June 1941 School Magazine

June, 1941

Brisbane• Girls' Grammar School Magazine

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Ma<;~cr=z=in=e=======-====J=u=ne=',=l=S=41

facturing tests. There the wood was put through one of the largest paper-making p lants in the world . The paper, b rought back to Australia, ran well and print2d well in The Herald (Melbourne) presses . But instead of being white it was a blueish grey. Patient research into methods of avoiding discolouration followed. It was found that passing through the Ocean Fails mill the eucalyptus pulp picked up inky stain from contact with iron machinery and pipes. A grinder made of wood was design- ed and made in Australia and further testing proved that, kept away from iron, eucalyptus pulp could be kept satisfactorily white. As a result of tests and precautions newsprint turned out by the Boyer Mills is brighter than any produced in any part of the world up to 193.8. This new industry will make it possible to replace thous· ands of tons of paper which had to be imported annually from North America and Scandinavia. The idea has borne fruit a t a vital time in our history-a time when it is most essential to save all money possible. In this way exchange is conserved. This is helping on Australia's war effort. These forests, which have an area of four hundred square miles, were granted to the Australian Newsprint Mills, the head- quarters of which are situated at Boyer on the Derwent River, by the Tasmanian Government, which also invested much money to enable this industry to begin. This is the largest remaining area of the eucalyptus g iants-"lord of the gum"- the only Australian hardwood known to make paper pulp. It has been a long, patient process, which , although the industry is yet in its infancy, has now proved c:i: most succes- ful venture. -A Hunter, III.F. The mills employ a la rge number of men, and this again is a benefit to the Commonwealth.

A ROMANCE OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

The twelfth of May, 1941, is a memorable day for Australia, for it was on that day that newsprint manufactured from Aus- tralian gum trees was used for the first time. These giant eucalyptus gums come from virgin fores ts in the snow-rimmed Derwent Valley of Tasmania, parts of which have not yet been completely explored by white men . The water and power used to manufacture the paper on which the news is printed also comes from these valleys. It is a romance of science and industry- a romance which began more than twenty years q:go. At that time Australian scientists and newspaper leaders formed the idea of manu- facturing newsprint from Australian timber. Early research included the sending of two thousand tons of Australian gum and stringybark from the Derwent Valley to Ocean Falls newsprint mill in British Columbia for manu-

JUNE WHEELER, IV.A.

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