CHAPTER II.
On the Materials employed in the Formation of Paper—Method of Preparation—Processes of Comminution, Washing, Bleaching, etc. described—Paper-making by Hand—Paper-making Machine—Sizing Apparatus—Cutting-Machine, etc. explained—General Observations on what are termed Water-Marks—Manner of effecting the same—Importance frequently attached to them—Ireland’s Fabrication of the Shakspeare MSS.—Difficulty in procuring suitable Paper for the purpose—On the perfection to which Water-Marks have now attained, especially with reference to the production of Light and Shade, as seen in the New Bank Note, etc., etc.
On the Materials employed in the Formation of Paper—Method of Preparation—Processes of Comminution, Washing, Bleaching, etc. described—Paper-making by Hand—Paper-making Machine—Sizing Apparatus—Cutting-Machine, etc. explained—General Observations on what are termed Water-Marks—Manner of effecting the same—Importance frequently attached to them—Ireland’s Fabrication of the Shakspeare MSS.—Difficulty in procuring suitable Paper for the purpose—On the perfection to which Water-Marks have now attained, especially with reference to the production of Light and Shade, as seen in the New Bank Note, etc., etc.
In the present chapter it will be my object to take as general a glance at the principles of paper making, as in the former it was my endeavour to treat its history.
First then, we have to notice the nature of some of the materials employed. And although everybody is supposed to know that paper is made from rags, it may, perhaps, be excuseable to consider of what the rags themselves originally were composed. Unquestionably, the simplest definition one could give would be, fragments of worn-out clothing; and by clothing, no doubt, we allsufficiently understand the dress, vesture or garments usually adopted by man. Still we have to ask ourselves of what are these articles of clothing composed? It has been somewhat shrewdly remarked in every instance, of a something of which man has previously denuded something else. At one time (as we all know) he cunningly entraps innumerable individuals, of the fox, weazel, and squirrel tribes, to strip them of their warm and valuable fur. At another, he hatches and feeds legions of caterpillars, that he may rob them of the defensive padding which they spin to protect their helplessness while passing through the chrysalis state. Sometimes he pastures the sheep for its skin and its wool, occasionally setting so little store by the carcase as to melt it into tallow, or burn it as fuel. And even mother earth herself is treated with no greater forbearance, by alternately feeding her up with manure, and teazing and tormenting her surface with tillage, she is coaxed and compelled to send forth a living vegetable down, which is shorn, plucked and plundered from her bosom, in the shape of cotton, flax, and hemp.
And all those silks, woollens, flax, hemp, and cotton, in all their varied forms, whether as cambric, lace, linen, holland, fustian, corduroy, bagging, canvas, or even as cables, are or can beused in the manufacture of paper of one kind or another. Still, when we speak of rags, as of necessity, they accumulate, and are gathered up by those who make it their business to collect them, they are very far from answering the purposes of paper making. Rags, to the paper-maker, are almost as various in point of quality or distinction, as the materials which are sought after through the influence of fashion. Thus, the paper maker, in buying rags, requires to know exactly of what the bulk is composed. If he is a manufacturer of white papers, no matter whether intended for writing or printing, silk or woollen rags, would be found altogether useless, inasmuch, as is well known, the bleach will fail to act upon any animal substance whatever. And although he may purchase even a mixture in proper proportions adapted for the quality he is in the habit of supplying, it is as essential in the processes of preparation, that they shall be previously separated. Cotton in its raw state, as may be readily conceived, requires far less preparation than a strong hempen fabric, and thus, to meet the requirements of the paper-maker, we have rags classed under different denominations, as for instance, besidesFinesandSeconds, we haveThirds, which are composed of fustians, corduroy, and similar fabrics;StampsorPrints(as they are termed by the paper-maker), which are coloured rags, and also innumerable foreign rags, distinguished by certain well-known marks, indicating their various peculiarities. I might mention, however, that although by far the greater portion of the materials employed are such as we have already alluded to, it is not from their possessing any exclusive suitableness—since various fibrous vegetable substances have frequently been used, and are indeed still successfully employed—but rather on account of their comparatively trifling value, arising from the limited use to which they are otherwise applicable. The agitation of late, which was partly-occasioned by the war, and partly by a sudden and unprecedented demand, that there was a great scarcity of fibrous materials fit to be used in paper making, coupled with an advance in the price of at least twenty per cent., and still further heightened by the offer of £1,000 to any one who could procure an advantageous substitute, has necessarily called forth many suggestions, but, to quote the words of Dr. Forbes Royle, “The generality of modern experimentalists seem to be wholly unacquainted with the labours of their predecessors, many of them commencing improvement by repeating experiments which had already been made, and announcing resultsas new, which had long previously been ascertained.” The latest suggestion of the kind, and indeed the only one worth referring to, is that which Lord Derby recently brought forward in the House of Lords. He first referred to a Bill before the other House of Parliament for incorporating a company established for the manufacture of paper fromflax straw. Of course there is little new in this. The rags or materials already employed, are composed, as everybody knows, to a very great extent, of the fibre of flax, and besides, possess this great advantage, that they have been repeatedly prepared for paper making by the numerous alkaline washings which they necessarily receive during their period of use, which, if left to the paper-maker, as would be the case with flax in its raw state, to be done all at once, (and it mustbedone before the fibre is fit for use,) would add so fearfully to the expense, as to render its adoption for printing or writing paper altogether unadvisable. However, Lord Derby proceeds—“It was proposed to employ the fibres of various plants indigenous to the West Indies, such as the plantain, the aloe, and others, which grow in vast abundance, and which were utterly valueless at the present moment. He need not say, that an immense abundance of this material could beproduced; and he wished only to mention, that on one estate in Demerara no less than 160,000 plantain trees were cut down every year, the trees going to waste, as they were cut down only for the purpose of getting at the fruit; and this wasted material contained 250 tons of fibre, capable of being manufactured into paper.”
