Year: 1865

The manufacture of paper has long been
involved in great difficulties These have
grown chiefly out of the nature of the ma
terial of which it has been made--the best
paper being almost exclusively made from
rags. The supply Of these, though the i'm
mense demand for them has systematized
it to great extent, has always been liable
to harassing and injurious contingencies,
resulting mostly in the foreign markets.
Within the last few months, too, we have
had an instance of an oft-recurring danger
in the possible introduction of the infection
from the Russian plague or cholera. 1t
may be that our fears have greatly magni-
fled this danger, but it ha> seriously affec-
ted us in times past, and is likely to again,
as large quantities Of the rags come from
the infected cities, and they are peculiarly
| calculated to convey the infection They
come from the houses oflower classes: they
have been amassed in foreign cities in the
quarters where disease is most likely to
rage and they are, in their nature, firmly
retentive of such matter


Then, too, often, as in the late war, for
eign exchange was very mnch deranged,
duties on foreign imports were necessarily
large, and the paper-makers, or rather the
paper-consumers, suffer from that source.
The only remedy for these evils lies in
the discovery of a raw material-native,
or produced near home-abundant, sure,
and natural product, incapable of con-
veying or developing disease. For this
purpose the suggestions have been almost
| lnnumerable the faculty Of invention,
under the pressure of the almost infinite
| advantages to be gained, and of the very
imperative need which is so widely felt,
has shot out in every direction in Jealous
search of the much-wished-for material


Straw has been largely used, and for many
purposes has answered admirably, but for
newspapers it is of an unpleasant surface,
brittle texture, and involves difficulty in
working. Corn-husks have been used to
some advantage. Eastwood has been quite
extensively employed, but with less salts
factory results. Hundreds of other substan-
ces have been tried and found wanting, or
yet lie in the realm of suggestion awaiting
the capital and the courage to test them


At this juncture we find the problem in
the process of solution at our own doors,
under the auspices of a company embrac-
ing some OF our best known citizens, and
in factory situated at the further extrem-
ity of the town. On Red Hook, at the foot
of Dikeman street, fronting on the river,
stands the factory of the Fibre Disintegrat-
ing Company. The various buildings of
which the factory is composed cover, with
their adjacent ground, thirty-two regular
city lots. The main building is of brick
with gable-roof, and looks, as you drive
toward it from Van Brunt street, like some
spacious Dutch dwelling which has served
its purpose and fallen into the hands of the
terrible children" of Modern Improvement.
If our readers will accompany US we will
give them our impressions. entirely unset
ontifc-of the very interesting process by
which this Company is giving daily practi-
cal answer to the question, "How can we
become independent of foreign rags ?"


The material employed in this factory is
bamboo from Jamaica. This is imported in
large loose bales, the wood cut into fagots
of some three and half to four feet in
length, and split in halves, thirds, and
quarters. The wood in this condition is
dry and hard, with the fragments of the
unfibrous partitions, which in the tree oc-
cur at every foot or so, clinging to it
Owing to the time which has elapsed since
| cutting, the cells of the bamboo have be.