Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-18
SUNDAY MAGAZINE FOR SEPTEMBER 49, 1910
Paper and Paper Fibers
page

the manufacture of paper for deeds, genoa
logical records, etc.
The earliest paper makers in America we're
the Aztecs of Mexico, who are said to have
prepared substance somewhat resembling
the papyrus of the Egyptians from the
leaves of the maguey, or century plant.
The first paper mill in this country was es-
tablished in the locality of what is now
Philadelphia, about 1890.
What Fiber Is Best
WHILE paper can be manufactured from
w almost any fbrous substance, the USE
fulness of fiber for paper making depends
upon the amount of pure cellulose it will
yield under treatment and also upon the
cost of the process employed. Cellulose is
the indestructible cell structure or solid
framework of plants deprived of all ex-
traneous matter, such as the gums and resins
that serve to cement the flbrous bundles to-
gether. Pure cellulose is tasteless, inodor-
Gus, translucent, and insoluble in water, al
cohol, or oils, though it can be converted
into starch and sugar by the action of heat.
Unsized, unloaded white linen paper is
practically pure cellulose. Its physical prop
critics, after it has been purified and freed
from all extraneouS matters, determine its
value to the manufacturer. If the ultimate
fibers are short, hard, and smooth, like the
ibers of straw, it will make Indifferent
paper, lacking in tenacity and fineness. If,
on the other hand, the fbers are long and
flexible, with good telling properties, that is,
ibers that will adhere together, a fine,
though flexible, paper results. Common
straw and flax represent two extremes, be-
tween which wide range of characteristics
will be found; for out of the thousand or
more species of the world flora enumerated
as fiber plants large proportion would
yield paper of some sort.
The percentages of cellulose in some of
the more important fbers are as follows:
Bast of Sida, 80; flax and hemp, 80; jute
and ramie, 70; agaves, such as the century
plant, rs; New Zealand flax, 81; manila
hemp, g. baobab bark AFRICAN monkey
bread tree), 55; pulpwood, SO; esparto
grass and common straw, So. While high
percentage of celluiose is always desirable,
together with good length in the ultimate
fiber, quantity and cheapness are factors
that 60 far in fixing the availability of pa
per fiber. Many plants that are capable of
manufacture into paper of superior quality
are not available in commercial sense, be-
cause they cannot be produced in sufficient
quantities at a cost that would make ex-
ploitation practical.
When the demand for paper in this coun-
Try was largely increased, ana processes Tor
reduction had been improved and cheapened,
the forests were found to furnish the great
est available supply, and woodpulp came to
the front. How far this supply will remain
available, at the present rate of cutting, is
question that at the present time is causing
more or less concern. By far the greater
part of the paper we are using to-day is
made from the chemically or mechanically
treated wood of spruce and hemlock, with
some pine, poplar, and other soft wooded
trees, amounting to total of over two and
a half million tons of native and imported
pulp annually. The portion produced at
home represents upward of four million
cords, costing over thirty-two million dol
lars. In addition to woodpulp something
like a million tons of rags and straw is used
to make up the total output of paper used
in this country every year, representing two
hundred million dollars of value.
Every Country Has Fiber Plants
A LIST of the fiber plants of the world
that have been recognized as capable of
producing paper would be long one; for in
every country there are scores of native
grasses, shrubs, or trees, the leaves stems.
or bark of which have been experimental
with, or used locally, some of which, from
their abundance and cheapness or special
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