El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-11-23

and monthlies as well as the dailies. Th'
former have a circulation Of 100000.
copies and the latter one OF S9.0oo.oe'
copies per issue The books AID Dar1ph
lets we print number about 100000
year. and IN addition we are turning out
seven or eight million pieces Of sheet
and book music Every bit OF the paper
so used comes from the forests 1t re
quires men TO get out the wood, and
/ great mills TO grind up the nbers or BY
/ chemical action TO turn them into paper
I like that OF better than that Of this page
l you are reading. The number Of rIills
| we have devoted 20 the business Is more
/ than zoe and in ordinary times they en-
] ploy 10000 meE- We make about hall
I Of all the wood pulp made in the world
] The war and the influenza are reducing
the number Of workmen. and the price
] OF the product continues 10 rise
What Wood Pulp Is.
] But before we go farther let me tell
I you what wood pulp IS and how It IS
/ made It comes from the soft woods OF
I trees which are furnishing our present
] supply. In Canada. for instance. there is
a strip OF spruce and poplar which runs
across the greater part Of the continent
Il contains the chief wood pulp reserves
OF this Hemisphere and IL will be furnish
ing paper fo- many years to come. Con-
nected with Il are some Of the big
gest pulp mills OF the world. I visited
the largest OF them not long ago. It IS
making mechanical and chemical pulp for
shipment 70 the United States The wood
Lake Superior. and brought down to the
great watsrpOwer at Sault SIC Marie,
where there is a drop Of 20 feet from
Lake Superior to Lake Huron. The mills
stand on the edge OF the water and
great turbines furnish the power The
spruce Is cut in the forests during the
winter. and floated down the rivers 10
the lake and thence on 10 the Sault-
There are great piles OF this timber on
the shore and in the water, and stacks
OF Il not far from the mills As I looked
At n II "a
newspapers inside the log, and I was re-
minded Of the Duke IN Shakspere's play
'As You Like It. who expected 10 find
in the forest OF Arden
Tongues in trees, books in the running
brooks.
Sermons in stones. and good in every
thing.
That was several centuries ago. but
mills ike this are now making the tree
tongues speak and preach their sermons
10 all the world Moreover through the
are finding books in the winning brooks
and are yanlSing newspapers out OF the
sawloss which that power grindz-
Cord Makes Ton
The logs used for making paper are
OF various diamaters. II takes about a
cord OF wood TO make a ton OF pulp, and
a roll which weighs that spread out like
n carpet would cover any city pavement I
for the length OF three and half miles. !
The logs ground during my stay were
about foot thick. The first process was I
taking off the bark This was done BY /
planning machines, and the wood thus 1
stripped was carried on endless belts TO 1
the factory and dropped into round box I
like mills Of steel asout eight feet in /
diameter and eight feet in height In /
side each mill was a grindstone against 1
which the logs were pressed by machin- ]
cry IN such way that they were gradu- 4
ally pulverized as the stones moved !
minute The machinery is such that the 4
wood rests obiiQuely against the stone. 4
and It Is ground across the grain As
the wood particles fall into the water /
they are turned to a pulp ard when they 1
come out they look much like chewed 1
paper This IS screened in wire strainers 4
10 remove the Jumps. and then dropped /
upon wide belts Of the finest Of wooden 1
felt. The particles fan upon the belt in ]
such a way that they coat It and become 4
felted. forming a cardboard or paper. 4
finally comes cut in the great rolls OF
ro'vs nrlnt ready for shipment to the ]
publishing houses all over the country.
Tower OF Steel
Leaving this great mill. IN which 4
ground pulp is made. I went 10 a high ]
tower OF steel. where wood pulp is manu- 4
featured by chemical processes In this 4
there Is no grinding whatever. The logs
are cut into chips and dropped into
enormous steel tanks filled with steam |
and sulphurous scid- The scid works on
the wood as your stomach workers upon
food. It digests It into a pulp producing
a pure ceilulose forming an excellent
paper The tank saw making chemical
pulp was as tall as an eight story flat,
md it contained large amount OF wood.
The process is known as the sul1hite proc
sss- Another process is the sulphate. It
is used for tough board and wrapping
paper. a large amount OF which is so
manufactured in Sweden.
Extent OF Forests.
During my stay at the wood pulp mills
tried 70 get some idea CT the extent
u the forests being consumed by our
sunday newspapers ] was told that a
single large Issue ate up as much as 100
ons OF paper. and necessitated the clear
ng OF six acres OF good sized trees From
his 1t will be seen that the demand for
Jews print Is rapidly eating Mp our FOR
lsts OF certain trees. and the question
rises as TO the supply for the future.
10 the forestry department, we
have a vast amount OF pulp wood on the
government reservations. aud this is es-
'ecialiy 80 IN the western states and
Alaska The government has = iabpra-
DRY for testing such woods at Madison.
Wis, and It Is making fine paper OF :
many varieties OF wood that have not