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.