With the compliments of the
Geo. W. Wheelwright Paper Co.,
Boston, Mass.
FROM
PAPER-MILL TO
PRESSROOM
ANCIENT PAPER-MAKING
The tools of the primitive paper-maker consisted of a pulp vat for the fiber-laden water, a frame, or mold across which was stretched a mesh of closely-spaced wires, and a removable frame known as the deckle; hence the term “deckle edged.” The beating was done by iron shod hammers which were raised and released by cams on a shaft turned by water power: this machine called a stamper is shown in the foreground of this picture.
FROM
PAPER-MILL TO
PRESSROOM
By
WILLIAM BOND WHEELWRIGHT
Author of “How Paper is Made,” etc.
The Collegiate Press
GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY
MENASHA, WISCONSIN
1920
Copyrighted 1920
by
William Bond Wheelwright
PRINTED AND BOUND BY
GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING CO.
MANUFACTURING PUBLISHERS
MENASHA, WISCONSIN
TO MY FATHER
George William Wheelwright
AND TO THE MEMORY OF HIS FATHER
WHO ENTERED THE PAPER BUSINESS IN 1834
THESE PAGES ARE
RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
TABLE OF CONTENTS
NOTE—This book is printed on Wheelwright’s “B.P.F.” paper 25x38-70.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
INTRODUCTION
In the following pages I have endeavored to present a treatise on paper free from confusing technicalities, yet sufficiently intimate to be of service alike to the manufacturer, the salesman, and the consumer of paper viewing the subject in a broad way from the paper mill to the pressroom. The manufacturer and the consumer may notice the omission of some details, as I have aimed to touch mainly on such points as are essential to a good understanding of the work-a-day problems of paper after it reaches the printer.
I am convinced that in many cases the problems of the pressroom are too slightly understood by the “paperman,” while the technicalities of paper-making are only too vaguely comprehended by the printer. I also feel that both should have at least an acquaintance with the history and progress of paper-making.
William Bond Wheelwright.
Appleton, Wisconsin,
January, 1920.
CHAPTER ONE
THE TRADITION AND HISTORY OF PAPER-MAKING
It would be difficult to single out among the diversified objects of human investigation,” wrote John Murray in his remarks on “Modern Paper” (published in 1829), “a question more curious or interesting than the medium which bears the symbols that register the circumstances and events of past ages.... It is through such wonderful media that we are introduced into the multitudinous throng of a world’s tenantry, and from their inscription learn what they thought, and said and did.... In deciphering these transcriptions of ideas and memorials of humanity we virtually converse with minds long since numbered with those who people the world of spirits; and even the mummy from his cerements in his sycamore coffin, recovered from the vaults of eternal pyramids, talks with us by virtue of the roll of papyrus which he holds in his hand.”
From this substance of Egyptian origin is derived the name of its modern successor—paper. Paper, which in convenience and varied utility is as much in advance of its forerunner as papyrus was in advance of brick, stone, lead, copper, brass, leaves, bark, wood and skins, the successive media for the transcription of human thought.
The exact date of the origin of paper-making has probably yet to be discovered, though the researches of Dr. Aurel Stein and others have traced its antiquity back into the second century, B. C. (see Encyclopædia Britannica).
According to R. W. Sindall (“The Manufacture of Paper,” 1908), the earliest reference to the manufacture of paper is to be found in the Chinese Encyclopædia, wherein it is stated that Ts’ai-Lun, a native of Kuei-yang, entered the service of the Emperor Ho-Ti in A. D. 75, and, devoting his leisure hours to study, suggested the use of silk and ink as a substitute for the bamboo tablet and stylus. Subsequently he succeeded in making paper from bark, tow, old linen and fish-nets (A. D. 105).
The art thus originated and nurtured by the Chinese remained to be transmitted to Europe by the Arabs after their conquest of Samarkand in A. D. 751.
The first centers of the industry founded in the eleventh century were in Spain, at Toledo, Valencia and Xativa. From Spain the craftsmen migrated to Sicily, Italy, France and the Netherlands.
A mill was established at Hainault, France, as early as 1190.
The oldest-known document on cotton paper is a deed of King Roger of Sicily, dated 1102. It is probable that the famous mills of Fabriano sprang from Sicilian sources; their establishment was followed in 1360 by a mill in Padua, and later in Treviso, Bologna, Palma, Milan and Venice, while the first paper-mill of Germany was that of Ulman Stromer at Mainz in 1320.
A most interesting account of this period of paper-making is given as follows by Harold Bayley in his volume, “A New Light on the Renaissance:”
“In the Dark Ages there existed in the south of France a premature civilization far in advance of that of the rest of Europe. Among the arts and industries that flourished in Provençe and the surrounding districts, paper-making was one of the foremost. Not only was this district the cradle of European paper-making, but for many centuries it remained the center of this industry.