Now, admittingallthis, which Lord Derby isreportedto have said, I can again assert that there is nothing whatever new in it. I have specimens of paper from the same materials, which were made several years ago. The cost, however, of reducing the plantain into fibre, coupled with the expense of freight, was found, and will still be found, to bring up the price so much, as to effectually exclude it from the manufacture of paper; for this simple reason, that rags, of necessity, must continue accumulating, and before it will answer the purpose of the paper-maker to employ new material—which is not so well adapted for his purpose as the old—he must be enabled to purchase it for considerably less than it would be worth in the manufacture of textile fabrics.
All that can be said as to the suitableness of fibre in general may be summed up in very few words; any vegetable fibre having a corrugated edge, which will enable it to cohere in the mass, is fit for the purposes of paper making; theextent to which such might be applied can solely be determined by the question of cost in its production; and hitherto, everything proposed has been excluded, as in the case of theplantainorbanana, either by the cost of freight, the cost of preparation, or the expenses combined.
To convey some idea of the number of substances which have been really tried; in the Library of the British Museum may be seen a book, printed in low Dutch, containing upwards of sixty specimens of paper, made of different materials, the result of one man’s experimentsalone, so far back as the year 1772. In fact, almost every species of tough fibrous vegetable, and even animal substance, has at one time or another been employed: even the roots of trees, their bark, the bine of hops, the tendrils of the vine, the stalks of the nettle, the common thistle, the stem of the hollyhock, the sugar cane, cabbage stalks, wood shavings, saw dust, hay, straw, willow, and the like.
At the present time straw is occasionally used, sometimes in connection with other materials, such as linen or cotton rags, and even with considerable advantage, providing the processes of preparation are thoroughly understood. Where such is not the case, and the silica contained in the straw has not been destroyed (bymeans of a strong alkali), the paper will invariably be found more or less brittle; in some cases so much so as to be hardly applicable to any purpose whatever of practical utility. Specimens, numbered 18 and 19, affixed at the end of this work, are manufactured from as much as 80 per cent.strawand 20 per cent.rope, and certainly, as regards toughness, are excellent. No. 20, is manufactured almost entirely fromwheat straw, which is first bleached to the utmost, and then blued by an admixture of ultramarine. The waste, however, which the straw undergoes, in addition to a most expensive process of preparation, necessarily precludes its adoption to any great extent.
An ingenious invention has recently been patented for converting large blocks of wood into paper pulp; but to what extent it is likely to receive favourable attention at the hands of paper makers generally, is quite impossible to say. The invention is very simple, consisting merely of a wooden box enclosing a grindstone, which has a roughened surface, and against which the blocks of wood are kept in close contact by a lever, a small stream of water being allowed to flow upon the stone as it turns, in order to free it of the pulp, and to assist in carrying it off through an outlet at the bottom. Of course, itis not expected, that the pulp thus produced should be employed for any but the coarser kinds of paper, in the manufacture of which there has hitherto been found the greatest scarcity of material. For all writing and printing purposes, which manifestly are the most important, nothing has yet been discovered, to lessen the value of rags, neither is it at all probable that there will be; indeed, the value of paper for some time past has considerably declined, while during the most exciting period of last year, the scarcity so much talked of, was, in fact, comparatively trifling.
The annual consumption of rags in this country alone far exceeds 120,000 tons, three-fourths of which are imported, Italy and Germany furnishing the principal supplies. That the condition in which the rags are imported furnishes any criterion of the national habits of the people from which they came, as has been frequently asserted, however plausible in theory, must, at least, be received with caution. But that is by no means important. The specimen of printing paper, No. 21, was manufactured from a selection far from cleanly; in fact, there was not a white rag employed, while even fustians, corduroy, and coloured rags formed a considerable proportion.
In considering the various processes or stagesof the manufacture of paper, we have first to notice that, of carefully sorting and cutting the rags into small pieces, which is done by women; each woman standing at a table frame, the upper surface of which consists of very coarse wire-cloth; a large knife being fixed in the centre of the table, nearly in a vertical position. The woman stands so as to have the back of the blade opposite to her, while at her right hand on the floor is a large wooden box, with several divisions. Her business consists in examining the rags, opening the seams, removing dirt, pins, needles, and buttons, of endless variety, which would be liable to injure the machinery, or damage the quality of the paper. She then cuts the rags into small pieces, not exceeding four inches square, by drawing them sharply across the edge of the knife, at the same time keeping each quality distinct, in the several divisions of the box placed on her right hand. During this process, much of the dirt, sand, and so forth, passes through the wire-cloth into a drawer underneath, which is occasionally cleaned out. After this, the rags are removed to what is called thedusting machine, which is a large cylindrical frame, covered with similar coarse iron wire-cloth, and having a powerful revolving shaft extending through the interior,with a number of spokes fixed transversely, nearly long enough to touch the cage. By means of this contrivance, the machine being fixed upon an incline of some inches to the foot, the rags, which are put in at the top, have any remaining particles of dust that may still adhere to them effectually beaten out, by the time they reach the bottom.
