The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-02-19
UTILIZING WASTECORNSTALK
Il GREhT MANY USES on oELLU-
LOSE,
Into which Hitherto Useless PIN Is
Being Turned.

Tie third cellulose plant in the Uni
ted States, the first in Indiana and
the second largest in the world, is be-
Ing completed at this point, says a Lin
den Gnd) correspondent of the Indian
apolis Press. 1t will be put into opera
ton within sixty days. Over one hun
dred thousand dollars has been expend-
ed in the mechanical equipment When
in full operation the plant will employ
Che hundred men. Indian corn pith, for
ages considered worthless will then be
put on the market as a protection for
battleships of all nations, as smokeless
powder, dynamite and other high OK
plostves. as fine art paper. as varnish
kodack films carboX packing, filler,
waterproof CLOTH linoleun, imitation
silk, patent leather finish, face powder,
silcate packing, and in a hundred more
as varied and novel forms of which the
farmer. who has been throwing stalks
away as waste, never dreamed. The
outer lining-that part which incloses
the. pith--will be made into flour as an
adulterant, as cattle feed, chicken
fattencr and an egg producer Part of
it will be made up into candy, some of
It into coloring dyes, and still other ell
enlents of it will become a part of far
more novel processes. 1t will add thou
sands Of dollars to the crop receipts of
Indiana farmers will consume only
that which has been waste, and will
furnish employment for skilled workers.
The plant being erected at Linden in
cludes all of that plant which has been
operated at Roekfort, ILL.,, to which has
3 ar oh m 1aly hl al
most twice as large as the old concern
The other two plants are owned by the
same, the Marsden company, a fifty
million dollar syndicate of Philadel-
phia, which controls the patents cover
ing the processes. They are located at
Owensboro, KY, and West Point, Va.
"a fourth will be erected this year at Pc
oria, I'll. Those who fight trusts may
find some extenuating features in this
one which has discovered that one
hundred and sixty million tons of corn
stalks have annually been going to
waste, and which undertakes to rescue
this waste make the stalks worth three
dollars a ton, and thus in the next
twenty years increase the income of
farmers thirty-six billion dollars by
producing celulose, dynamite, glue,
cardboard, paper and q hundred other
marketable products.
The annual average corn area of the
United States is not far from eighty
million acres. Each acre yields on an
average of about four thousand pounds
of cornstalks, or total of one hundred
and sixty million tons. Of this weight, |
Sc per cent, or one hundred and thirty |
six million tons, has value as feed, but I
not over 10 per cent. of 1t is actually I
fed The other Is per cent. of the to-
tai weight, OF twenty-four million tons, |
is the pith of the stalk, which has been
total waste or even worse, The Mars
den patents cover process of separa-
ting the pith from the stalk which
makes it possible for them to pay three
dollars ton for the stalks, and pro-
duce raw material which is worth sew
enteen nlents pound, or three hundred
and forty dollars ton. 1t is figured
that If every ton of stalks in the United
States could be so handled, it would in
crease the value Of each corn crop four
hundred and eighty million dollars an
nually. The Marsden company expects
to see the time when these conditions
will exist
The Kearsarge, the Kentucky and all
of the new war vessels that this and
other nations are putting upon the seas,
have double armament around the
water line-one underneath the heavy
Harveyized steel plates. 1t is composed
of cornstalk pith and is six feet in
thickness. Some years ago shipbuilders
conceived the idea of such lining
which would receive any shell that
,feyt, r. shall nd
leave a gaping wound through which
the water might pour and carry the
vessel down. 1t was found that the
shell Of the cocoanut, after passing
through an elaborate process, would /
form a cellulose which would expand al
most instantly and would Theoretically
seal any opening. This was used on ,
the new war ships of several nations, !
among them those Of Japan's new navy.
The Chinese-Japan war tested the vir-
tue of this padding In the battle of I
Yalu the Chinese cruisers Yschi- Yuen ,
and King-Yuen were struck near the {
and Immediately capsized, {
owing to the rush of water into the 6
space between the inner and the outer :
walls of thervessels. !
In the same battle the Japanese ships +
[tsukushima and Matsushima were hit '
In practically the same places These =
vessels had their corresponding air r
chambers filled with cellulose, through :
which the shells passed. AS the water \
rushed in however, the cellulose swelled n
and almost instantly Theoretically
sealed the openings so that not drop !,
# water reached the deck, and the ves- :
.els We're able to proceed through the q
battle. 1t has been found that the ;.
,orn-pith cellulose is not only better :,
)ut there is no limit to the raw materi- i
il, as is the case with the cocoanur ma j..
-eral, which annually threatened a =
learth of supply. The corn pith can =
3e manufactured for one hundred and -
fifty dollars ton cheaper. The y
Cramps and all cruiser builders of the a
world turned to the United States for ~
supply, and financially backed the a
darsden company. The plant that is y
)eing completed and will be operated .,
t this point is branch of the Cramps :,
nd other great International war yes :,
eel construction concerns, and the pith 4
f Indiana corn will be placed in the ~
offer dams of vessels floating every =,
lag and be carried into every war for II
nd against this country. i,
Use daily production capacity of the ~
D1eNt will no Of ppll11OSp |