Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-07-07
TEN THOUSAND TONS A DAY.
The Enormous Quantity of Paper Turned
Out by American Miil-.
philadelphia Times

tBNiitIelbNld J iil'Ssl
II is a curious and rather startling fact
that. next 10 the articles entering into
food and clothing. paper is the most uni
versally used commodity in the world. II
would be an almost impossible task 10
find I'm any civilized community person
or business concern that does not, to
greater or less degree. make use of paper
in some Of its various forms. Some phi
losopher has said that the civilization and
prosperity Of a country may be measured
by its consumption OF paper.
II this Is as fair an index as seems upon
reflection to be reasonable. statistics prove
the United States TO have distanced all
the other nations Of the world in the race
Of true development. Perhaps no line Of
business has had a more remarkable
growth I'm the United States the past ten
years than the pdper-making Industry.
This is true In all branches. but especial
" so in the line Of book and news print
papers. The American people are a nation
Of rcader~. and the rapidly decreasing
prices Of books and newspapers have
greatly increased the consumption OF
paper I'm these two lines.
one or cents will purchase a mass Of
reading mattsr in the form o. our great
daiiics. consisting Of from eight TO six
teen pages, while y 10 - cents Will pur-
chase hands0mcly-hound and attractive
books Of standard and popular authors.
The daily OUTPUT OF neWs-prnt paper in
the United States is about l.9W TO 1900
tons. Just think Of - or l5s carloads of
newspapers mentally deyoured each day
IN this country. The production of new 3
print g., larger than any other grade.
That of book paper is probably as much
I.A 4 af Fff tFflr on
daily.
1t will be interesting here 10 quote some
Of the figures of thr paper industry In
the United States. The gross daily ca
pacity II the paper-mills Of the United
States in operation during 1898 for all
kinds and grades of paper was estimated
at about 1000 tons. or this amount
nearly $50 tons represented news print
and book paper $50 tons wrapping paper,
SO tons strawboard. ~ tons writing
paper. ana almost Q 90 tons Of the various
other kinds and grades.
The States which rank first in the pro-
duction Of paper are New York. Maine,
Massachusetts. Wisconsin. Pennsylvania,
Ohio. and Illinois From these seven
States comes nearly THREE fourths Of the
entire paper supply Of the country. by
far the greater part Of the vast output
Is consumed in the United States, the
greatest paper-using country In the world.
In foreign markets. however American
paper is gaining a firm footing. The
greatest consumption OF printing paper
H. i'm the Sunday editions OF the metro
pOlitan dailles. which often require from
G0 To 100 tons for a single issue.
With the rapidly output
prices have as rapidly declined. until to-
day a grade Of news print paper worth
twenty-five years ago 10 cents or II cents
per pound is now sold at , l-2 cents or
cents-a decline in price unequalled IN
the history Of any other Industry. This
enormous decrease in the cost of paper
is due especially to the introduction OF
wood as a paper stock To-day il is the
principal material used in the manufac-
ture OF paper for all but the highest
grades OF book and writing
News print and not only ordinary. but
even very attractive qualities OF book
paper are made entirely OF wood An
other means conducive 10 this phenomenal
reduction OF cost has been the improve
ment I'm methods Of making wood pulp.
The perfection and greater efficiency at
tanned in papermaking machinery, rem
dering much larger production easily pos
sible in given time. have added mate
rally In this downward trend OF price.