Some objection, however, may be made to this method, which has a tendency to blow away at the same time a considerable portion of fibre set loose in cutting the rags, along with the dust. To avoid this waste, an invention has recently been brought out by a son of the late eminent Mr. Fourdrinier, which he terms his “Patent Accelerator.” The process adopted is simply that of placing the rags in their dirty state in water, and employing that as a medium for carrying off the dust and dirt, in preference to air. The invention has not yet been very extensively used, and consequently I am not in a position to say much as to its merits.
The rags being thus far cleansed, have next to be boiled inan alkaline lyeor solution, made more or less strong, as the rags are more or less coloured, the object being to get rid of the remaining dirt and some of the colouring matter. The proportion is from four to tenpounds of carbonate of soda with one-third of quick lime to the hundred weight of material. In this the rags are boiled for several hours, according to their quality.
The mode now adopted as the most recent improvement is that of placing the rags in large cylinders, which are constantly, though slowly, revolving, thus causing the rags to be as frequently turned over, and into which a jet of steam is cast with a pressure of something near 30 lbs. to the square inch.
Rag engineRAG ENGINE
RAG ENGINE
After this process of cleansing, the rags are considered in a fit state to be torn or macerated until they become reduced to pulp, which was accomplished some five and thirty or forty years since, by setting them to heat and ferment for many days in close vessels, whereby in reality they underwent a species of putrefaction. Another method subsequently employed was that of beating them by means of stamping rods, shod with iron, working in strong oak or stone mortars, and moved by water-wheel machinery. So rude and ineffective however was this apparatus, that no fewer than forty pairs of stamps were required to operate a night and a day in preparing one hundred weight of material. At the present time, the average weekly consumption of rags, at many paper mills, exceeds even 30 tons.The cylinder or engine mode of comminuting rags into paper pulp appears to have been invented in Holland, about the middle of the last century, but received very little attention here for some years afterwards. The accompanying drawing will serve to convey some idea of the wonderful rapidity with which the work is at present accomplished. No less thantwelve tonsper week can now be prepared by means of this simple contrivance. The horizontal section represents an oblong cistern, of cast iron, or wood lined with lead, into which the rags, with a sufficient quantity of water, are received. It is divided by a partition, as shown (A), to regulate the course of the stuff. The spindle upon which each cylinder (C) moves, extending across the engine, and being put in motion by a band wheel or pinion at the point (B). One cylinder, is made to traverse at a much swifter rate than the other, in order that the rags may be the more effectually triturated. The cylinders (C), as shown in the vertical section, are furnished with numerous cutters, running parallel to the axis, and again beneath them similar cutters are mounted (D) somewhat obliquely, against which, when in motion, the rags are drawn by the rapid rotation of the cylinders, and thus reduced to the smallest filaments requisite, sometimesnot exceeding the sixteenth of an inch in length; the distance between the fixed and moveable blades being capable of any adjustment, simply by elevating or depressing the bearings upon which the necks of the shaft are supported. When in operation, it is of course necessary to enclose the cylinders in a case, as shown (E), otherwise a large proportion of the rags would inevitably be thrown out of the engine. I should mention, that the rags are first worked coarsely, with a stream of water running through the engine, which tends effectually to wash them, as also to open their fibres; and in order to carry off the dirty water, what is termed awashing drumis usually employed, consisting simply of a framework covered with very fine wire-gauze, in the interior of which, connected with the shaft or spindle, which is hollow, are two suction tubes, and by this means, on the principle of a syphon, the dirty water constantly flows away through a larger tube running down outside, which is connected with that in the centre, without carrying away any of the fibre.
After this, the mass is placed in another engine, where, if necessary, it is bleached by an admixture of chloride of lime, which is retained in the engine until its action becomes apparent. The pulp is then let down into large slate cisternsto steep, prior to being reduced to a suitable consistency by the beating engine, as already described. The rolls or cylinders, however, of the beating engine are always made to rotate much faster than when employed in washing or bleaching, revolving probably from 120 to 150 times per minute, and thus, supposing the cylinders to contain 48 teeth each, passing over eight others, as shown in the drawing, effecting no fewer than 103,680 cuts in that short period. From this the great advantage of the modern engine over the old fashioned mortar machine, in turning out a quantity of paper pulp, will be at once apparent.
The operation of paper making, after the rags or materials to be used have been thus reduced and prepared, may be divided into two kinds; that which is carried on in hand-mills, where the formation of the sheet is performed by manual labour; and that which is carried on in machine-mills, where the paper is produced upon the machine wire-cloth in one continuous web.
With respect to hand-made papers, the sheet is formed by the vatman’s dipping a mould of fine wire-cloth fixed upon a wooden frame, and having what is termed a deckle, to determine the size of the sheet, into a quantity of pulp which has been previously mixed with water to a requisite consistency;when after gently shaking it to and fro in a horizontal position, the fibres become so connected as to form one uniform fabric, while the water drains away. The deckle is then removed from the mould, and the sheet of paper turned off upon a felt, in a pile with many others, a felt intervening between each sheet, and the whole subjected to great pressure, in order to displace the superfluous water; when after being dried and pressed without the felts, the sheets are dipped into a tub of fine animal size, the superfluity of which is again forced out by another pressing; each sheet after being finally dried, undergoing careful examination before it is finished.
