The Washington herald., 1917-01-02
Seen and Heard
Ry GEORGE MINER.

New York, Jan. la partial solu-
tion of the great paper problem that
is now harrassing the publishers in
this country is likely to come from
Mexico. Sarcastic people will natu-
rally remark that there can be no
doubt about that, as in country
where there is so much paper money,
paper must be. very plentiful.
That's not the scheme, however.
Thereis no intention of diverting pa
per from being made into Mexican
money to being made into American
newspapers. Experiments have been
carried on for some time and prove
conclusivcly that the finest grades of
paper can be made very prohtably
from henequen waste; that is, the
stumps of the plants and the scrap
ings of the leaves. This material in
the past has been disposed of by
burning.
When one stops to remember the
tremendous amount of henequen fiber
manufactured in Yucatan-more than
million bales annually, for it is the
main crop of the country-it is easy
to realize that the waste from this
will furnish a great deal of paper
pulp. 1t is estimated that this waste
can be turned into at least two hun
dred million pounds of paper each
year. This product can be obtained
without interfering in the least with
the output of sisal fiber. The stumps
and the scrapings make ideal pulp as
they are pure fiber, but too short to
be utilized for sisal fiber.
understand that this industry will
be developed al. once, under the au-
spices of the Yucatan government and
should help to relieve the paper situ-
alton very materially. AS l under
stand it, no attempt will be made to
establish paper mills in Yucatan. 1t
| would take too long to build them.
The pulp will be manufactured there
and shipped to mills in this country.
This discovery also solves the prob
lem of what to do with the vast
pulque plantations in Mexico. At
| present they are lying idle, for the
government prohibited the making Of
the deadly pulque the drinking Of
which had been so detrimental to the
Mexican poems. AS a result, thou
sands of acres set out to the maguey
plants, from which pulque is made,
are not being utilized They could be
turned into alcohol, but the process
was too expensive.
The maguey plant is of the same
family as the henequen, but the leaves
are not fbrous enough to be used for
hemp. However. experiments have
proved that they make very fair
quality of paper pulp. The govern
ment will encourage the development
of this industry in order to provide a
source Of income for the owners of
the plantations. This discovery is a
great relief to the officials because
while they did not want the pulque
plantations to stand idle, they still
less wanted the poems driven wild
with the drink.
In this country, many experiments
have been made in finding pulp sup
plies from various kinds of waste.
For instance, the cane stalks left
after the juice has been squeezed from
them, known as bagassa, makes ex-
cellent paper pulp, but it is so light
and bulky that the cartage of 1t to the
mills would make it improbable.
The same objection applies to the
cornstalk and the cotton stems. None
of them is practical for use in a
money-making sense.
With the vast forests in the North
west still untouched, it seems almost
ridiculous that there should be any
suggestion even of a shortage of
wood pulp. Still it is always good
economics to utilize waste.