Improving Buntal fiber and Buntal articles

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Part of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

Title: Improving Buntal fiber and Buntal articles
Language: English
Source: The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume 9 (No. 12) December 1929
Year: 1929
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Fulltext: December, 1929 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 25 state, Bill, wrapped in the sarong of some, pious Mohammedan." “Not me," I replied, ' loo buggy -my rain So, Bob in the sarong and I in my rain coat, we stretched out for a long, cold night. We finally went, to sleep to the monotonous beat of the agongs across the way, and the droning of the rain on t he tdpa roof. We had been back in Manila for two or three months, maybe longer, enjoying the shows, catching up on a bit of back eating and the like, when I was called to Camarincs Norte to exa mine a property. The day before I left I had suggested a farewell game of golf to Bob, but he had begged off on the ground of a peculiar numbness in his right hand. “Must have ac quired a touch of rheumatism in Cotobato,” he said, “notice how it’s drawn my little finger?” He had held up his hand for me to see, and it was all twisted and contracted out of shape.” “We’ll have the game when you come back, Bill.” But we never did. The job took a little longer than I had ex pected. When I did get back to Manila, Bob was gone and his letter, three months’ old, was waiting for me. He had written— Improving Buntal Fiber and Buntal Articles By Salvador del Mundo* “Dear Bill: “I went to see the Doc about my hand shortly after you left, and Bill—the Moro woman was right. It was a wahlay malad we stayed in that night. If we could have understood her, we would have pushed on, regardless of the rain. I’ve got it, Bill * * * and I’m off to Culion. “It was that damned sarong that did it. Thank God you didn’t take my suggestion and roll in with me! And now, Bill, I’m depending on you to carry out a little last favor for me. Mildred must never know about this. “I’ve thought it all out carefully and decid ed that it is best that 1 should be dead. Much better for her to think me dead than to be a living horror to her. I am dead anyway, Bill, for all practical purposes, so it will only be a white lie that you tell her, quite justifi able. With me incarcerated over here alive, I would be a bar to her future happiness, anil even if I got well there would always be that doubt that neither of us could dispel. “You can handle it, Bill, I’m banking on you. And now all hail and farewell. Ave Caesar, moriluri te salutamus. The boatman is waiting to feriy me over the Styx, and I mus’nt keep him waiting. It’s sunset, Bill, and I’ll soon be alone in the dark. So long! —Bob.”' In due time, because it was best, I told Mil dred how Bob had died in central Mindanao, in eight minutes, from the bite of a dahley-poo, a cobra—with her picture in his hand and her name on pale lips. It was almost six years ago. Mildred is married now. I have been around the world and back again, every playe except the islands. Never there. Sometimes Bob’s little nurse must come to him, as he sits watching the sun go down. “The doctor says that you are better, much better, and maybe, some day * * But Bob only smiles—the gray smile of a man who has seen his world tumble about his ears, the smile of a man for whom there is no tomor row, the smile of a man dead among the lixing dead—watching the sunset. the Bureau of Science receives many requests for information in regard to a comparatively inexpensive process for improving the appearance of buntal fiber, not only from various local hat dealers and commercial houses exporting native hats and fiber, but also from private parties. Information that may be valuable to the various people who are interested in the subject is given in this paper. Buntal is the name given to the flexible mate rial obtained from the fibrous bundles of the petiole of the matured leaf of buri palm, Corypha elata. When recently and properly' pulled from the petiole, these fibers are white and glossy, but when exposed to air and light they' become discolored and acquire an ugly' brownish tint. The fiber is extensively woven into baskets, handbags, and similar household articles of Fast Drivers: Oil, Which Lasts Longest At High Speed, Lubricates Best! the commercial value, but by far its most important industrial application is in the making of hats which are sold under the name of buntal Baliuag or Lucban, accordingly' as the hats have been made in Baliuag, Bulacan, or in Lucban, Tayabas. Buntal hats have met with favorable reception in foreign countries and the demand has created a profitable home