Specimens 2, 3, 4, and 5, inserted at the end of the work, serve to illustrate the different stages of the manufacture. First, we have what is termed thewater-leaf, (2) or the condition in which the paper appears after being pressed between the felts—this is the first stage. Next, a sheet from the bulk, as pressed without the felts (3) which still remains in a state unfit for writing on, not having been sized—and is in fact but white blotting paper. Then we have a sheet after sizing, which completely changes its character (4); and lastly one with the beautiful surface, which most of us, in this steel-pen ageare capable of appreciating (5). This is produced by placing the sheets separately between very smooth copper plates, and then passing them through rollers, which impart a pressure of from 20 to 30 tons. After only three or four such pressures, it is simply called rolled (5), but if passed through more frequently, the paper acquires a higher surface, and is then called glazed (6).
The paper-making machine (see frontispiece) is constructed to imitate in a great measure, and in some respects to improve, the processes used in making paper by hand; but its chief advantages are the increased rapidity with which it accomplishes the manufacture, and the means of producing paper of any size which can practically be required.
By the agency of this admirable contrivance, which is so adjusted as to produce the intended effect with unerring precision, a process, which in the old system of paper-making, occupied about threeweeks, is now performed in as manyminutes.
The paper-making machine is supplied from the “chest” or reservoir (F), into which the pulp descends from the beating engine, when sufficiently ground; being kept in constant motion, as it descends, by means of the agitator (G), in order that it shall not settle. From this reservoir the pulp is again conveyed by a pipeinto what is technically termed the “lifter” (H), which consists of a cast-iron wheel, enclosed in a wooden case, and having a number of buckets affixed to its circumference. The trough (I), placed immediately beneath the endless wire (K) is for the purpose of receiving the water which drains away from the pulp during the process of manufacture, and as this water is frequently impregnated with certain chemicals used in connexion with paper-making, it is returned again by a conducting spout, into the “lifter,” where, by the rotation of the buckets, both the pulp and back-water become again thoroughly mixed, and are together raised by the lifter through the spout (L) into the vat (M) where the pulp is strained by means of a sieve or “knotter,” as it is called, which is usually formed of brass, having fine slits cut in it to allow the comminuted pulp to pass through, while it retains all lumps and knots; and so fine are these openings, in order to free the pulp entirely from anything which would be liable to damage the quality of the paper, that it becomes necessary to apply a means of exhaustion underneath, in order to facilitate the passage of the pulp through the strainer.
I have frequently examined a mass of these lumps collected upon the top of the knotter, moreparticularly when printing papers are being manufactured, and have generally found them composed, to a very great extent, of India Rubber, which is a source of much greater annoyance to the paper maker than is readily conceived. For, in the first place, it is next to impossible in sorting and cutting the rags to free them entirely from the braiding, and so forth, with which ladies will insist upon adorning their dresses, and in the next, the bleach failing to act upon a substance of that character, the quality of the paper becomes greatly deteriorated, by the large black specks which it occasions, and which, by the combined heat and pressure of the rolls and cylinders, enlarge considerably as it proceeds.
Passing from this strainer the pulp is next made to distribute itself equally throughout the entire width of the machine, and is afterwards allowed to flow over a small lip or ledge, in a regular and even stream, whence it is received by the upper surface of the endless wire (K), upon which the first process of manufacture takes place. Of course the thickness of the paper depends in some measure upon the speed at which the machine is made to travel, but it is mainly determined by the quantity of pulp allowed to flow upon the wire, which by various contrivances can be regulated to great nicety. Amongthe specimens at the end, you will find one, No. 7, which was made by this machine, and which is considerably less than the thousandth of an inch in thickness,—a thousand sheets measuring but three quarters of an inch. And I would call your attention to the fact, that although so thin, it is capable of being coloured, it is capable of being glazed, it is capable of receiving a water-mark; and what is perhaps still more astonishing, a strip not exceeding four inches in width, will be found capable of sustaining a weight of twenty pounds: so great is its tenacity.
But, to return to the machine itself. The quantity of pulp required to flow from the vat (M) being determined; it is first received by the continuous woven wire (K), upon which it forms itself into paper. This wire-gauze, which resembles a jack-towel, passing over the small copper rollers (N), round the larger one marked (O), and being kept in proper tension by two others placed underneath. A gentle vibratory motion from side to side is given to the wire, which assists to spread the pulp evenly, and also to facilitate the separation of the water, and by this means, aided by a suction pump, the pulp solidifies as it advances. The two black squares on either side of the “dandy” roller (P) indicate the position of two wooden boxes, from which the air is partiallyexhausted, thus causing the atmospheric pressure to operate in compacting the pulp into paper, the water and moisture being drawn through the wire, and the pulp retained on the surface.
