The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-09
REDUCES SECRETS TO PULP.
MAN DESTROYS OLD ACCOUNT
hooks AS 4 BUSINESS.

ne IIuyS Them for Pew Cents-RiVals 10
Trade Might Give Thousands for
Them-They'Fe Torn Apart at once
and shipped 10 Mills In Sealed lass
Il have just paid few cents a pound
for old books and papers for which some one
In this town would give thousands oil dol
lars, said downtown paper manufacturer
few days ago. and he told the truth.
A large part Of his business consists OF
destroying confd entail papers for business
houses, banks, brokers or any one else who
can furnish enough to bother with.
The paper man pays for this valuable old
paper, but only few cents pound. That
Is all It is worth 10 him for reduction into
pulp. His rates are a bit lower, perhaps,
than those of the junkman but with his
purchase he gives a guarantee that nothing
he buys shall over be read or examined.
A list Of his customers. which no gives for
reference, Is pretty good proof chat he keeps
his word and that the secrets Of the waste
paper bags never leak out The reference
list shows that the manufacturer has de-
stroyed books, papers, &c, for about twenty
banks, half as many insurance companies,
a doEsn baLkeTs and brokers, several OF the
number Of retailers.
slow do you destroy this valuable paper
and make sure that nobody gets hold OF itf'
the manufacturer was asked.
1T isn't allowed to pass through very
many hands, was the answer, 'and the
men who do take care Of 1t are ignorant.
some Of them cannot read, but they would
not have a chance to CLEAN much out OF our
waste II they could.
when we get an order from firm to
destroy its books and papers we send
man up with lot of big bags. The bind
inEs are ripped of the books. their pages
are torn apart, and they are stuffed into
bags along with letters and any other waste
the a. m may have to offer.
THE bags are sealed and put aboard a
freight Car. Next day they arrive at our
factory In Connecticut, and the seals are
not broken until the bags are dropped beside
a big vat filed with strong chemicals.
sThe papers are dumped into this. which
reduces them to a pulp. Another process
cleans the ink from the pulp, and then 1t
goes into new paper. You see, there isn't
very much chance for any one to get hold
OF any information set down on our waste
paper, and I'm dead sure that our guarantee
has never been broken.
do we do big business in destroying
documents2 Well should say yes.
Before we took hold of that new branch
Of the paper business 1t was a good deal OF
a problem for some firms to know how to
get rid a. their old books and papers. 1t is
harder to burn book than 1t is TO burn
log. Papers are also easily carried up
chimney by a strong dTaught, and burning
didn't solve the problem.
Junk dealers would buy the stun, out
they didn't giveany guarantee as TO privacy,
and were always on the hunt for anything
they could turn into money.
SIkmow Of a case where junkman bought
a lot Of letters from a dry goods firm, sorted
them all out by States, and found that they
gave the key 10 the identity OF the firms
A rival firm bought the letters
and paid pretty well for them. y.
Then there are lotsJo things on the
books Of almost any firm that competitor
would like 10 see-prioe Hsts, discounts,
trade relations, and all that sort Of thing.
IL wasn't safe 10 hand books containing
that information TO iunkmen, and that's
why we started in the destruction business