The weekly times. (Wilmington, Del.) 1886-18??, 1886-10-16
A LOCAL INDUSTRY.
PAPER MAKING PRACTICAL
LY EXPoUNDED.
How o d Rags are Turned Into a
Useful Commodity by Means
of Modern Invention.

Through the courtesy of Superinten-
dent Lindsay of the Augustine Paper
Mills, reporter of THE TIMES was
shown through that establishment, and
the wonderful process of rags dissolv-
ing into pulp and then passing out of
the large rolls as paper was explained.
Fine book paper, beautifully calen-
dered, is produced in the mill at the
rate of about sixteen tons daily. The
same firm, the Jessup Il Moore Paper
Company, owns another smill at Rock
land, which produces newspaper, where
in the wood fiber enters extensively.
As the Fourdenier machines are used
the wood pulp is put in the finest condi-
ton, and the product is excellent paper.
Some idea of the immense size Of the
AugustineMills may be gained from the
amount of machinery in the building
and force required to drive it. There
are four steam engines, the aggregate
horsepower of them being 765. Water
power from the turbine wheels will add
250 horsepower to that furnished by
steam.
The number Of employees at this mill
is about 120, men and women. They
run three machines, four stocks of
calendels, six washing engines, eight
beating engines, and four rag boilers.
After the rags go through the last
named, there is no possibility of any
germs of disease remaining. The rags
are boiled under pressure of fifty
pounds. and lime is introduced to
cleanse them. When the rag pulp ar
rives at stage to be put into the heat
ing engines, it is kept going round
through the steel knives for four or
five hours, and here "a proportion Of
wood fiber chemically prepared, resem-
bling white pasteboard, is torn up and
dissolved with the rag pulp. The ex-
cessive heat of the water, wherein the
fresh rags are put, completely dissnlvts
all the woolen or other foreign sub
stances, and after being finally washed
the rags have the appearance of damp
cotton.
After the pulp is made sufficiently
fine by the beating engines it passes
along over endless screens moving
along in the water and pulp. and on the
face of the fine wires is collected the
particles that, in passing further along,
partake Of the appearance of wet paper.
This substance soon gains body enough
to pass along between the heavy iron
rolls, having consistency enough to
move independently of the supporting
screen. Then the process is rapid, and
the endless sheet moving alorg one sys-
TEN of rolls to another is soon paper
complete. In passing from the last
rolls the fine glossy white paper goes to
the cutie where circular shears cut
the paper the long way, and then these
slips go down to the knife arranged to
cut directly across the whole thus COM
pleting the sheets.
If the paper mus be super-calender-
ed, it does not go through the cutting
machine, but is rolled up in large cylin-
der-shaped bulks and carried to the sys-
TENS of calender rolls, and passing
through the heavy irons comes out with
Il hiehly-glossed surface. After re-
rolling, the cylinders go to other tiers
and the paper is formed into sheets of
any size needed.
The Augustine Mill supplies the
paper for the Scientific AmericdU, a
New York illustrated journal, whic
has a very large circulation and neces-
sarily requires large quantity of pa
per. The size of the paper used by
this journal is 33x46 inches, and
weighs 80 pounds to the ream.