WE LIVE IN A PAPER WORLD.
THIS is the paper age. Paper is now used for a hundred things which only a few years ago would have been deemed impossibilities, so far as making them of paper is concerned. Paper for silk dress material is now manufactured from spruce-sawdust, cotton, or jute waste, and alcohol. In the near future we will dine off paper dishes a la Japanese. Hats made of paper, which will be fire proof, are a possibility. In Paris bonnets and hats—frame, trimming, and ornaments—are made of paper. Paper parasols will yet be made impervious to rain. The paper trunk is the only trunk which successfully resists the onslaught of the baggage smasher. Paper car wheels are no longer a novelty. The paper coffins made at Westfield, Mass., are the bane of high-priced undertakers, and in steady demand, altho this is a business which all of us wish may not be too brisk. In Russia and Germany paper rails have long been used, and they seem to wear better than steel rails. Despite the fact that the horse is rapidly being supplanted by electricity, paper horse-shoes are manufactured by the thousands, and, like Othello’s, the blacksmith’s occupation will soon be gone. Soft paper pulp is now used by sculptors for modeling. Wood pulp ceilings and wall decorations are very fashionable, and under skilful manipulation handsome embossed effects are secured. Paper pails, water coolers, and cuspidors are part of the modern kitchen furnishings. They are destined to supplant many of the awkward and heavy utensils which unnecessarily tax the housewife’s strength. A hundred things are sent to us now in paper boxes from the grocer, the confectioner, the shoemaker, the dry goods store, the dress-maker, and so on. Milk now is delivered by the watery-eyed milkman in paper bags. The Japanese might be called the paper nation; they live in paper houses and sail in paper boats. With them the use of paper is a fine art. Last, but not least, we have paper pipes for carrying water, steam, or electricity.—Epworth Herald.