The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-10-12
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lowering the cost of production and raised the
yield to such point that the Introduction of this
alcohol as motor fuel seems likely particularly
with gasoline going up 1t has been. AS Mark
Twain said, What chance has prohibition when
q man take a ripsaw and get drunk fence
rail or drink the legs off the kitchen tableT'
Western larch has unusually high percent
age Of gaactan which it is believed can he CON
verted into a fermentabe sugar for use in making
grain alcohol, This same galactan in oxidation
yields large quantities of muric acid, and muric
acid take the place of tartaric acid In the
manufacture of baking powder. A number of lum-
bernen recently visited the laboratory and one of
the chemists made baking powder from wood, and
his wife made biscuit with 1t. Another advance is
the preparation of fine, sweet strip from galac-
tose, a sugar derived from galactan. So II the
people OF Montana, the home of the Western larch.
get hard pressed they can make their f1apjacks
with larch baking powder bake them over a
stove heated with larch alcohol and sweeten them
with larch strip.
Converting ceulose obtained from wood into
gelatinous material known viscose opens up
another field for research and adds a new line Of
products running all the way from sausage cas-
ings TO tapestry. Five million dollars worth of
silk socks sold last year got their silk from wood,
did many silk neckties and fancy braids Prob
ably It won't be long before the whims of the silk
worm will have little control over silk market con-
dtions.
Kraft paper is made from sulphate pulp, and
the method of making 1t to this country
from Sweden ten years ago Kraft Is much
stronger than other papers. 1t is brown. like what
we usually think of wrapping paper. Large
quantities of 1t are used for that purpose and 1t
Is particularly suitable for large envelopes Kraft
Is used for book covers, for imitation leather and
for cardboard suitcases. An attempt Is being
made produce paper Irvine that will replace
the binder twines made from imported
fibers. This question has become more active be-
cause of the recent shortage of these other 1bers
on account of the conditions south of sue
utilization of large amount Of wood waste and
at the time build up home Industry indie
pendent Of foreign materials
The problems put up to the laboratory to solve
many and complex. One man In the frog bust
ness was suffering heavy losses from the death Of
his tadpoles. He asked the laboratory to find out
if there was anything In the wood which when
washed out poisoned the tadpoles.
The government chemists undertook to study
the matter. They could not locate the trouble so
1t was put up to the section Of timber tests After
a few experiments 1t was found that the resonant
croaking of the large frogs produced vibrations In
the boards of the tanks. The vibrations were
transmitted through the water to the ganga of
the tadpoes (they have no brans) causing dis
ease somewhat akin to infantile paralysis.
The remedy was simple. The man advised
to separate his tadpoles from his large frogs thus
confirming the vibrations to the older generations
This was done and the mortality among the tad
poles decreased wonderfully.