Wichita eagle., 1889-01-26
PAPER MANUFACTURE.
The Remarkable Progress OF an
Eighth Century Invention.
The Chinese the First Paper-Makers-
Manufacture of Paper From Rags.
Straw and Wood-Writing, Brown,
News and Other Paper.
fSt. Louis Chronicle.l

rSt Louis Chronicle]
Paper derives its name from "papyrus. -
from which it was first made. This was a
plant growing to the height Of from eight
to ten feet The stems were composed of
several layers of membrane, which were
taken off and laid side by side so as to
overlap each other. LAYERS were then laid
crosswise on these, and so on until the de-
sired thickness was obtained. This was
allowed to dry, its natural gluey nature
causing the layers TO stick together. Diff
ferent qualities were made, the best being
those formed from the inner layers of
membrane.
At the beginning of the Christian era
the Chinese made paper from pulp, but its
true origin Is wrapped in mystery. The
first mandatory of paper was started in
Arabia early in the eighth century, cotton
being the material used. Spain next OBJ
tanned the art, and in the twelfth century
made paper from linen rags. 1t is not
known how much earlier linen has been
used, but sufficient proof of its.
having been used at an earlier
date remains. Printing paper was
first made in England in the seventeenth
century, linen being chiefly used. Some
other m aterials were discovered among
which were cotton, hemp, fax, silk, wool,
etc. Patents were at various times taken
out for making ID from hair, nettles, this
tle-down, clover, and many other articles.
Paper manufactures are scattered all over
the United States, east of the Mississippi,
but the greatest nugubsr are in Ohio and
Massachusetts,. The materials used are
soft woods, linen and cotton rags. Neither
st. Louis nor any other city west of the
Father of Waters, has vet succeeded in
establishing an indu stry of this kind, and
consequently st. Lo,1is imports immense
quantities of paper.
In converting rags to paper we make
Che body contribute its cast-off material
towards furnishing pletters to bear food
to the brain, thus proving that the clothes
make the man.
The first part of the psper-making pro-
cess Is separating rags of nom bleaching
colors from the others. These are then
used separately, the former for wrapping
paper and the latter for printing paper,
the making of which is as follows:
The rags are first put through large
dust machines. Here the dust is
blown out by revolving fans and the
rags pass through and out at the rear end
of the machine. They are then trans
ferred to the cutting machine, which con-
sists of revolving cog whe els, which cat
and tear the rags into small pieces. After
this they are put into large Enclosed
steam boiler and boiled with lime and
other chemicals for about twenty-four
hours. This softens the colors, after
W hich they are washed in a large cast iron
tank. Here the bleaching is perfected by
the aid of chemicals and further cutting
into smaller pieces is done by revolving
By all these operations, which
occupy about thirtysix hours, the rags,
filthy and dirty when procured, are rem
dered white as snow, and very similar in
appearance TO cotton. 1t is then called
half stuff. from being about half way adj +
vanced in the transition from rags to pa
per- After this it is passed through a
heating engine, where the fbers are quite
separated; flow of water passing the re-
volving cylinder in this machine draws
the fbers out and both are worked up into
IN impalpable pulp. The pulp is then
passed on to an endless wire gauze apron
ian invention of the French), the upper
eide of which is kept perfectly level. Py 4
a lateral motion of this screen the pulp is
evelled and made of uniform depth, while
In its passage along, the water drops
through and the fibre remains.
1t is carried by the wire on 20 an endless
felt belt which carries ii over from four to
eight heated cylinders. In the cent r of
this passage it passes between two calen-
der rollers which give the uniform thick
ness of the paper. When IL has passed
over these cylinders it continues its Jour-
rev to the calender. This machine con.
lists of from four to six cast-iIon, polished
oilers, placed vertically above each other,
md frightened by a screw at the top. The
over roller is made to revolve by stream,
md the others do likewise, by friction.
Between these rollers the paper winds in
serbentine course and comes out glossy
mi dry, ready to be rolled. A frame con-
aiming several cores is placed alongside
he calender, and as the paper is finished
he edges being trimmed off. it Is wound
10 and cut into sheets afterwards or not,
IS required.
The pulp passing in at one end energies
rom the other in the form of paper two
minutes afterward, travelling from thirty
o seventy feet per minute. An ordinary
machine will make about four miles Of
fifty -four inch wide paper per day.
The process of making paper from wood
S similar, afte- the pulp is formed The
wood (Which may be any soft kind) is
ut into small pieces and ground between ]
tones. This destroys the fbers some |
What, and prevents good strong paper
eing made, consequently a more Inn !
roved method Of treating with chem
Gals so as to preserve the natural fiber Is
n vogue. Wood is rarely used alone; it
: finally mixed with rags. and the paper
considered equal to that made entirely
( rags. Z
There is probably no country where
,ore paper is used in proportion to the
opulation than the United States. The
mount is steadily increasing as the en-
ghtenment and intelligence of the p.opIe
Magnitude OF the Earth. :
According 10 a recent authority. the cir
IN ference of the globe is tween ty-five thou