The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1916-03-10
THE PAPER PULP PROBLEM.

The problem confronting paper
makers OF discovering sources of new
papermaking material becomes every
day more pressing. The prime mater
ial in use today is wood. Attention
was directed to the possibilities Of
wood as a source of papermaking ma
terial by Schafer, of Ratisbon, in 1765
just $50 year ago; but it was not until
the middle of the nineteenth century
that the commercial use of the pulp
OF wood was seriously considered. AS
Schwaibe has noted in one OF his T.
Illuminating contributions to the liter
allure of celluIose, Schafer's expert
ments brought no results except the
contempt and jeers OF his contempar-
ries, says the Scientific American
The problem in Schafer's time was
to discover substitute for rags, old
linen and cotton waste, which were
getting scarce even then, and 1t is
mentioned here to show the similar
ity in questions which are of period
fcal recurrence, as well as to give
point to modern issue: for as late as
the year 1854 the London Times was
offering reward of 1000 pounds "to
any person who shall first succeed in
inventing or discovering the means
Of using cheap substitute for the
cotton and linen materials now used
by papermakers. subject to the fol-
lowing conditions:
81. The material must be practical
~ unlimited in quantity, and be
capable of being converted into pulp
of a quality equal to that which is at
present used in manufacturing the
best description OF newspaper, and at
a cost, caeteris paribus, not less than
ten per cent lower.
"2. It must be tested, approved.
and adopted by three eminent manu-
facturers of paper 1.-TWO OF them to
be named by the advertiser), whose
certificate shall entitle the inventor to
the payment of the reward.
So This offer will be IN force for a
period Of twelve months from the Goth
of May, 1854"
Papermakers are dependent on the
wood of certain pine, spruce and fir
trees for the fibres which compose
nearly every variety of paper except
what are known in the trade as "fine
papers," that is. bonds, ledgers and
writing papers: and it is only the
finer and more expensive grades of
writing paper that are free from chem
icaily prepared pulp of wood. The
rate of consumption of wood pulp has,
indeed, increased so tremendously of
late years as TO threaten the raw ma
Iterial with extinction, a fate which
has already overcome the spruce pulp
wood forests Of the United States;
the great bulk of our wood and me-
chanical pulp being now obtained
from the vast tracts of forest lands
~, Nd ~
Scandinavia.
The Scientific American, keenly
Icognizant of the pressing importance
OF the problem confronting the Amer
lfcan paper industry, never neglects an
iopportunity of directing attention to
possible new sources of papermaking
material, processes for the reuse OF
used material, or inventions for the
utilization Of waste and by-products.
In this way note was made in a recent
Issue Of the possibilities Of producing
pulp from cotton stalks. based on the
report OF an interested student Of the
subject The article created consider
able interest and led to numerous in
touiries from individuals and firms in
.erested in papermaking.
| The history Of modern invention in
lpapermaking processes, since the
classical experiments Of Schafer.
teaches caution in the attitude one
must observe toward the claims put
forward in behalf of any new inVen-
ton. While time has amply justified
the ideas OF Schafer with regard to the
manufacture of paper from a large
list Of vegetable materials, including
wasp nests, peat, straw and the twigs
sof hops, the utilization Of such mater
Iials on q commercial scale must wait