The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-11
B|GPULP MILLS in
NORTH CAROLINA
Immense Consumer of Timbers
OF Mountain Counties of Old
North State.
GROWING TOWN OF CANTON
hree-Million-Dollar Plant Con-
verting Lumber Into Paper
OF Many Kinds.
ny $. n. WINTERS.

ny S. n. WINTERS.
canton, n. c., January 10.-A sight
seeing traveller. journeying from Ashe-
Vile through the extreme westerly
counties of North Carolina over the
Murphy Branch of the Southern Rail
way, seven or maybe ten years ago
might have In his quest for picturesque
mountain scenery caught q vision of 4,
nag station after n twenty-Inile run
from the mountain metropolis Or
perhaps. the little railway station, sur
rounded by a half a dozen outlying
1arin houses and cross-country roads
store. shut In from the outside world
by towering mountainous Ii ills was
cause of fevcrish anxiety on the part
OF the traveller as TO whether 1T could
ever rightfully gain admission on the
county map Of Haywood Seven wears
later 1T is a town Of 1000 folks. and
the home Of the most gigantic paper
pulp manufacturing establishment in
all the South. representing a capitaiiza-
ton OF over S3,600.000, and furnishes
employment TO q thousand white labor
crs Of Western Carolina.
Northern capital plus Southern en-
terprise and Southern natural resources
10 AN index to Cantons magic growth.
Situated In the heart OF the region
where the hemlock, spruce, balsan.
linn, buckeye. magnolia, chestnut and
pine is abundantly found the coming
of the Northern capitalists bringing,
the necessary machinery with them
soon assured the pcrmanency OF this
Industrial enterprise that has fastened
It's grip on the timber resources of q:
dozen Western counties So comDlctelv
has this paper manufacturing industry
established It's supremacy in Western
North Carolina that State Forester J.
;. Holmes estimates that within a pc
riod OF thirty years the now mature
growth timber will have been ex-
hausted From 300 to 400 cords Of
wood daily is the rate of consumption
Of the timber resources by this mann
moth pulp producing plant
Many Counties Intcrcsfcd
In 1909, three years after tho con
struction of this industrial plant (cov-
ering approximately ten acres OF
rround), the consumption of wood year
~ was 9i.5s4 cords. The counties OF
Haywood, Cherokee, Clay. Graham.
swain. Macon, Jackson and Transyl-
Van!a were drawn upon to supply this
giutonous demand for timber to manu-
iacturc paper pulp. SO tremendous has
the business Of supplying lumber for
the plant become that in recent years
lumber company has allied it's inter
est with the pulp manufacturing plant
Tor purpose of purchasing tracts of
timber throughout Western Carolina
The consuinmation of big timber deals
arc frequently made and tracts of for
ests aggregatng 10000 acres are pur-
chased. In Haywood County, some
fourteen miles from Canton, lodging
camp OF few years ago has dcveloped
INTO village so enterDrising to de-
maHd the convenicnces OF n modern
town OF several thousand people in
Piedmont North Carolina. Sunburst is
the name bestowed upon the erstwhile
logging camp. ana the operations OF the
lumber interests are extensively car
RED on from this point, with tram roads
covering the distance OF fourteen miles
between there and Cresmont. Another
tram road for conveying lumber is
operated from Waterville, Tenn, to
Cresmont and thence to Canton.
The capitalization of S3.ooe,oo0: an
industrial plant covering ten acres of
ground; furnishing employment TO
1000 laborers. and the consumption of
200 cords OF wood day are items that
only suggest the gigantic proportions
OF this pulp manufacturing plant The
story OF the seven years growth OF
this paper manufacturing plant has
exercised I potent influence on the
life Of Western North Carolina and It's
latent resources-the wealth produc-
ing forests Noteworthy in connection
with the statement already advanced
that this timber consuming plant
threatens the absolute consumption of
the mature growth forest in that sec
ton is the fact that the plant is FUR
nishing market for hitherto unmer-
S'ASi'ehpiS ioic pTOOuCtS. Inc
operation OF tanning extract vat In
connection with the pulp manufacture
Ing process renders il possible to util-
iZe the worm-eaten chestnut, the pine
only four or five inches in diameter
and lsnotty timber. all OF which the
lumber mills count as refuse matter
This fact alone lengthens the life OF
the pulp plant, notwithstanding its
fearful slaughter of timber.
The Ways of the Works
The process of manufacturing the
wood into paper is an achievement that
excites interest-how the wood from
the forest is converted within a COM
parativcly short time from the raw
product into first-grade magazine
paper or. maybe. into postcards with
Uncle Sans stamp of approval The
mill at Canton, however. does not com
pleto the cyclic from the raw product
into the finished goods. but a mill at
Hamilton. Ohio. adds the finishing
touches. The product as evolved from
the Canton mills Is similar to n grade
OF heavy wrapping paper. The Hamil-
ton mill then converts these large rolls
into magazine paper. the Western Caro-
lima products being best adapted for
such utility.
The stages in the process or manu-
facturc, as carried by the Canton
mill. is one step from the crude article
until 1t reappears in rolls or paper