Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 May 1902 — Big Money in the Bogs of Ireland. [ARTICLE]

Big Money in the Bogs of Ireland.

Ireland may turn out to be a veritable Klondike in a few years. The latest scientific discovery is a method of manufacturing artificial gutta-percha from pent, and if It turns out to be what is claimed, It will simplify a great problem in electricity, the insulation of ocean cables. A scientist who discovered the method asserts that he is able to make an equally good insulator out of ordinary peat So far, gutta-percha is the only substance which has been found to furnish perfect protection for a wire against the chemical Influences of salt water, and the product Is not only limited, but is practically controlled by a few manufacturers, who own the forests in the East Indies from which guttapercha is obtained. The price of gutta-percha has been gradually increasing for years, owing to the enormous demand, and the supply is diminishing, so that if the scientist's discovery proves successful he will contribute greatly to the world’s economy. In Ireland there are over 3,000,000 acres of bogland which are at present useless, while in Scotland 2,500,000 acres will be at the inventor's disposal.