The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1892-02-06
A GREAT INDUSTRY.

A GREAT INDUSTRY.
Some Interesting Facts About Paper and
Paper-Making.
The proposed exhibit by the paper
makers at the Worlds Columbian exposi-
tion will mark wonderful advancement
in this branch of manufacturing, which il
now fifth in the list of American indus
tries. having risen from the tenth place
since 1880. It is important not only in
its magnitude, but, to quote the motto of
leading paper-trade journal, ''The con-
sumption of paper is the measure of
neoples' culture Without cheap paper
the invention of printing could have ben
Gifted the world but little. The news
papers read by everybody and contribute
ING to the general intelligence and Rd-
vancement, are enabled to exist only by
means of the cheap cost of the millions Of
pounds Of paper they use every year. So
with the cheap and attractive-looking
school books SO essential to popular edu-
cation. Our progress in pictorial art has
been dependent upon the progress Of
paper making. Photographers were
obliged until recently to import from
Germany the paper used in their work,
our own manufacturers being unable to
assemble the necessary conditions of
material, water and workmanship for the
production of paper suitable for silver
printing.
A process has now been perfected in
this country whereby very ordinary
paper is coated with a thin surface of
sulphate Of barytes and answers admir-
ably for Photographic use, bringing out
in the finished picture wealth of detail
formerly unknown in the art, it being
lost in the texture OF the paper. employed.
The use Of paper as cheap material for
curtains, wallpaper and other house
decorations has aided to make tine homes
Of the people more attractive. Finally,
the useful arts are beginning to depend
largely upon the paper maker. Thus the
present speed and safety of railway travel
owes much to the invention Of the paper
car-wheel which combines strength and
elasticity to a higher degree tn IN any
other materials so far available. The
building trades also use paper extensively,
while commerce is facilitated by its use
for wrappings and packages.
The production Of paper is perhaps
more closely regulated by the law of sup.
oily and demand than any other manu-.
featuring process. In the earlier days Of
papar-maklng, says a writer it the
Engineering Magazine, there was little
demand for it, as it was necessary either
to write books by hand or to print them
from engraved plates. The invention of
the printing-press created the first
demand for paper which caused its manu-
facture to become profitable industry.
TIE hand method Of paper-making was
followed for many years and discontinued
only upon the invention of the cylinder
press. This invention gave such an i'm.
petus to the distribution of hand printed
matter that hand paper. makers were
unable to supply the demand; hence a
new order Of things was inaugurated and
machinery for the making Of paper was
perfected with great rapidity. Inventive
ingenuity Of the highest order is con-
stantiy at work to discover other uses for
paper, while the manufacturer and the
inventor Of paper making machinery are
stralning every energy to improve the
quality of the product, to cheaper pro-
auction or to provide special grades for
new uses. Judging by the still uudimin-
ished food of Inventions il would appear
that the industry is yet in its infancy as
compared with the influence it is destined
to exert on the comfort, intelligence and
advanc lent of the human race.
The United States has capacity for
producing about 15,25O,0OO pounds of
paper annually, not counting the idle
mills, OF which al present about 70 are
reported out of a io;a; Of l.1S) OF this
enormous product some 3. 375, 100 pound,
are used 10 printing newspapers and books,
aud 2l2, 800 pounds mJre 10 he!p bind the
books printed. 1t is estimated that 498,-
600 pounds are consumed in the building
trades, 3,l76000 pounds of wrapping
paper are used and $4,000 pounds Of
writing paper. An important item is the
production OF nearly 100000 pounds of
press, straw and woodpulp ''boards."
The production of artificial leather"
fortunately for the purchasers Of shoes,
has been decreasing since 1884, when
l29 900 pounds Of this material were pro-
duced. The most rigid economy is
practiced in paper making, hence the
nigh degree of mechanical skill and
executive ability connected with this
industry as compared with the cost of the
product. It may be mentioned that large
mills. making over fifty. tons Of news
every twenty four hours, often contract to
supply their entire product to single
large newspaper publishing house at
price as low, for instance, as 2.9 cents per
pound, which is paid by one New York
journal of large circulation.
MONEY IN THE MOUTH.
ry, q Habit =, p,,te,n.. r. A. nr.-<A