The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-12-12
PAPER IN MADAGASCAR.
Only Few Persons. Descendants of
One Family. Know the Secret.

One Family, Know the Secret.
From the New Nor& l'ic>>.
In II letter from Tamatuve Nicp-t'on-
sui Hunt transmits the translation Of
an article from the journal Official,
which tells OF the Madngascan's method
of making paper It is as Follows:
The manufacture of paper by the
Antainoro zone of the Oldest tribes
among the inhabitants of Mudagascpr)
which is completely unknown to the
other tribes of the isl;tnd. constitutes n
regular local industry In the district OF
Ambohipeno only Il limited number of
persons. descendants of the same fam
lily. belonging to the Arabs from the
coast of Africa. know the secret of this
manufacture and devote themselves to
II whenever a pressing need of money
or II desire to purchase some long
wisleh-for article compcls them to
shake off their native Incidence.
''The paper. which is supple and very
strong ana has an appearance Of
parchment. which gives it the imprint
or quaint originality. is in great favor
with the Antamoro. and there is not n
family. not Il home that does not pos
stitched together and handed down
from generation to generation
I'm these parchments there are re-
ligiously preserved the family trad-
tions chronicles of past events, the
history of former wars the unchange-
able DEGREES of their ancestors-in n
word the whole of the national man
ners and customs. 1t is i'm these docu-
mcnts that the followers of iSlamism-
very sparse in that region--transcrib
and study the law of the prophet it
is. in fact. in these scrolls that the An
taimoro. suspicious and greedy Of gain.
calculates the profit on his oxen and
the product of his rice fields.
This quaint nggloneration of Arabic
hieroslyrhics with Malagasy sentences
and figures in the same volume--whicll
the owner will only part with for its
weight in sold-ought to furnish the
bibliophile II document decidedly out of
the common
"The manufacturer of this peculiar
paper was apparently II man cast on
the coast in the middle of the ninth
century. who settled on the Matitanana
river
''Tr;'dton represents him as horri-
fled at seeing his Koran torn. dub,less
due to the stirring adventures OF his
voyage, and puzzlng his brain to make
a clean copy. Experimenting With diff
ferent barEs of trees. he finally fixed
his choice on the avoavo. the bark of
which is easily reducible to pulp.
THE avoavo is a wild shrub. with
short branches of an average thickness
n in, Il
nine to twelve feet in height, the leaf
very much Il bay leaf. 1t is
met with everywhere on the coast and
in the interior of the district. and the
bark can be utilized at any season
Of the year.
After taking off the outer skin.
which is of the slayish tint peculiar
to trees in general. the inner part, per-
iectly white and somewhat sticky. is
and formed into Il big ball,
which is placed in running water to
soak. This ball is picked to pieces lit
tie by little, and the pieces thus sep
lrated are washed and placed in IL
arge pot with Il certain quantity of
water: the mass is then covered with
,shes. followed by Il second layer of
Dark. again covered with ashes. and
50 on until the pot is three quarters
'ul!. The pot is then filed With water.
he lid put on. and the whole boiled for
wo or three days without interruption.
are being taken to add clean water
rom time to time to replace the loss
~ evaporation. always throwing in Il
handful of ashes.
ION the morning of the third day the |
bark. completely reduced by cooking, |
ooks like a thick batter which is then |
passed through Il sieve and washed in |
rcsh water. 1t is then beaten. briskly |
ana under the pressure of the |
ingerS Is transformed into a soft dough |
which is spread, still damp. ON the |
;reen leaves of the travellers tree with |
special tool, cnSisting of two rods |
bout eighteen inches long, joined by |
lats of ratia wood. the only wood, APP
10 which the pulp will not
tick. This is the most delicate part |
# the whole operation.
with the Hat of the hand moist
ned. the required thickness is given
o the sheet; ii is then pressed. leveled,
moothed ana put in the sun.
AS soon as ii is dry ii is glazed
With weak rice water. spread with the
and, like starch on linen. The sheet,
till in Il damp state. is then. as it
we're, ironed out by the hand or with IL
oished pebble. 1t is finally dried,
eeled off from the green leaf, and the
aper is finished. Each sheet thus OBJ
aimed is worth from | to cents 1t
leasures 20 to % inches long and 10
lches wide. 1t is finally trimmed for
indms.'