“The freedom and prosperity of Provençe attracted large numbers of persecuted Jews and heretics, who took refuge there, and by their industry and intellect augmented the power and influence of the country. So deeply, indeed, did heresy enter into the politics of Provençe, that in 1209 the Church of Rome considered it necessary to launch a crusade against the infected district.
“During a period of twenty years the heretical inhabitants were either extirpated or driven into perpetual exile. Those who escaped carried with them a passionate affection for their destroyed fatherland, and an undying hatred against the tyranny of the Church of Rome.
“It will be shown that from the appearance of the first water-mark in 1282 these mysterious marks are, speaking broadly, the traditional emblems of Provençe.
“From the fact that fundamentally the same designs were employed all over Europe, we can deduce the inference that Provençal refugees carried their art throughout Europe, just in the same way as at a later period and under somewhat similar circumstances Huguenots carried new industries into strange countries. It will also be shown that the same code which unlocks many of the obscurities of paper-marks elucidates the problems of printers’ marks, and evidence will be brought forward that paper-makers and printers were originally in close touch with each other, held similar views, and were associated in identical aims.”
Gradually the secrets of the craft pursued their northward trail into the Netherlands. Saardam, in the Duchy of Holland, became in the eighteenth century an important center, employing, it is said, one thousand persons.
In England, which for many years imported all its paper, the first mill was erected about 1498, as is attested by an entry for that year in the privy-purse expenses of King Henry VII. Further corroboration is also to be found in the following quaint verse from Wynken de Worde’s edition of “De Proprietatibus Rerum”:
And John Tate the younger Joye mote he broke,
Which late hathe in England doo make this paper thynne
That now in our Englyshe this book is written inne.
England, however, achieved no reputation for fine papers until the establishment of the famous James Whatman, in 1760.
In the meantime, the trade had taken root in our own country when, in 1690, William Rittenhouse started the first American mill on the Wissahickon river at Roxborough, near Philadelphia, and thirty years later New England’s first mill was established by David Hinchman at Milton, Massachusetts.
The migratory characteristics of the trade were made possible by the simplicity of the machinery which was required in these times. Pictures of early mills depict a mortar and pestle in which to macerate the rags to pulp, a small vat for the paper stuff, a mold on which the paper was formed, and a screw press with which to squeeze out the water from the new-formed sheets.
Mechanical improvements came with painful slowness, and no doubt each small advance was a jealously guarded secret.
The mortar and pestle were succeeded by a machine mechanically imitating the handwork of beating the rags to pulp. This was called a stamper. The old mortar remained, but the beating was done by iron-shod hammers, which were raised and released by cams on a shaft turned by water-power. Note the stamper in the foreground of the picture of Ancient Paper-making on page [II].
The Dutch improved upon this device by the invention of the Holland beating engine about 1770, which in its essentials is practically the same thing to-day on a much larger scale.
Until the year 1798 there had been no further advance in mechanical inventions for paper-making, but let us pause a moment for a consideration of the paper itself.
The early raw material consisted solely of cotton and linen rags, and there was very little variety of output. Until 1750 all the paper was made on molds, the seats of which were made by fine parallel wires supported by heavier wires, which ran at right angles to them. Consequently all the paper was what is called “laid.” In 1750, at the instance of the famous Printer Baskerville, a mold was made with a woven-wire seat, and the first “wove” paper was used in his famous Edition of Virgil.
The characteristics of the earlier paper are well summed up by Mr. De Vinne in an article on woodcut printing which appeared in Volume XIX, No. 6, of Scribner’s Magazine, a reading of which impresses one with the limitations of ancient paper-making as contrasted with the complexity of modern paper-making, and all the study which its variations impose upon the modern printer who seeks proficiency.
“Much of the paper made in the sixteenth century,” he says, “was unsuitable for woodcuts. By far the larger portion was made of linen stock, hard and rough as to surface, laid, or showing the marks of the wires upon which the pulp had been crushed, or ragged edges, unsized and very sensitive to dampness, uneven in thickness, usually thin in the center and thick at the edges....
“The paper selected was, in most cases, too rough and hard to be forcibly impressed against the delicate lines of fine woodcuts. It was the usage everywhere to soften the paper by a careful dampening.
“When the paper was sized it was more weakened by this dampening, which really lightened the labor of the pressman. But unsized paper was only about half the price of sized, and the inducement to use it was great. The unsized paper was dampened with difficulty, it greedily sucked up water, and when fully wet became flabby and unmanageable. Under searching pressure of the woolen blanket which was always put between the paper to be printed and the printing surface, this flabby paper was forced around the finer lines of the cut, making them much thicker than was intended.”
Let those whose shallowness leads them to regard modern paper-making as an abortion of a once noble art take thought!
The transition from the old ways of paper-making to modern processes was sudden. The century which gave them to us stands out in radiance against the dark ages of heavy toil at the vat and press.
