Evening star., 1916-05-07

furnished at cost. Only in few in
stances was 1t necessary for the bureau
terials needed for the test. Careful
observation is being made OF the be-
havior Of the materials. and reports
will be made from time to time. 1t Is
believed the experiments will result In
placing stucco construction on a more
nearly standard basis than ever before.
The American newspaper. with iti
many and huge editions. has created
one of the country'f
Seek;no Snruca biggest economic and
manufacturing prob
ouUsLlCuteS. lems-how to sup
ply the incessant and growing demanos
Of the presses for material without
wholly exhausting our rapidly dwin-
ding spruce forests.
Being in closer touch with the situa-
tion than other public or private agen-
cies in the country. the federal forest
service has realized the desirability
Of finding some substitute for spruce
in the manufacture of news print
paper, and through its well equipped
forest products laboratory at Madison
Wis, has been carrying on numerous
experiments in the grinding OF other
woods. Recently completed expert
results yet attained, and many COM
mercial users of papers. including
pressmen. of two Of the largest news.
papers published, believe that the prod
ucts turned out by the federal paper ex.
perts from woods not hitherto consid-
cred as possible sources of pulp are the
equal of the spruce paper on which the
news of the world has been spread
forth exclusively for many years.
AS a practical proof of Its accom-
published a unique bulletin contain
ing pages made from twenty-five diff
ferent woods, raw and cooked, used
separately and combined. The blank
pages of paper from various woods are
bound side by side with pages of
liable an appearance and one or two of
them being strikingly whittier. Pages
cut from newspapers printed on the
experimental papers are also bound
into the booklet beside similar pages
cut from ordinary newspapers. so that
the reader may make the most practf-
cal of all comparisons.
The most interesting phases Of the
experiments. perhaps. were the ar
rangements with commercial paper
federal grinding plant for the manu-
facture of great standard rolls of news
print paper and the furnishing Of these
to one Of the leading papers in New
York city and one in st. Louis. Mo-. for
practical runs on their presses un-
this final test many Of the papers made
showings as good rs the spruce
paper usually employed. This led ex-
perts who witnessed the experiments
to believe that the governments work,
by making possible the use of several
woods, will undoubtedly lead to a re-
duction in the cost of news print
paper and at the same time will make
possible the filing of the domestic de-
mand with a domestic supply without
the exhaustion of any OF our valuable
forest species.
The great drain that the needs of
newspapers have caused on spruce for
ests is brought out forcibly by figures
gathered by the forest service. which
show that while the increase in spruce
due to yearly growth Is about 10000
900 board feet. the annual consumption
In recent years has climbed to 2.515.-
900 board feet. Much spruce for
grinding has in the past been import
ed from Canada. but restrictions on eX-
portations of unmanufactured woods
have been placed by many of the prov
ince governments and will. no doubt,
be established by the others.
For the commercial tests seventeen
of the experimental papers were used
and all. the experts decided. were suit
able for news print purposes. The best
showings were made by six species of
fir. eastern and western hemlock and
lodgepoIe pine. Many of the other
woods tested gave excellent results
when mixed with the whittier sorts.
If the tested woods in the national
forests in close proximity to available
water power. facts which are consid-
cred to be of great promise to the fu-
ture of the wood pulp industry.
In connection with the experiments
to deyelop new sources Of material for
news print paper the forest products
specialists also undertook to work out
improved methods for grinding spruce
which would reduce the cost of manu-
facture and so to some extent offset
the increasing cost of material
Few people know enough about
Uncle Sans business to understand Off
hand why he should
Asphalt Testing design and manufac-
ture needles, but it
With Needles. was recently found
desirabl by the highway experts of
the office of public roads and rural en-
gineerins to do SO. The new needles
ordinary No. 2 sewing needles The
tiny points are used to test the con-
sistency of asphalts and other pitch
like road materials.
When bituminous substances were
first introduced engineers tested them
by the primitive method Of chewing
small sample, estimating the consist
ency by the resistance to the teeth.
generation ago the idea was con-
ceived of thrusting a needle into the
substance by a machine under known
conditions Of temperature and load.
measuring the time and distance OF
penetration.
For years the needles employed have
been No. 2 sewing needles Of certain
make. The government road experts
have not been satisfied with the de-
gree of accuracy. however. and as a
result Of a series of careful micro
scopio Investigations recently showed
that the needles considered standard
even by the makers Of precise instru-
ments varied greatly. They therefore
set to work to design a needle of diff
ferent shape whose dimensions could
be accurately duplicated. They have
succeeded SO well that a number of
needles made by specification alone
have given results practically free
from even minute variations. 1t is not
improbable that the government
needles will become in a short time the
IL vyl