On this page
-
Text (3)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
Klines is the sum for the support of five or gey-en _* j ^ is thus we keep our " bold peasantry eig ht pers _ T ^ . ** political Economy , as expounded a Fmptoyers of Eng ineers—by Members of Party ^« 5 infinitely wise Doctors of Labour , tell us liaitient , » help fo / this > my , a family of five or tU w « ps voung . and old , would be allowed more cig b 2 , shillings ; per . week for their support . It is th ! f to be a horse tban ^ an agricultural labourer . The ^ , -wmMcian someHmes rebukes the poor for being
in V „ loW as the / beasts . The Bedfordshire enri-+ would be obliged by being raised up to the level 8 jSi Sto . ' Surely the plethoric wealth of St . Steh s lounging at the Opera in town , and preserving V l < nnts in the country , might forgive the poor that P lc saying— " When you take away our Eight to r on the Land , you ought to concede to us the right to labour at living wages . " Ion .
Untitled Article
ON THE CULTIVATION OF FLAX . IV . We have already described the flax plant as consisting of three component parts , exclusive of the seeds—viz ., the " shove" or woody pith > the gum or resinous matter with which the fibres are made to adhere to each other and to the stem , and the fibres themselves ; but we recal its construction to the attention of our readers on fulfilling our promise of explaining the Chevalier
Claussen ' s interesting discovery , by which the separation of these substances is sought to be effected by chemical means . We will add , that the fibres consist of an infinite number of small cylindrical ^ tubes , articulated like a cane or stalk of rye grass , and that they differ from cotton in that the latter is found , on microscopic examination , to possess a flat ribandlike form , and that there is no gum to be got rid of before it can be made available for manufacture .
This is hot an inappropriate 4 > lace , moreover , for giving a more minute , analysis than we . have already done of the flax plant ; and we are glad to find that our theory , based upon the experience of scientific men , is so well supported by the eminent Professor of Chemistry in Ireland , Sir R . Kane . Excluding the seed , the entire plant is found by him , on quantitative analysis with incineration , to be composed of Carbon . . . . . . . - - 38 ^ 5 Hydrogen . . . . . ... 7 ' 33 Nitrogen 0 ' 56 Oxygen . . . . . ... 48 * 36 Ashes ......... 5 * 00 lOO'OO Tho pure fibre , when analyzed , produces scarcely any ash whatever , while the pith and the gum , separately analyzed , yield 1 * 57 and 42-01 per cent , of ash respectively . Nearly one half , therefore , of tho gum is composed of inorganic matter derived immediately from the soil , and this , it appears , has hitherto been found so difficult of solution , as to require the aid of putrefaction kept up continuously for from seven to twentyone clays . It is effected , as explained in our previous articles , by steeping in rivers or artificial pita , and , so delicate is tho operation , that a perfectly pure fibre is seldom obtained except by persons thoroughly versed in the business . Mr . Mac Adam , the Secretary to the ltoyul Irish Flax Improvement Society , in a lecture delivered in March last before the Society of Arts , in London , happily illustrated the almost impossibility of ordumry farmers succeeding in this branch of husbandry in tho following words : " Great attention is demanded from tho fanner to ascertain tho precise moment when t'jo gum is entirely disengaged , and before the strength of tho fibre has been injured by tho action of the water , which has becomo charged with the substances separated from tho former , and chemically altered . Nothing w inoro frequent than under-rating or over-rating ; tho "'"• o , in tho livst of those events , remaining harsh and ooai-Ho , and , in tho second , weak and cottony . " Aculs and alkalies havo been sovornlly called to aid 111 tl 10 "opuration of tho gum , but without much suc-« u « s , until M . Chuunon thought of tho possibility of so combining their action as to ciiubo an almost instantaneous disintegration , by explosion of tho fibres from j , l ^ her . His p ftn j a our OWIlf H 0 far us relates to 0 ( l ll ) llni ' > g out by mechanical moans as largo a portion " » possible qf tho woody pith of tho plant ,, both for the Hiiico of tho grower , who uses it for litter , or for mixing v cattlo compound , and also on account of the rolucticm in bulk . M . Clausson then boils tho flax for » o » t three hours , in water containing about ono-half nor nt of caustic soda , and it is afterwards transferred' to ¦ vobsoI containing water slightly acidulated with sul-P'mviOftcia , in tho proportion of 1 of acid to 500 of liv i Thi 8 proceHfJ » ° effectually soparatos tho flbro y ' (« homico . racchanical action , that , when required » unon , all that romnins to bo done is to dry and Ultoh tho flbro in tho usual manner .
