It used to be said that there was nothing that could not be made out of leather. The same thing is now said of paper. From water mains, rifle-barrels and window panes, to clothing, tablecloths and napkins, the range of articles into which paper is squeezed, spun and chemically wrought, is bewildering. Further than that, the range of uses to which paper is applied is increasing rapidly. The United States are now the greatest producers of paper in the world. The export trade in paper has, however, not developed as rapidly as domestic production, for the reason that the demands of the home market have increased even faster than the capacity of manufacturers to supply them.

One of the most valuable of new forms of paper placed upon the market is a grease-proof paper, which is superior to any so far produced for the use it is put to. One of the uses of this grease-proof paper abroad is for the wrapping of butter for shipment. While there is plenty of merely grease-proof paper now made here, that is used extensively for the wrapping of hams, bacon and similar food products, it has not the merit of being odor-proof as well as grease-proof, and butter is so sensitive to odors that this paper would not serve in packing for shipment. The grease-proof paper, on the other hand, is absolutely odor-proof as well, and nearly all of the vast quantities of butter shipped from Denmark to England are wrapped in it. The butter reaches Great Britain in pound packages, closely enveloped in the grease and odor proof paper - packages that in a sense are hermetically sealed.

Probably the very latest commercial fact in the application of paper is in the way of fireproofing. Paper fireproofing, among other advantages, has this one, that the chemicals used penetrate the entire texture of the material, and are absorbed by it before it is rolled into any thickness that may be required, thus making them much more effective than when wood itself is treated with them. The paper wood thus produced is as hard as wood itself, is susceptible of brilliant polish and any variety of decorative treatment, is vastly lighter, perfectly adjustable and absolutely fireproof. The erection of skyscrapers necessitated a very serious study of fireproof materials and the fireproofing treatment of wood, and the result is that paper is coming very largely into use in all cases where woodwork has to be used. It is particularly adaptable for ceilings and is coming into great popularity for that purpose. The material has been adopted for the finishing of the interiors of war-ships, and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company is using it very extensively on the head lining or ceilings of passenger cars. The material commonly used for this purpose, being heavily treated with oils, is highly inflammable, and the adoption of the paper fireproofing material is only another precaution for the safety of passengers. In addition to the Pennsylvania road, the New York Central also, it is understood, is considering the adoption of the same material for the interiors of its passenger cars.

As for articles of daily use that are now made of paper, their number is surprisingly large. Eliminating such things as car-wheels, in which paper long ago demonstrated its superiority over steel; the water-buckets, the covering for hayricks, and other similar articles long of familiar use, there are hats, caps and clothing. In Detroit there is a concern which is doing a large and very lucrative business in the manufacture of paper clothing. Paper, of course, as demonstrated in the water-buckets, can be made almost as impervious to water as India rubber itself, and combined with layers of thin cloth a material is made which can be and is put into undershirts, waistcoats and jackets, which present a good appearance and are very durable.

In dress linings, skirt linings, coat linings and in facings, paper cloth is coming more and more into use, and is giving very good satisfaction. Good-looking and very durable hats are made of paper, and paper soles and heels for boots and shoes of the cheaper grades have long been in use. When it was said above that rifle-barrels were made of paper, only the literal fact was stated, although the paper rifle is not practical, for various reasons, among others the cost. It stood the strain of firing perfectly, but was made and considered only as a curiosity, illustrative of paper possibilities. Water mains made of paper, however, not . only are a practical possibility, but are in actual use. Where the conditions are such as to warrant the very considerable extra expense of paper water mains, - as, for instance, where, from the nature of the bed in which they must lie, cast-iron mains would speedily oxidize, - paper water mains, costly as they are, become a matter of economy and are very generally used. Window panes of paper, likewise, are used in cases where there are such constant vibrations or such sudden jars as would break glass. By a chemical process paper may be made so translucent that a printed page can be read through it with perfect ease. Put in a window frame, it gives a soft light sufficient to illuminate a room for nearly all purposes not requiring a particularly strong, clear light, although objects seen through a paper window pane are seen as through a glass, darkly.

Waterproofs of paper are made in considerable numbers. The material consists of a lining of cloth in the middle with a coating of waterproof paper on both sides. Nearly all articles formerly in leather are now made of paper,- such as suit-cases, traveling-bags, etc.,- and so successful is the imitation, that a man who had himself been in the paper business for nine years bought an article of this kind in London recently under the full conviction that it was leather he was purchasing.

For all purposes of laboratory filtering, paper is superseding every other appliance, and there is in this State a large plant which is doing a very profitable business in manufacturing nothing but filter paper.

Along the line of recent inventions is a process for spinning paper into a fine thread which can not only be used for sewing, but out of which a very beautiful fabric can be woven. Specimens of tablecloths and napkins made by this process were exhibited in this city recently which compared very well in appearance with fine articles of linen. The process at present developed is pronounced by paper experts to be altogether too expensive for practical purposes, although it is easily within the possibilities that the day is not so very far distant when we will be using paper table linen. Still another freak exhibition of what can be done with paper was the production of a paper axe with an edge so hard and fine that it could be used for cutting. One of the recent and very successful applications of paper is in its use as an insulating cover for electric wires.- American Exporter.