PAPER BARRELS.



IT is claimed that the new paper flour barrels are not only cheaper, but are more tight and durable, as well as lighter, than those of ordinary construction. By an improved method of manufacture, these barrels are composed of paper pulp, which is run into a mold made in the shape of one-half of a barrel cut lengthwise. The pulp is subjected to a powerful hydraulic pressure, and when reduced to the required thickness, the ends of the halves are cut off; the pieces are then placed in a steam-dryer, the sides trimmed evenly, and the substance thoroughly dried. It comes from the dryer ready to be "made into barrels.” Three heavy wooden hoops are fastened together, and slid into grooves cut in the paper halves, which have an average thickness of three-sixteenths of an inch. 

The ends of the barrel are made of paper of a similar thickness, constructed on the same principle as the sides. The barrels are manufactured entirely by machinery, and the halves are cut so true that two pieces of the same size will readily fit together. 



Chicago Paper. .




ENVELOPES.


IT is difficult to say just when envelopes came into general use in this country. Machines for making them were not patented until 1844, and they were not sold to any extent until two or three years later. As late as 1850 a large number of letters from village post offices were in the old style, sealed with wafers, and a blank space on the last page of the sheet for the last directions. We have seen one stray letter of this sort within a year. 




Christ Weekly