Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 April 1885 — Gas-Pipes Made from Paper. [ARTICLE]

Gas-Pipes Made from Paper.

A novel use of! paper has been found in the manufacture of gas-pipes. It is constructed as follows: An endless strip of hemp paper, one width of which equals the length of the tube, is passed through a bath Of melted asphalt, and then rolled tightly and smoothly on a core to give the required diameter. When the number of layers rolled is sufficient to afford the desired thickness, the tube is strongly compressed, the outside sprinkled with tine sand, and the whole cooled in water. When cold, the core is drawn out and the inside served with a water-proofing composition. In addition to being absolutely tight and smooth, and much cheaper than iron, these pipes are of great strength, for when the sides have scarcely threefifths of an inch thick, they will stand a pressure of more than fifteen atmospheres. If buried underground they will not be broken by settlement, nor when violently shaken or jarred. The material being a bad conductor of heat, the pipes do not readily freeze.