STARCH STAKE. 



675 



women have been placed on a level with those of 

 men in some States, and have everywhere improved, 

 while the demand for the ballot has gained too 

 wide a circle of advocates to be any longer consid- 

 ered ridiculous, and has been granted in regard to 

 Bchool-board elections in some States, and in all mu- 

 nicipal elections in the State of Kansas. 



Her husband, HENKY BKEWSTEB STANTON (1805- 

 1887), lawyer and journalist, was born at Pachaug, 

 Conn., Jnue 27, 1805. He removed to Rochester, N. 

 Y., in early life, and engaged in journalism and po- 

 litics. After being clerk of Monroe county for three 

 years he went to Lane Theological Seminary at Cin- 

 cinnati, in 1832, and there took part in the anti-slavery 

 movement. He devoted years to this cause, and in 

 the meantime, having married Miss Cady, went with 

 her to London in 1840, and then made a tour in Great 

 Britain, Ireland, and France. In 1817 he settled at 

 Seneca Falls, N. Y., and was admitted to the bar, but 

 was still active in urging temperance and other 

 social reforms, as well as in anti-slavery work. He 

 published Rrfm-m und Reformers in Great Britain 

 and Ireland (1849). His chief work was done 

 through tb.3 daily press, to which he was a constant 

 contributor. He died in New York City, Jan. 14, 

 1887. Soon afterward a volume of his Random 

 ReeottectioaM was published. (c. M.) 



STARCH. A very considerable variety of plants 

 yield commercial starch, though the 

 ee o ( 4?' P r i" c 'P a l su Pl>lv is obtained from 

 Am Hep ) " w heat, maize, rioe, and potatoes. The 

 manioc-root is the source of the use- 

 ful nutrient variety known as tapioca ; the root of 

 several species of Muranta, of arrowroot ; and the 

 pith of very many of the palms, of sago. These 

 latter, however, are tropical productions, and the 

 ordinary starch of commerce comes in great part 

 from the substances flrst named. Corn- or maize- 

 starch is a product of American inventive industry, 

 and was first produced in 1842. Previously wheat, 

 barley, rice, and potatoes had yielded the world's 

 supply of starch. Potato-starch was first made in 

 the United States in 1802, the industry being in- 

 troduced by John Biddis, of Pennsylvania. It in 

 time became an important product, and a large num- 

 ber of starch factories were built, especially in the 

 cotton-manufacturing districts, the starch being 

 largely consumed in this industry. A number of 

 wheat-starch factories also were built. In Europe 

 wheat constituted tlie principal source of starch, 

 the product being very considerable, particularly iu 

 England and France, whoso cotton factories con- 

 sume n large percentage of the supply. Among the 

 several substances which have been used abroad as 

 starch producers may be named horse-chestnuts, 

 which have been employed for this purpose in 

 France. The bitter principle is removed by the use 

 of sodium carbonate. 



In 1842 Thomas Kingsford, superintendent ol the 

 wheat-starch factory of W. Colgate & Co., in New 

 Jersey, began to experiment with Indian corn, and 

 soon satisfied himself that this grain was well 

 adapted to serve as a superior commercial source of 

 starch. His conviction was communicated to others, 

 and some capitalists built a factory for him at Os- 

 wego, N. Y., in 1848, this location being chosen 

 from the ease of getting a large supply of corn from 

 the West by water-carriage, while it was compara- 

 tively convenient to the great commercial and manu- 

 facturing centres. The industry prospered from the 

 start, and the factories have grown until they cover 

 ]() acres of ground -surface, treat over a million bush- 

 els of corn annuallv, and yield an annual product of 

 moro than 20,000'.000 Ilk of starch. The great 

 prosperity of the Oswogo factory gave instigation to 

 Another great concern, the Duryea Brothers' corn- 

 s larch manufacturing establishment at Glen Cove, 



j Long Island, which was founded in 1858, and has at 

 present a yield nearly or quite equal to that of the 

 Oswego factories. These two concerns are now the 

 largest starch-manufacturing establishments in tho 

 world. As early as 1860 they had brought to an end 

 the importation of European starch, and soon after 

 they began to compete with the factories of Europe 

 for the starch commerce of the world. They have 

 received the first prizes at international exhibitions, 

 and the demand for their product has steadily 

 grown, the exportations of American starch increas- 

 ing from 1,000,000 Ibs. in 1864 to 7,400,000 Ibs. in 

 1887. 



Corn-starch is made in the United States by soak- 

 ing the corn in water containing caustic soda and 

 hydrochloric acid, to dissolve the gluten, grinding, 

 washing on sieves, and finishing by various pro- 

 cesses. Each of the two great establishments em- 

 ploys its own methods, and no effort is made to 

 recover the gluten as a food product, as in the Eu- 

 ropean wheat-starch factories ; but this, with other 

 by-products of the grain, is sold as food for domes- 

 tic animals. The starch is prepared in three forms, 

 for three separate purposes. The first is that known 

 as " Maizena," in England as " prepared food," 

 being pulverized corn-starch intended for culinary 

 purposes, and as food for infants and invalids. The 

 second is the refined starch prepared for laundry 

 use ; the third, f-iziug starch for use in cotton fac- 

 tories and other industries. 



The success of the factories named has led others 

 into tho business, and there are many smaller corn- 

 starch factories now established. The establish- 

 ment of this industry, however, has not done away 

 I with the production of wheat-starch, which is made 

 in the United States on a considerable scale. Po- 

 tato-starch is also largely manufactured, there being 

 several factories at Stowe, Vt., and Watertown, 

 Mass., some of which consume 20,000 bushels of 

 potatoes annually, the yield averaging 8 Ibs. of 

 starch to the bushel. Rice-starch is largely manu- 

 factured in England, Fiance, and Belgium, but not 

 in the United States. In regard to the statistics of 

 the American starch industry, there exist no general 

 ones later than thoe of the census reports, and these 

 are lacking in detail. In 1870 the number of starch 

 factories in the United States were reported as 195, 

 with a total product valued at 85,905,000. In 1880 

 the factories had decreased in number to 139, but 

 the product had increased to $7,477,742. This was 

 principally produced in three States, the yield of 

 New York being 83,328,102; of Ohio, 81, 754,710; 

 and of Indiana, 81, 276,880. No other State pro- 

 duced largely. The business is steadily increasing, 

 and is probably destined to attain a great develop- 

 ment in the future, the immense yield of corn in 

 this country giving an almost unlimited supply of 

 material. The proportion of starch in the various 

 grains is the following : Maize, 60 to 80 per cent. ; 

 wheat, 60; rye, 60; oats, 46; barley, 57; rice, 61. 

 Potatoes yield 62 per cent. Of these various sub- 

 stances the high yield of maize seems to adapt it 

 particularly to starch production. As to the uses 

 of starch, the following are the principal : It is used 

 for stiffening cotton and linen cloths, and as a siz- 

 ing for paper and various other articles ; for making 

 paste, hair powder, dextrine, glucose, etc. ; in med- 

 icine, to dilute and otherwise modify various articles 

 of the materia medica ; in surgery, in the prepara- 

 tion of splints and bandages ; in the chemical labor- 

 atory, for the detection of iodine ; for stiffening pur- 

 poses in the laundry ; and as a nutritious and agree- 

 able article of food, for which its use is rapidly 

 increasing. For the last-named purpose corn-starch 

 is of Irish value. (c. M.) 



STARK, JOHN (1728-1822), general in the Revo- 

 lutionary war, was born at Londonderry, N. H., 



