Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1903-01-15
HISTORY OF PAPER.
Progress From the Days of Papyrus
fn the AraE ne Snrnnn -.

Progress From the Days of Papyrus
to the Age. OF Spruce.
Egypt. China and Japan are the coun-
tries in which the earliest manufa
Of paper is known to have been carried
the plant called papyrus, kind Of grass.
According to the information handed
down to us. the delicate inner flbres were
separated from the blade of the grass,
and spread upon the table in such man
ner that they overlaped one another.
The table was sprinkled with water from
the Nile, which had, no doubt. the eff
feet of moistening the natural gum of
the plant SO as to make the fibres ad-
here When the first layers Of papyrus
fiber was complete. successive layers were
placed upon one another, until the paper
was thick enough These layers were
then pressed together, and the sheet OF
paper was dried in the sun. The best
quality was preserved for religious uses.
and not allowed to be exported.
The Romans. however. discovered q
process of cleansing this kind of paper
from the marks of writing; and after this
discovery they imported from Egypt sa-
cred books written on this material which
they used for their own purposes after
the original writing had been erased,
Besides the papyrus ancient paper was
made of the inner bark of trees, Egypt
ian paper was In general use in Europe
until the eighth or ninth century. It
then slowly began to give place to paper
manufactured from cotton and other ma
terlals, which art was apparently learned
by the Arabs in Asia. and introduced BY
them into Europe. This manufacture had
apparently spread to Western Asia from
I y,ssa -
ed at a very early period. Paper was
made by the Chinese from some material
or other as early as the beginning of the
first century, and. according to their
own account the making of paper from
cotton appears to have been invented by
them about 400 a.. D.
The materials that have at various
times and In various places been used
for the making OF paper are very numer-
Gus. Hemp and linen rags are now used
in one part Of Canada. the inner bark
OF the mulberry tree in another. while the
bark of the elm, straw and bamboo find
favor for this purpose elsewhere.
The Japaneses show a marked prefer
ence for the mulberry tree and the paper
made by them Is not to be equalIed any
where far strength and softness quail
ties which enable ii to be used for many
use leather. such, for instance, as. in the
manufacture Of purses. ladies' bags. etc,
After the Introduction into Europe Of
cotton and linen rags as material for pa
per-makipg. the use Of other vegetable
fibres was for many centuries almost en-
tirely given up-chief1y because rags
proved as cheap as they were. suitabl
A method Of treating straw SO as to
make 1t capable OF being made into pa
per was invented as comparatively res
Gently as the beginning OF last century.
Various Improvements have since been
effected. and there. are now many mills
which turn out nothing else than paper
made mostly from straw and wood pulp.
but the best and most important feature
of these materials is the stiffness they
iulpart to the paper.
Esparto. or Spanish grass. has been ap-
piled to paper-rnaking only within the
last few years. The use Of rushes for
this purpose belongs to orr country and
dates from 1866 The paper made from
this material IS white. firm and of good
quality. and considerably cheaper than
that made from wood.
Nothing Is more remarkable than the
great number OF diversity OF new uses
that have been lately found for paper
Besides being largely employed for maxi
ing collars, cunts and other articles of
dresk, Il . sometimes used for making
small houses In the hackwoods Of tho
Wsktern States of America. which are
found to bs warmer than the1A madAsof
wood and khsstR Iron I d su6od alSp. Tor
making boats ripek. tsr klsAxd aus for
Hsts sls;es Arm & snes.s ssa.st
klaEesL and even bell ma onhSa iSYA