Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-11-23

In one column the Lewiston journal
wishes that the irrigation congress III
session at EI Paso would come to
Maine 10 help us to put as much efh-
phasis on preserving forests as we put
OF killing deer" and in another colunh
it chronicles projects for new paper
plants in the state and observes Una.
the prospects for the larger production
Of pulp and paper are encouraging.
Somehow these things do not seem to
harmOrize.
Fort Fairfield Review: A Keen OBJ
server who has lived here number OF
years saws Aroostook is now altogether
too prosperous for her own highest
good-that selfshness and lack of
public spirit is bred by this prosperity.
and that her people are getting into 4
habit Of thinking too much ABOUT
themselves only. He evidences the op-
position that some OF our Weal'hy cltl-
zens often make to appropriating a
moderate amount OF money Tor town
improvements that are greatly lot the
betterment of the wh"ie community
and really almost a necessity. and
thinks that a few years lie IN MaSsa-
chusetts, where public spirit has
much better development. would be a
good thing for many of our citizens.
Let us hope that if this criticism is
true, we NAV hestir ourselves and not
let our material well-being make US
into monsters.
Portland has suffered the loss of two
of it's most prominent citizens the past
week. The first to go was William K.
Wood. president of the Portland Rail-
road company, and now it is Charles
NJ. Rice. who died suddenly yesterday
In the death of these two the business
interests of the city experience real
loss, which will be hard to fill. Mr..
Rice had been in business here many
years, and the name Of the {. NJ. Rice
Paper company is known far and wide
for enterprise and probity. Portland
has lost many Of it's best citizens this
year.
Should the experiment now be carried
on at its tannery at Island Falls by
Frank w. Hunt & Co.. be successful.
the results will prove very far-reach-
ing. In brief the experiment is that of
using extract as substitute for hem
lock bark in the tanning OF hides and
its Importance is at once realized when
one considers the scores of tanneries
that have been driven out Of the state
of Maine because Of the growing
scarcity in hemlock bark along the
railroads and in easily accessible Sec
of ho lo-nnncf tp6 that the
use of hemlock bark is not an impera-
tive necessity in tanning and the tam
neries will be re-established in Maine
but along the seacoaSt rather than in
the interior in the thickly wooded sec
tions. This will mean rehabiliment of
an industry in which Maine was
formerly in the foreground. or course
the use of extract is no new thing as
for many years it mas been used at
some tanne,ies in conjunction with the
hemlock bark. especially in those
localities in which the hemlock is be-
coming scarce. The first experiment of
using the extract alone was made some
little time ago in a small tannery near
Boston which is operated by the same
concern which handles the extract Or
Liquor" as it is called in a tannery.
1t is said that this experiment proved
successful but most tanneries have
wished for an experiment conducted by
parties not directly interested in tn"
extract. 1t might have been some
years before such was obtained had it
not been for the fire which. in Septem-
ber. destroyed the grinding house of
the Hunt tannery at Island Falls.
There were many orders for the con-
Germ to fill and AS the work must
otherwise b" temporarily shut down. it
was determined to try the experiment
of using the extract in place of the
park. the hides were put in the sOlu
ton Sept. 2S. and the result cannot be
definitely known until the last Of De-
cember as it requires three months for
their treatment. At the present time,
however the hides have been under
treatment for six weeks and appear to
I've coming along finely so that the
manager is confident that the trial will
prove successful in every way. And if
it does? Then the number of stripped
hemlOckS in the Maine woods will
cease to be increased. the sole leather
tanneres now in operation will seek
the coast and many coast towns will
be enriched NV the addition of a. to
them. new industry. There will be but
slight difference to the tanneries in the
exnense between the use of hemlock
bark ard the essence but the difference
CONS in tn" expense Of shipment as
with a location on the water front a
large saving will be accomplished.
Personal Notes.