Next, we have to notice the deckle or boundary straps (Q) which regulate the width of the paper, travelling at the same rate as the wire, and thus limiting the spread of pulp. The “dandy” roller (P), is employed to give any impression to the paper that may be required. We may suppose for instance, that the circumference of that roller answers exactly to the length or breadth of the wire forming a hand mould, which, supposing such wire to be fixed or curved in that form, would necessarily leave the same impression as when employed in the ordinary way. Being placed between the air boxes, the paper becomes impressed by it when in a half formed state, and whatever marks are thus made, the paper will effectually retain. The marks seen in Specimens 2, 3, 4, and 5, have been occasioned by a hand mould, those in 6, 7, 9, and 11, are impressions given by a dandy roller. The two rollers following the dandy, marked (R) and (O), are termed couching rollers, from their performing a similar operation in the manufacture of machine-made papers, to the business of the coucher in conducting the process by hand. They are simply wooden rollers covered with felt. In some instances, however,the upper couch roll (R) is made to answer a double purpose. In making writing or other papers, where smalts, ultramarine, and various colours are used, considerable difference will frequently be found in the tint of the paper when the two sides are compared, in consequence of the colouring matter sinking to the lower side, by the natural subsidence of the water, or from the action of the suction boxes; and to obviate this, instead of employing the ordinary couch roll, which acts upon theuppersurface of the paper, a hollow one is substituted, having a suction box within it, acted upon by an air pump, which tends in some measure to counteract the effect, justly considered objectionable. Merging from those rollers the paper is received from the wire-gauze by a continuous felt (S), which conducts it through two pair of pressing rollers, and afterwards to the drying cylinders. You will observe, that the paper, after passing through the first pair of rollers, is carried along the felt for some distance, and then turned over, in order to receive a corresponding pressure on the other side, thus obviating the inequality of surface which would otherwise be apparent, especially if the paper were to be employed for books.
The advantage gained by the use of so great a length of felt, is simply, that it becomes less necessary to stop the machine for the purpose ofwashing it, than would be the case if the felt were limited in length to its absolute necessity.
In some instances, when the paper being made is sized in the pulp with such an ingredient asresin, the felt becomes so completely clogged in the space of a few hours, that unless a very great and apparently unnecessary length of felt be employed, a considerable waste of time is constantly incurred in washing or changing the felt. To obviate all this—whether waste of time or waste of felt—I have suggested in one or two quarters, the propriety of passing the felt, as it returns from conducting the paper to the heated cylinders, through a trough of water, and while travelling through the water to apply suction boxes to both the upper and lower surface of the felt, which by an alternate action, might be made sufficiently powerful to remove all impurity, without in any way obstructing the progress of the felt; which if found necessary, might be assisted, while at the same time the felt would be restored to its original condition, by employing a suctionrollerto which a steady motion was given in connexion with the machine.
The operation of the manufacture will now be apparent. The pulp flowing from the reservoir into the lifter, and thence through the strainer, passes over a small lip to the continuous wire, being there partially compactedby the shaking motion, more thoroughly so on its passage over the air boxes, receiving any desired marks by means of the dandy roller passing over the continuous felt between the first pressing rollers, then turned over to receive a corresponding pressure on the other side, and from thence off to the drying cylinders, which are heated more or less by injected steam; the cylinder which receives the paper first, being heated less than the second, the second than the third, and so on; the paper after passing over those cylinders, being finally wound upon a reel, as shown, unless it be printing paper, which can be sized sufficiently in the pulp, by an admixture of alum, soda, and resin, or the like; in which case it may be at once conducted to the cutting machine, to be divided into any length and width required. But, supposing it to be intended for writing purposes, it has first to undergo a more effectual method of sizing, as shown in the accompanying drawing. The size in this instance being made from parings obtained from tanners, curriers, and parchment-makers, as employed in the case of hand-made papers. Of course, sizing in the pulp or in the engine offers many advantages, but as gelatine, or animal size, which is really essential for all good writing qualities, cannot at present be employed during the process of manufacturing by the machine withoutinjury to the felts, it becomes necessary to pass the web of paper, after it has been dried by the cylinders, through this apparatus.
Sizing apparatusSIZING APPARATUS
SIZING APPARATUS
In most cases, however, the paper is at once guided as it issues from the machine, through the tub of size, and is thence carried over the skeleton drums shown, inside each of which are a number of fans rapidly revolving; sometimes there are forty or fifty of these drums in succession, the whole confined in a chamber heated by steam. I have seen a paper machine with the sizing apparatus attached, which from the wire-cloth where the pulp first flows on, to the cutting machine at the extremity, measured no less than one thousand feet. The advantage of drying the paper in this manner over so many of these drums is, that it turns out much harder and stronger, than if dried more rapidly over heated cylinders. Some manufacturers adopt a peculiar process of sizing, which in fact answers very much better, and is alike applicable to papers made by hand or by machine, provided the latter description be first cut into pieces or sheets of the required dimensions. The contrivance consists of two revolving felts, between which the sheets are carried under several rollers through a long trough of size, being afterwards hung up to dry uponlines, previously to rolling or glazing. The paper thus sized becomes much harder and stronger, by reason of the freedom with which the sheets can contract in drying; and this is mainly the reason why paper made by hand continues to be so much tougher than that made by the machine, in consequence of the natural tendency of the pulp to contract in drying, and consequently becoming, where no resistance is offered, more entwined or entangled, which of course adds very considerably to the strength and durability of the paper. In making by the machine, this tendency, you will observe, is completely checked.
