Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-02
CURIOUS USES FOR WOOD.
Ingenious Yankee and What He
Wrought Out of Wasted Redwood Bark

From the Scientific American.
The giant sequoas of California, thou
sands of years old, have been preserved
to this day because of their enormously
thick bark. From time to time, In the
course of ages, forest fires have swept
through the big-tree lands, destroying
everything, yet only scorching for cou-
pie of inches depth or so the almost fire.
proof bark The flames having carbonized
that much of the bark, could not pene
trate farther, for the carbonized portion
formed an absolutely freproof covering
for the remainder of the interior bark.
In the telling of the giant redwood5
for timber tons upon tons of the foot
thick bark would accumulate as a result
of the cutting up of the giants. 1t was
often found seriously in the way, inter
fering with the removal of the logs,
otherwise it would have been allowed to
remain on the ground until 1t rotted. So
there was nothing to do but burn the un-
slightly heaps.
But one day many years ago a shrewd
Connecticut Yankee named Atkinson. a
woodturner by trade, began to think
about this waste a bit during his pro-
longed residence in his new home on the
Pacific slope True. the bark was too soft
TO make wooden nutmegs out of it, bur it
might do for something else. So he
thought and thought; and in the course
of time had produced whole variety of
useful articles from the hitherto wasted
bark; dubbed it "atkinSos, or vegetable
asbestos, and made an honest living for
years therefrom. The industry spread; ,
and now redwood bark articles are-in
fact, always have. been-common prop
erty for anybody to make in the west or
east. Almost all Pacific state homes have
examples in their rooms of the useful
| II. l. IL ~ nt,
there are two kinds, soft and hard
Some of these redwood bark articles are
pin cushions, pen wipers. table mats (for
receiving hot plates), fiatiron mats (to
sorbent mats fishing floats, temporary
| corks, life buoy filling, cork" jackets.
rold-storage insulation. house sheathing,
heat insulation (will burn under great
heat If attacked both sides. but is about
six times a more efficient at-insulator
| than woven asbestos) also coin mats,
moisture-proof match safes, bicycle han
| dies silk hat brushes, chair seat mats,
sound dea dening insulation. mattress fill
| ings, cork carpet substitute and va
riety of other uses.
| The bark is entirely odorIess. of rich
brown color, and is singularly non-ab
sorbent. A piece kept under water for
| month will absorb no more moisture
| than piece of cork. 1t has short brit
| tie fiber-cork has no fiber whatever
and is consequently not so liable to brit
| thy snap as is the QuercuS suber. 1t lacks
however, the elasticity and local tough
| ness of cork and is slightly heavier in Its
| specific gravity, but is much more easily
worked in manufacturing into articles.
Curious natural brushes are produced
| from one of the palmetto species on our
| southern coasts. The "bristles of the
| brush and the solid wood portion thereof
are all one No 'coming-out' complaint
with those bristles,
| The brushes are made In two ways The
| extreme root of the tree is a mass of
| fbers. These are cut off close up to the
! trunk, which is sawed off about an inch
| up. and the slab is cut up into simple
| brushes for the bath, toilet, hair, &c. An
| other couple of inches will be sawed OFF
| the trunk, well soaked and the pithy
wood Jagged out from between the fibers
! by A crude kind of steel or jagged comb.
| Once a pith is thoroughly dried and hard
! it will stand immersion in hot bath wa
| tiers without softening.
These curious natural made brushes are
| only locally known, and are occasionally
/ sold to tourists. They are unknown to
commerce in the American brush trade
! No attempt has ever been made to es,tab-
/ lish any industry in them. Yet they are
possibly the longest-lived brushes extant
] A bath brush used for half dozen years
| looked true, as If it had had plenty of
pse, but was good enough for another
I half dozen years.
The fibers and wood are of n bright
sandy hue, and IL kept clean almost pre-
| serve throughout their agreeably slight
odpr. reminding one Of dried corn leaves.