First came the mechanic whose genius caused tons to be produced in the time that pounds were made of yore. Next came the chemist who developed unthought-of raw materials to supply the ever-growing demands of “papivorous” civilization, until it has been said with so much truth that ours is the paper age.
In 1798 an obscure French workman, Louis Robert, of Essonne, announced that he “had discovered a way to make, with one man, and without fire, by means of machines, sheets of paper of a very large size, even twelve feet wide and fifty feet long.”
Times were hard on the continent, yet the Government of France, recognizing the importance of the invention, awarded Robert eight thousand francs and a patent for fifteen years. Furthermore, permission was given to carry over the small working model to England, with the hope of interesting British capital.
A successful attempt to make paper on Robert’s machine having been made in the mill of François Didot, in France, Leger Didot purchased the patent and, accompanied by an Englishman of the appropriate name of John Gamble, proceeded to England and employed Mr. Bryan Donkin to construct a machine.
Being in need of funds, they interested two wealthy London stationers, Messrs. Henry and Sealy Fourdrinier, in their proposition, and in 1804 the first successful machine was started at Frogmore. Much credit is due Mr. Donkin, by whose ingenuity the mechanical difficulties were mastered, but the Fourdriniers, for whom the machine was named, are no less entitled to the honor, as their persistent faith in the machine finally led them into bankruptcy.
After having expended sixty thousand pounds and being reduced to penury, they finally petitioned Parliament for compensation for their losses. Their labors were fortunately appreciated, and a sum of seven thousand pounds was voted them.
Surely all these early pioneers deserve a place in the hall of fame beside that of Gutenberg.
In 1812 the type of machine known as “cylinder” was invented by John Dickinson, whose name is still associated with paper-making, and so different is the machine in principle that Dickinson’s name should also be placed alongside of Robert’s as a benefactor to mankind. Neither of these machines had any means for drying paper, consequently their production was decidedly limited. This lack was supplied by the invention of driers by T. B. Crompton in 1821, who later took out a patent for slitter-knives. Suction boxes were contributed by the ingenuity of M. Canson, a Frenchman, in 1826. John Wilks, an Englishman, produced the first dandy roll in 1830, while Thomas Barratt conceived the idea of making water-marks by means of this roll.
And so, one after another, various useful additions came into existence, until we have the modern paper-machine, which differs mainly in width, length and productive power from the machines of the thirties.
In the meantime, researches for new paper-making materials had been in progress. As early as 1719, Reamur, observing how wasps made their nests from wood, threw out the hint to paper-makers, but for over a century there was no important result.
In 1727, Dr. Brueckmann, a German naturalist, published a work on stones, four copies of which are said to have been printed on paper made with asbestos.
In 1751 M. Guettard in France published his experiments and showed samples of paper made from bark, leaves and wood; while in 1765 Jacob Christian Schaffers, of Ratisbon, published a volume, a copy of which exists in the Smithsonian Library, upon the different sorts of paper he could make without rags.[A]
[A] A copy of the second edition of this work is in the Library of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Matthias Koops in 1801 printed some account of his patents for utilizing waste papers, straw and wood. This volume, printed on straw paper, with one signature on paper claimed to be made of wood, is well worth reading, and is to be found both in the Boston Public Library and in the Harvard College Library, and quite likely elsewhere.
These experiments are only interesting as forerunners. In their own time they came to naught. Not until 1840 was ground wood-pulp invented by Keller.
The production of cellulose from straw and esparto by the soda process was discovered by Routledge, an Englishman, in 1860, while the first patents for making wood soda pulp were those of Watt and Burgess in 1854.
To an American belongs the credit for the important invention of the sulphite process, Benjamin C. Tilghmann, of Manayunk, Pennsylvania, having taken out the first patents in 1866.
Although excellent fiber was obtained, the engineering difficulties proved so serious that experiments were temporarily abandoned in the United States. But the process was afterward put upon a successful commercial basis by Fry and Ekman, at Berzwik, Sweden, in 1870. Americans soon took up the problem with renewed energy, and the late Charles S. Wheelwright, of Providence, Rhode Island, after a visit to Sweden in 1882 on which he obtained the rights to the Ekman patents, introduced the process at the plant of the Richmond Paper Company, in Providence, and while a commercial success was not realized, it was an important step in the development of the industry, and not many years passed before the United States gained a leading position in the production of wood-pulps.[B]
[B] See Little & Griffin, “The Chemistry of Paper-making.”
Thus in less than ninety years, from Robert’s invention of 1798 to the early eighties, the world witnessed a complete revolution of the paper industry, which had struggled along in the same old rut for some two thousand years.
To-day the United States leads the world in the production of paper. According to the census of 1909, we produced 4,216,708 tons, valued at $232,741,049, an amount which exceeds in tonnage the combined production of England, Germany, France, Austria and Italy.
Well may we be proud of this great industry, which after all is largely the reflection of a nation’s intelligence and culture, and commercial activity.