The next operation which we have to notice, now that the paper is finished, is that of cutting it into standard sizes. Originally, the reel upon which it was finally wound, was formed so that its diameter might be lessened or increased at pleasure, according to the sizes which were required. Thus, for instance, supposing we wanted to cut the web of paper into sheets of 18 inches in length, we should either lessen the diameter of the reel to 6 inches, and thus the circumference to 18 inches, or if convenient increase it to 36 inches, afterwards cutting the paper in two with a large knife, similar in size and shape to that employed by a cheesemonger; the width of the web being regulated by the deckle straps(Q) to either twice or three times the width of the sheet, as the case might be. However, in regard to the length considerable waste, of necessity, arose, from the great increase in the circumference of the reel as the paper was wound upon it, and to remedy this, several contrivances have been invented. To dwell upon their various peculiarities or separate stages of improvement, would, no doubt, prove to the general reader of little comparative interest, I shall, therefore, confine my attention to a brief explanation of the cutting machine, of which I have given an illustration, and which is unquestionably the best, as well as the most ingenious, invention of the kind.
The first movement or operation peculiar to this machine is that of cutting the web of paper longitudinally, into such widths as may be required. And this is effected by means of circular blades, placed at stated distances, which receive the paper as it issues direct from the other machinery, and by a very swift motion, much greater than that at which the paper travels, slit it up with unerring precision wherever they may be fixed.
A pair of those circular blades is shown in the drawing (a), the upper one being much larger than the lower, which is essential to the smoothness of the cut. And not only is the upper blade larger in circumference, but it is also madeto revolve with much greater rapidity, by means of employing a small pinion, worked by one at least twice its diameter, which is fixed upon the same shaft as the lower blade, to which the motive power is applied. The action aimed at is precisely such as we obtain from a pair of scissors.
The web, as it is termed by the paper-maker, being thus severed longitudinally, the next operation is that of cutting it off into sheets of some particular length horizontally; and to do this requires a most ingenious movement. To give a very general idea of the contrivance, the dotted line is intended to represent the paper travelling on with a rapidity in some cases of 80 feet per minute, and yet its course has to be temporarily arrested while the required separation is effected, and that too without the paper’s accumulating in any mass, or getting creased in the slightest degree.
Cutting machineCUTTING MACHINE.
CUTTING MACHINE.
The large drum (b), over which the paper passes, in the direction indicated by the arrows, has simply an alternating motion, which serves to gather the paper in such lengths as may be required. The crank arm (c), which is capable of any adjustment either at top or bottom, regulating the extent of the movement backwards and forwards, and thus the length of the sheet. As soon as the paper to be cut off haspassed below the point (d), at which apresseris suspended, having an alternating motion given to it, in order to make it approach to, and recede from, a stationary presser-board; it is taken hold of as it descends from the drum, and the length pendant from the presser, is instantly cut off by the moveable knife (e), to which motion is given by the crank (f), the connecting rod (g), the lever (h), and the connecting rod (i). The combined motion of these rods and levers, admits of the moveable knife (e), remaining nearly quiescent for a given time, and then speedily closing upon the fixed knife (k), cutting off the paper in a similar manner to a pair of shears, when it immediately slides down a board, or in some instances is carried along a revolving felt, at the extremity of which several men or boys are placed to receive the sheets, according to the number into which the width of the web is divided.
As soon as the pressers are closed for a length of paper to be cut off, the motion of the gathering drum is reversed, smoothing out the paper upon its surface, which is now held between the pressers; the tension roll (l), taking up the slack in the paper as it accumulates,or rather bearingit gently down,until the movementof the drum is again reversed to furnish anotherlength. The handle (m), is employed merely to stop a portion of the machinery, should the water-mark not fall exactly in the centre of the sheet, when by this means it can be momentarily adjusted.
The paper being thus made, and cut up into sheets of stated dimensions, is next looked over and counted out into quires of 24 sheets, and afterwards into reams of 20 quires; which subsequently, under the superintendence of an Excise Officer, are carefully weighed and stamped, previously to their being sent into the market.
Connected with the manufacture of paper, there is one point of considerable interest and importance, and that is, what is commonly, but erroneously, termed thewater-mark, which may be noticed in the Times Newspaper, in the New Bank of England Notes, Cheques and Bills, as also in every Postage and Receipt Label of the present day.
The curious, and in some instances absurd terms, which now puzzle us so much in describing the different sorts and sizes of paper, may frequently be explained by reference to the various paper-marks which have been adopted at different periods. In ancient times, when comparatively few people could read, pictures of every kind were much in use where writingwould now be employed. Every shop, for instance, had its sign, as well as every public-house, and those signs were not then, as they often are now, only painted upon a board, but were invariably actual models of the thing which the sign expressed—as we still occasionally see some such sign as a bee-hive, a tea-canister, or a doll, and the like. For the same reason printers employed some device, which they put upon the title pages and at the end of their books, and paper makers also introduced marks, by way of distinguishing the paper of their manufacture from that of others; which marks becoming common, naturally gave their names to different sorts of paper. And since names often remain long after the origin of them is forgotten and circumstances are changed, it is not surprising to find the old names still in use, though in some cases they are not applied to the same things which they originally denoted. One of the illustrations of ancient water-mark which I have given in the accompanying plate; that of an open hand with a star at the top, which was in use as early as 1530; probably gave the name to what is still calledhandpaper.
