JUTE. 



Texas. lo 1868 he was elected to the State 

 -;-itiiiv 1'rotn the district composed of 

 .rro, Hill, Kaufinnn. and Ellis Counties, 

 l.nt was counted out by the Republican n-- 

 turiiinir-board and did not take his seat. In 

 May, 1*74. In- was appointed by Governor 

 Coke major of the Frontier Uattalion. He 

 raised and took command of six companies of 

 rangers, tor operations on the frontier, and in 

 this service he remained nearly five years. 

 While in command of these rangers ho had a 

 number of Indian fights, and in one engage- 

 nient lie defeated one hundred and fifty war- 

 riors with only thirty-seven men. He also 

 raptured or dispersed many bands of outlaws 

 and desperadoes, with which the Texan fron- 

 tier was then infested. In several localities 

 he with marvelous tact and coolness settled 

 deadly feuds, and restored peace to the neigh- 

 borhoods. Often, at night, alone in the vast 

 wilderness of the frontier, he met by appoint- 

 ment the most desperate men, probably, in the 

 world, and, by reasoning with them, caused 

 their return to peaceful lives in their own 

 homes. These outlaws were said to fear Colo- 

 nel Jones more than any other man, and re- 

 garded him as the embodiment of courage, 

 honor, and truth, so that his promises to them 

 were relied on with implicit faith. In January, 

 1879, Governor Roberts appointed him Adju- 

 tant-General of the State, and this position he 

 held at the time of his death, having conducted 

 the office with a success and ability unsurpassed 

 in the history of the State. General Jones 

 was a prominent and horiored mason, and in 

 1872 was Grand High Priest of the Grand 

 Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Texas. In 

 1878 he was appointed, by Governor Hub- 

 bard, one of the three commissioners to inves- 

 tigate the El Paso troubles with Mexico, two 

 of these commissioners being officers appointed 

 by the President of the United States, selected 

 by the Government from the regular army. The 

 difficulty was satisfactorily adjusted, and the 

 services of General Jones were acknowledged 

 to be of great value. Personally, he was dis- 

 tinguished for those high qualities that ennoble 

 the life of a man, and shed a wholesome influ- 

 ence npon the society of which he is a member. 

 JUTE, the fiber of species of Corchorus, as 

 C. capsularix and C. olitorius. The name is 

 also applied to the plant. The genus Corchorus 

 belongs to the order of Tiliacece, the best- 

 known representative of which is the linden, 

 or bass-wood tree. The species that furnish 

 the fiber are annuals, natives of Asia, and grow 

 to be about ten or twelve feet high. Young 

 shoots of Corchorus olitorius are used as pot- 

 herbs in Egypt and Syria, and are cultivated 

 for that purpose. The fiber of jute is con- 

 tained in the bark of the stems, which are cut 

 when the blossoms begin to appear, and is 

 separated after macerating the stems in water. 

 It is between eight and twelve feet long, and 

 has the general appearance of hemp, but is 

 softer and more silky. It is adapted for manu- 



facture into goods that are not to be much 

 exposed to the weather. It is used principally 

 for making gunny-bags, or coarse coffee-sacks ; 

 also for burlaps, cheap carpeting, matting, and 

 for an imitation of false hair. The coarser and 

 refuse parts of the fiber are made into paper- 

 stock. During the year ending January 1, 1881, 

 50,606 bales of jute were imported into the 

 United States, giving a total value, at the aver- 

 age price of from eighteen to twenty dollars a 

 bale, of about a million dollars. The importa- 

 tion has not essentially increased for a consid- 

 erable period, but has fluctuated greatly during 

 the last ten years. Thus, it amounted in 1872 

 to 97,059 bales.; in 1873, to 39,404 bales ; in 





JUTE (CORCHORUS CAP8TJLAHIS). 



1874, to 27,496 bales; in 1875, to 28,804 bales; 

 in 1876, to 25,284 bales; in 1877, to 22,629 

 bales; in 1878, to 45,181 bales; and in 1879, 

 to 74,215 bales. In England, the yearly con- 

 sumption amounts to more than a million bales. 

 The great inferiority in the amount of the ma- 

 terial brought to the United States is partly 

 due to the operation of the American tariff, 

 which is so levied as to work a discrimination 

 in favor of manufactured jute ; and it is cheaper 

 to import the yarn or the woven clotlis from 

 the mills at Dundee, Scotland, than to import 

 raw jute, and spin and weave it here. The 

 business of manufacturing jute is more pros- 

 perous in California than in the Atlantic States, 

 for the raw fiber may be brought there directly 

 from India at less charges for freight than rule 

 at the Eastern ports, while the long land-car- 

 riage across the continent adds greatly to the 

 expense of bringing the manufactured goods 

 from England, so as partly to offset the dis- 

 crimination effected by the tariff. Experiments 

 in the cultivation of jute on the reclaimed 

 marsh-lands of Louisiana have been attended 

 with encouraging results. The returns from 

 the efforts made show, according to statements 

 that have been published in New Orleans, that 



