Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-02-11
USES FOR CORN PITH
The Recent War and Its Effect on American
Agriculture.
Will Cause an Increased Demand for
CeIIulose-Of Great Value in
Protecting Ships.

One result of our recent war promises to
be a new impetus to an industry Of great
value to the agriculturists of our country.
1t has been discovered, as an outcome of
our naval battles, that ceiiulose is an i'm
mensely valuable factor in the construction
of warships. This, as is well known, is the
product of the corn stalk. This product is
already an article of commerce. and those
who control the patents assert that there is
practically no limit to the demand for it.
The pure pith of the stalk is worth several
hundred dollars ton.
After a series of experiments extending
over two years, the United States govern
ment has found in this new discovery
method of making our warships practically
unsuitable. 1t is by placing over the inside
of the hull packing of this corn pith
along the water line. This simple device is
more than a match for the most powerful
shell from an enemy's gun. 1t does not
stop the projectile, it simply allows it to go
clear through both sides of the ship if it
can, while the holes made in the ships side
close up as if the shell had gone through
sponge. Strange this may seem, it is
accounted for by the fact that this corn
pith lining swells up as soon as the water
enters the hole made by the projectie Be-
fore the thrush of water has penetrated
hall way through this three-foot belt the
corn plth has sWelled and completely closed
the hole, SO that not a drop of water enters
the ship.
This removes one of the most dangerous
features of steel warsbips-that is their
tendency to sink almost instantly on being
pierced by proJectile below the water line
The old wooden war vessels in previous
times could be fairly riddled with holes and
yet keep affoat. The swelling of the wood
ana the ease with which they could be plug
ged made it hard to sink them
The great horror of recent naval wars
with modern steel vessels has seen the fear
ful quckness with which warships were
sent to the bottom. Dewey illustrated this on
the Spanish ships at Manila In the battle
OF the Yalu in the war between Japan and
China the Chinese armored cruisers Tschi-
Yuen and King-Yuen were sunk by being
pierced at the water line
The new battle ships which were launched
during the past year. the Illinois. the Ken
lucky the Alabama the Kearsarge and the
Wisconsin, have all been provided with
this lining of corn pith. On these big bat
tie ships, designed to be the finest ships of
their class in the world the corn pith is
packed in Golfer dams three feet thick
They are not placed behind the heavy arm
or, but extend from the ends of the armor,
which protects the middle portions or vitals
stern This thick lining is four feet above
and three feet below the water line. The
corn pith Is packed to a density of six
pounds to the foot.
has calculated that this corn-pith lining is
equal to a six-inch belt of steel armor in
defensive value, and single hundred tons
of it equals a thousand tons Of steel armor
Another new industry has recently de-
veloped from the product of corn stalks
This is a process that has been discovered
for making paper of corn husks and corn
stalks. The process Is very cheap one,
and as good staple grade of paper can be
manufactured from this product the success
of the patent is certain. l.. w. THAVIS.