Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1895-03-28
Making Paper.

lOTt OH DuulcA was HiC0 pm w.
in value during the dark days which
followed. The paper makers were
compelled to look around for a SUBJ
stitute. A bright man thought OF
wood pulp, and before long machinery
and chemicals were doing what the
wasps and hornets had been doing for
thousands of years-making paper out
of trees.
The lumbermen who spend the WIN
tiers in the hearts of the forests in the
northern tier of States cutting down
spruce trees select trees varying from
seven inches to eighteen inches In d.
ameter When the spruce log reaches
the wood pulp mill it is cut into short
lengths from sixteen inches to four
feet long. Before it is ground into
pulp the bark must be removed, and
this is done rapidly by means of ma
chine called the barker" sort OF
circular plane, which revOlves at
high speed. Stripped of its bark, the
block of wood is carried to the grin
der" This is a large grindstone,
sometimes two feet thick. The log is
held by hydraulic pressure against the
stone, and water is kept running on
the stone to prevent the wood from
burning
The stone rubs or grinds the log IN
to pulp, which falls down on a screen,
where the splinters and slivers are
caught, the fine pulp passing through
the meshes. A pump sucks up the
pulp through the vat or box to brass
plate which is perforated with small
holes. The pulp is really liquid,
capable of being pumped or carried
in stream from place to place, and
it is next pumped upon what is called
the "wet machine" Here it is spread
on a WOODEN blanket or on felt, where
some, but not all, of the water Is
pressed from it, and it is left in layers,
which are called Flaps" In this con-
dition it looks like a newspaper which,
after being soaked in water, is squeezed
in the hand. 1t is solid enough to be
carried about, and the Flaps are
made into bundles, each weighing
about one hundred pounds. In this
shape it is shipped to the paper MILL
for only the larger mills make their
own wood pulp.
Paper made entirely of wood pulp
would not be strong enough to stand
the wear and tear of the huge print
ing presses which turn the white pa
per" into newspaper The grinder
breaks up the fbres so that the paper
would not hang together in passing
over the tapes, through the rolls and
cylinders and folders. To give it
strength the papermaker must restore
the fibre. Until few years ago this
was done by cutting up rags, fax, cot
ton waste and other ibres and mixing
the fragments with the wood pulp.
| But most of the newspapers now are
made entirely from wood, for what Is
known as "sulphite fibre has taken
the place of the other fibres. The
sulphte fibre, or, as it is commonly
called, "sulphite," is really wood pulp
also, but it is not made by grinding,
and the fbres therefore are not broken
up. The sulphite is made by boiling
the wood in a large boiler called a
"digester, with steam and product
of sulphur. The wood is digested or
disintegrated into its fbres, which,
however, retain their full strength.
The wood pulp and sulphite, in
proper proportions, are mixed together
in an oblong tub called the "englne;
after they are thoroughly mixed, col
ored and sized the pulp becomes
"half-stock, and is pumped into tanks
or vats and then upon a screen, which
catches any foreign substance which
might have fallen into the half-stock.
Then it is ready for the paper ma
chine. Here the pulp, which looks
like rich milk, is spread over an end
less mesh or screen which carries it to-
ward the cylinders and rollers which
make the finished paper. AS the wa
terry pulp travels toward the rolls, the
screen vibrates and the water drops
through, leaving the pulp a broad
sheet of mushy paper. This sheet
passes over perforated plates, through
which the remaining water is sucked
by pumps; between rolls which press
it into more compact condition and
make it stronger; between other rolls
which squeeze it again and then de,
liver it to an endless belt Of felt
which carries it over and under large
cylinders heated by steam and finally
| r.o5s - into tha Scalender" rolls