CHAPTER TWO
RAW MATERIALS
Paper has been defined as “an aqueous deposit of cellulose,” and while this is incomplete as a catalogue of the materials composing a sheet of modern paper, it is an excellent epitome of the foundation of paper-making. Minute cellulose fibers, derivatives of various raw materials, are deposited upon a wire cloth by the passage of a volume of water in which they have been suspended. The pulpy film thus formed becomes a sheet of paper, after the expulsion and evaporation of the water which served as a medium for their deposit.
The minute fibers composing this hypothetical sheet of paper may have been isolated from one of several sources of raw materials in present commercial use, or the sheet may be composed of a mixture of different fibers, all more or less pure cellulose, in accordance with the preliminary treatment each has undergone.
The principal sources from which American paper fibers are derived are cotton and linen rags, hemp, jute, wood, straw; and waste papers.
Previous to the year 1840, the sources were limited to rags. These are almost wholly composed of pure cellulose fibers, which give up their non-cellulose concomitants with slight resistance. The more severe chemical treatments necessary for the isolation of cellulose fibers, from wood, for example, half of which is non-cellulose in structure, were unknown to early paper-makers, and only became possible after the discovery of bleaching-powder by Tennant, and the manufacture of soda by Le Blanc.
Although experiments in search of suitable substitutes for rags began to be made in the eighteenth century, it was Keller’s invention of ground wood in 1840, Routledge’s work on esparto grass and wood with a soda process in 1854, and our own fellow countryman Tilghmann’s patent of the sulphite process in 1866, from which we may date the beginnings of the now extensive use of materials other than cotton and linen wastes.
The accompanying table, taken from the United States Statistics of Manufacture for 1909, gives an illuminating indication of the rapid growth of our paper industry, and also shows the remarkable increase in the use of wood celluloses.
Note.—Statistics are taken from U.S. Reports for 1909. Subsequent reports are obtainable from the Director of the Census, Washington, D.C.
It may be observed that the percentage of increase in the use of wood-pulp of all kinds for the decade 1899–1909 was 111.6, and of rags, 50. Approximately four and one-quarter millions tons of paper were produced in 1909, for which the fibers used figured in the following proportions:
| Per Cent. | |
| Wood-pulp | 61.6 |
| Old and waste papers | 21.4 |
| Rags | 7.8 |
| Straw | 6.6 |
| Manila (rope) | 2.6 |
Of the total amount of wood fibers, the various proportions were approximately as follows:
| Per Cent. | |
| Ground wood | 47 |
| Sulphite pulp | 42 |
| Soda pulp | 11 |
A further investigation as to the species of woods used shows that, while spruce is still the most important, contributing nearly 60 per cent, other woods are being increasingly used.
Another noteworthy fact is the mighty increase in imports of wood-pulps, which jumped from 33,319 tons in 1899 to 307,122 tons in 1909, an amount equal to 12 per cent of all that is used in the United States.
| 1909 | 1904 | 1899 | |
| MATERIALS | |||
| Total cost | $165,442,341 | $111,251,478 | $70,530,236 |
| Pulpwood, cost | $33,772,475 | $20,800,871 | $9,837,516 |
| Wood pulp, purchased: | |||
| Tons | 1,241,914 | 877,702 | 644,006 |
| Cost | $43,861,357 | $27,633,164 | $18,369,464 |
| Ground— | |||
| Tons | 452,849 | 317,286 | 261,962 |
| Cost | $9,487,508 | $5,754,259 | $4,361,211 |
| Soda fiber— | |||
| Tons | 154,626 | 120,978 | 94,042 |
| Cost | $6,862,864 | $5,047,105 | $3,430,809 |
| Sulphite fiber— | |||
| Tons | 626,029 | 433,160 | 273,194 |
| Cost | $27,184,726 | $16,567,122 | $10,112,189 |
| Other chemical fiber— | |||
| Tons | 8,410 | 6,278 | 14,808 |
| Cost | $326,259 | $264,678 | $465,255 |
| Rags, including cotton, flax waste and sweepings: | |||
| Tons | 357,470 | 294,552 | 234,514 |
| Cost | $10,721,559 | $8,864,607 | $6,595,427 |
| Old and waste paper: | |||
| Tons | 983,882 | 588,543 | 356,193 |
| Cost | $13,691,120 | $7,430,335 | $4,869,409 |
| Manila stock, including jute bagging, rope, waste, threads, etc.: | |||
| Tons | 117,080 | 107,029 | 99,301 |
| Cost | $3,560,033 | $2,502,332 | $2,437,256 |
| Straw: | |||
| Tons | 303,137 | 304,585 | 367,305 |
| Cost | $1,460,282 | $1,502,886 | $1,395,659 |
