RAINPROOF MANTLES MADE FROM OILED PAPER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2672, 31 May 1905, Page 43

RAINPROOF MANTLE S MADE FROM OILED PAPER.

Fiom the baik of tieet and ? ln riibs the Japanese make scores of papers whu h aie fai ahead of ours. The walls of the Japanese houses are wooden frames covered with tin i paper, which keeps out the w . ■ d but lets in the light. Their oiled papers are astoni-h'nyly cheap and d"uiab*e. As a protection lot li's load of

'Cri i>rhen a win '-tmm overtakes him, the J.ip.anese l.irmti <■_-. cads ovei it a tough, p'lablc cc\ei ot oiled paper, which lb almost i"- impenious db laij:auin and a 6a 6 - light as sios«ainer He ha 1 - cloubt'cs*- cai io'l this «i\ ci for jeais. neatly packed 1 away somewheie about i ins cart. Ihe •' rick'h i " coo'kn m the laige ■ lties wear ram mantles ot thi 5 oiled paper, which cost less than IS cents, <u>d 'ast tor a \ear or more with c nstant use An oiled i t.\=ue pa „er which is a<- tough as writing | paper ca i be had at the for wrapping up delicate articles.

In tilt tea lactorios, the pik - o, paper filled with tea arc made of "-liJju garni It is said that th p -e tanned backs keep the tea in better mndilioi than any other scat aid *hnt the} a--' with careful iisj for man; jeais 'fiain an ' nioa. =acks aie almo°t always made of this same paper m Japan, foi it 13 not easily 1 penetrated by \\ee\ils and othei msect 1 : I But peihapd tho most lem.irkable o f all ' the paptis which find a eomnvm use m the ! Japanese household are the leather papers of 1 which tobacco pouches ami ].ipe cases aio | made. They are almost a« )(ii_h as Fieinh

kici, so tim-c ucent thit one can neaiij see ' thiough them, ana as p lable and soft as calf- ! skin Iheoe ttjbsicco pouches quite change one's notion of the chaiacteristics of paper, for the material of winch they aie made is as thick as caidboaid but as flexible as kid. The \ise oi paper napkin ■= and handkerchiefs, umbrellas and kiui»ins, is as much a part of home life in Jdp.m as t!ie use of cheap tin | articles in this counti - >. But the reason for this remarkable use of paper articles does not lie wholly in the ab c oiice of cheap qkins, though it is true that few domesticated leather-

1 pioducing animals exist in Japan The quality ! ol the papers themselves make ihem -uited, as ours arc not, to these \arious purpo-es. These Japanese host papers aie made from the .inner bark of shiubs or small trees, while to this fact they owe their pecu'in character. Ihev a,re, as a, rule softei. silkier, tougher, and lighter than our papers. If wet, the\ n ose tl eir strength, hke tissue paper, out on drying regain it They are i"=ua'ly absorbent, and. fox this leason were considered m the olden days as very valuable in surgery