Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-10-28
WONDERS OF SAWDUST.
Brandy, Bread and Marble Now Made
From Wood Waste.

Only a few years back sawdust was
regarded by owners of sawmills as so
much waste, to be got rid Of anyhow,
and as quickly as possible. Anybody
could have it, and welcome. Some
proprietors even paid people to cart
it away. Today all this Is altered.
Sawdust, so far from being looked
upon as rubbish, Is greatly priced,
and turned to account in a hundred
different ways in arts and manufac-
lures.
Sugar, for instance, is made from
it. So too, is alcohol, which Is. Of
course, the basis of all spirits. At a
recent banquet, attended by famous
chemists from all over the world, ex-
cellent brandy" was served which
had been distilled from sawdust. 1t
was mellow, Of agreeable flavor, per-
fectly free from any odor or taste of
turpentine, and none Of the guests
knew, until they were told, that 1t
was other than the genuine juice of
the grape.
Sawdust, again, forms the basis Of
more than. 20 different kinds Of ex-
plosives. The, so-caled white" and
yellow" gun-powders are merely so
much sawdust saturated with certain
acids
Gas for lighting purposes can be
,,fn NI1i
as we'll as from coal. In the lumber
regions of Canada, where sawdust is
cheap and plentiful, many towns and
villages are lighted with sawdust gas.
The mode of production is the same
as is used for coal gas. The sawdust
is baked in retorts, and yields from
20. 900 to 10000 cubic feet of gas per
ton.
What Is known as wood-meal fod-
der for cattle is just sawdust, mixed
into a mash with hot distillers wash
fed to the beasts in its fresh state, or
it can be dried and pressed into molds
like oil cake, or it can be baked in the
form of dough. Similar sawdust
dough is made into bread and eaten
by the peasants in some parts of Rus
sia and Germany.
Mortar made from sawdust is now
largely used in building operations.
In fact, a house could almost be built
throughout. for there is a sawdust
stucco on the market, and all kinds
of imitation wood is made of saw
dust, from plain deal planks to the
most elaborate oak and mahogany
mouldings. ornamental doors, win
dowS, &c.
Then there is a wood marble which
is used for mantelpieces, and which is
sawdust combined with ivory waste
and colored with certain pigments.
The raised velvet" wall papers, now
so fashionable, are made OF sawdust
sifted over a surface that has been
previously sized with an adhesive
paste
All kinds of dyes are now manufac-
tured from sawdust, and are both
cheap and permanent pound OF
SawduSt dye, for instance. costs only
about half as much as the same
quantity of logwood extract, while
possessing four times the dyeing
power.
Ordinary sawdust is used by jewel
ers to clean tarnished silver. and beech
sawdust is the best polishing powder
for gold. Sawdust is also used in
laundries in lieu of soap, since fric-
ton with it is very etticacious in re-
moving dirt.
Tens Of thousands Of tons OF saw
dust are pulped and made into paper
every year Pressed into round moldS
it Is made into shoppers for bottles;
into flat molds, with dyes, it comes
out in the form of cOlOred plaques
and tinted wooden tiles. SawduSt is
now used for the cheaper kinds of
linOeumS instead of the more eXpen-
sive cork dust. and tessellated floors
are laid with small blocks of cOlOred
sawdust granite arranged in pat
terms.
I'm fact. there seems to be no end
to the uses to which this acCommO-
dating substance is put. The motor
iSt owes to II the brilliant headlights
from which. by the action of the wa
ter. aCetylene gas is prepared
PearSOn'S Weekly.