industry. By request of local firms engaged in exporting native hats, experiments were performed in this labo ratory with a view of evolving a comparatively' cheap process of improving the appearance of buntal fiber or hats. In evolving the process outlined below, it was not the primary' object to produce a p erfect bleach such as may be accomplished with the use of more powerful bleaching agents, sodium ★Philippine Journal of Science. Thousands of kilometers of speedway tests have shown that the New Mobiloil stands up better and lasts longer at high speeds than other oils. So we can confidently say: The New Mobiloil can keep the first-year feel in your engine for at least 50,000 kilometers — whatever your speed. VACUUM OIL COMPANY Tropical Landscape Architecture (•Continued from p. 1.1) is universal. It is true that many of the best effects are obtained by grouping together plants from many countries and climes, but it is also true that many plants which would l»e an ornament to any gar den are passed by unnoticed because they are wild and common. Such ornamental native plants are particularly desirable because they are already adapted to the climate and are usually easy' of culture, not to mention that they usually' improve in attractiveness under cultiva tion. NEW IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 26 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOUKNAL December, 1929 peroxide for example. Rather, certain desirable features were borne in mind and duly incor porated in the method; namely, the relative low cost of materials required, the absence of any injurious effect on buntal fiber, and the relative ease of manipulation involved. The present process was tried and thoroughly tested with a number of Baliuag and Lucban hats, and the results obtained were satisfactory even when the operator was inexperienced in the art of bleaching. METHOD Materials.—Two solutions are required, a bleaching agent to be designated as solution 1, and a decolorizing bath designated as solution 2. Solution 1: Parts Commercial potassium permanCommercial sodium carbonate (dry)......................................... 2 Water........................................... 1,000 Preparation.—Measure out the required quan tity of water. Add the solid ingredients a few portions at a time, stirring briskly to aid in dissolving the solid particles. To secure a homogeneous solution, continue stirring for 6ome time after the complete solution of the solid chemicals. Solution 2: Parts Hypo (sodium thiosulphate).. . . 20 Water.............. ...... 1,000 Dilute sulphuric acid sufficient to render acid. Note: Acidify solution 2 when it is ready for use. Preparation.—Pour the weighed amount of hypo into the measured quantity of water, a little at a time and with constant agitation. When all the hypo has dissolved, pour in about 2 cubic centimeters of commercial sulphuric acid for each liter of hypo solution. An excess of acid should be avoided. Stir. Note the evolution of a peculiar, pungent odor in the acidified hypo solution. The gas which causes this odor effects decolorization, and the absence of odor would tend to indicate that solution 2 is weak, in which case more acid should be added. Solution 2 becomes milky white in time on account of precipitated sulphur, but the turbidity is harmless and should cause no alarm. PROCEDURE Immerse the fiber or hats in solution 1; keep them there until they acquire a dark brown stain due to permanganate. The longer the hats are kept in solution 1, the better the bleach obtained. On the other hand, more time is required to decolorize the permanganate stain with solution 2. A little practice will enable one to determine when to remove the hats from solution 1. A bleach is usually secured after an immersion of from one to two hours. A somewhat longer period is required when the solutions become weak. Solution 1 may be used repeatedly until it fails to stain the immersed hats to the required tint; when, of course, the solution may be strengthened by the addition of some crystals of potassium permanganate. A badly spent solution should be discarded. When the immersed hats have become suffi ciently darkened by exposure to permanganate remove them from solution 1. Rinse well with water to remove the excess of permanganate and transfer to solution 2. Keep the hats in solution 2 (with occasional shaking) until the brown stain acquired from the previous treatment is completely decolorized. If decolorization proceeds rather too slowly, a few more drops of acid should be added to solution 2. Too much acid should be avoided as it is detrimental to the fiber. Slow decolo rization is commendable as it imparts a glossy finish to the bleached surface. When the stained hats have become