Another very favourite paper-mark, at a subsequent period 1540-60, was the jug or pot,which is also shown, and would appear to have originated the termpotpaper. The foolscap was a later device, and does not appear to have been nearly of such long continuance as the former. It has given place to the figure of Britannia, or that of a lion rampant, supporting the cap of liberty on a pole. The name, however, has continued, and we still denominate paper of a particular size, by the title offoolscap. The original figure has the cap and bells, of which we so often read in old plays and histories, as the particular head-dress of the fool, who at one time formed part of every great man’s establishment.
I have met with the water-mark of a cap, much simpler than that which we have just noticed, somewhat resembling the jockey-caps of the present day, with a trifling ornamentation or addition to the upper part. The first edition of “Shakspeare,” printed byIsaac Jaggard & Ed. Blount, 1623, will be found to contain this mark, interspersed with several others of a different character. No doubt the general use of the termcapto various papers of the present day owes its origin to marks of this description.
The termimperialwas in all probability derived from the finest specimens of papyri, which were so called by the ancients.
(Water-marks)
Post paper seems to have derived its name from the post-horn, which at one time was its distinguishing mark. It does not appear to have been used prior to the establishment of the general post-office (1670), when it became the custom to blow a horn, to which circumstance no doubt we may attribute its introduction. The mark is still frequently used, but the same change which has so much diminished the number of painted signs in the streets of our towns and cities, has nearly made paper-marks a matter of antiquarian curiosity; the maker’s name being now generally used, and the mark, in the few instances where it still remains, serving the purpose of mere ornament, rather than that of distinction.
Water-marks, however, have at various periods been the means of detecting frauds, forgeries and impositions, in our courts of law and elsewhere, to say nothing of the protection they afford in the instances already referred to, such as bank notes, cheques, receipt, bill, and postage stamps. The celebrated Curran once distinguished himself in a case which he had undertaken, by shrewdly referring to the water-mark, which effectually determined the verdict. And another instance, which I introduce merely in the form of an amusing anecdote, occurred onceat Messina, where the monks of a certain monastery exhibited, with great triumph, a letter as being written by the Virgin Mary with her own hand. Unluckily for them, however, this was not, as it easily might have been, written upon the ancient papyrus, but on paper made of rags. On one occasion a visitor, to whom this was shown, observed, with affected solemnity, that the letter involved also amiracle, for the paper on which it was written was not in existence until several centuries after the mother of our Lord had died.
A further illustration of the kind occurs in a work entitled “Ireland’s Confessions,” which was published respecting his fabrication of the Shakspeare manuscripts,—a literary forgery even still more remarkable, I think, than that which is said to have been perpetrated by Chatterton, as Rowley’s Poems.
The interest which at the time was universally felt in this production of Ireland’s, may be partially gathered from the fact, that the whole of the original edition, which appeared in the form of a shilling pamphlet, was disposed of in a few hours; while so great was the eagerness to obtain copies afterwards, that single impressions were sold in an auction room at the extravagant price of a guinea.
This gentleman tells us, at one part of his explanation, that the sheet of paper which he used was the outside of several others, on some of which accounts had been kept in the reign of Charles the First; and being at that time wholly unacquainted with the water-marks used in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, “I carefully selected (says he) two half-sheets, not having any mark whatever, on which I penned my first effusion.” A few pages further on he writes—“Being thus urged forward to the production of more manuscripts, it became necessary that I should possess a sufficient quantity of old paper to enable me to proceed, in consequence of which I applied to a bookseller, named Verey, in Great May’s Buildings, St. Martin’s Lane, who, for the sum of five shillings, suffered me to take from all the folio and quarto volumes in his shop, the fly leaves which they contained. By this means I was amply stored with that commodity; nor did I fear any mention of the circumstance by Mr. Verey, whose quiet unsuspecting disposition, I was well convinced, would never lead him to make the transaction public, in addition to which he was not likely even to know anything concerning the supposed Shaksperian discovery by myself, and even if he had, I do not imagine that my purchase of the old paper in question, wouldhave excited in him the smallest degree of suspicion. As I was fully aware from the variety of water-marks which are in existence at the present day, that they must have constantly been altered since the period of Elizabeth, and being for some time wholly unacquainted with the water-marks of that age, I very carefully produced my first specimens of the writing on such sheets of old paper as had no mark whatever. Having heard it frequently stated that the appearance of such marks on the papers would have greatly tended to establish their validity, I listened attentively to every remark which was made upon the subject, and from thence I at length gleaned the intelligence that a jug was the prevalent water-mark of the reign of Elizabeth, in consequence of which I inspected all the sheets of old paper then in my possession, and having selected such as had the jug upon them, I produced the succeeding manuscripts upon these, being careful, however, to mingle with them a certain number of blank leaves, that the production on a sudden of so many water-marks might not excite suspicion in the breasts of those persons who were most conversant with the manuscripts.”
Thus, this notorious literary forgery, through the cunning ingenuity of the perpetrator, ultimatelyproved so successful as to deceive many learned and able critics of the age. Indeed, on one occasion a kind of certificate was drawn up, stating that the undersigned names were affixed by gentlemen who entertained no doubt whatever as to the validity of the Shaksperian production, and that they voluntarily gave such public testimony of their convictions upon the subject. To this document several names were appended by persons as conspicuous for their erudition as they were pertinacious in their opinions.