| All other materials cost | $58,375,515 | $42,517,283 | $27,025,505 |
| PRODUCTS | |||
| Total value | $267,656,964 | $188,715,189 | $127,326,162 |
| Newspaper: | |||
| In rolls for printing— | |||
| Tons | 1,091,017 | 840,802 | 454,572 |
| Value | $42,807,064 | $32,783,308 | $15,754,992 |
| In sheets for printing— | |||
| Tons | 84,537 | 72,020 | 114,640 |
| Value | $4,048,496 | $3,143,152 | $4,336,882 |
| Book paper: | |||
| Book— | |||
| Tons | 575,616 | 434,500 | 282,093 |
| Value | $42,846,674 | $31,156,728 | $19,466,804 |
| Coated— | |||
| Tons | 95,213 | ([2]) | ([2]) |
| Value | $9,413,961 | ([2]) | ([2]) |
| Plate, lithograph, map, woodcut, etc.— | |||
| Tons | 6,498 | 19,837 | 22,366 |
| Value | $555,352 | $1,458,343 | $2,018,958 |
| Cover— | |||
| Tons | 17,578 | 22,150 | 18,749 |
| Value | $1,982,853 | $2,023,986 | $1,665,376 |
| Cardboard, bristol board, card middles, tickets, etc.— | |||
| Tons | 51,449 | 39,060 | 28,494 |
| Value | $3,352,151 | $2,764,444 | $1,719,813 |
| Fine paper: | |||
| Writing— | |||
| Tons | 169,125 | 131,934 | 90,204 |
| Value | $24,966,102 | $19,321,045 | $12,222,870 |
| All other— | |||
| Tons | 29,088 | 14,898 | 22,503 |
| Value | $4,110,536 | $2,928,125 | $3,673,104 |
| Wrapping paper: | |||
| Manila (rope, jute, tag, etc.)— | |||
| Tons | 73,731 | 86,826 | 89,419 |
| Value | $6,989,436 | $6,136,080 | $5,929,764 |
| Heavy (mill wrappers, etc.)— | |||
| Tons | 108,561 | 96,992 | 82,875 |
| Value | $4,380,794 | $4,035,588 | $4,143,240 |
| Straw— | |||
| Tons | 32,988 | 54,232 | 91,794 |
| Value | $870,419 | $1,389,348 | $2,027,518 |
| Bogus or wood manila, all grades— | |||
| Tons | 367,932 | 228,371 | 203,826 |
| Value | $19,777,707 | $10,099,772 | $9,148,677 |
| All other— | |||
| Tons | 179,855 | 177,870 | 67,338 |
| Value | $10,202,035 | $8,774,804 | $3,293,174 |
| Boards: | |||
| Wood pulp— | |||
| Tons | 71,036 | 60,863 | 44,187 |
| Value | $2,639,496 | $2,347,250 | $1,406,130 |
| Straw— | |||
| Tons | 171,789 | 167,278 | 157,534 |
| Value | $3,750,851 | $4,367,560 | $3,187,342 |
| News— | |||
| Tons | 74,606 | 38,560 | 32,119 |
| Value | $2,215,469 | $1,174,216 | $930,531 |
| All other— | |||
| Tons | 514,208 | 253,950 | 131,777 |
| Value | $17,539,768 | $9,070,531 | $4,829,316 |
| Other paper products: | |||
| Tissues— | |||
| Tons | 77,745 | 43,925 | 28,406 |
| Value | $8,553,654 | $5,056,438 | $3,486,652 |
| Blotting— | |||
| Tons | 9,577 | 8,702 | 4,351 |
| Value | $1,186,180 | $1,046,790 | $580,750 |
| Building roofing, asbestos, and sheathing— | |||
| Tons | 225,824 | 145,024 | 96,915 |
| Value | $9,251,368 | $4,845,628 | $3,025,967 |
| Hanging— | |||
| Tons | 92,158 | 62,606 | 54,330 |
| Value | $4,431,514 | $3,013,464 | $2,265,345 |
| Miscellaneous— | |||
| Tons | 96,577 | 106,296 | 49,101 |
| Value | $6,869,169 | $6,729,820 | $2,795,841 |
| Wood pulp made for sale or for consumption in mills other than where produced: | |||
| Ground— | |||
| Tons | 310,747 | 273,400 | 280,052 |
| Value | $5,649,466 | $4,323,495 | $4,433,699 |
| Soda fiber— | |||
| Tons | 155,844 | 130,366 | 99,014 |
| Value | $6,572,152 | $5,159,615 | $3,612,602 |
| Sulphite fiber— | |||
| Tons | 444,255 | 376,940 | 271,585 |
| Value | $17,955,748 | $13,661,464 | $10,451,400 |
| All other products, value | $4,738,549 | $1,924,195 | $919,415 |
| WOOD PULP | |||
| Quantity produced (including that used in mills where manufactured), total tons | 2,495,523 | 1,921,768 | 179,535 |
| Ground, tons | 1,179,266 | 968,976 | 586,374 |
| Soda fiber, tons | 298,626 | 196,770 | 177,124 |
| Sulphite fiber, tons | 1,017,631 | 756,022 | 416,037 |
| EQUIPMENT | |||
| Paper machines: | |||
| Total number | 1,480 | 1,369 | 1,232 |
| Capacity, yearly, tons | 5,293,397 | 3,857,903 | 2,782,219 |
| Fourdrinier— | |||
| Number | 804 | 752 | 663 |
| Capacity per 24 hours, tons | 10,508 | 8,569 | ([3]) |
| Cylinder— | |||
| Number | 676 | 617 | 569 |
| Capacity per 24 hours, tons | 6,316 | 4,740 | ([3]) |
| Pulp: | |||
| Grinders, number | 1,435 | 1,362 | 1,168 |
| Digesters, total number | 542 | 517 | 426 |
| Sulphite fiber, number | 348 | 309 | ([2]) |
| Soda fiber, number | 194 | 208 | ([2]) |
| Capacity, yearly, tons of pulp | 3,405,621 | 2,644,753 | 1,536,431 |
| Ground, tons | 1,809,685 | 1,515,088 | ([2]) |
| Sulphite, tons | 1,250,983 | 885,092 | ([2]) |
| Soda, tons | 344,953 | 244,573 | ([2]) |
Table from United States Statistics of Manufacture for 1909, Showing Rapid Growth of Paper Industry.
