Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1890-05-16
A Pulp Mill In tbs Maine Wilder

Since the discovery, by = Germsn scien-
fist Of the fac, that certain kinds of woed,
when boiled with water and bisnipha of
hme. lose all their fbrous character, aad
become soft almost TO puipiness, there have
been wonderful sivauces toward vliza
tion in variou. part- of Name which before
we're but spots in the wilderness. or, az the
best, decaying villages Maine is full of
lust such woods ~ are needed for the man
ufacture Of pulp, AMI there 10 an abundance
of water power at every turn for the opera
ton of great mills, such ~ have been
erected during the past few years at various
points on the Audroscoggiu, kennsbec and
Penobscot
Although the process OF converting wood
into pulp by chemical treatment was fret
discovered by a German, ard the fret mills
erected In the dominion Of the kaiser, the
Americans have made so many changes and
such great Improvements upon the original
method that this couptry easily leads the
world in the quality. as also in the quantity,
Of its pulp product. Not all of the pulp pro
duced in this country Is made by the chemi-
cal process however. there being many
large mills which turn out pulp by the
grinding process. which is very simple
One of the most extensive plants of this lat
ter kind, is located at Enfield. in Piscata-
quis County. where the Penobscot River af
fords sufficient water power TO run all the
C ton factories in New Engltnj. Two
years ago that part Of En- held where
the big mill nov stands was dense wilder
ness; but the materials for pulp-making
were there in abundance. with water
power Unlimited running to waste
and these resources have been 81
we'll developed that to-day busy
manufacturing village occupies the territory
which 90 .hort time since was given over
to the moose and bear. A dam 900 feet
long, and affordiug at different periods from
II to % feet head, has been built. with
canal 1900 feet long. 100 feet wide and l6
feet deep. and mill 1880 feet erected
In the construction Of the dam there were
used $500. OC0 feet of hemlock timber,
OF bolt IRON. The mill has "a water wheels.
which yield $3.50 horse po~er, and II grind
stones, its capacity being 80 tons Of ground
pulp daily, requiring 10, 900 cords of wood
year.
The srindstones are fifty inches in diam
eter. with y s inch face, agsinst which the
wood il forced by . hydraulic pressure of
nirety pounds to the square inch. The
pulp passes from the stones through coarse
screens beneath. which retain all unground
fragments Of wood. thence through large
pipes into cement wells. From the wells
I pulp Is pumped into fine screens, where
al splinters and foreign matter are removed,
after which It hiws into stock chests and
thence to the wet machines" on the floor
above, where it lie suit cted to pressure of
800 to 500 pounds to the square inch,
coming from the presses in sheets. Not
outstanding this enormous pressure. the
ground pulp as it is shipped 20 paper mills
co atsins more than City per cent. water, and
ard the great xpense Of transportation thu.
made ne cesssry has induced many msnutsc-
'urers TO cree, paper mills along ide their
pulp works
The works at Montague, a. that part of
Eofeld whore the great pulp mill strands
has been named, have cost nearly $50, 900,
aud about them pretty village has grown
up. with stores, schools, hotel. neat dwell
inss, and some aidnioT al manufacturing
enterprises The big mill is two years old,
but the village was built in a few months
N T. Sun.