The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-02-16
MANUFACTURE OF PAPER.
Scientific AnacrSco~.

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dustries of he United States, which
have grown to large proportions during
the past twenty-five years, is that
which is devoted to the manufacture
Of paper. At recent meeting Of the
American Paper Manufacturers Asso-
citation the president stated that the
association was formed about eighteen
years ago, and that the paper business
had since taken on rapid growth.
At the time the manufacture of. paper
in the United States had grown to
such an extent after the war that the
capacity of the mills in 1878 in the
production of paper amounted to nearly
5000 tons Of product per day. To-
day the capacity Of the mill product
in this country is about $4,000 tons
per day.
The general public has little idea OF
/ the size and cost of an average paper
mill. The finished product, as we see
it in our books and our daily newspa-
per, is SO familiar, and the materials
Of which it is popularly supposed to
be made are SO cheap, and for most
other purposes worthless, that to many
it will be surprise to learn that an
average paper mill costs from sl,0OO,-
900 to $4,000, goo to build and equip.
It's capable Of turning out some 40
tons Of paper per day, and to run the
machinery requires boilers and engines
Of not less than 5000 power.
For washing the pulp, ETC., there will
be required 4 100000 gallons Of water
per dag, or enough to supply city OF
$4,000 inhabitants, and the whole of
thai supply must be filtered by the
most approved modern processes.
The manufacture Of the paper may
be broadly separated into two pro-
cesses, consisting, first, in the prepar-
alton Of the pulp, and secondly, in the
formation Of the paper from the pulp.
I. The Preparation Of the Pulp
The popular idea that paper is made
from rags is true only Of fine writing
paper, which is made entirely from
this material; but newspapers and
most book papers are made entirely
from wood. The better class Of book
paper is made from wood and small
percentage Of rag. There are two
kinds Of wood pulp.
j. Ground or Mechanical Wood
Pulp. This is made by grinding the
ends Of spruce wood logs against re-
4olving emery wheels. Fhis is done
under water, and the result is finely
divided vet sawdust. The wood re-
tains all its natural gums and acids
and has no fiber. 1t must be used
with some more fbrous material, such
as chemical wood pulp. This is the
cheapest form Of pulp, and It'll there
fore only used for newspapers and So
called manila wrappings.
2. Chemical Wood Pulp is made
from spruce or poplar. The timber
comes to the mill in barked logs,
which are four feet long, and have had
all the knots carefully bored out.
The logs are fed into "chipper, in
which the knives are arranged at an
angle Of IS degrees to the center line
Of the machine. These knives cut the
logs diagonally to the grain into
Chips which are half an inch long.
The chips are conveyed to adigesters,
which are upright cylinders Z or 8
feet in diameter and 30 feet long. If
spruce wood chips are being used,
they are treated by the acid process,
the digcsters being lined with acid
proof brick. The acid liquor is OBJ
tained by mechanically combining sui
phurous acid gas with milk Of lime,
and forming a bisulphite of lime.
Pie digesters are filed with chips and
liquor in proper proportions, and are
then Theoretically sealed. Live steam
is introduced, and the chips are boiled
for eight hours under pressure of 11G
pounds to the square inch.
IL the chips are made from poplar,
the process is the same, except that
the liquid is made from caustic soda
ash and water.
After the boiling is completed, the
contents of the digesters are blown
out into receiver, where it presents
the appearance of mass of soft pulp.
The liquor is then washed out and
after the pulp has been bleached, it
SO closely resembles the rag pulp,
which is used in the manufacture of
fine book paper and writing paper,
that only an expert can tell the differ
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