Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-09-30
Kiwanians Learn
Of Paper Making
At Regular Meet

Normal Haskell OF the keEeS FlDre
Co. of Fairfield delivered an address
on the making of paper dishes before
the members of the Waterville kiwanis
Club last evening at their regular
weekly meeting at the Elmwood Hotel.
He said in part:
Our plates and dishes are made
from liquid pulp, being moulded into
the various sizes to meet the ever in
Easing demand. This method was the
invention and discovery of Martin L..
keyes.
These plates are made from pure
ground wood spruce pulp and the pro-
| cess is very unique and interesting. Yet
| very simple. This pulp comes to the
| factory in convenient laps or bundles.
| The pulp is beaten up with pure wa
ter from China Lake in a regular pa
per mill beaten which pulls 1T apart
and mixes it with the water. thus
forming mixture very similar to ordi-
nary Cruel. This mixture is dumped
into large storage tanks from which
large stock pumps carry. the stock to
the plate machine on the second floor.
and there the plate or dish is made. or,
! rather, moulded. ~ III
''The stock is taken into the male
forming DISCS by the. means of Suction.
and at the same tome sucking most Of
! the water ont of the pulp and return
| ing it to the water tanks. These male
discs are on large ring or wheel
which is In perpendicular position.
| Then the female die is pressed onto
the male dies, and thus the plate is
moulded, shaped and smoothed. This
female die is on movable arm at
tached to the big ring, but passes over
the guide which presses it onto the
other die and also separates it at the
right time. The plate is then trans
ferred to the female die by means of
compressed air. and in turn is passed
by compressed air again to sucker
reed" which places it upon the drying
apron. or wire. This "sucker-head" il
part of another ring travelling in a
horizontal position. The plate is held
onto the sucker by means of a vacuum
or suction and is dropped in a certain
position when the suction is stopped
This suction is regulated by certain
grooves in the hub of this ring. and no
plate falls on top of another.
The plate now travels down the
drying run on the wire. When it
reaches the end. it just falls off on
to the lower run and Is brought back
to where 1t started. and there it drops
down chute to the packing bench
These runs are about 200 feet long,
and contain nearly two miles of one
inch wrought iron pipe filled with
live steam. The temperature at the
start of the runs is about 900 degrees
During this process of making
and drying the plates. no human hand
touches them from the time the pulp
is put back into the beaten. until
they reach the packing benches. and
the time of making a plate is from
25 to 80 minutes. The. plates are
then sorted and counted into bundles
of 500 each, wrapped in strong pa
per and tied ready for shipment.
Our goods are shipped to every
state in the Union. as we'll as every
province in Canada and we also
We have only one price, and one set
of terms. and these apply to each
and every customer.
I'VE used to buy our pulp in the
open market. but now we make It in
our own mill in Shawmut. We use
about one ton of pulp per day for
each machine. And when we were
using coal as means of making
steam TO dry the products, we aver
aged a ton a day for each machine,
but now we are using fuel oil to re-
place the coal. Five barrels Of oil
equal ton of good coal. We have
five boilers on Oil.
Our factory is about SOC feet long,
and 200 feet wide. 1t is built of
brick and cement and Is practically
fireproof. At this mill we employ
about 200 men and women. while at
the pulp mill we have nearly rs
men. The manufacture Of both pulp
and plates Is for "a hours in order to
meet the market. And 1t is safe to
say that we make practically all OF
the pie plates used today, and very
nearly all Of the dishes and trays.