The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1879-08-15
How Printing Paper IL uooo

"ONt - MAD @.
In the village of Rock CITY FalI,s
Saratoga County, N Y, is the mill ~
Messrs. G. Kilmer & Son. mannfacs
turers of whiteprinting paper for fortv
years, and who for the first twenty n;oe
years have supplied the N. Y. Sum
with large part of Its printing paner
The mill is romantically situated on
the banks of the Kayaderrosseras
River, small stream which aows
over natural rocky falls that the vii
lage derives its name.
A reporter for the Sun who visit
ed this mill recently, had an excepent
opportunity of closely observing the
manufacture of news paper. The prin-
cipal ingredients of this paper are straw
rags. and wood. A mill Of this Size
affords a ready market for all the straw
that is produced in the country for
miles around. The straw is piled up
in great stacks near the mill, ready for
use. The rags come from all parts of
this country ana Earsp5. rs~
10 s'oua,-s ;1z--g,-sl,tfan firms who make
business OF reducing wpsd TO hne
pulp.
Regarding the process which these
materials undergo while being convert
ed into paper. Iu the FIRST place, the
straw is cut up fine and passed
through faDniug mill, which separates
from it all the grain and all the grains
and particles of dust. 1t is then put
into huge rotary boilers, running un~
der eighty pounds of steam pressure,
where it is boiled and cleansed IN a
strong solution of caustic alkali, after
which it is emptied into watts and
thrown up into washing engines filled
with water; there the alkali is extracted,
and chlorine is added for the purpose
of whitening it. After remaining here
until the pulp is thoroughly washed it
is emptied into large vats, where it is
left to bleach for twentyAfour hours.
That pulp in this stage is as white as
driven snow, and is one mass of fine
silky fibre.
Therags are first careful lly assorted,
everything not composed of cotton or
linen is discarded. They are
then cut up and busted by machinery,
after which they are boiled and clean
sed with solution of lime in other
rotary boilers. AfterWard they pass
through the same process as the straw
until they, too, are reduced to beau,
iiful, white, fibrous pulp. Equal quan
titles of rag aud straw pulp are mixed
together with lesser quantity of wood
pulp. To this is added a small por.
ton Of kaolin, or white clay, which is
used to fill up the pores of the paper,
and give 1t smooth surface. The
whole then is put into . heating en-
gine, where it remains until the differ
ent ingredients arc thoroughly united.
This operation usually takes about
three hours. Here also the blue col
oring is added-a blue white being
considered the best shade for the
paper. From the heating engine the
pulp is pumped up into another engine
/" a-S.s Ss ts.-~-,-,s -ersa,,e5L che fast stage
of refining, and is dropped in liquid
form into an immense tub.
1t is now ready to be put into form
There are two kinds of machines for
this work, the Fourdriner and the cy-
Under. The Fourdriner. the latest in.
vention, and the most perfect machine
now 10 use, is used at this mill. The
fbrous liquid is first poured from the
tub through a straiDer into the ma
chine, where it is caught on an endless |
sieve of very fine wire, which filters
out the water and retains the fibre.
This sieve continually vibrates as it
moves along thus thoroughly uniting
the fibre, and when it reaches the sue
ton box, all Of the water is drawn from
the pulp, leaving a continuous sheet of
paper. This sheet is carried over nu
merous drying cylinders, heated by
steam, then over the calender rolls,
where it receives its fnal gloss and
inish; and finally it is woun nd on spools,
weighed, wrapped, marked and stored,
ready for shipment This mill pro
inces about 2,100, 900 pou nds per year,
all of which the Sun consumes. In ad
1ltlon TO this the Sun uses about 200,
JOG pounds more, making a total con-
of 3,800,OO0 pounds of paper
or the year. 1t is probable that the
consumption of this paper will amount
o about 100000 pounds for the cur
'ent year