^ But as the object of M . Claussen is to provide a substitute of home growth for foreign cotton , capable of being spun upon the existing cotton machinery , a further process is required , and we cannot better explain it than by using his own words , as stated in a paper read last year before the Royal Agricultural Society of England : — " Complete , however , as may be the separation pro-- duced by this mode of treatment , the fibres , from their tubular and cylindrical character , are still adapted only for the linen or present flax manufactures , as "their comparatively harsh and elastic character unfits them for spinning on the ordinary cotton or woollen machinery . At this stage , therefore , it is , that the most important part of the invention is brought into operation . The flax , either before or after undergoing the processes required for the severance of the fibres , is cut by a suitable machine into the required lengths , and saturated in a solution of sesqui-carbonate of soda ( common soda ) a sufficient length of time to allow of the liquid entering into and permeating , by capillary attraction , every part of the small tubes . When sufficiently saturated , the fibres are taken out , immersed in a solution of dilute sulphuric acid of the strength of about one part to two hundred parts of water . The action of the acid on the soda contained in the tube liberates the carbonic acid gas which it contains , the expansive power of which causes the fibres to split , and produces the results above described . " The next process , that of bleaching , is effected by placing the mass of flax in another vessel containing the hypb-chlorite of magnesia , by the action of which it attains the colour , as it had before received the texture , of cotton . This discovery has now been sufficiently tested for us to pronounce it of the first national importance , although it may be long ere the arrangements necessary for carrying it out , so as to make it available to our farmers , will be as complete as we should wish to see them . The best way of bringing it within their reach would be the association of a certain number of growers in a district , for the purpose of erecting a factory where their flax could be worked up under a licence from the inventor , which he is ready to accord on very moderate terms . They would thus share the profits of a very valuable establishment , and , under proper arrangements—which none could so well define as the farmers themselves—they might receive in their return-carts their due proportion of matters which ought to be restored to their farms , just as a Middlesex farmer loads his hay-cart with London stable manure . The profits may be fairly stated as follows ^—viz .: Cost of 6 tons of flax straw . . . £ 15 0 0 " Breaking , " " cutting , " and " blowing" 1 19 0 Chemical ingredients ! fi ° Bleaching , washing , drying , &c . . 2 16 0 £ 21 0 0 The produce being one ton of flax cotton , equal to " fair quality American , " which will sell at Leeds or Manchester for about 561 . per ton . Thus , exclusive of interest , carriage , packing , and other incidental charges , there will appear a gross profit of 35 ^ . upon every five tons of straw worked up . If wo estimate these charges to amount to as much as 101 ., it will still leave 251 . to divido amongst tho growers of five tons of straw in addition to 31 . per ton alroady carried to their credit . It is stated that the cost of a " plant" capable of preparing 10 or 15 tons per week of flax straw is only 2000 Z . ; and we think this is a very proper subject for tenant farmers to introduce to their landlords , who might safely undertake tho erection , receiving , or rather sharing in tho royalty to bo stipulated for with the inventor . Cotton now ranges in price from d } d . for common Surat , to 2 * . per lb . for finest Sea Island samples ; and flax cotton may fairly be placed in tho category of " fair bowed , " which now commands about 6 d . per lb . in the market . It appears , theroforo , that a sub stituto for , or an auxiliary to common cotton may bo produced at our own doors for something loss than ono-half tho price at which foreign cotton is now sola ; and whon wo add to this that flax cotton is capable of being " milled" with or without wool , and of being even bo prepared as to admit of an admixture with silk , the full value ' of the discovery will bo apparent to our readers . We cannot more appropriately confirm our present remarks upon M . Claussen ' s discovery , than by quoting from a speech of Sir James Graham ' s on tho 13 th of February , in last year , delivered in a dobato upon agricultural distress : — "I cannot conceive any dispensation of Providence moro merciful , than that eoionco and flkill should succeed in overcoming this difficulty , ( the thon short supply of cotton , — -Ed . ) whereby wo ahull bo rondorod in a groat dogroo independent of foreign uupply , whilo » grout
uUnxu-Iub would be given to our manufactures ; and if , haPP **? this encouragement to the cultivation of flax here should succeed , I am very confident we shall hear no more of the distress of our hand 46 om weavers , that the cultivatioii of land will be largely improved by the introduction of capital in growing this new plant , and that this plant will be of great service to the agriculturist , from its being peculiarly adapted to increase the fertility qftlie s 6 il" ( Cheers . ) Such of our readers as may desire to inform themselves more fully on this subject , may obtain full particulars , and see samples of the manufactured cloths , on applying to Mr . Christopher , at 26 , Gresham Street , or to the Chevalier Claussen at his works on Stepney Green .