completely decolorized, re move them from solution 2, and wash them well with water (running water preferred). If a piece of blue litmus paper is available, test for complete removal of residual acidity. The hats may now be set out to dry. When solution 2 becomes too weak from con tinuous use or from prolonged standing, it often happens that the stains produced by the previous immersion in solution 1 are removed only with considerable difficult y or, in some cases, the stains are not removed at all; much, of course, to the alarm of the operator. Should this happen, a simple remedy lies in regenerating solution 2 by the addition of a few more drops of acid, or should it be feared to introduce too large an excess of acid, a freshly prepared solution should be secured. Potassium permanganate is the only expensive chemical used in this process, but the amount of it required is so small as to make the expense A Glorious Thing! Always the life of Cocktail— the Party! A Gordon And then— you want Speaking of highballs, of course ROBERTSON The knowing know! Kuenzle & Streiff, Inc. LIQUOR DEALERS Manila, P. I. 343 T. Pinpin Tel. 2-39-36 from this source no drawback at all. Sodium carbonate is used to give solution 1 an alkaline reaction. It serves as a detergent for greasy material which may adhere to the fiber surface and hinder the bleaching action of permanganate. Sodium carbonate as well as hypo may be secured from any druggist at a low cost. Very little attention is required by the method outlined above. After the hats have been dumped into the bleaching or decolorizing baths, all the attention required is occasional shaking and stirring. The procedure should cause no trouble even in the hands of beginners and in experienced operators. Roughing It In Russia By Junius B. Wood Pulozero, U. S. S. R., March 8.—“Sit down and have tea, it will take a few minutes to get the reindeer,” said the hospitable young pres ident of the village executive committee. I was stamping my snow covered shoes inside his door. It was 3:30 p. m. and already dark. The “few minutes” eventually developed into six hours. A telegram had been sent ahead asking him to provide a reindeer team to go to Lovozero. A village president arranges all such details in Soviet Russia. Also in Soviet Russia time means nothing and a true Russian is never expected to keep an appointment until he arrives. The surprised young man explained that he had received the telegram but was not sure we were coming. He sent a boy out for the reindeer and another muffled, cheerful young ster led us down the village road to call on the school. teacher. Three little boys, a local version of a comic strip, were in the school master’s yard. Visitors were a novelty but they were not abashed. Russian children seldom are. They grabbed my hands and started tugging toward the door which one had opened. As eyes became ac customed to the darkness, it was disclosed that the predominating odor in the kitchen came from a fat ewe and a lamb in a corner. A woman and baby came from a bedroom and the pedagogue in felt boots and furs tramped in from the barn. “Come and look at the schoolroom, twentyfour pupils of all nationalities,” was his first remark, proud of the little classroom. “Have seven boys myself, like little steps, three oldest in school in Murmansk. Sit A Proud down,” as we moved into School Master another room, “tea will be ready in a minute. This is your room, live right here as long as you are in the village.” The hospitality was appreciated but we ex plained that we were leaving in a few minutes. He laughed heartily. “Not a few minutes, not in three hours,” he insisted. “The deer are out feeding and must be lassoed and brought in. The village soviet meets this evening. I’m secretary, and you can start after the meeting.” So we had tea and black bread, emptied our half bottle of vodka and walked back to the president’s little house. His comely young wife brewed more tea and while she ate sun flower seeds, his mother crocheted lace and local gossips sat on the floor and talked, we spread our food on the family table and ate. Getting impatient would not catch any reindeer. Anyway, the teacher had explained that Lapp drivers insist on traveling at night. “How about wolves?” “Oh, never mind them—” he was not making the trip. “I heard an American was in the village so came over,” a wizened, wiry veteran explained from his seat on the floor. “I Use Tobacco know he’ll give me some good Substitutes tobacco,” he unblushingly ad ded. “Of course,” I agreed. Before I could get a hand into my pocket, his pipe was knocked empty on the floor. When a paper sack of “makhorka” emerged, he was struck dumb but the others roared. Makhorka IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL