Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-06-03
SUBSTITUTE FOR WOOD.
A New Waste Product That Can be
utilized for Pulp.

Some time ago the Journal an
nounccd that a company had been or
ganiZed under the laws of the State,
| under the name of the New Orleans
Bagasse Pulp and Paper Co. The
company, it was stated, had an au-
thorizcd capital of $2,000,000, con
tributed mainly by Maine and Massa
chusetts capitalists, ITO manufacture
paper pulp out of sugar cane as it
comes from the mills" and it is pro-
posed to establish and operate a mill
in New Orleans or somewhere in the
sugar district of Louisiana, within con-
vcnicnt reach of the cane fields, and
where an abundant supply of bagasse
the refuse cane stalks after the
saccharine juice has been crushed
from them-can be obtained.
The New Orleans Times Democrat
of recent date thus speaks of the
scheme:
To all who know anything of the
papcr situation or of the experiments
that have been made ia recent Years. TO
find some material adapted to the
manufacture of wood pulp and paper,
the announcement that a company has
been organized that proposes to utilize
baGasse for that purpose will cause no
surprise.
Maine is one of the most active states
in the paper industry, its spruce forests
contributing a large part of the wood
pulp used in the manufacture Of paper.
Eut Names spruce forests are rapidly
playing cut" ana are wholly unable to
supply the paper demands of the United
a rThpr. iS.. lhInI 1nrp al q
in Canada, it is true, but it is pract-
Cally shut out of this country by pro-
hibtVe tariff. The paper manufac-
turcrs. therefore. have for months
been looking in all directions for a suit
able substitute for the exhausted
spruce. and, like their brother lumber
men of Michigan and Wisconsin, they
Eare turned their eyes towards the
South. the most heavily wooded portion
of the country. as likely TO yield them
what they seek.
Among the materials that have been
investigated as a substitute for spruce
is the bIgaSSc of sugar cane. This
would seem admiralty adapted for the
manufacture of paper, ana its posi-
bilitieS are not only recognized but
proved. Mr.. Cunningham, the leading
sugar manufacturer of Texas, has al
paper mill connected with his sugar
house. which has been turning out
paper for several years. 1t sells well,
and his mill has no difficulty IN dispos-
ing of a great Heal more than it pro
ducCs. In Louisiana, although thcI
bagasse production is 50 times greater
than that of Texas, nothing of any mo-
mpnt has vet hann dome tho of
manufacturing Of paper from it. al
though several propositions i'll that linel
nave been made public.
BaEaSSc at pre- sent is q waste pro
duct. On some plantations it is usedI
as fuel, mixed with fuel OIL but gen
crally ii is Il nuisance, which the plant
erS are put to some expense to burn ori
otherwise get rid Of. 1t has 4 good
woody fibre. ana being already crushed,
it would set EN- To be admirably adapted
to the manufacture Of wood pulp. IF i'll
could be so used it would go long wayi
to supplying the paper demands of the
country. The baGasse output of
Louisiana amounts to some two million
tons a year. ana if only 80 per cent.
were suitable for the manufacture Of
paper il would give Il total of a million
tons of paper a year.
II is true that the Texas bagassc
mill is turning out only wrapping
paper. ana not the quality used by the
newspapers but the company organ
ized i'll Main" to operate in or near
New Orleans has. after Il thorough in
vcstigation and test, become con-
WINGED that it can make newspaper as
well as wrapping paper from bagassc
and its mill will be erected with this
object in view.