The Covington leader. (Covington, Tenn.) 18??-current, 1916-08-10
GREAT WORLD PAPER FAMINE

CelIulose is the fibrous matter that
is the basis Of all kinds Of paper. This
substance is produced commercially
from cotton and linen rags and from
wood pulp. Millions of tons of cullu-
lose are required annually to supply
the requiI ements of the paper mills of
the world. In normal times go per
cent of the rags and 40 per cent of the
sulphite used for the manufacture of
paper in the United States is imported
from foreign countries.
But cellulose is also the basis of
modern high explosives. The Dupont
| Powder Mills have installed an enor-
nous battery of heaters having a ca
| pacity vastly greater than the capaci-
| ty of any paper mill in the United
States. They are paying fabulous
prices for rag stock and commanding
the hrst choice from all the country.
| What in normal times would be the
| fibrous texture of fine paper is now be-
ing converted into ammunition for
bomb and torpedo and howitzer and
machine gun.
Germany has confscated the entire
supply of raw materials for the man
ufacture of paper within the confines
of her empire. Even the wood pulp
of Germany is now being converted
into explosives, sparing only enough
for the manufacture of such amounts
of paper as are absolutely essential to
domestic requirements. The govern
ment of Germany has fixed the size
limit which the publisher of a news
paper in the empire may not exceed.
The German resident who would buy
a daily paper can do so only on con-
dition that he surrender the paper Of
the day before to be returned to the
paper mill, cleaned and converted
again into stock for the publication
Of future issues.
England, in times of peace, exports
coal to Sweden and balances the ac-
count by importing Swedish pulp. But
with the outbreak of the great war
the British empire needed all her fuel
supply to operate her munition plants
and Warships.
Sweden, in retaliation, has refused
to ship pulp to Great Britain, and, ow-
ing to her shortage Of coal and the
dangers and difficulties Of ocean traf-
fic, she is now shipping very little pulp
to the United States.
South America, Central America,
Australia, India, Africa and many Of
the European countries, finding their
usual sources of supply closed to them,
clamoE to the United States for relief,
and find that our stock of raw ma
terials is so nearly exhausted that we
can scarcely produce enough paper to
meet the requirements of our own
people.
The god Of war has not only appro-
priated the wood pulp and cotton es-
sertial to the manufacture of paper,
but he has also claimed for his de
structive purposes the bulk Of avail
able chemicals of scarcely less i'm
portance. Bleached sulphite wood
fibre) that formerly sold at $3.50 per
hundred now commands as high as
$500 per hundred. Bleaching pow
ders that commonly sell for little more
than a cent a pound are understandable
even at II cents. Soda ash, rosin,
satin white, casein and alum have
doubled and trebled in price. Aniline
commonly buys for 40 cents per pound
are now difficult to obtain at even
$4,000 per pound.
Every article that enters into the
production of paper has advanced in
price and is still bound to advance to
even higher prices. There is no i'm
mediate possibility of a speedy return
to normal prices. Even the termina-
ton of hostilities could not restore
normal conditions until after suth-
cient time had elapsed to permit in
dustry to return to healthy conditions
and to allow for the manufacture of
enormous reserve stocks.
To the printer this all means the
urgent necessity of advancing the
prices in proportion to the general ad-
vance in the market. Paper already
purchased and held in stock should be
valued at today's prices because it can
not be replaced for less.-Merchant