The Lynden tribune. [volume] (Lynden, Wash.) 1908-current, 1912-06-13

formed into viscose and then into artiri
cial silk, Of which about five tons das
is made In Europe. The demand far ex
ceeds the supply. According to Professor
Robert Kennedy Duncan q pine tree IL
worth ten dollars ton; cut and strip
ped It Is worth fifteen dollars; boiled In
to pulp, 1t Is worth forty dollars; bieach'
ed 1t is worth fifty-five dollars; which
turned into viscose and spun into SILK
is worth five thousand five hundred dol
lars. Clearly, our wasted timber has IN
teresting possibilities. Wood pulp OF
cellulose may be regarded as q gold mine
the full value of which no man can es-
innate, for our knowledge Of chemistry
Is lamentably scant
BY a strange anomoly the paper-mak'
ing industry utilizes more differen'
kinds Of waste than any other, and yet
produces an amount Of waste that Is still
the subject Of much chemical study.
Cotton waste, flax waste, hemp waste.
iute waste, old ropes, canvas, rags
straw, spent tan and even stable manure
have all been used in paper-makins.
Each year. however, witness an In
creasing use of wood pulp and q de-
creasing use Of cotton and other waste
for the purpose The great bulk OF the
paper on which every newspaper, mag
azine and book is printed is made from
wood pulp or cellulose. The large Amer
lean newspapers consume each day ma
ny acres Of forest. The success of a
loo
Of q mountainside. Fifty per cent Of
the weight Of the wood out OF which all
our printing paper Is made flows down
drains and pollutes rivers-an example
of waste that Is truly appalling In these
days when the disappearance Of forests
is a matter Of grave, nationa! concern.
A prize Of ten thousand marks was OF.
fered in Germany in 1894 for COM
mercialiy practicable method Of reclaim
ing this waste. but as yet no satisfacto-
ry application Of the liquors from what
Is known as the sulphite process. by
which most paper Is made, has been
forthcoming.
agricultural refuse, scientifical-
ly treated, proves q source of wealth.
Rice-hulls, by-product In the manu-
facture Of rice strach. have proved
good packing material and, unfortun-
ately, a successful adulterant Of spices
and food-s -stuffs. Corn. staple crop
which grows SO abundantly in the Unit
ed States that it cannot all be fed 90
hogs or distilled into whiskey. furnishes
of considerable value. Abou
ninety nine per cent Of our starch Is
made from corn, the daily consumption
being about three million pounds. The
gluten, germ and bran which remain al
ter the starch Is obtained are worked up
into various saiable forms, among them
a maltose syrup suitable for table use.
BY hydraulic pressure the germ is made
to give up an oil which is a good illum-
inant, an excellent dressing for wool. a
machine lubricant, a substitute for rub
her when treated with sulphur, and a
oil for paints. The cake left
after the oil is squeezed out is staple
cattle food. largely exported to foreign
countries. The pith Of the corn has the
property of absorbing water to fully
twenty times its capacity uncompressei,
and with more rapidity than any sponge.
For that reason 1t is extensively employ
ed as lining for wahships. II
the armor is pierced the pith lining will
at once swell up and close the opening
made by a shot. The recent laws that
have been passed to sanction the making
Of denatured alcohol without incurring a
prohibitive internal revenue tax will
sooner or later induce the farmer to dis
til his surplus corn instead Of burning 1t
as 1t stands. AS 1t Is, much alcohol Is
now distilled which Is mainly consumed
In the form of whiskey and varnish.
Corn Is the chief source of the sugar
called glucose; for the process Of boil
Ing cornstarch with acids yields sugar.
Because this sugar does not crystalline
readily it is usually sold as syrup. In
halcyon days, before the Pure Food Law
prohibited false labelling. it was frequent
ly palmed off as honey or maple syrup.
Large quantities Of 1t are used by brew
ers and confectioners and by sugar. max
ers for admixture with cane sugar and
cane molasses.
IAN industry SO enormous as that of
stcel-making necessarily has its wastes.
OF these the two most important are the
gases that escape from the blast-furnace
in which the ore is smelted, and the
Stag which remains after smelling. De-
spite the fact that the escaping gases rep.
resent so much money recklessly flung
into the air II is only within the last
few years that a systematic effort has
been made to collect them and to use
them for power to drive gas engines.
1.-The many ways in which money is
made out Of waste might be dwelt upon
at wearisome length. A host Of minor
industries have sprung UP in the past
decade, simply in the effort to place mis-
named dirt where 1t properly belongs
Cork scraps are transformed into vine-
gar SO profitably that the Paris sewers
are provided with gratings to strain out
the shoppers which bibulous city
throws under its tables. Broken glass
does duty again in the manufacture of
an artificial building material known as
ceramic stone, and in the making Of imi
tation precious stones Many an artifici
al perfume Is made from a vile SMELL
ing compound. Putrid cheese. reacting
on sugar, or distilled, rancid butter
treated with alcohol and sulphuric acid
yields an acceptable oil Of pineapples.
A stencil may be elevated to the digni-
ty OF a fashionable perfume. Clearly,
Hamlet was voicing the views Of mod
ern Industrial chemist when he inquired
why may not imagination trace the
noble dust Of Alexander. till We find 1t
stopping a bunghole?"
Blanket Bill Jarman, the Oldest pi-
opeer of Whatcom County, having come