The comparative statement follows:
| Kind of Wood. | Quantity, in Cords, of Pulpwood Consumed | |||
| 1911 | 1910 | 1909 | 1908 | |
| Total | 4,328,052 | 4,094,306 | 4,001,607 | 3,346,953 |
| Spruce, domestic | 1,612,355 | 1,473,542 | 1,653,249 | 1,487,356 |
| Spruce, imported | 903,375 | 902,407 | 768,332 | 672,483 |
| Hemlock | 616,663 | 610,478 | 559,657 | 569,173 |
| Poplar, domestic | 333,929 | 315,717 | 302,876 | 279,564 |
| Poplar, imported | 34,295 | 45,359 | 25,622 | 22,653 |
| Balsam fir | 191,779 | 132,362 | ([1]) 95,366 | ([1]) 45,309 |
| Pine | 124,019 | 105,882 | 90,885 | 84,189 |
| Beech | 44,320 | 44,265 | 31,390 | ([2]) |
| Maple | 36,979 | 42,621 | ([2]) | ([2]) |
| White fir | 36,493 | 30,845 | 37,176 | ([2]) |
| Cottonwood | 25,043 | 31,099 | 36,898 | 45,679 |
| All other | 88,268 | 97,092 | 151,179 | 140,547 |
| Slabwood, etc, | 280,534 | 262,637 | 248,977 | ([3]) |
[1] Balsam.
[2] Included in “All other.”
[3] Included with other wood by species.
The high point of importation of chemical wood-pulp was reached in 1914, when approximately 3,600,000 tons came in from Europe and 92,000 from Canada. In January 1916 owing to the war, imports for the month from Europe dropped from an average of 30,694 tons to 12,985 tons, while Canadian pulp increased from an average of 7,654 to an actual importation for the month of 28,833 tons.
Although the use of wood now so heavily overshadows that of rags that it almost seems as though the latter were being slowly abandoned, this is of course only relatively true, their consumption being actually greater than ever. The mere cost of the rags in 1909 was slightly in excess of the total value of all paper products recorded in the United States Census for 1850, a circumstance which leads us to wonder at the timely discoveries which made wood cellulose available.
It is evident, however, that to some extent paper history is already beginning to repeat itself. The visible supplies of wood are markedly less, as evidenced by their increasing costs, and we are forced to a much more active attitude than one of mere speculation as to what new sources may become available to supply our demand for paper, which has lately been increasing in the value of the annual products by almost 11 per cent.
In the decade from 1899 to 1909 shown by government statistics, book-paper advanced 104 per cent in quantity, but 120 per cent in value; writing-paper, 88 per cent in quantity, but 104 per cent in value; wrapping-paper, 43 per cent in quantity and 72 per cent in value. It is true that rising wages account in part for these changes in value, but above and behind all this stands the inexorable law of supply and demand.
The discrepancies between the percentages of increase in production and value serve to emphasize the increasing difficulties in obtaining raw material. That sprucewood is being consumed in this country faster than it is grown, is indicated by the recourse to less-favored species, as well as by the steadily increasing imports, both of pulpwood and wood-pulp. This situation emphasises the great importance of conserving waste papers, in spite of the fact that 21.4 per cent of the fiber used in 1909 in the United States were derived from waste papers. Vast quantities may readily be saved which now go to waste, as was definitely proved by England’s experience during the war, when the imports of pulp were shut off and immediate substitutes had to be found.
