The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-06-30
MAKING HEAVY PAPER
FROM SORTING, THROUGH PURIFY
ING WATTS, TO ROLLERS.

question usually asked Dy strangers on
visiting the East Side when the wind is
blowing from up the river. No wonder
they ask, for the odor is sometimes almost
overpowerlng, and becomes thicker as one
approaches Fifth avenue on Main street
There may be found the source from which
the smell emanateS-the tarred paper mill.
Inside the odor is not so bad, and a per-
son clad IN garments not particularly valu-
able can spend a very pleasant half an hour
looking over the machinery and following
| the mass Of straw and rags, OF which the
| paper Is made, from the hopper into which
| it is first poured until it comes out in the
shape OF paper-tough brown paper-at the
other end of the mill Here three grades
of paper are made, the finest being wrap
| ping paper. Next comes a coarse grade
that is used for building purposes, while
the last and coarsest OF all is the tarred pa
/ per.
The first step is the careful sorting of the
rags and straw. This is all done by hand
by women or girls, on tables with coarse
wire bottoms, which allow much Of the
dust and dirt to fall through.
1t is necessary to remove from the mass
all pieces, however small, of metal, bone,
rubber and leather, and also to dislodge as
much of the dirt as can be got rid of
When the sorting is finished the mass is
taken to gigantic hopper and dumped in.
1t falls down long chute into the first
beating machine, where it is given its first
washing and cutting.
THROUGH THE BEATING MACHINES.
This beating machine is shaped like a
tank, oblong in form, through which water
is constantly running. In the center of
this tank is huge knife, through which
the pulp must pass several times before it
is drawn OFT into the second beaten, where
the knives are finer and the water cleaner.
Through the wires of the beaten the mass,
looking now like thick mud, is forced, be-
ing torn, cut and macerated most thorough
ly until it would be hard telling what the
original parts of it were. Through five of
these machines the stock, as it is called,
goes, being chopped finer and finer all the
time and getting cleaner and cleaner as 1t
nears its journeys end.
After leaving the last beating machine,
where clean water is forced upon it as fast
as the dirty water is drained off, the soft,
slushy mass is drawn off into large watts in
the basement, where it remains some time
bleaching and soaking. When it comes
from these watts it is of a light gray, muddy
color, and were a handful of it thrown
against the wall it would stick there until
scraped off.
It is now what is known as shall stuff"
ready for the paper machine, and is auto
matically emptied into "stuf chests" and
more clean water added Here it is kept
in constant agitation, in order that it may
be thoroughly mixed with the water
From these chests the pulp passes
through series of boxes and watts, all the
time being more and more diluted. Then
it passes through fan pump, falling in a
broad stream on to large cylinder covered
with fine wire. This cylinder is hollow,
and pump inside pulls the water IN, while
the pulp remains spread upon the surface
of the cylinder, which is rapidly revolving.
THE FINISHED PRODUCT
1t passes under heavy roller, which
fattens the pulp out into the shape of pa
per. But when the sheet-if sheet IT may
be called-is next seen, passing from this
cylinder on to an endless blanket, it is too
moist to handle.
After going over . hot roller On the
blanket it passes to another roller, where
it leaves the blanket and then starts out
upon its trip alone. In and out through
almost red hot rollers it goes, becoming
dryer and dryer. The edges are as yet
very ragged, but this is remedied at the
end of the rollers, some twenty-five in
number, where the paper, now hard and
dry, passes between knives which trim il
to the proper width.
From these knives the paper passes to a
large upright machine, where it is sub
jected TO tremendous pressure and wound
into rolls, ready for delivery TO the hard
ware men or builders. The tarred paper
is prepared in the same way up to the time
it leaves the hot roller. Then, instead of
going to the upright machine, or presser,
it passes down through tar bath After
being web dipped it is put through the
preSser and then wound into rolls
The earliest known attempts at the pro-
duction of an article similar to the paper
of modern times was made in Egypt many
centuries before the Christian era-some
writers affirm $500 years B. c. The oldest
manuscript in existence is on papyrus, and
is supposed TO bear date 200 B. c.
HISTORY OF PAPER MAKING.
Thelower part of the stem of papyus plant
Is, under the rough skin, composed of thin
layers of great cohesive power. These be-
ing separated We're laid side by side with
edges overlapping, and on being subjected
to pressure became sheet of considerable |
strength and tenacity. This rude kind of
paper was not improved upon for many
centuries, and seems to have met the wants |
Of the consumers until about 40 b. c., |
when parchment was first used for books |
and valuable documents. Il
Toward the end Of the First century the |
Chinese had, it is believed, begun TO manu- |
facture paper from silk and other hbers, |
but by what process is unknown. Two or |
three centuries later they were using cot
ton fibers for this purpose, and the art Was |
either Independently discovered or learned |
by other nations and IN 1UO A -. paper !
was made from cotton at Mecca
The art was introduced into Spain by the |
Moors, and here il was first discovered that
linen and cotton rags were more suitable /
Tor the manufacture of paper than the raw
owing to the hardness Of the /
fiber being partly overcome by wear and
use, making the reduction 70 pulp less
difficult. From the Twelfth century Spain
appears TO have been the principal paper
producing country, Italy ranking second
In 1890 the first paper Eoiu IN England was
built at Hartford.
About the end of the Seventeenth century
the manufacture IN England received an
impetus from the immigration Of French
refugees, who introduced the Improvements
d the French manufactures. The arr ot
grinding by knives around cylinder was
invented In Holland during the Eighteenth
century Minneapolis Tribune
0ae-y.
81 like that young Hicks" said Ethefs
ether. He's the kind OF nan THAI doesn't