Amador Ledger-Dispatch, 15 January 1904 — Solving; a Great Problem. [ARTICLE]

Solving; a Great Problem.

Some years ago a tobacconist discovered the utility of tinfoil for wrapping tobaccos. Theretofore paper had been exclusively used for the purpose, but it did not serve to keep the moisture of the atmosphere away from the tobacco nor preserve the natural moisture of the tobacco from the effects of a dry or heated atmosphere. Paper also absorbed the aroma of the weed and was not sufficiently lasting; therefore : tinfoil was used for wrappers. But it became costly and could only be rolled to v certain thinness, beyond which 'the ingenuity of man seemed to find it impossible to go. The fact was that no rollers could be made to sustain the pressure necessary to mashing the tinfoil to a leaf sufficiently thin to suit the manufacturer. Many ingenious inventors struggled with the proposition for months and gave up the problem as unsolvable, when a simple workman about the shop one day, after rolling two sheets to the customary thinness, put the two sheets together into the rollers and made both half as thin as they were before. This was as simple as standing an egg oh end, but It created a revolution in the manufacture of tinfoil for tobacconists' use and made a mint of money for the discoverer.