This is a matter demanding the attention not only of printers, but of municipalities and nations. It offers an immediate source of relief from the drain on our forests and is hence a most practical form of conservation. Furthermore as demonstrated by the city of Cleveland the revenue from collecting waste papers assists substantially in offsetting the cost of the collection of municipal wastes.
CHAPTER THREE
FUTURE FIBER POSSIBILITIES
The United States Department of Agriculture, in August, 1911, issued a treatise on “Crop Plants for Paper-Making,” in which the author, Charles J. Brand, concluded: “There is some skepticism as to the failure of pulpwood supplies, but this is certainly poorly grounded.
“During 1909 the quantity of spruce used was less by 40,000 cords than in 1907, but the cost was $2,000,000 greater. Present efforts in connection with reforestation of spruce and poplar are not extensive enough to produce any noteworthy effect upon the available supply within a generation.
“At the present rate of increase in consumption, it will require between 15,000,000 and 20,000,000 cords of wood for pulp and paper fiber in 1950. It will certainly be impossible to furnish this from the forests. If every acre cut over each year were reforested, it would be twenty-five or thirty years, or possibly even longer, before the trees could obtain sufficient size to warrant cutting. The forests can not recover from overdrafts continually being made on them. Hence it is only a question of a limited number of years until paper fiber must be grown as a crop, as are practically all other plants materials entering into the economy of man. While the conservation of only a few of the by-products of the farms yielding paper fiber can be accomplished profitably in the near future, and only a few of the plants promise to be money-makers immediately if grown solely for paper production, it seems very probable that raw products, now scarcely considered, may in a few years play an important part in the paper and pulp industry.”
Two lines of research are now being followed by the United States Government. The Forest Products Laboratory of the Forest Service is investigating a large number of coniferous and broad-leaved trees, which have not hitherto been used in paper-making. These sources are likely to be the first which manufactures will turn to, as the processes involved are such as they are already familiar with, and the apparatus with which they are supplied is suitable.
The second line of research is being followed by the Bureau of Plant Industry, assisted by the Bureau of Chemistry, and is concerned with plants other than trees. Private investigations are also being carried on.
The following five requirements are given by the Bureau of Plant Industry, Circular No. 82, as to the availability of crop plants:
1. They must exist in large quantities.
2. They must be available throughout the year.
3. They must yield a relatively high percentage of cellulose.
4. The fiber cells or cellulose, must be of a highly resistant character, and must have length, strength and good felting qualities.
5. And must be of such a nature that the cost of obtaining the fiber will not be prohibitive.
Fibers complying with these conditions will come into commercial use whenever the increasing costs of wood-pulp reach a figure approximately equal to cost of producing cellulose from any other available source. Up to the present time this has not been brought about, but the steady increase in the cost of wood-pulp is approaching a level with which crop pulps may soon compete.
A synopsis of the fibers described in the circular referred to is given below.
Corn Stalks.—On account of the enormous supply, corn stalks were first taken up by the Bureau. The yield of stalks per acre is conservatively estimated at one ton, and the annual product is placed as at least 100,000,000 tons, of which not over one-third is believed to be utilized by the farmers. Three products have been derived from the stalks:
1. Long fiber suitable for paper-making, composing 12 to 18 per cent of the bone-dry weight.
2. Pith pulp, suitable for paper specialties, equal to 15 to 30 per cent bone-dry weight.
3. Corn-stalk extract, obtained by lixivaition, and of value as a cattle food, a ton of stalks yielding 200 to 300 pounds of soluble solids.
It would require an immense area to supply a mill of moderate capacity, and the question of whether the derivatives of corn stalks could be sufficiently valuable to overcome the costs of harvesting and hauling, has never been answered by any experiment on a commercial scale.
Broom Corn.—Broom corn contains a higher percentage of fibers than corn stalks. In laboratory and semi-commercial tests, fiber yields of 32 to 40 per cent have been obtained with a comparatively low consumption of chemicals. The Bureau claims that results “indicate that this material is suitable for immediate use in paper-making on the basis of quality of fiber produced and yield of fiber secured.” It is estimated that 450,000 tons is the approximate annual crop. Food extracts may also be obtained as well as the fiber.
Rice Straw.—The Chinese and Japanese have for years used rice straw in paper-making, and it is regarded by the Government investigators as one of the most promising crop materials, the annual crop approximating 1,500,000 tons.
Cotton-hull Fiber.—The lint adhering to the cotton hulls, after the long fiber has been removed, may be conserved as a by-product of the cotton-seed oil industry, and this fiber may be reckoned among the possibilities. Cotton stalks also have been the subject of experiment. The yield per acre, however, is not estimated at above 1,000 pounds, so that immense tracts would have to be covered in accumulating any considerable supply, and after the cotton crop has all been picked, negro help is very difficult to obtain.
