Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-12-22
HAND MADE PAPER.
0n1y One Man in This Country Said to
 N Be Skilled in It's Manufacture

s3-
 Be Skilled in Its Manufac cture
 Ninety per cent Of the writing pa-
 pers made in the United States are pro-
 duced in Massachusetts. It is said that at Adams, Berkshire county. .is
 the only mill in the whole country where handmade paper is a product. '
 The reason why paper is not made
 by hand is simple A modern paper. making machine will produce a sheet of ordinary newspaper from 60 to 120. inches wide at the rate of from 15O to
 400 feet 8 minute. or a sheet more than forty miles longsin aiWorlSiIlg day of ten hours It requires the services
 of five persons to make three reams, of handmade paper in a., day. 48ssi.gss
 l There is a. large demand for these
 handmade papers for drawing, water color painting, cOTrespO pOndence and
 special book editions The difference between hand and machine made pa
 pers lies in the manipulation Of the sheets. sa ~ .ssgs9 ssi,a5
 In making d sheet of paper by shana the pulp made from, rags by, the usual process of washing and beating Is emptied into an open vat along with a considerable quantity of water. Into
 this vat the workman dips a mould or
 framed pieces Of wire cloth at an in cIination of about 65 degrees, and talk 1 ing up a sufficient quantity of pulp
 raises it horizontally, the frame or
 deekle holding 1t upon the wire cloth. k A double oscfl ting motion or jog is l imparted to it and distributes the pulp
 with beautiful uniformity over the. en- tire surface of the mould intertwining ! the flores. Gradually the pulp drains ] through and the pulp solid dtfes and asa suInes a peculiar shiny look, Whic in4
 dicates to the experienced eye the cons pletion of the first, process. @ MI
 The frame or deckle is then 5re- moved. and the mould laid upon Wool- en felt or blanket to which the wet sheet adheres as the mould is lifted
 this, upon which the next sheet, made lsby repetition of the same process, is This is continued with alternating 1 layers of felt and paper until sut- fcient. number have been siaid down to Eform post, after which the whole Is carried to a press and subjected to va- frying degrees of pressure suitable to 1.-the purpose and finish of the sheet made. After this come the sizing, dry l ing, etc. to complete the product.
 Prior to 1916 the manufacture Of paper in the United States was con- fined entirely to making by hand. By
 this. slow, laborious process was seslch sheet of paper produced, onlysa few
 reams day being the output of the mill. .s s ..ss
 With the introduction of machinery
 for forming rag pulp into sheets, mak ing, by hand was practically abandoned fand the deck1e- edged paper disappeared from the market and skilled artisans EWho could give the old time shake to the mould, thereby forming. sheet of paper passed away. Tn 1870 san eAd. ans manufacturer of paper resolved l to. re-establish that branch of paper
 making in this country, and q repre-. sentative was sent, to England for nlaa
 chinery and help. The year following the mill. which Is the only one sof it's
 kind, was producing paper after the earlier method. S F 9%5 Hs#s
 William Norman, an English paper
 maker, .and his wife and family, were the. paper makers secured to go to Ad- ans. The elder Norman was a skilled hand at the mould. Only one of his ltsons has been able to acquire the art. The elder Norman died a few years i ago and his son William is the 0sly man in Massac chusetts fwho is ,ab ble to turn out paper by the method of 1O6 years ago. t@4 a.sf ssf 'ssS ss1sI #a.sssf