Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-12-05

Cutting the Rags into Pieces-In the
Cleansing Engine-Reduction Of the
Rags to Pulp-BIueing, Sizing and
CaIendering.
The materials for good writing paper are
cotton aud linen rags Of domestic gathering,
supplemented by inportutinns. The rags
come to the mill in bales and are assorted in
several grades and then cut into pieces by
hand. The cutting is done by girls and
women, sitting in front Of bench, to which
Is fixed a short blade like a small scythe
blade. The rags, picked up by the handful
are drawn across the Keen edge with great
rapIdIty, tn. operator occasionally using a
sandstone rifle Just As the mower dDcS so that
the dusty room resembles. to the ear, field
OF busy mowers. At a second sorting all the
buttons, P'TS. hooks and eyes and harsh
seams are removed. The rags then 20 to a
duSter, large cylinder OF woven wire, in
side Of which is a shaft carrying number Of
blades ot plate iron set in a spiral form on
the shaft aud revolving at rate Of speed
higher than that II the 7uter ryndsr This
difference OF Speei, with the spiral setting
Of the blades. uIsures a constant stirring up
Of the rag, and their gradual progress from
! one end to the other of tine cylinder, and their
final discharge at the open end.
The busted rags then go into n rotary
boiler made Of boiler iron or steel revolving
| on journals one OF which is hollow and ad-
mits steam at a pressure Of from forty TO
| sixty pounds to the square inch. correspond
ing according to Regnaults tables to heat
OF from ~ TO SOs degrees Fahrenhtit With
| the rags is introduced a certain quantity OF
lime water to assist in the cleaning, the OBJ
ject being 10 start the COlOS as well as the
dirt; for white writing paper is made from
cOlored rags as well as from white rags; only
the finest note and letter paper being made
from clear white rags These rotating boil
ers are of capacity Of a charge Of rags
weighing from 1900 pounds upward. The
boiler is usually rotated by means Of a worm
wheel on its solid journal and worm screw,
and it is charged though a manhOle that
when in place is securely packed
IN THE CLEANSING TANK
From this boiler the rags pass to a cleans
ing engine, which is a tank Of oval plan, the
walls Of which rise about thirty inches from
the floor. The tank is partially divided lon
gitudinally by straight portion. the ends OF
the partition reaching toward the walls Of
the tank far enough TO leave a space Of the
same width as that between the partitions
ades and the tanks walls On one side Of
this partition, across the center of the tank,
revolves a toothed drum, carrying blades that
act on the rags a. they pass in the trough be-
sween fixed blades at the bottom of the tank.
These blades do not cut the rags. but tear
them, thus preserving the fiber. The clean
Ing Of the rags in the process Of tearing is
facilitated by constant stream Of water.
On the side opposite from the beater is a ro-
tary sieve of fine mesh that allows the water
to pass, but rejects the rags. The water thus
lifted passes off through the hollow shaft of
the revolving sieve This, with the action Of
the bladed drum, induces and keeps up a cur
rent around and around :he tank This en-
gine not only cleanses the rags but reduces
them to a semI-pulpy mass known Us half
stuff which, although clean, is not purely
white 1t is bleached with chloride OF lime
and again passes through an -ngine. when the
bleached material, in heaps, resembles solid
snow. After this comes the blueing, II the
paper is u, have a tint, although what is
called white paper is slightly blued
The pulp is pumped into an elevated tank,
from which it is fed to the engine by a deliv-
cry gate capable Of close adjustment, as upon
tie amount of pulp fed to the machine de-
Fsnds the ultimate weight Of the paper The
ulp flows on to the face Of a roller and is
passed to an endless apron Of fine wire sieve
that has impaired to it a jarring motion, to
discharge, as much as possible, the water,
while the sieve retains the almost impalpable
pulp. A set Of rolls compresses the pulp
web, which then goes over a series Of boxes
perforated on the side over which the web
passes, the boxes being exhausted Of air bya a
fan as the web moves This withdraws the
surplus water that has not been removed hy
the sieve and rollers.
SIZING AND CALENDERING.
The sheet, having acquired considerable
tenacity, is dried by passing between rollers
heated by steam. Then comes the sizing,
without which the closest textured paper
would not receive ink and not spread a blot.
The size is the common glue Of commerce
made from rawhide OF cattle, but it is EN-
ployed hot and quite thin. a second partial
drying, edging Of the continuous web BY ro-
tary shears, and a cutting across into sheets,
completes the operations Of turning liquid,
milky pulp into elastic continuous sheets of
a substance almost iInpermeable to air.
From the machine the sheets, still damp
from the sizing, are removed TO drying lofts,
and are dried by sun aud outer air in pleasant
wea her, and by st+am heat in inclement
weather. They are then subjected to the
action Of hydraulic presses They are then
calen,lered by means Of a machine OF rolls,
three OF chilled iron and two of paper The
paper rolls are formed Of disks Of thin
MANILA paper, cut in presses to diameter,
with holes through their centers for the re-
ception of the shaft These are pressed in
piace by hydraulic machine and turned
like the iron rolls. The surface Of the turned
paper rolls are remarkably smooth.
The sheets, after ironing in the calender
machine are cut in reams by a knife similar
in form and action to that Of the French
guillOtine. The sheets are then sorted and
counted the somewhat defective ones going
to an inferior grade of paper. The company's
stamp Is embossed on each sheet under a
press
Ruled paper has its lines made in machine
that is essentially self-acting. The ink is
more fluid than that used for writing. The
ruling pens are of sheet brass and are semi
cylindrical tubes fed from a whole tube, to
which the ink rises from trough by means
Of wicks, as oil in an ordinary lamp. The
packing in boxes supplements all this work,
and .the sheets are ready for the market
Boston Budget.
The last number of Science contains some
interesting notes on the sorghum sugar indus
try, as based upon the report in bulletin No.
Z, chemical division, department of agricul-
f1lt tk.a Of