OCR Text |
Show with agitators and wringers similar to those 4n use for the washing of wool. Tho bulk material in which the fiber la embedded Is found to be easily worked, and It Is claimed that the proportion pro-portion of fiber recoverable la 1 ton to every 20 of the bulk material dredged. The coBt per ton of rough dried on board the dredge is estimated esti-mated at $3.05, and from the dredge it can bo taken by tender dally to a nearby port and ther dried mechanl- j cally, classified if necessary, dumped, baled and shipped to any part of tho world. The uses of tho fiber are found by experiments made by competent persons to bo many and varied, and It possesses many unique qualities. It will spin and weave in union with wool, and will also take dye equally as well (as demonstrated in one of the leading woolen mills), being, so far as It Is known, the only vegetable fiber to do this. It is practically non-inflammable non-inflammable (Its charring point being 373 degrees F.), and It is to that extent ex-tent a nonconductor, unlike cotton. It does not shrink, and has moro resilience resi-lience thau kapok. It Is also found to be as good for ship calking as oakum. Blankets and cloth woven of a mixture of wool and this fiber together with samples of the fiber in various Btage3 of production, from plant to yarn. NEW AUSTRALIAN FIBER. Consul John F. Jewell of Melbourne, Mel-bourne, reports the discovery In Aus-'tralla Aus-'tralla of an extraordinary fiber of marine ma-rine origin, which he says Is likely to prove of great commercial Importance. The consul thus describes It: This fiber is the result of the sheadings shea-dings of the leaf sheath of a. sea grass botanlcallj- known as Posldonla Aus- trails (of the order of Naiadeoe), and so far has been found only in Spencer Gulf, South Australia, where the shed-dings shed-dings have tjeon imprisoned by the action ac-tion of wind "and waves in the sand flats of the gulf. The foreshore of the part of tho gulf where the best deposits of the fiber exist Is a long shelving bank with a clearly defined belt of live marine growth from low water seaward, with wide shallow sand flats stretching Inshore to dry land, tho whole bolng a mixture of fine sand, shell, clay and limey substanco on a limestone formation, and intermixed inter-mixed with Jhis sand, shell, etc., are Jayers of the fiber averaging 12 feet in depth with 4 feet of water over the deposit. 0-or one hundred soundings of the deposit have been made In different spots, and on every occasion the fiber was found, sometimes a few Inches under the surface, at other times a foot or more, varying in color and fineness according to its depth, and there would appear to be millions of tons available, the accumulation of centuries. At 1 foot the fiber Is mixed more or less with the decaying roots of the plant and marine growth above It, while at 2 or more feet it is cleaner clean-er and much brighter in color, but always al-ways mixed with the adhesive soil In which it Is embedded. The best samples sam-ples were found where the bed was covered with water at 2 to 10 feet deep. It Is intended to gather the fiber by means of dredges fitted with special buckets and rakes, together |