Bradford County telegraph. (Starke, Fla.) 1888-current, 1895-11-22
STORIES OF PAPER.
HOW WATER MARKS WERE MADE AND
Why THEY CANE INTO USE.
Clever Cse Made of Them by Ireland In
IIis shal<espesrsaa Observation-Disclosures
Designs Impressed by tho DANDY" Roll
er-Tho bogus Virgin Mary Letter.


Stories and incidents innumerable are
wound up in the art of paper making,
and its mechanical processes have af-
forded TO the ingenious story teller many
o chance for q thrilling tala
This is especially true Of the system
Of placing water marks, so called, In
various brands or makes of paper
Perhaps the most interesting trus
story which hos to do with this branch
of the industry Is that Of ths famous
''Ireland's Confessions.
Ireland had fabricated some Shake
speare manuscripts, which for q long
time were accepted as actual. They
made such an impression indeed that q
number Of men, famous at that time for
their erudition and for their literary
standing, voluntarily prepared a testi-
monial attesting absolute belief in the
authenticity Of the manuscripts. To this
document these men affixed their sigma
lures and sent the paper broadcast
The whole Of the original edition Of
the fakes was disposed of in few hours,
and so great was the eagerness for the
edition that single copies were disposed
CT in auction rooms at enormous prices.
Some time after that Ireland. himself
threw these gentlemen into much sor-
roY By explaining just how he had had
fun with them.
lroiand's story was that the sheet Of
paper which he used vas the outside Of
seveHal others Oh which some accounts
hGd been kept during thu reign OF
Charles ]. At that time Ireland was
wholly unscquainted with the subject
Of water marks.
81 carefully selected" says he, 1.-TWO
half sheets not having any mark what
ever. on which | pennad my first effu-
sion" A few pages further on no wrote:
"EeiDg thus urged forward to the pro-
duotion of more manuscripts. it became
necessary that should possess o suffi-
cientquantity Of old paper to enable me
to proceed, in consequence Of which l
applied to BOOKSELLER, who, for the
sum of 5 shillings. suffered mo to take
from all tho folio and quarto volumes
in his shop the ly leaves which they
contained.
by this means was amply stored
with that commodity, nor did / fear
any mention of the circumstances by
ths BOOKSHELF. As wA3 fully aware.
from the variety Of water marks which
are in existence ct tho present day. shat
they must have constantly been altered
since the period of Elizabath, and being
for some time wholly unacquainted with
the water marks of tia: ago, very care
fully produced my first specimens Of the
writing on such sheets OF old paper as
had no mark whatever.
"Having heard it frequently stated
that the appearance Of such marks on
the papers would have greatly tended to
establish their validity, l listened to
every remark that was made on the sub
ject, and at length CLEANED the intelli-
gence that jog was the prevalent wa
ter mark Of tho reign of Elizabeth, in
consequence of which l inspected all
the sheets Of old paper then IN my pos
session, and having selected such AZ had
the jug ON them I produced the succeed
ing manuscripts upon these. being care
full, however. to mingle with them a
certain number Of blank leaves that the
production on sudden Of so many wa
ter marks might not excite suspicion in
the breasts Of those persons who were
most Conversant with the manuscripts. I"
A traveller in Messina was once shown
Q letter written by tho Virgin Mary
with her own hand He remarked that
it must indeed be q miracle, since the
paper showed by its water mark that it
was not made till some centuries after
the age Of Mary.
It's the greatest mystery to most peO-
pie how water marks arc mnde. And
yet the matter Is the simplest thing III
the world. In tho manufacture Of paper
the pulp, before it has begun to be
dried and after il has been spread ON
the moving platform, pssses under .
roller called the dandy" On this
dandy" is affixed the device which
works the water mark
It is OF bent wire, and as tho roller
presses the paper it PRESSES into it the
mark.
In the same manner most elaborate
designs and even pictures and intricate
representations of whole battle scenes
have been done from an engraved plate
similar to an electrotype, used in the
same manner on the dandy" roller.
OF course check paper and bank pa
per is the most important variety dis
tinguished by water marks. In pair of
So note molds prepared by the old proc
esq there are s curved borders, 16
figures, I6S large waves and 240 letters,
which had all to be separately secured
by the finest wire to the curved surface.
There were l,056 wires and 81, 584
twists and the same repetition where
the stout wires were introduced to sup
port the under surface.
In ancient times the water marks
were used for the same purposes as the
old inn signs The old inns bad dolls
and beehives. horses and various other
forms as signs. For the same reason the
paper makers had some distinguishing
mark which made their product distinct
from that of other makers
A very fcmous mark Of the sixteenth
century was the handmark-a hand top
ped with star. The jug or pot mark
gave the name to the pot" paper, while
the foolscap mark used ON paper Of a
certain size gave that size its name,
which il retains to this day,