New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-02-13

drop into a huge boiler. which IL nineteen feet
long and six feet in diameter. Then. with a
mixture OF soda-ash and lime water. the rags
are allowed TO boil FOR hours. Some mixtures
are allowed 10 remain in the tank twelve hours
and some remain twice that length Of time
. When the is taken out OF the boilers
the various shades OF white ard the higher
colors % the calicoeS have all disappeared. and
I, has uniform lisht-brown color. Ike dark.
unblecched cotton cloth From the boilers the
rags. in their new. shapeless form. go in small
drayloads TO room which contains eight huge
watts These are known as engines" and have
besides a large water spray a heavy iron wheel
armed with a series Of knives, 10y which the
rags are torn into shreds but no, cut, and they
assume the condition known as half stock"
The water which runs into these vais with great
force has been purified and cleared OF all or
ganic matter in q department. set aside for that
purpose. This room contains four large filter
ing watts where the water which comes from
the canal is sprayed with alum. and then II
percoates through bed Of sand and comes ou,
pure and clear at the rate Of l.0O0,000 gallons
day.
While the half stock" is in the engines"
bleach, in the form of chloride Of lime. is added.
which changes the lGhi-brown mass 20 white,
and after it has been worked for six or eight
hours the pulp has become almost clear from
any stain or blemish, and to the layman it looks
perfectly pure in its wilderness. But it has still
much TO endure before its preparatory stage
has been completed and weeks will elapse be
fore it becomes a dainty sheet Of paper-a page
in a ledger or highly ornamented bond.
WHITE AFTER MANY DAYS
The pulp is taken from the engines and
dumped into great vaults. where il beaches and
drains. and when it comes from there. some
patches after four days and others In not less
than fourteen days. it looks beautifully white
and clean. one writer on the subject. in speaking
OF the mass at this stage. said that II reSem-
bled paper pulp pudding. and ii 1t tasted as
good as it looked it would be rare dish
1t is now taken 10 a washing machine. where
all the chloride Of lime is washed out, color Is
added to the mass which is beaten from TWEEN
ty-four TO forty-eght hours. and then the water
is turned on and the is flooded into what
is known as the "s.uff-Chest." tank ABOUT
twenty-four feet high and fourteen feet IN
diameter. with no machinery save q rotary aSi-
tator which keeps the pulp in constant motion
and gives ii a uniform consistency. From the
stuff chest" the white mass, which looks like
mush. goes through a gauge. by means Of which
the thickness OF the paper which is 10 be made
is regulated. and then through a series OF
strainers into the paper machine.
BY the time the mass reaches the machine II
resembles milk, and this runs on a wire screen
which has from sixty 10 eighty meshes TO the
square inch. The machine is about one hundred
feet long. and the end at which the milky mud
strikes the wire screen is kept in a constant
state of agitation. by means of which the paper
fibre is evenly distributed
At this point the change by means of which
the LIQUID mass is converted into sheet be-
gins The water drips through the screen and
the substance on the screen is carried forward.
A few feet away from the starting point pump
aids the process by drawing the water out, and
then the partly dry mass, which already re
scmbles a moist sheet Of paper passes under a
bronze roll on which appear some letters in re
lief These make an indented mark on the
rapjdly moving mass Without stop II passes
along under the rolls made Of gun metal and