Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1896-10-26
aIfxs,aris 6azettf
MoND, EVENING. OCT 20 1896.
PAPER MAKING.
ghe United states Now at the Head of
the List In Point of Production.

l
the List In Point of Production.
Though the number of paper fac
tories in the United States has de-
creased 20 per cent daring the last
Is years, the product of American
factories during the same period has
increased 40 per cent, and the pres
ent capacity of the paper mills OF
the United States is 300, 600 tons q
year. More than 500, ooo, coo is III
vested in the paper factories of the
country, which number zoo, and the
total number of employees in them
is larger rhan our standing army.
For many years, during the time
that rag paper or straw paper was the
standard, Great Britain stood at the
head of the worlds producers and
manufactured not only sufficient for
the home demand, which Is very ex-
tensive, but also had a surplus LETT
over for export to other countries,
whereas the American product OF
paper was insufficient even for home
requirements. With, however the
discovery of the utility of wood pulp
for paper making and the process
whereby the cost of paper has been
reduced from II 1-2 10 2 IA cents 4
pound, the United States has been
steadily pushing ahead and is now
notonly in advance OF Great Britain,
but is increasing its lead rapidly.
Germany follows Great Britain
closely and may soon overtake it in
paper making.
The raw materials, including
wood pulp, rags, baggins, wood fiber
and cotton waste, which enter into
the composition of paper represent Il
total annual investment in all the
countries which have authentic fig
ures OF paper manufacture of $780,
600, COO, and the chemicals used for
dyeing CT coloring papers, particu-
larly high grade note paper, involve
further expenditure of 500, Geo, o00.
The ingredients which enter into
the composition of paper Of various
kinds, in addition 10 those already
given, are jute and straw, and the
rags used are divided, according to
their serviceableness, into linen
rags, which yield 50 per cent of pa
per from the amount of material
used; wooden rags, which yield 81
per cent, and cotton rags, which, by
improved process, yield 50 per cent.
New York and Massachusetts
stand at the head of the states in re-
spect to the amount Of paper manu-
featured. With the cheapening Of
the cost of paper not only have new
uses been found for it-they have
railway tracks made of paper in
Germany, and paper pencils are no
longer novelty in New York-but
the demand for paper has increased
enormously. This is particularly
noticeable in newspapers, the size
of which has in many cases been in
creased to correspond to the reduc-
ton in price. Moreover, cheaper pa
per has doomed enormously the
business of the publicatiolNof books
and magazines This reduction of
cost in bookmaking, by which a
volume that few years ago cost 81
is now sold for u or 20 cents, has
had one odd result, as is shown in
the general decline of private libra
ries, for, with the cheapening of
books, the incentive for collecting
them seems to have departed except
in the case of rare books or those
valued on account of the beauty of
the binding or illustrations. New
York Sun.