61 



referred ,to, nor were there any ascertained 

 facts regarding it available for submission to 

 them. Under these circumstances, and recog- 

 nising their willingness to promote our inquiry, 

 several of them were invited to furnish us 

 with specimens of the various so-called wood- 

 pulps with which, if possible, to institute com- 

 parison — the other material, e.g., waste paper, 

 old ropes, &c., being already known to us. 

 Amongst these thus approached were the follow- 

 ing London firms : — Messrs. Churchill and Sons ; 

 W. G-. Taylor and Co., Ltd. ; Andrews and Co., 

 Ltd.; Castle, Gottbeil, and Overton; and Alsing 

 and Co. These submitted samples of mechanical 

 and kraft pulps and chemical pulps, including 

 sulphite pulp bleached and unbleached, and sul- 

 phate pulp bleached and unbleached. 



Further, the manufacturers of the different 

 papers alluded to were themselves asked similarly 

 to assist, and replies were received from the 

 British Paper Company, Hempstead, Herts.; 

 Garwood and Muddiman, Ltd., London; T. and 

 J. Makin, Manchester; Johnson's Millboard and 

 Paper Co., Ltd., Walworth ; Thames Paper Com- 

 pany, Ltd., Purfleet, Essex; the West Drayton 

 Millboard Mills, Ltd., Middlesex; and G-. H. Hed- 

 ley, Ltd., Hedge Mill, Londwater, Bucks. Inter- 

 views were also held with the principals in some 

 instances. Prom all of these it was elicited that 

 there was always an opening Jor any new 

 material, even if it were not superior to those 

 already in use, providing it was available in quan- 

 tity and of fairly uniform quality, and the cost 

 compared favourably with them. It must, how- 

 ever, possess the special features that alone could 

 establish its utility in manufacture, and regard- 

 iag these, only those conversant with the . pro- 

 cesses of manufacture and with the exact methods 

 of estimating these features could pronounce the 

 extent to which they were present. 



The value of the ligneous tissue of our 

 prickly-pears being still then an open question, 

 it was suggested that Mr. R. W. Sindall, of 

 Messrs. Sindall and Bacon, London, the well- 

 known specialists in these matters and authors 

 of several treatises on paper technology should be 

 consulted. This course was especially urged by 

 Mr. Jackson, of Jackson's MiUboard and Paper 

 Co., Ltd., Bucks., and by the director of the 

 Thames Paper Co., Ltd., of Essex, two of the 

 largest British manufacturers of the classes of 

 vegetable fibre matters referred to. 



At this time samples of the material referred 

 to as being derivable from the prickly-pear were 

 not to hand, although requisitioned some time 

 previously. Nevertheless, the advice was acted 

 on, and Mr. Sindall was interviewed. 



Mr. Sindall, who is a recognised authority 

 on matters connected with the manufacture of 

 wood pulp and paper, emphasised the fact that, 

 before expressing any opinion regarding the use 



of prickly-pear fibre in the arts, it would be 

 necessary for the material to be examined and 

 its qualities ascertained, both pulp and paper 

 being made if found necessary. He referred to 

 the various uses to which the material might be 

 put, if not suitable for paper making, e.g., book- 

 binders' boards, trunk boards, friction boards, 

 &c. Boards were commonly made of waste paper, 

 as it was cheaper to work up than ropes, cocoanut 

 fibre, old rags, spinners' waste, &c., which were 

 available for the purpose. Where a very short 

 fibre was needed, esparto was used, this possess- 

 ing the shortest fibres that were of any value. 

 In pulp-making, the fibre generally had to be 

 reduced to a specific length,* but esparto fibre 

 was so short that the process of reduction did not 

 reduce it any further. Any raw substance that 

 yielded a shorter fibre than esparto would be 

 available for use only as a filling material, and 

 even then only if its cost was very low. The cost 

 of converting the fibre into pulp would also have 

 to be taken into consideration. If found suitable, 

 he thought that the pulp should be made in Aus- 

 tralia. 



He went on to state that his firm was pre- 

 pared to carry out the necessary examination and 

 to report upon the value of the material and the 

 uses to which it could be put. In order to carry 

 out this inquiry it would be necessary for the 

 firm to be supplied with not less than two or 

 three pounds of the woody fibre of any one species 

 or variety of prickly-pear. This fibre should not 

 have undergone any chemical treatment whatso- 

 ever, but should have been carefully dried at an 

 ordinary temperature. The material should not 

 be decayed or in process of decay. 



In regard to the question of utilising the 

 mucilage, Mr. W. Bacon (Mr. Sindall 's partner) 

 stated that the firm was prepared to examine 

 that also. The material sent should not have 

 been coagulated or prepared by any reagent, but 

 should be the residuum of evaporation at a com- 

 paratively low temperature. He mentioned that 

 a 2 per cent, solution of galactan was then worth 

 £6 per ton. 



After this portion of our inquiry had pro- 

 ceeded to the length indicated, the specimens of 

 ligneous tissue asked for by us were received from 

 Queensland. The material had evidently under- 

 gone a certain amount of decay. Selected speci- 

 mens, however, were submitted for examination 

 to the technological branch of the Imperial Insti- 

 tute, pending the carrying out of the proposal 

 outlined by Mr. Sindall when better material 

 should be available. This latter business was 

 referred to the Agent-General for Queensland, 

 since the Commission, being about to leave Eng- 

 land for the United States, could not undertake 

 it. 



Dr. Henry, who took charge of these speci- 

 mens, stated that the fibre appeared to him to be 



* 0-5 to 3-0 mm., " for the majority of paper ; a length 

 of 1-2 mm. is a working optimum" (Sevan and Sindall). 



