CATTELL'S SYSTEM FOR UTILIZING VEGETABLE FIBRES.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 981, 31 March 1871, Page 2

CATTELL'S SYSTEM FOR UTILIZING VEGETABLE FIBRES.

|TROM TnE BRITISH TRADE JOURNAL, JAN. 1.1 By this sjptem, vegetable substance*, however b«»und up, surrounded by, oe impregnated with silicious, resinoiuL eerumerioua, albuminous, parenchy. uiatous, and other impurities are expurgated, purified, and rendered available for the manufacture of Textile materials of domestic aud general utility in almost endless variety,, thereby opening fre>h source* - of com* inercial enterprise to an unlimited extent. Prior to the introduction of this, system, attempts to utilize the great vaiiety of fibrous substances abounding in such prodigious quantities in India, Cnina, Africa, New Zealand, and other localities, have for the most part failed, inasmuch as while it whs necessary to isolate the cellulose or fibre proper from its assouiated impurities, the fibre itself became so greatly deteriorated hy oxidation, or by chemical reaction, as really to negative and render compara* tively useless the ohjeet intended The system of Dr Catttdl avoids aud prevents any such results ; and like all others which ha«e been ot real importance to the world, i-' characterised by great simplicity and economy. It is a noticeable feature in the carrying out of this system that products are formed, the r -"alue of which must necessarily lessen the working expenses, aud one, at least, of such products is eutitely new, and likely to become ex* ten4vely useful. The attention of the manufacturer and the public i. w called to the important fact that fibres, yarns, and fabrics, treated by this .-ystem, acquire an increased capacity for imbibing and retaining colouring matter. The Government of India, fully alive to the necessity and importance of making Rhea the staple commodity of that country, have offered a prize of .£5,000 lor a process that will give to the fibre a value in tha London market equal to .£SO per ton. The New Zealand Government have also offered a large reward for a process by which the Phormium Tenax—New Zealand flax—may become more extensively utilized. Under this system surgical lint of first-class quality can be manufactured from fiax rapidly and very econo* mically ; for it must be observed that fiax being the fibre for linen is, in the opinion of Dr Cattell, the only proper material for lint, inasmuch as cotton, consists of flattened twisted tube* without joints, the .sharp edge of which has the effect of irritating the wounds to which it is applied ; whereas flax consists of jointed cylindrical lubes incapable of giving rise to any such consequences The business, therefore, which will be done in this article will form no inconsiderable item in the profits of the undertaking. Under this system also—from the fact of the pecudar form of the flax fibre just described—a valuable material adapted for "milling" and " felting'' can tie produced, in appearance iindistinguishable from wool, at a cheap rate, Hence woollen goods manufactured with a fair proportion of this and similar wool-substitute* which are readily obtainable from other fibrous veget hie substances, will also enable the public to procure them at a cheap rate. Under this system, in like manner, a material can be produced imdistinguish* able in appearance from cotton, and capable of being worked by cotton machinery.

A considerable revenue will also arise by the application of this system, to cotton ami other fibies intended for the manufacture of pymxiline and xyloidine, these substances being used extensively for military, mining, photo* graphic, surgical, ami other purposes, also for the manufacture of strong and imperishable paper, and likewise vegetable parchment, and for similar economic uses.

The production of a tenacious fibre for rope-, especially for muring purposed and the rigging of ships, has always ben a matt, r ardently sought -Ai&" f it is therefore satisfactory to know that fibre treated by this system will possess the following special advantages;—.