Bagasse.—Bagasse, or the refuse sugar-cane, is given rather scant consideration in the Government report. Its individual fibers are short, and the percentage of pith is large. Several small plants have had discouraging experiences in attempting to put this material to commercial use. Nevertheless, recent experiments carried on in the interests of the United Fruit Company, under the Simmons patents, point to a promising result. Under this process the cane is not treated in the usual manner of crushing for the extraction of sugar. Instead, it is shredded, dried, and the pith separated from the fiber. The product is then shipped in bales to refineries, where the sugar is extracted.
This method is said to achieve an almost complete extraction of the sugar, whereas the old method of crushing loses about twenty per cent of the sugar and injures the fibers. The Simmons process does no damage to the fibers, which though short, possess excellent felting properties. The pith, being cellulose of a non-fibrous structure, has a value for other industries than paper-making.
Flax Straw.—There is an abundant annual crop of flax straw. The average yield per acre is about one ton, and the total annual production about 3,000,000 tons. In the opinion of the Government investigators, it is a “most promising” material.
There are practical pulp men who deprecate the findings of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Martin L. Griffin, chemist to the Oxford Paper Company, of Rumford, Maine, in an article appearing in Volume XI, No. 2, of Paper for March, 1913, makes the following statement:
“There is a popular view, which has been erroneously fostered by the Government, that there are exhaustless resources of waste fiber in our country, suitable for paper, and a substitute for wood. I once thought so myself. It is very natural to think that the discarded stalks of sugar-cane, corn, cotton, rice, flax, and other plants, which mature annually, would prove an abundant substitute for wood.
“These have all been exploited for twenty-five years to my personal knowledge, with no visible results. A plant has one function to perform—it is to flower, fruit or make stalk. Its other functions are subordinate and produce only by-products. The stalk is the main product of the forest tree. No other fibrous material is so rich in cellulose; no other which lends itself so easily to paper-mill processing. It has no seasons of harvest; does not require curing; does not easily decay; requires no packing, and may be stored best in the rivers. All these waste stalks are pithy, bulky and perishable, and would require much labor to gather, pack and ship. These are but a few reasons why we may expect no practical results from this source. Wood fills a place no other material can. There is no substitute for it.”
In this argument Mr. Griffin ignores the fact that esparto grass is a crop which gives a yield of cellulose practically equal to wood, and of equal, if not superior, quality. Although it is not available for American mills, it is worth citing in contradiction to the flat statement that “there is no substitute for wood.” Furthermore, there is no evidence that the American crops furnish an inferior fiber, though the cellulose yield is less. It is quite possible that the low cellulose yield may be compensated for through the production of by-products along with the paper-making material. Hitherto, however, this low yield and other considerations, as expense of harvesting and packing, have been the factors which have retarded their development, but the increasing scarcity of wood, and its consequent advance in cost, is hastening the day when crop plants will become not only valuable, but necessary adjuncts to the paper industry.
RAGROOM, PIONEER MILL, CRANE & CO.
The two girls in the foreground are sorting shirt cuttings. Those beyond are cutting them into suitable sizes preparatory to boiling.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE CONSTITUENTS OF PAPER
The technique of paper-making varies greatly in accordance with each particular product. In fact, so wide is the range of paper products, that the different branches of paper-making severally require knowledge so special that an artisan in one branch might be as useless in another as if it were an entirely different industry. The coating of paper, for example, is an absolutely different trade from that of paper-making.
This remarkable diversification is entirely the development of a century, and principally the evolution of the past forty years consequent to the discovery of wood cellulose. To-day the products of the paper-mill are no longer confined to the use of pen or press. We ride on car wheels made in part of paper; sit in paper-seated chairs; drink from paper cups; eat from paper plates; use paper napkins; wrap our food in parchment paper; sheath our buildings with paper without, and wall paper or wall board within; keep out the rain with roofing paper if we please. Our shoes, even, contain a paper part, said to be more durable than leather. Millions of packages, mailing-tubes and boxes are made of paper. It is even spun into a kind of yarn and woven into imitation cloth, while a surprising imitation silk necktie is produced from wood-pulp. In electrical engineering, paper as an insulator is almost indispensable.
All these paper commodities, and more, too numerous to mention, require special machinery and treatment. To give an exhaustive treatment of the subject would require volumes, but for the purpose of this book we are principally concerned with printing and writing papers.
BOILER ROOM, CRANE & CO.
The contents of the rotary boiler have been emptied upon the floor. The next step is to wash and bleach.
Broadly speaking, there are five steps in the manufacture of paper:
1. The isolation of the paper-making fiber from the raw material.
2. The conversion of the fiber into pulp.
3. The beating and refining of the fiber, and the admixture of non-fibrous components.
4. The manufacture of the mixture into paper.
5. The finishing of the paper and its preparation for the market.
Cotton and linen rags, hemp, woods and plants each require their peculiar treatments. Cotton and linen, being the original paper-making fibers, will be considered first.