The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891, February 01, 1876, Page 3, Image 3

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    February.
THE WEST SIIORE.
doubtful, if not actually criminal, confes
sions; and, above all, if Mr. Beecher him
self had held himself aloof from associa
tions with irreligious and dangerous people,
this greatest scandal of the Christian era
need not have happened; or, had it come
to trial as it did, some one party must have
come off with honor unstained; whereas
now, all parties are besmirched with guilt
of some kind, and the Brooklyn preacher
of latitudinarian doctrines has fallen into a
tnp prepared by himself for himself.
Even he had mistaken the doctrine of a
foolish license for the doctrine of Christian
love.
What I want women to know is, that they
have no arbitrary power to hold men away
from wrongdoing. Every human creature
must stand or fall for himself. If he elects
to fall, is it your duty to sink with him ? And
if so, for what purpose ? Besides the evi
dent duty you owe yourself, there is a duty
you owe these othere not that of a fellow
ship in degradation, but of resolute resist
ance, that shall convince the falling of the
danger of pursuing the downward course.
So long as men can rely upon women
even good women to uphold them, they
have no motive at all in that direction to
restrain themselves. Talk about the hero
ism of the woman who loses all else for the
sake of the man she loves I I will tell you
of a higher heroism than this weak follow
ing of an unworthy passion. It is when a
good woman dares to loose all her claims
upon the man popularly known as her
legal protector, and to go out into the
world alone, to make her way as best she
can, rather than live in constant association
with vices she is powerless to restrain.
Does this sound radical and revolution
ary? Well, nobody need be alarmed
about the too rapid spread of this sort of
heroic ideal. Old customs are not so easily
uprooted especially those that to abandon
requires courage and independence in our
habitually cowardly and dependent sex.
But how is it that I am advocating moral
heroism when I began by finding fault with
the way in which certain people handle
their umbrellas ? Perhaps it is because I
feel that all forms of refinement should
progress together, and are, in fact, inti
mately, if secretly, related.
It is said that the Greeks invented
beaut)' that is, they had no models with
what is styled the Greek cast of counten
ancebut, by copying single beauties of
feature, combining and supplying, they pro
duced the perfect elegance forever famous
in Grecian statuary. In doing this, they
may have been said to have mated beauty,
since the effect of the presence of this type
in the world has been to stamp its impress
upon living forms. May we not, in the
same way, invent an ideal of moral perfec
tion that shall, by constant study and itera
tion, at length impress itself upon the char
acters of very many of our. sex and the
race ? Such, at all events, is the faith and
hope of some, among whom I am glad to
be numbered, though our ranks are not yet
' over-filled.
A Good Word for Human Nati'ri. It
was the genial Diedrich Knickerbocker
who said : " I have not to bad an opinion
of mankind as many of my brother philos
ophers. I do not think poor human nature
so sorry a piece of workmanship as they
would make it out to be; and, as far as 1
have observed, I am fully satisfied that
man, if left to himself, would about as
readily go right as wrong. It is only this
eternally sounding in his ears that it is his
duty to go right which makes him go the
very reverse. The noble independence of
his nature revolts at this intolerable tyranny
of law, and the perpetual interference of
officious morality, which are ever besetting
his path with finger-posts and directions to
' keep to the right, as the law directs; ' and,
like a spirited urchin, he turns directly con
trary, and gallops through mud and mire,
over hedges and ditches, merely to show
that he is a lad of spirit, and out of his leading-strings."
Thi bright Evming Slar asks, " If they
caa plug teeth by machinery, why not plug
hats ? " We don't know ; we haven't been
at school long enough to team.
PAPER IN JAPAN.
When a people contrive to make sauce
pans, fine pocket-handkerchiefs, andsailors'
waterproof overcoats out of paper, they
may be considered as having pretty thor
oughly mastered the subject and this is
claimed for the manufacture in paper, with
the additional little touching incident that
the saucepans are generally used over char
coal fires.
According to their own account, these
ancient islanders wrote upon silk, faced
with linen, and also used very thin wood
shavings for the same purpose, until
nearly the close of the third Christian era.
About A. D. s8o paper was first imported
from the Corea, and superseding the home
made fabrics, monopolized, the market
until the year A. D, 610, when the King
of the Corea sent two priests to Japan to
establish the manufacture. This paper was
easily torn and liable to be destroyed by
worms, and besides did not take the ink
well. These manifold disadvantages at
tracted the attention of Taishi's, the son of
the reigning Mikado, who substituted, as
material, the bark of a species of paper
mulberiy, which is still extensively culti
vated for the purpose. By Taishi's orders,
the tree was planted throughout the country,
the method of manufacture publicly taught,
and thus the industry was commenced
which has since so prosperously continued.
