The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1897-06-25
PAPER MAKING INTHIS COUNTRY
The United States Now at the Head OF the
List in Point of Production.

The United States Now at the Head of the
List in Point of Production.
Though the number of paper factories
IL the United States has decreased 20
per cent. during the last Is years, the
product of American factories during
the same period has increased 40 per
cent, and the present capacity Of the
paper mills of the United States is 300,-
900 tons year. More than $780, 100000,
is invested in the paper factories of the
country, which number 700, and the
total number of employees in them is
larger than 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 left over
for export to other countries, whereas
the American product of paper was in
sufficient even for home requirements
With, however, the discovery of the
utility of wood pulp for paper making
and the process whereby the cost of pa
per has been reduced from 1872 to 2A
cents pound, the United States have
been steadily pushing ahead and are
now not only in advance Of Great Brit
ain, butare increasing their lead rapidly.
Germany follows Great Britain closely,
and may soon overtake it in paper maxi
ing.
.o1 Inn Ind
pulp, rags, bagging, wood fiber, and
cotton waste which enter into the COM
position of paper, represent total an
nual investment in all the countries
which have authentic figures of paper
manufacture of $1O0,0O0,00O, and the
chemicals used for dyeing or coloring
papers, particularly high grade note pa
per, involve a further expenditure of
$50,000,0O0. The ingredients which en-
ter into the composition of paper of
various kinds, in addition to those al
ready given, are jute and straw, and the
rags used are divided, according to
their serviceableness, into linen rags,
which yield so per cent. of paper from
the amount of material used, wooden
rags which yield 60 per cent, and
cotton rags which, by improved proc
ess, yield IS per cent.
New York and Massachusetts stand
at the head of the states in respect to
the amount of paper manufactured.
With the cheapening of the cost OF pa
per not only have new uses been found
for it (they have railway tracks made
of paper in Germany, and paper pen
ellis are no longer a novelty in New
York;, but the demand for paper has
increased enormously. This is par
ticularly noticeable in newspapers, the
size of which has, in many cases, been
increased to correspond to the reduc-
ton in price. Moreover, cheaper paper
has doomed enormously the business
of the publication of books and maya
zines. This reduction of cost in book
making by which volume that, few
years ago, cost one dollar, is now sold
for IS or 20 cents, has had one odd re-
suit, as is shown in the general decline
of private libraries, for, with the cheap
ening of books, the incentive for col
lecting 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.-N. Y.
Sun.