The water-mark in the form of a letterp, of which I have given an illustration, is taken from Caxton’s well-known work, “The Game of the Chesse,” afac simileof which is about to be published as a tribute to his memory. Paper has recently been made expressly for the purpose, in exact representation of the original, and containing this water-mark, which will be found common in works printed by him.
The ordinary mode of effecting such paper marks as we have been describing is that of affixing a stout wire in the form of any object to be represented to the surface of the fine wire-gauze, of which the hand-mould, or machine dandy roller is constructed.
The perfection, however, to which water-marks have now attained, which in many instances isreally very beautiful, is owing to a more ingenious method recently patented, and since adopted by the Bank of England, as affording considerable protection to the publicin determining thegenuineness of a bank note.
For the original idea of producing light and shade, as seen in specimens 1, 13, and 15, we are indebted to Mr. Wm. Henry Smith, whose patient perseverance, and laborious efforts, at length enabled him to overcome many difficulties, and finally to produce not only any peculiarity of design, however complicate, but also to secure its repetition with a certainty of uniformity which, in the process of manufacture as hitherto conducted, it was found impossible to accomplish.
To produce a line water-mark of the character shown in specimens 10, 12, and 16, or of any of the autographs or crests in No. 14, (which sheet was produced from the mould which I employed at the London Institution,) we might either engrave the pattern or device first in some yielding surface, precisely as we should engrave a copper-plate for printing, and afterwards by immersing the plate in a solution of sulphate of copper, and electrotyping it in the usual way, allow the interstices of the engraving to give it as were a casting of pure copper, and thus an exact representationof the original device, which, upon being removed from the plate, and affixed to the surface of the wire-gauze forming the mould, would produce a corresponding impression in the paper: or, supposing perfect identity to be essential, as in the case of a bank note, we might engrave the design upon the surface of a steel die, taking care to cut those parts in the die deepest which are intended to give greater effect in the paper, and then, after having hardened, and otherwise properly prepared the die, it would be placed under a steam hammer or other stamping apparatus, for the purpose of producing what is technically termed a “force,” which is required to assist in transferring an impression from the die to a plate of sheet brass. This being done, the die, with the mould-plate in it, would next be taken to a perforating or cutting machine, where the back of the mould-plate—that is the portion which projects above the face of the die—would be removed, while that portion which was impressed into the design engraven, would remain untouched, and this being subsequently taken from the interstices of the die and placed in a frame upon a backing of fine wire-cloth, becomes a mould for the manufacture of paper of the pattern which is desired, or for the productionof any water-mark, autograph, crest or device, however complicate.
Light and shade, as seen in Nos. 1, 13, and 15, are occasioned by a very similar process, but one which perhaps requires a little more care, and necessarily becomes somewhat more tedious. For instance, in the former case the pulp is distributed equally throughout the entire surface of the wire forming the mould, whereasnowwe have to contrive the means of increasing to a very great nicety the thickness or distribution of the pulp, and at the same time to make provision for the water’s draining away. This has been accomplished, as in the case of No. 13, by first taking an electrotype of the raised surface of any model or design, and again from that, forming in a similar manner a matrix or mould, both of which are subsequently mounted upon lead or gutta percha, in order that they may withstand the pressure which is required to be put upon them in giving impression to a sheet of very fine copper wire-gauze, which, in the form of a mould, and in the hands of the vatman, suffices ultimately to produce such beautiful transparent effects in paper pulp as those to which I have called your attention. By similar means a portrait of the Emperor Napoleon was produced for the Paris Exhibition.
The other specimens, 1 and 15, are produced in the same manner as the word “Five” in the centre of the new Bank of England note. The deepest shadows in the water-mark being occasioned by the deepest engraving upon the die, the lightest, by the shallowest, and so forth; the die being employed to give impression by means of the stamping press and “force” to the fine wire-gauze itself, which by this means, providing the die be properly cut, is accomplished far more successfully than by any other process, and with the additional advantage of securing perfect identity.
It may be interesting to call attention to the contrast as regards the method of mould-making originally practised, and that which has recently been adopted by the Bank of England. In a pair of five pound note moulds, prepared by the old process, there were 8 curved borders, 16 figures, 168 large waves, and 240 letters, which had all to be separately secured by the finest wire to the waved surface. There were 1,056 wires, 67,584 twists, and the same repetition where the stout wires were introduced to support the under surface. Therefore, with the backing, laying, large waves, figures, letters, and borders, before a pair of moulds was completed, there were some hundreds of thousands of stitches, most of which are now avoided by the new patent. But further, by thismultitudinous stitching and sewing, the parts were never placed precisely in the same position, and the water-mark was consequently never identical. Now, the same die gives impression to the metal which transfers it to the water-mark, with a certainty of identity unattainable before, and one could almost say, never to be surpassed.
But, as it has been properly remarked, may we not detect principles in this process which are not only valuable to the Bank, but to all public establishments having important documents on paper, for what can exceed the value of such a test for discovering the deceptions of dishonest men. One’s signature, crest, or device of any kind, rendering the paper exclusively one’s own, can now be secured in a pair of moulds, at the cost merely of a few guineas.
Thus then, I have endeavoured briefly to glance at all the varied manipulations comprised in the term Paper Making; from the soiled rags, which by this regenerating process, are converted into pure and spotless paper, and thence to the operations which in degree distinguish it, until finally, the stronger the test for illuminating its perfection, but suffices to prove it of that most aristocratic class, to which belongs our new bank note.