Untitled Article
MISSIONAEX FAffA-TICISM . The following is an extract from a letter we have received from " F . B . B ., " taking us to task for the manner in which we spoke of the unfortunate Patagonian
mission-: — ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sib , —I was exceedingly surprised and grieved to find the Leader missing so good an opportunity of exposing and denouncing superstition and fanaticism as was afforded by the fate of Captain Gardiner and Ms party on the coast of Patagonia . Instead of which , these infatuated men are held up to admiration on account of their faith ; as if there were any merit in faith , when unsupported by any evidence , when in direct opposition to reason and facts ; it then surely becomes contemptible and culpable credulity . For a man who has lost Ms companions by starvation , and is himself on the eve of the same fate , to talk of
" the great , and" marvellous loving-kindness of his gracious God , " is nothing but the ravings of insanity , which usually precedes death by starvation . Fanatics , from their want of knowledge and thought , first place themselves in difficulty and danger , and then look to the miraculous interference of Providence to rescue them from the deserved consequences of their folly and credulity . If ay , so blinded are they b y superstition , that if they meet with any little unexpected relief , which is not enough to save them , they break out into rapture about the " infinite mercies of then *
gracious Father , " Captain Gardiner does because he managed to get a little water by means of hie India-rubber shoes' — " what combined mercies am I receiving at the hands of my heavenly Father ; blessed be Ms holy name 1 " —as if it would not have been much more kind and merciful in Providence to have saved Captain Gardiner from so much suffering and misery , and so painful a death , than having sent Mm ( for every event is by fanatica ascribed to God ) into such a deplorable position , merely to give him a little water only to prolong a miserable existence for a few days . with hi
Fancy a human , parent acting in this way s child , and then being extolled by the victim of his cruelty , for his mercy and loving kindness ! ¦ _ Really it requires a hundred-Job power of patience to read Captain Gardiner ' s language with calmness , and atill more , to find a journal that professes to take the lead against cant , superstition , and fanaticism , eulogizing such miserable delusion as " faith , " which we should do well to imitate ! From such deplorable credulity , miscalled " faith , " may reason and common sense deliver us ! I cannot consider the death of those who perish in such an enterprise as that of Captain Gardiner and his party as any loss to society , but rather as a gain ; for think for a moment how huge an obstacle to human progress would bo removed if all tho most active agents of superstition and fanaticism wore immersed ten fathom deep in tho Pacific ocean !
Tho Leader complains that from want of " faith we see the " canoo" and the " India-rubber shoo , " but we do not see " God . " That is to say , we see and employ visible , material agencies , and do not see , do not know , and therefor do not refer to the Invisible tho and Unknown ; wo toko account of tho real and tangible , and neglect the visionary and incomprehensible : this surely is wise and rationalwould that such procedure were universal ! " F . B . B . assumes the attitude of a man who is porfectly reasonable ; but wo have soldom read a more remarkable tissuo of assumption and unreason than the preceding pasaago . Tho writer speaks as if all religious men woredeficicnt in tho " knowledge" which ho scorns to assumo to Mb
own side ; whorcfta wo all know ihafc many men of strong religious convictions havo boon models of philosophic thought and liberal accomplishment . Ho presumes that Captain Gardinor must havo looked moro ospccially to Ms rcecuo ; whereas it ia evident that that devoted man was thinking moro of tho evolution of good out of things advorso , whothor it enrno iu tho shape of hope , for the enterprise or of a moutliful of wator . Such phrases as " culpable credulity , " " victim of his credulity , " and so forth , exemplify tho illogical tompor of tho writer . That which wo hold up to imitation in Captain Gardinor was not tho peculiar colour which may havo distinguished Ma crood , but hia trust in tho working of truth such as ho concoived it to bo , and his willingness to stake Mmsolf upon tho
pursuit of that truth . " F . B . B . " is evidently one of thoso philosophers who trust only to " visiblo a"nd , material agencies , " to nothing that is unknown ; in which oaso he must Btop ohort at tho first stugo in tho procosa of hia own digestion , and investigate no moro ; for tho transmutation of food into chyme is as much concealed from our knowlodgo as its tranaformation into chyle ,, again into blood , and ultimately into lloflh . Tho fact ia , that with tho modicum wo know ja mingled an indoflnito proportion , of tho unknown , which
Untitled Article
¦^^¦ m ^^^^ . ' - - -: I . ' ' ¦ :. ¦[ . THE LEADER . 515
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), May 29, 1852, page 515, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1937/page/15/
-