At the present time 263 sorts of paper
are manufactured in Ycddo. In regard to
this immense number of styles, the nation
al love for formalities must be considered;
as, for instance, in addition to the usual
varieties to which we are accustomed as
appropriate for deeds, public documents,
letters, notes, etc., the Japanese list men
tions four distinct kinds intended to be ex
clusively used for poetiy and songs. There
are also kinds enumerated as employed for
umbrellas, hats, lanterns, and waterproof
clothing; one being described as serving
for candle-wick and pocket-handkerchiefs,
while another is intended for handkerchiefs
only, and a third is used for dressing dolls.
Special kinds are prepared exclusively as
wrappings for the several styles of religious,
civic or social gifts.
The excellence in the manufacture is
due, in a great degree, to the fact that
Japan furnishes a number of trees and
shrubs with a fibrous bark particularly
adapted as a material for paper; and several
plants of which the roots, seed or sap yield
a natural size for the surface of the sheet.
The species of mulberry first used in
the seventh century is still regarded as con
taining the best fibre, and it is extensively
cultivated. The plants are annually cut
down to the root until the fifth year, when,
by this treatment, the wood has become
dense and strong. The branches are then
cut into lengths of about one yard, and
steamed in a straw vessel over a boiler.
As soon as the bark begins to separate from
the wood, it is stripped off by the hand, the
wood itself being preserved for fuel. The
bark is then hoisted upon poles to dry by
exposure to the air, and when dry it is sep
arated into bundles weighing about thirty-
two pounds each. The dry bark it then
immersed in running water for twelve
hours, after which the outer husk or bark
is scraped off to serve as the material for
an inferior kind of paper. The remain
ing or inner portion is again washed in
running water, and, after pressure with
heavy stones, the fibre it boiled with ashes.
After another washing, it is well pounded,
and then molded into balls. These balls
are next thrown into a wooden trough, and
mixed with a pulp together with a paste
made from the root of the tororo a shrub
somewhat resembling the cotton plant. A
portion of this pulp it next placed in a
frame, consisting of an inner and an outer
portion, with 1 false bottom ol plaited
bamboo. A dextrous and peculiar jerk
from the skilled operator sett the pulp in
the frame, and it is then to placed as to
rjermit the water to drain off. The sheet
of paper is then lifted from the frame with
a piece of bamboo, and laid with a brush
on a drying board, the side adhering to the
board forming the face of the paper.
The paper " warranted to wash " is made
with another kind of paste; and in the oil
paper for waterproof clothes, a glue is used
made from young fern shoots stained with
the expressed juice of unripe persimmons.
Colors are applied in powder mixed with
bean paste.
Several of the trees and plants used in
the manufacture of paper are described as
being the object of careful cultivation,
especially in the manuring and preparation
of the soil.
PAPER OR PATENT LEATHER.
The substance called patent leather is an
invention of Prof. Dawidowsky, who has
occupied himself for a number of years
with the question how to give a higher
value to paper, the cheapest material for
surfaces. In pursuing this object he fixed
his attention for many years on the manu
facture of parchment from paper by the
employment of diluted sulphuric acid, by
which process paper is gradually changed
into parchment, and attains somewhat of
the consistency ot animal skin, iiut he
turned his studies lo a far more practical
account by trying to produce a substance
from paper which could be used in many
instances instead ot leather. He had been
able, through the use of sulphuric acid, to
increase the thickness ot paper fivefold,
but the question was how to give this parch
ment which after drying became brittle,
and cracked-' when bent flexibility and
elasticity, and to make it resemble leather
in color and finish,
As was seen from the two large cases of
patent leather which were exhibited by him
at the Vienna Exhibition, Group XI., Aus
trian Department, he attained his object.
The first case contained skins in all colore
and of all kinds of finish, resembling in
form natural skins, although the exhibitor
has not the remotest idea of manufacturing
his leather in the hide form, as the
long open rolls suspended from the top of
the high case proved. His patterns were
fixed on a small board, which the public
were permitted to touch. The feeling was
dry, soft, flexible, and many pieces may
even have deceived tne practical man.
In the first place, the split sheep leather
used lor hat linings was imitated, strips in
all colors and forms, treated exactly like
leather, were exhibited. For the lining of
hats patent leather is said to excel the nat
ural leather in certain rcsiiccts. Being
waterproof, it does not absorb the perspira
tion, and it can consequently neither be
spoiled itself nor can the hat be sailed
through it.
In the second case paper leather was ex
hibited used for fancy leather work of all
kinds, especially that tor the use ot book
binders. The leather showed several sha
green dressings, was exhibited in rolls and
in nieces a metre square, and presented all
colors and shades. A great selection of
finished work such as writing pads, bound
books, albums, pocket-books, writing and
music cases, cases for watches and jewelry,
ladies cuffs, etc. proved that the new
material may be utilized in a variety of
ways, and that it may be listened, gilded,
pressed and nnished, and pointed like
leather.
It is easy to see that an article of such
manifold applicability has a large field
before it, and, as the inventor has been
able to enter into partnership with a prac
tical man, the prosperous continuance of
the new industry is insured. Ikulicht
Gewtrbt-Zritung.