1. A greater tensile resistance, esti mated at twenty per cent., in ropes and cordage of equal thicknesses. 2. The material being pure, it will not be liable to the spontaneous decay vhieh has* occasioned so many sad disasters with and cordage made of fibre treated in the ordinary wa . 3. The necessity for employing waterproofing agencies will not be so essential, and when used their preservative action will be much greater. 4. The damage which always, more or less, accompanies the ordinary treatment of the fibre will by obviated. And if this system is applied generally to the fibrous substances in their raw or natural state, many important advantages will accrue : 1. There will be a much greater yield of fibre from the same weight of plants than if the process of water retting be resorted to. 2. The separability or fineness of the fibre will be practicably realizable to its fuU extent. 3. The inherent tensile resistance or strength of the fibre will be conserved. 4. The discoloration of the fibre always more or less attendant on the water retting process, as well as the :extia expense incurred by the measures adopted to remove it (scarcely e\er effectual), will be entirely obviated. 5. The enormous loss of time—the endless round of operations—and withal the usual accompanying expenses to render -cotton, J men, jute, and other textile materials matketable, will be for the most pait avoided. The advantages, to which reference lias been made, will operate equally in the manufacturers' interest, under this system, as in that of the public :—Tims flax (referred to simply as an example) which would only produce a fifty or sixty lea yarn, would, if a higher of filamentous division, or fineness, could be wrought upon it, yield yarn leas of higher number-, and at the Mime time augment in a corresponding degree, their market value. This remark specially applies to Irish fiax, which, by this system, may be made to produce a lea yarn approximating, if not equal in quality, to «diat of the best Flemish, Belgian, or French iiax. Although quality, which is really estimated by fineness, is a salient feature of a fibre intended to be spun into a ; warp yarn, yet without inherent strength, the quality of fineness would be of little use ; the immense difficulty hitherto experienced in spinning warp y drn —the yarn which has to bear the principal stress in the weaving opera tion—will, by this system be completely removed; while that -defect in yarn, called the manufacturer's neap on '.the thread, will, it is believed, be entirely obviated, and consequently a greatly increased value given to the material. When the warp yarns, which, under this system, can be produced from the Phormium Tenax, and many other strong and cheap fibres, equally with those made with the flax in general use, are spun clean, uniform or level and round, with the inherent strength of the fibre preserved in the thread, perfection has been attained —a thing scarcely, if at all, possible with fibre treated in the oulinary way. Dr Hunter, an authority on the subject, has remarked, " That the fibre of all plants would be better if prepared without water retting." And Mr Henley, another authority, speaking of jute, states, "There can be no doubt but that the application to it of a pro .-ess of preparing the fibre without water-rettiug would effect the most signal improvements in its quality." The important desideratum pointed out by these and other great authorities has happily been accomplished by the discoveries of Dr Cat tell, one of the most piouiinent merits of his system b?ing that in realising the production of textile fibres uninjured and in a state of purity, as well as cheaply and ex tensively, they become also in a corresponding degree wore durable, and consequently oi increased value to the nation at large.

A contemporary state* that since tin* Laud Transfer Act cams into force during the first week in February, property to the \alue of £25,000 ha I l»e/n transferred under its pro visions in the piovince of Otago alone. During the trial of a ci\ il at Nelson, be'bre his Honor Mr Justice Richmond, in which a Wairau fanner sued Messrs Symons and Bennetts for the value of some wheat shipped on hoard the barque Hera and burned, Mr Charles Redwood said in evidence : " T have injured wool before this, and I think it ia generally looked upon by the insurers as rather a god-sen I if it never sets home " His Honor here interposed, and said he was shocked to hear it state I in a court of la** that the loss of the indemnities should be looked upon as the projt of the insurer

The following letter, addressed by Lieut. Panter, of the Cerberus, to a friend in Melbourne, will (says the Argus) be read with interest, as chow insr how the g-dlant commander of our ironclad extracts amusement out nt the difficulties and inconveniences of his adventurous vovage. It is dated from HM.CS Cerberus, Aden, Jan. 10: " Well, here T am with tin three-headed brute, safe and sound so far, though not half-way to my destination. I have been rather a long time getting so far, but she is not a clipper; and with all her extra weight she won't steam, and it requires a gale to drive her under sail; and when it does blow a g.ile I prefer keeping the sails lashed up, or I should be making another Captain of her, which, as far as I am personally concerned, I don't care about, nor do I *.hink, as far as regards the ship, the colony would thank me for so doing. She is not a handsome ship—bow and stern the same, except that she has a bowsprit at one end and not at the other; but her real beauty will not be seen until I go into dock, they will see her magnificent lines ju-t like this [making a mark to illustrate the cross section of the vessel.] Her extreme breadth on the upper deck is 45 feet, and on the bottom 43 feet, so you ••an fancy its being much like taking a floating-dock to sea. Nevertheless she has proved herself a good sea-boit, though not exactly a clipper. I have managed hitherto to get a hundred miles a day out of her. Her next best ('») quality is power of suffocation, which is very strong. We were nearly all cooked coming down the Red Sea, and 1 am sure if we had been another week we should have been overdone. I have the satisfaction of being the first to brine; an ironclad and cupola ship through the canal and down the Red Sea ; also 1 hoist the Australian flag 'in these parts' Victoria may be proud of the first ironclad she possesses, as far as strength goes, for I verily believe she is in-pieguable to the present ordnance. She causes a vast amount of astonishment wherever she goes, especially when people see her guns. 1 hope to get away from here the day after tomorrow and reach Galle about the 2nd February ; from thence Igo to Sumatra, and Java, then down south for the Sound, and then ' hoorah ' for Hohson's Bay. It will be one of the happiest days of my life when I drop my 'mud-hook' off Wiiliamstown."