Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-03
QUEER THINGS MADE FROM MILK


When a large Austrian novelty house
cornered the skim milk market re-
Gently dealers and public wondered
what on earth the concern would do
with the thousands OF gallons of the
LIQUID which were shipped to them
daily. The 207 employees could not pos
sibly drink such quantity; and all
though II has long been known that
milk VIII cleanse certain metals the
company would find &c impossible to
use up those hundreds OF cans in this
way, even though they put the entire
force to securing eight hours a. day,
What then, could be tho use to
which this great ocean of skinned
milk was put? When questioned on
the matter the proprietor Of the estab-
lishment smiled mysteriously and
beckoned the visitor into one of the
! storerooms.
, Here he picked up a billiard ball.
what do you suppose this Is made
Off" he questioned. "Celluloid," came
the prompt and confident reply.
Wrong; II Is milk, skinned milk,
slr!"
Billiard balls. dolls heads, white
handles for golf sticks, umbrellas and
canes; salt and pepper nhakers, pen
holders, ink wells, fancy boxes for
! gloves, handkerchlefs and ties; card
cases. cigarette holders, and various
other novelties, all seemingly made of
celluloid, were strewn about, and the
visitor was told that each and every
article was made from those gallons
of skinned milk which were shipped
to the company every day.
What Austria has been doing for
number of years other countries are
now successfully attempting.
We have right here i'm our own land,
besides those mentioned, a number of
other articles made from skinned
milk. Many objects which are called
Limitation ivory" are really made from
n substance the chief ingredient of
which is milk. Door knobs, mantel-
pieces. clocks, piano keys, paper racks,
| pin heads, collar buttons, fancy but
tons, picture frames and innumerable
other articles on the market, which
the purchaser believes to be made or
bone or ivory or celluloid are really
cut from galalith or milk stone.'
which is composition of skinned
milk and formalne.
Milk stone, or galalith, as the sub
stance is known, is made by a very
simple process. The equipment of the
mandatory consists of a huge tank.
into which the milk is pumped and
connected with this by means or an
| inclined trough Is another tank with
wide, square opening. over this
opening are placed. one about two
inches above another, three wire
sieves. varying in fineness, the lowest
one being of very close mesh.
| From a huge vat into which certain
chemicals have been poured the milk
is pumped through short pipes into
the first tank mentioned, where it is
| threshed about by a glass paddle for
| fifteen minutes. The bunghole of the
tank is then opened and what was
once milk is forced out by air pressure
| in the form of yellowish brown pow
der. This is called chemically treated
"casein;" and Il is sent down the in
clined trough, through the three sieves.
to the second tank, where it is mixed
with the formaline and poured out on
marble slabs to dry The formaline
solldifies the powdered casein and
forms it into horn-like substance,
which has been given the name of
"gaialth."
Galalith can again be mixed with
other substances and worked over into
material which forms a substitute
for bone, ivory, celluloid, marble, hard
rubber and even amber.
There is really no limit to the ar
ticles which can be made from galalith.
1t takes dyes readily and inferior
grades are colored. The best remain
white, however, for white galalith
brings the highest price because of its
similarity to ivory. The first grade
of white galalith is made up into knife
handles, and it brings almost as high
figure as would so much ivory.
| Galalith is the best substitute for
ivory ever discovered, for it Is smooth
to the touch, retains it's soft. creamy
| tinting for years, is not marred by
soap and water, and, unlike celluloid,
is proof against fire. 1t does not chip
or crack like bone and can be cut into
the most delicate shapes, being tough
and not easily broken.
For piano keys it has no peer out
side the genuine ivory.-Technical
World Magazine.