How Greknbacx Papir is Madr. All
the paper for the money issued by the
United States government is manufactured
on a sixty-two inch Kourdrinier machine
at the Glen Mills, near West Chester, Pa.
Short pieces of red silk are mixed with the
pulp in the engine, and the finished stuff is
rnnilnrtMl tn the wire without tossing
through anv screens which might retain I
the silk threads. By an arrangement above
the wire cloth, a shower ot short pieces 01
fine blue tilk thread it dropped in streaks
upon the paper while it is being formed.
The upper tide, on which the blue silk is
dropped, is the one used for the face of the
notes, and, from the manner in which the
threads are applied, must show them more
distinctly than the reverse side, although'
they are imbedded deeply enough to re
main fixed. The mill is guarded by
officials night and day to prevent the ab
straction of any paper.
Now is Uie time to plant garden "tas."
MANUFACTURING PROSPECTS.
Western Washington Territory, with its
forests, its water power and its extensive
coal fields, is destined, in time, to take
high rank among the great manufacturing
districts of the world. Nature has here be
stowed a variety of native productions
scarcely excelled in any other. And while
at the present time the Territory is neither
distinctively agricultural nor manufacturing,
tne variety ot its resources render it certain
in time, under the hand of labor and inven
tion, to attain to a high degree of prosper
ity, in view ui uus ran, 11 uccomcs tne
people of this age, if they would conserve
the interests of posterity, to look well to
the protection of these forests. The forests
have been made the subject of a report by
the commissioners of the General Land.
Office, referring especially to this north
western country, recommending the adop
tion of more effective means for prevent
ing uie uniawiui appropriation and wuitui
destruction of timber. This is a good,
movement, and we trust will result in good
to the country. A vast amount of valu
able timber is destroyed every year by fires
carelessly, thoughtlessly, and often crimi
nally started by those who liave neither the
fear of the law nor regard for the rights of
others before their eves. It is the province
of the local authorities to attend to this,
" Vigilance is the price of liberty," also the
price of timber. Let every good citizen
make it a business to see that the limber is
protected in lu's neighborhood from all such
ruthless destruction. This timber is the
dormant capital which shall sometime pro
duce abundant wealth for the people. Let
it be protected. Vaimmw liuitfimttnl.
CLIMATK.
The second day of the month of Feb-,
ruary has arrived. Winter has blown its
coldest blasts. The frost has given its
severest touch. Let us now, for the bene
fit of our Eastern readers, give a compara
tive statement 01 the difference between
the Puget Sound and other climates during
the winter season. It will be interesting to
many inquirers, we know.
December, with us, was more like a fall
month than the beginning of winter.
Fruit and vegetables were still In the gar
dens, uninjured by frosts and untarnished
by moulds. On many days during) the
month named little children played about
with their hats and bonnets off, and men
went about with their coats off, the ther
mometer indicating a moderate tempera
ture during the hours of daylight, Flowers
bloomed in many gardens, and, unprotect
ed by artificial heat, blossomed the old
year out.
January was characterized moro by its
mild temperature than by any severity of .
cold. Snow fell to a depth of about sis
inches in the latter part of the month, and
remained on the ground but a short time.
For several days there was good skating in
lakes near Olympia, while the bay was
comparatively free from ice, But warm
winds and rain have swept the snow away.
and February breathes the breath of spring.
1 he thermometer has not lallcn below
twelve degrees above sero at any time 1
during the winter. While mercury itself ,
freezes in oilier localities, vegetation
around the Sound hat scarcely ceased to
grow. To industrious, temperate and hon
orable people we extend an invitation to
come and try our even temperature and
mild climate. Olmfia Echo.
What Thev Stood For. The Tilutville '
Herald remarks: " A young lady, whose
4 pa struck ile ' a few years ago, and who
has since been at boarding school, recently
returned, and a parry was given for her '
benefit. Upon the bottom of her invita
tion cards the caused to be inscribed,
' K. S. V. P.,' and one was sent to an illiter-,
ate rich fellow, who had also made his
money by boring. He did not go, but sent
a card with the letters ' D. S. C. C Meet
ing him in the street, she asked him what
the letters meant. 'Tell me first what
yours mean.' 'Oh, mine are French for
Ketiiond, II you cannot accept. ' Well,
mine are English for " D n sorry I can't
I come
Pay IV The Galeslnirgdll.) FraPnii
thus grapples the great question of finances:
" Pay upl If you owe but a tingle dollar,
go and pay it. When there is to little
money, we ought to keep it moving arounu
lively. Jim owed tu, and we owed Bill,,
and the said Bill owed the said Jim. Jim
got mad because we made him pay one
dav lad week; but we paid Bill, and Bill
paid Jim, and Jim went to bed that night
at hapiiy at t clam at high water, with just
as much money at he liau in the morning."