, 1912-10-23

Win tne champagne industry. lie attacked
the problem several years ago, and tor the
last 5 years has devoted his energies to the
perfection Of a machine which he has evoIy-
ell for making this product upon Il large
scale, and at such IL price that for mlny com
mercial plrp0scs It IS cheaper than the mt-
terial it is lnt4nled to supersade. The pro-
cess is simple and ingeniou land the raw mt
teriul employed is straw. The wisp5 are first
split longituilna!ly into three sections to
DIES roy the natural r6silIency of the stalk, a
special rippjng-m tchine having been design
Ell Tor thus preliminary 0p sG4!l0n. The straw
IS then asaociatel with certain chemicll sub
stances, and submitted to Il COOKING process
simultaneously with the application of IN
tense pressure. The result is that the straw
becomes conpresse into Il homogeneous
mass slllillr Ia appearance to wildwood cnt
tue way Of the grain. The pro luct can be
manufactured iii any desired form, from
tnln sheets to wide pIauk5 AMI thick btIk5,
anil is produced III Il continuous length to be
cut IN sections OF the required dimensions.
Examination re ,eals no evidence Of straw, as
this substance has been driven INTO Il solid
mass, the tiDres, as it we're, being held to-
8ether by the chemical ingredients The
success Of the operation depends essen ially
upon The selection OF the binding medium.
and upon the cooking Of the raw material,
which must be carried out 1T II precise tenn
perature and for il prescribed length Of time;
while the pressure must be sufficient to bring
about perfect homOgenelty, IL pressure Of
about three tons per square inch being suIi-
Clent for the purpose. The inventor has
produced sections of boarding and Docks by
this process which can be manipulated by
the usual Wood-cutting tools, the saw leaving
a clean cut. The III lterial is somewhat den
scr than the WhIteWood which it Resembles
very closely in appearance, and accordingly
in working slightly more effort is required.
SO far us balks, ioists, and 50 forth are con
cerneA, increased strength can be secured
by building up the straw in transverse layers
each about a quarter Of IN inch In thickness.
nasmuc rs II many parts OF the world
straw is IL waste product, the cost OF mama
tacture III such places com IS out at II very
low figure. The process should find Il use
ful application in producing frewood from
straw, in those countries whore timber and
other fuels ore costly, and the product is
well adapted for heating purposes. 1t burns
with IL long flame, en}its little smoke, and
gives intense heat. The inventor as turned
the process to novel account-tho mannfac-
ture of matches. He has evolved an ingeni-
Gus machine for this work, whereby the
matches are turned out in patches Of the Do
sired longth and thickness ready for being
dipped. Such matches can be pro luced for
less than the wooden articles made IN Swe-
den, and should meet with popularity in
those countries where wood suued for the
purpose is expensive. He has also succeed
ed in discovering an efficient substitute for
wax v%estas, dispensing with the cotton fibre
foundation. Another application Of the pro-
cess is the production Of corrugated maler!-
al, similar to ribbed strawbolrd, fer packing
purposes, the product being stronger and
more resilient than ordinary straWboud, and
particularly useful for packing bottles. The
wood prepared in this manner is suited for
packn9-cases aud similar articles, and VIII
be found a very efficient and cheap substi-
tute for commodity that is rapidly rising
il price. lH9#t5ofS'S Jo@5yt1l, Horch i3i<.
H-l 4 ul 81