The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-08-20
ADVENTURES OF A RAG.
A Pleasantly Told Story Of tho Manner
..... I'm which Paper is Made.

wretched girl picking dirty rags ont OF
the gutter, putting them into horrid-
looking bag she has, and carrying them
off. Well, the history of one of those
rags, its adventures and wonderful
changes, is more marvellous than any
fairy story. And the best of IL is, every
word is true. I think you'll agree that
it is marvellous when tell you that,
nice and neat and dainty as you may
be, you may put that horrid rag among
your choicest treasures. You don't
believe. it Well, haven't I already
told you lots of things you never heard
of And do you think I've told you
all I know? Wait bit and see. Let
us follow the rag, going off on The back
of the poor girl. Having filed her
bag, she goes at once to an odd, dismal
looking shop, that you wouldn't put
your foot into, where a wretched-look-
ing man buys old iron, rags, bottles,
and in fact, nearly every thing other
people throw away. He weighs the
rags, looks them over, counts out her
pay (generally few pennies), and she
takes her bag and goes out. Here we
must bid her good-by, for from this
moment tho rag goes up in life, while
she, poor child, will pick rags to-mor-
row, and perhaps all her life, and
therell be very little going up for her.
When the dealer has enough rags he
puts them up in bale, and sends them
off to a paper mill. Oh, yes you
knew paper was made of rags, didn't
you? Well, the first thing that hap
pens to them in that big noisy place is
to be taken out of the bale, pulled over
by lot of girls, and assorted. Silk
rags go to one corner, bits of woolen
to another. white cotton to q third, and
colored cotton to fourth. To follow
the rag we saw taken from the gutter.
we should have to go to the colored
cotton corner.
From the sorting room our dirty rag
will be carried, with lots of others, to
the cutting-room. This is terrible
place, where unfortunate girls sit at
sort of bench, on which are fixed sharp
knives. The girls cut the rags into
shreds, splitting open hens, and taking
oil buttons. This, as you can guess, is
fearfully dirty work. The room is full
of dust, and the girls look like quite
respectable dirt-heaps themselves. AS
soon az the rag is shredded it goes
through trap-door in the floor, and
falls into big tub.
There Aren't you glad it has come
to washing place 1t fairly makes
one feel dusty to think about handling
such things. In that tub, with plenty
of lime. water, it boils half q day, and
I'm sure it needs it. Lime water, per-
haps you know, takes not only the dirt,
but every bit Of color out of things.
You girls who have made "skeleton
leaves know all about it.
From this very thorough bath the rag
goes, white and clean, into the cutting
machine. This wouldn't be very nice
place to fall into-and it's right on q
level with the floor too. 1t is large
round vat, with sharp knives revolving
all the time. They cut the rags into
threads, while clear water runs over
them all the time for FIVE or six hours.
Don't think it's clean enough yet.
After all this cutting and rinsing the
water is drawn of, some chemical stuff
put in, and left for two hours. Then
begin again, and cut and grind for five
or six hours more. OF course by this
time, after all these knives and chemi-
calls and washings, there's not rag
and hardly thread left. It is mass
Of pulp, looking more like milk than
anything else. Now it's ready for q
most wonderful change.
1t is far more wonderful than any
fairy story to see this pulp go in at one
end of machine, and sheets of paper
come out at the other. Let me tell you
how it goes The machine is all open,
and you can see the whole operation.
The pulp goes from box through 6
fine sieve to catch any remaining
threads-and falls on belt of wire
game, which is all the time moving on
OF course it spreads out as thin as il
can, and the water begins to dror
through the gauze as it moves on. Bu
there's too much water with the pulp
and to draw it out suddenly they have
, a curious arrangement. The water anc
pulp move on very comfortably together
till they come to certain box they
: must go over. The moment they reacl
that mysterious box every drop of wstel
tears itself away and disappears in the
? box, leaving the pulp nearly dry an:
looking very much like paper. Yol
Q won't be surprised at the funny be
I, havior of the water when tell you tina
a steam pump is all the time pumpin!
, the air out of the box, and the water il
sucked in to fill the vacuum. Righ
here is put in the water-mark. II yol
y don't know what that is hold sheet o
4 paper up to the light. You'll probabl,
J. see straight or zigzag lines all over it
. or the name of some man or paper-mill
o That is the water mark, and it is mad
@ on the paper by roller on which tn
n pattern is cut. Now the pulp, havin
3 become paper. runs off the gauze bel
). on to one OF felt, which takes it betwee
!; pair of heavy rollers. The roller
} squeeze it so dry that it don't nee
carrying any more, and it goes on alon
between six or eight big rollers, whic
". are hot, and which makes it smooth an
~ almost perfectly dry. AS it comes ou
. from the last roller it runs against shar
: knives which are set there, and is spl!
J. into long ribbons just wide enough fc
= the kind of paper 1t is to be.
= Now comes another bath. Not t
\ clean it, for it is white as snow, but t
- - make it stiff and glossy. The bath
= of gelatine. The paper ribbons ru
. - through the box of gelatine, and be
= tween rollers to dry them. On comm
- :, out they are chopped off into sheets b
!, knife, and hung on frame to dry.
- Here they rest for some days, an
II it's the first rest since the rag can
10 out of the gutter and started on il
70 travels.
a After this the new sheets go into
~ press for few hours. Some kinds
:" common paper stop here, but the nit
note-paper you are so fond of has al
o1bar ,o,,.,n, hnfora 10 4hxo,,ol Al