The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-09-19

Saving old newspapers that they
may be used again In the manufac-
ture Of newsprint may seem Tar
removed from the problems OF for
est conservation but asN matter
of fact it Is directly connected with
the work in which the forest serv-
ice of the United States department
OF agriculture is interested. This
branch of the governments many
activities has recently been con-
Fducting a series Of experiments In
de-inking process, and now an.
nounces that it has. been perfected
and is practicable.
About $500 tons of old newspa-
pers can be gathered daily in the
larger cities, it is estimated. and
turned into newsprint by this pro-
cess. In terms OF forest acreage,
this means roughly the saving OF
the cut each year on about 275,000
acres. This acreage carries a crop
not produced in year, but spruce
forest requiring 100 years or longer
to grow. This is regarded as an
important saving. in view of the
fact that the daily consumption OF
newsprint in the United States is
approximately 1000 tons.
In it's modern development the
production of newsprint depends
upon the forest for its raw mater
ial. The present supply, coming
largely from mills in the northeast
and lake states, is derived from
forests in the United States now
seriously depleted, or from less &C.
cessfble forests in Canada. The lat
ter now furnish IS per cent of the
raw pulp used by mills in this
country.
Many of these mills, representing
immense investments, no longer
have supply of raw material Of
their own, but are dependent either
on foreign supply Of pulp, or or
pulpwood that must be hauled LONG
distances in the United States
Some Of these mills have their owl
supply for only 10 or 20 years In
advance, and but one mill is known
that has supply, strictly its own
that is good for more than half q
century. The increasing distances
to the fast receding forests near
added freight costs and higher
priced product, while hanging over
mills operating on imported pulp II
the ever-present possibility of EN-.
barge, even now far from q theOret
ical menace Thus the incentive tt
the development of q de-inking pro
cess is apparent.
Has Been Tried for Centuries.
The use OF old paper stock fol
the manufacture, of paper is very
old and we find mention Of a pro
cess in Denmark as early as 1895
Seventy years later German chem
Ests were experimenting in that di
rection, and in 1894, during the
French Revolution, Citizen Mason
a woman, conducted an establish
ment for the conversion of old pa
pers into new. In 1901 Matthia:
Hoops established the Neckingel
mill at Bermondsy, England. to de-
ink printed papers and make new
paper therefrom, and in 1S49 Henry
E. Rogers, in mill near Hartford
Conn. made the first use in the
United States of old papers in the
manufacture Of paper.
1t is only in recent years, how.
ever, that it has been realized tina,
it would not only be good bushes.
to utilize the enormous waste rep
resented in printed paper, but wa
an absolute necessity if the con
sumption of newsprint continued tt
grow and the supply of spruce tim
Der to diminish.
! Early in 1921 the forest product
laboratory of the department o
agriculture undertook series @
comparative tests to determine tn
efficiency Of process using ben
Itonite to accomplish the heretofor
almost impossible task of washing
all the carbon black out of the mac
Grated pulp after it has been loos
ened by alkalies. 8. D. Wells, tn
engineer in charge Of the expert
ments, now reports that they wer
successful.
I'm de-inking printed paper an
especially newspaper" Says MI
Wells, at is comparatively easy t
loosen the carbon black by dissolv