The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-03
l. L. Ford in Southern Industrial and
 

A. l.. Ford in Southern Industrial ana
 Lumber Review.
 When the yellow pine paper mill at Orange, Texas, had demonstrated that high grade wrapping paper could be successfully made from yellow pine refuse, project that had been crys- talking in the brain of a bright young Northern mechanic was taken in hand by some hustling men of means Tor demonstration as to It's practicabiiity. This project was a process that It was claimed would extract from slabs of yellow pine by-products such as tur- pcntine, tar, oil. wood alcohol, wood acids, etc, and leave a fibre which. without treatment could be used in the paper mill for the manufacture of pa- per. If this could be done 1t meant great saving to the paper mill, the heaviest expense in which was the pre- pairing of the pulp by cooking out of shaving all these substances mentioned, hence the owners of the paper mill lent their aid also to the project. and the plant of the Southern Wood Dis tillates and Fiber Company was erected under the direction of Mir. A. w. Hand ford, the inventor of the secret distill- ing process.
 The plant was finally completed and put into operation. The process proved successful and 1t was thought that the end aimed at had been reached. A few experiments, however. deInon- strated that before being made into paper the fiber that remained after distillation would have to be cooked by the same process used in the paper mill for preparing the shavings pulp. Consequently 1t could not be profitably used by the paper mill. The distillates secured from the slabs would not be sufficient in themselves to make the plant profitable; the fiber could not be proftably shipped to Northern pulp mills, and without the disposal of this fibre the plant would be a failure. IT this result would be avoided a new line of investigation must be begun, and in the meantime the capital that had been put into the plant must remain dormant But the men behind the pro- ject resolved to carry the matter to the end. win or lose. The plant was shut down, and Mir. Handford was sent East with samples of the fiber ito make an investigation and to see what might be done with 1t.
 In the meantime the price of lumber was advancing, and in the North the timber supply was rapidly decreasing, bringing about a condition that forced box factories to seek a substitute for lumber for box material, and more and more did pulp board come into use, supplanting lumber, and making boxes for many purposes just as dur able, more desirable, and so much lighter as to make a big difference in freights.
 Mr. Handford submitted the distil late plant fiber, box to board manu- lecturers. with the result that 1t was fa ha f,,of xyh hal was needed for the manufacture of box boards provided It would p6lp properly and could be easily handled. The company decided to demonstrate this point. A small experimental plant was erected In Chicago. the experi ments were made. and 1t was found that the fiber would pulp to perfec- tion. For these experimental purposes three tons of fiber were shipped from Orange to Chicago The fact being es- tablished by this crude plant that q good box board could be made from this fiber. a prominent box board fac tory agreed to demonstrate what could he derived from 1t as a finished pro duet in a completely equipped plant, and a ton of the fiber was sent to the factory's plant. Managers. superinten- dents, salesmen and others were all deeply interested in the demonstration, and when the finished product proved to be as fine g sample of coated box board as had ever been turned out of the factory all doubt as to the future of the Grange distlllate plant was dis sipated.
 Box board plants in the. East use a ground wood pulp, the market price of which is now $97 per ton, but with this outlay for the pulp the manufac- turers realize a profit of $10 per ton and are unable to supply the demand for their product. The plant at Orange gets its pulp free of cost. for the dis tillates secured are sufficient to pay the expenses of the plants leaving the fiber absolutely free. ThIs being the case, and 1t being demonstrated that this fiber would make a board superior even to the products of the mills that were paying $27 per ton for pulp and still making a profit of $10, the con- cIusion was immediately reached that the erection of~a box board factory in connection with the distillates plant at Orange would solve the problem that had been vexing the minds of the pro- motors. and arrangements for its cree tion were immediately begun.
 When it Is realized that the demand for this product Is simply unllmited that mills are making big profits in It's manufacture even after paying as much as s27 per ton. for the pulp, and that the plant al Orange will get this pulp free of cost, the great possibili- ties that have been opened up in this new line of industrial endeavor may be Imagined. The impression made bv the board manufactured from the fiber from the distillates plant Is So favo-- able that contract has been entered into for the entire output of the fac tory at Orange. before the machinery for manufacturing this board has been built
 A superintendent Of one of the .Iarg- est concerns in the East. after exam ming this fiber wrote a letter to the company giving 1t as his opinion that | 1t was the ideal material for box | boards. and that the sample of board made from it would command a price | of $50 per ton. with an unlimited de- | mAnd to supply. Several samples of