The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-02-15
GONE NEW USES OF PEAT.
Soarcely Any Textile Fabrics which
Cannot he Made From 1t.

S0tsrcely Any Textile Fabrics which
Cannot he Made From 1t.
One Of the most interesting and attract
I've exhibits at the Vienna exposition Of
last year was q building containing the
most diverse articles made from peat.
Everything in the building, from the car
pets on the floor to the curtains at the
windows and the paper on the wall, had
been made from peat. These were but rep
resentatlves of what will undoubtedly
soon become great industry and give to
the peat boys of the world q value never
before dreamed Of.
Credit for the discovery of the possibili.
ties of peat belongs chiefly to Vienna gen
tleman, Herr Carl A. Zschorner. His inyes.
LEGATIONS into its nature began some 10
years ago with q study by means of the
microscope Of what is called in Austria
"torfstreu. This is the layer Of moss
which covers the surface of most peat
boys. 1t has hitherto, by those who have
made use of the peat for fuel, been, at con-
siderable expense, removed and thrown
away. Herr Zschorner's examination
showed that the plant remains which
make up this layer abound In hollow,
spiral cells. These absorb water and other
fluids with great avidity. While ordinary
straw cannot absorb over four times Its
weight Of fluids, this peat straw will alb
sorb ten times its weight The peat straw,
moreover, possesses the antiseptlc and
disinfectsnt qualities Of peat, qualities
which have long been known, but of
which little use has been made
Herr Tschnrner accor3inplu hit ,,pop
the idea of drying the straw and using it
as all absorbent in stables, brewories and
various manufactures. For such purpose
1t proved most admirably adapted, and the
demand for the product soon grew large.
Having greater absorbtive power than
ordinary straw, the peat straw can be used
much longer in any given place, and yet
will have proportionatoly greater manurial
value. 1t gives healthy, resilient footing
also for animals. For packing of both
perishable and breakable articles it Is also
better than ordinary straw, since it Is
more elastic and less easily penetrated by
heat and cold
Herr Zschorner did not rest his investi-
cations here. A further study Of the peat
itself showed that 1t was very largely
made up Of flbers These fbers come from
the remains of reeds and grasses, which,
growing and drying In successive genera
lions, form the peat. In their submor-
gcnce the reeds and grasses suffered no
anatomical change, but their physical and
chemical character became entirely differ
ent. The organic substance of the plant
became inorganic, SO that nothing capable
OF fermentation or decay was left, while
tho fbrous structure remained intact
These tibers then were found to have un.
usual physical properties. They were
found to be very durable, very elastic, to
be nonconduCtors Of heat and noncom-
bustible
If u fabric could be woven from them
1t would be one possessing unique prop
critics. To tho toughness Of linen 1t
would add the warmth Of wool an alb
sorhcnt power greater than that of cotton
and the indcstr1lcti bility of asbestus 1t
must however, be woven without the aid
of oils or water, or much of its value
would he lost.
After - years Of experimenting Herr
Zschorper succeeded in making the peat
Abers weayablc There is now, therefore,
scarcely any textile article which cannot
pV iIl'uS AVN! l'tAl' tUdtS, Ilulsi CuTpeUb,
rugs ropes, mating and pillows are some
Of the articles which have been made and
have been found useful What superiority
these will prove to have in practice over
fabrics made from Other fbers only time
will tell. Some OF them have however,
already been proved to be immensely su.
pcrior to any other fabrics This is espe-
cially true Of the blankets and other cover
ings used for horses and cattle, for they
greatly excel in warmth absorbent power,
cleanliness and durability. Tho unspun
fiber promises to be valuable substitute
for absorbent cotton since it will not
only absorb much greater quantity Of
blood and other fluids than cotton, but 1t
possesses powerful antiseptic properties as
well. Tho coarser fiber it Is expected will
come into favor for uso in upholstery
work, its extraordinary elasticity making
1t most valuable for this purpose
The latest achievement of the discovcrcr
OF the uses Of peat has been the making Of
paper from the fiber. This has been car.
ried to such an extent that paper Of almost
every variety Of weight and quality can
be made, whilo the toughness and dura-
bllity Of each Is equal to that of paper from
any kind OF vegetable pulp The above
are but n few OF the uses TO which this re.
merhhN!a ttoeg can be put, but they indl-
cote pufSihiiitias which may yet rank peat
bog Gi-9tE tic most valuable Of the
WOr!u & ;.h ',v|'S--ScinDtifc American.