnSln >,
This is called the picker, The husli
comes out Of it as dust and coarse hair
like fiber, with here and there a rem
nant Of shell. This is picked over by
boys and thrown again into the picker
When ii comes out second time a
portion Of it is twisted into "A roDr by
| n machine called the twistcr. When
about a hundred feet of this rono Is
made it is tied up into bundle and
hung i'm steam box. After being
thoroughly steamed these bundles are
dried i'm room heated to l20 degrees
While 50 treated the fiber is still knpt
in the shape of rope 1t is by this p o,
cess that the fiber is Curled and gets
its springy quality. The twisted hhe,
is then nut through the picker a third
time, and when 1t is thrown out it looks
as light as down, and settles into The
sweetest, most aromatic heap imagin
able, for it retains its pleasant woody
a-d spicy odOr which alone ought Il
make it an ideal material for mattress
filling, independent Of its most i'm
pOrtant sanitary properties, The pric,
of this cOcoanut fiber ranges from ~
cents to 10 cents a pound. It has latrl'
been listed as an article Of commerce
so that 1t is now one of the csta6lishe,
industries of this coast.