Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-10-28

shut down, and the mold passed to the
! coGcher.
| The coucher "couched it." that is. he
| took the mold, turned the sheet Of ma
per off onto the felt, then placed the
| felt in a press, and in this way
| squeezed the water from the sheet.
Then the lay boy took the sheet from
the press and laid it on a board. This
was continued until the post limit OF
12S sheets was reached, when the pile
was pressed at the vat. Five posts
constituted a pack. At the conclusion
OF the days work the amount made
during the day was pressed again.
The paper was then taken into the
finishing room, where girls separated
it sheet by sheet, and where it was
then pressed again. From the finish
ing room it was carried to the loft
where it was hung over poles, sheet by
sheet to dry. this being done by the
action of the weather.
When sufficiently dried it was taken
down, packed and logged, and was
then ready to be sized. This sizing
was made by boiling down trimmings
OF raw hide until it was Of the con-
sistency Of thin glue and then straining
it into size boxes.
The paper was sized by dipping the
sheets into this solution. and was an
operation where the least lack of eau
ton on the part OF the operator result
ed in scalded fingers. After the bath
in the size boxes, the paper was again
pressed. and all the surplus sizing
carefully saved. Another trip to the
finishing room to be separated and to
the loft to dry, followed, after which
the sheets We're trimmed. made into
bundles. and We're ready for the mar
ket. Sometimes, to smooth sheets of
paper. a glazed sheet was alternated
between rough ones, and with a hot
plate on top Of the pack. it was put in
to the press, where the result sought
after was secured
In the rag room, where the girls used |
TO sort and cut rags, each girl had a |
wire topped table, to allow the dirt |
from the rags to sift through. The |
cutting was done on a scythe set edge |
ton being to take a wad of rags and |
draw them down across the edge of the |
upturned blade. This method was not !
much like the modern rag room, but |
that former busy adjunct to the paper |
mill is fast going out of existence in |
this section Of the country, as the per-
centage Of wood pulp used in the man
ufacture of paper increases.
In speaking of the progress of mod |
that the first attempt at a cylinder |
machine was one that had no dryer, I.
and the paper had to dry in the loft |
Later a dryer was attached, and |
finally a cutter. Improvements We're
thus gradually made on machines I'M
ill finally came what is considered the |
perfect machine-the Fourdrenier.
which makes a sheet Of paper 90 inches
wide and of a length that would en-
circle the globe. if desired.
This is. we believe correct story Of
the birth and growth of the paper in
dustry in Gardiner, as learned from the
best authorities extant. Paper making
is a good sample of the enterprise that
has always characterized the city since
its foundation. From the day the first
mill was built by the dam in
the Cobbossee woods, the watchword
Of the workers has been onward" and
they have gone onward until today the
Gardiner mills are reckoned among the
best in the country. What their future
will be is a matter of conjecture, but it
is safe to say that no step will ever be