Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-11-07
TRANSFORMATION.
Plant Of Madison Pulp and Pa
per Co. RemodeIed.
EnIargementland Improvements Made
by New Owners. u -
What HALL a million Dollars and Several
Hundred Men Have Been Doing.

absorbed by the Great Northern PAPER
Company. here, shows a most surpris-
ing transformation since the property
came into the hands of it's present
energetic proprietors. The plant has
undergone changes OF such size that a
machine shop 7Ox4O had to he built by
the new owners, for the express pur-
pose of accomplishing the changes re-
quired and even then a vast amount
of entirely new machinery was
brought here from abroad Instead of
manufacturing only sulphite pulp.
which was all the mill made under its
old management. and which alone
could not be made here at a profit
with the methods then in use. there
is now complete plant for making
both sulphite and ground pulp, and
then for working the pulp up into pa
per. this being the only economical
form now of carrying on this industry.
The pulp must be worked up into pa
per at the same spot where ii is made,
without the intervention of another
transportation charge. in order that
the business may be conducted on a
So, the old plant has been rebuilt
and new Dlart built in connection
with it. During the past six months a
crew of hundreds Of men has been en-
ployed in building operations. and
about half million dollars spent in
the work. The first thing that strikes
the visitor, and is as quickly recog-
nized by the vcriest tyro as ii is by
the man who understands the manu-
facture of wood pulp, is the exceeding
strength and solidity Of the construc-
ton. Everything is Of massive stone
brick. or steel construction, and every
thing is built regardless of expense,
and designed to last for ages and defy
everything but earthquakes. Even the
slip for hauling logs out of the water
rests on piers OF solid masonry. The
logs are hauled up by a chain into the
log room. where they are sawed into
lengths. and passed to the chipping
machines. This room is 20 feet square,
and contains the equivalent of the
machinery Of an Old-fashioned saw
mill. Here are scaling machines. saws.
bankers. splitting and chipping ma
chimes. And this is only the vestibule
tanning as elaborate and costly ma
chinery as the average Maine indus
trial establishment entire. All this
machinery is of new pattern. and of
course brand-new construction, the
old machinery for the same work
having been discarded as inadequate.
Machinery here takes the logs. re-
duced to short lengths and sizes now.
and conveys it to the grinder room.
All the transportation of the material
about the mills is done by machinery
from the moment the logs leave the
water. 1t is both cheaper and quicker
to take the wood in all its various
forms about by machine power than
it would be to have it moved by hu
man agency. The grinder room is al
so entirely new. Like all the rest of
the buildings which the Great North
ern has been building here. it is of the
most massive construction. of ma
terials and design which would stand
the test of the most rigid fire ordi
nance of the big cities. 1t is IS by "a
feet. and has a steel frame, with brick
walls and concrete floor. There is'no
uick-burning wood construction about
these great industrial beehives. 1t is
cheaper to build fireproof. and feel
sure that it won't burn down, than it
would be to build of wood. and collect
the insurance. Three sets of water
wheels are geared direct to the six
large grinders, whose huge stone jaws
grip the wood as it is fed to them over
an endless chain and grind it to pulp.
Mighty are these millstOnes. Small is
the fragment of wood that finally
issues from their mastication.
On goes the grist, conveyed as be-
fore by machinery, to the screens.
There is a certain amount of bran in
this grist, as in that of the humblest
old gristmill. But the screens pick it
out. Nothing gets through them that
should not go through. And the pulp
goes on from one room to another
transported by mechanical carriers
until. having entered as logs at one
end it energies as paper at the other.
In the chemical department Of the |
mills the only one of the original
buildings which still retains its old |
form is found. This is the digester |
building, structure 61x231 feet and |
four stories high, containing nine big |
digesters. The plant in its original
form was so ill-adapted in many ways
for making pulp at profit that the
mills were run for years at a financial
loss. but this building was so well
and built that no changes /
have been required in it, except the in
stallation of an improved system of
piping, 1t contains nine big digesters.
each With capacity of cooking 50
tons of pulp. and in which the pulp is
cooked for 36 hours.
There is scarcely any other feature
Of the old buildings, methods, or proc
esses that remains, however. An en-
tirely new building has been erected
for the preparation of the sulphuric
acid used in the digesters. 1t is a
brick structure. Of course. IS by 12o
feet, and two stories, and the vacuum
process Is used. The tall towers which
formerly dominated the crest Of the
hill, have disappeared. and no others
take their place. and the offensive
doors which were generated by the old
CONTINUED on page ~ l.