Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-05-04
ABOUT OILcL0TH.
Facts Regarding Wilder 0iicieth Factory and
the Manufacture Of this Material.

i
said DR.. Julian Wilder to Journal man,
yesterday, in conversation about the Wilder
oilcloth factory. at was started in 1910
! by a man named Berry, and later it passed
into the hands of Simon Page, Joseph
Stickney and Elisha Towle. In 1867, the
late DR.. Amos Wilder, my father, purchased
an interest in the plant and later the en-
tire establishment After his death it
passed into the present management, that
Of Wilder & Company, the firm being
myself and Mr.. d. ID. Sewall, the inyen-
tor of the famous Sewall car heating pat
ent'
The reporter in company with the doc
tor took tour through the establishment.
We first went to the department in which
the raw material is stored 1t is burlap
and came direct from Scotland and is
made of flax, jute and other materials
produced in that country. The first pro-
cess through which this burlap passes is
that of sizing, which is q preparation of
glue and flour put upon it, making it easy
to handle. In this condition it is taken up
stairs by elevator and rolled upon huge
drum where it is stretched and dried.
This machine was invented and patented
by the late DR.. Amos Wilder 90 years ago
and is wonderful specimen of me-
chanism. 1t is so feet long and rs feet
around, Is constructed of timbers and
most solidly and thoroughly built. 1t
has been I'm constant use for go years and
today rcvolves with the evenness and
rapidity that it did when first placed in
position.
After the burlap has been sized, and
then dried upon this huge roller it is
taken to the painting room where one of
the most important processes of manu-
featuring oilcloth is gone through. In
this department we saw another ingen-
iously made machine which was invented
by the late DR.. Wilder and by its use
much time and labor are saved. The
material is placed in this machine be-
tween two rollers and attached to one
end of the web or cloth is a clasp and to
this long rope. As the cloth passes be-
tween these two rollers the paint is poured
upon it and evenly distributed. From
this machine it passed to racks many
feet long where it is allowed to harden.
1t goes through this process of painting
and drying several times. as the quality
of oilcloth is determined by the number
of coats of paint put upon it. There are
four grades or qualities, first, second third
and fourth
After it has been painted a sufficient
number of times it is then taken to the
skillfdlly made apparatus, the outcome
of the late doctors genius. Before this
machine was made the method in vogue
was to have number of men scour the
cloth with knives to take out the Jumps
and rough places. The working of this
machine is very intcre sting and its move
handling two brushes. When the mate
rial comes from this machine it hasa gloss
and smoothness upon which the finishing
coat of paint takes great effect.
The paint department is in charge of
Joseph Emerson and the efficient paint
mixer, an important position, is r. W.
Bailey As paint takes a very important
and prominent part in the manufacture
of oilcloth much care must be exercised
in its mixing.
After the cloth has received the coats
of paint to make it hard and more
like oilcloth it passes to the upper
stories where the printing is done,
and by the-way here is where it is
beautiiled The printing process, while
not done by machinery, is very accurately
performed by men who have followed the
business for several years. The strips are
placed upon sort of table and yard
printed at once. 1t takes some time to
cover that amount of space, as the work
must be done very carefully. The ma
chimes used to print this raw material are
made Of wood and to perfect design
several of these stamps are used by hand
They are placed on the cloth in certain
way each time and the bottoms being
covered with paint, leave the desired i'm
preston.
When this work Is completed the strips
then pass into racks where they are left
for quite length of time and allowed to
harden. After this is done they are re-
moved and cut into strips OF the desired
width and then taken to the baking room,
where they remain some time, after which
they are taken out and made ready Tor
shipment.
Each carpet is IS feet long and put up
in rolls. the smallest being 20 yards and
the largest 80. The process OF manu-
featuring oilcloth is quite simple and not
much machinery is needed.