429
Class XVII.1 GLAZING, BLEACHING, AND APPLICATION OF MOTIVE POWER.
Mr. Heath’s process, and it became the custom for whole-sale stationers to send post and other writing papers tothe card-makers to he glazed or satiued. A patent havingbeen granted in 1832 to Mr. l)e La Rue for certainimprovements in playing-cards,” in which he appliedprinting in oil, instead of the old way of stenciling withwater colours, he adopted the mode of passing thembetween copper sheets through powerful rollers, insteadof the usual mode of glazing by friction with a Hint, andsubsequently he attaiued a higher finish in fine writing-paper than had hitherto been effected by submitting it tothe same process.
Glazing is now carried on at most of the paper-mills,in all countries. Writing-papers have also been glazedin long lengths; but as the naked rollers through whichthe paper passes become indented after having been onlya short time in use, this plan lias been abandoned. Abetter mode is to pass the paper several times through acalender, having an iron roller at the top and bottom, anda paper roller in the middle, the iron rollers being slightlylieated by steam. This plan is useful where cheapness isnecessary; but it is nevertheless an inferior sort ofglazing, and does not long maintain its gloss. It hasbeen practised many years by Mr. Crompton for strongbrown packing-papers. The Wkakmol'th Paper Com-pany (149, p. 540) exhibited, through Messrs. Venables,a fine specimen of brown paper glazed in long length;and Messrs. Duewsen and Co. (Denmark , 4, p. 1355,135G), of Silkeborg, in Jutland, Denmark , have exhibiteda large roll of cream-laid writing-paper well glazed, notsatined , in long length. There is no difficulty whateverin glazing paper in long lengths, provided care be takento obtain very true rollers. A thin ductor-blade shouldbe fixed in a proper position to detach the sheets as theypass through, as the electricity which is developed causesthem to adhere to the cylinders, particularly where rosinsize has been used.
Paper Bleaching.
At the end of the last century, M. Berthollet’s dis-covery of the means of bleaching with chlorine was suc-cessfully applied to paper-making; and by this valuableprocess coloured rags, ropes, &c., were converted intofine white paper, but the improper use of it deterioratedthe quality, and recourse was therefore had to the use ofchloride of lime, and to a better system of M'ashing thepulp, for which purpose washing drums were introducedby Mr. Breton, and perfected by Messrs. Blanchet andKleber. As a further precaution against the deterioratingeffects of the use of chlorine or its compounds, somemakers use anti-ehlor, such as sulphites, to neutralize thesmall particles which might still remain in the pulp afterbleaching and ordinary washing.
The rotatory rag-washing machine, invented by Messrs.Donkin, has the advantage of enabling the boiling opera-tion to be performed under high pressure: the mechanismcontinually lifting the rags out of the lye and plungingthem back insures complete and uniform action. The lyemay be used repeatedly by adding fresh doses of alkali.M. Journet has adopted the plan long followed in Englandof using the waste wash-water of his mills for manuringlaud.
The chloride of lime is cheaper in England than inFrance; it is made principally at Glasgow as a secondaryproduct of the soda manufacture; the price is 14s. percwt (about 30 fr. the 100 kilogrammes), whilst at Rouen or Paris it costs 47 fr. the 100 kilogrammes, being 56 percent, dearer, a disadvantage to which the French manu-facturer is subjected on one of the most important rawmaterials used in paper-making, as the importation ofchemical productions is prohibited in that countrj-. Thedifference of price is from the great disparity in the costof fuel; coals are sold in England at an average of 4s. perton (5fr.); in London 15s., or 18 fr. At Rouen , coalscost 33 fr. per 1,000 kilogrammes, to which must be addedthe cost of cartage to the different mills.
The use of steam as a motive power has become almostuniversal in England, Holland, and Belgium , where there
are fewer waterfalls than in France and other parts ofthe Continent . Although steam is more expensive thanwater power, it is more available, and mills using it arenot subject to stoppages from Hoods and shortness ofwater.
In France and other countries where mills are nearlarge forests, it is cheaper to use wood than coal; butEngland has great advantages from the cheapness of itsfuel, particularly for steam drying. Where mills are inunfavourable situations, without coal, the cost of dryingthe paper is considerable.
England and France obtain the greater quantity ofmanganese from Germany ; the price of which is there-fore about the same in both countries. Rosin is importedfrom America and Russia , and some is produced nearBordeaux . Alum and potato-starch are about equal inprice in England, France, and Germany . Muriatic acidis dearer in England than in France , where the price isnow very much reduced.
Paper .— Price of Labour.
Although the price of labour is, in general, higher inEngland than on the Continent , yet owing to the careand skill of the English workmen, and the great supe-riority of the machinery employed, it is doubtful whetherthe cost of the manufacture of paper be not as cheap inEngland as in other countries. To ascertain the meritsof the manufactures, quality and price of the paper beingconsidered, it would be necessary to have exact data as tothe rate of labour in different countries, and even in eachlocality, as the price varies according to the greater orless distance of the mills from the capital; for example,in France the price of labour in the Vosges is much lessthan near Paris , but this advantage is counterbalanced bythe expense of carriage, which is always greater in thecase of mills distant from the centre of consumption.These points have been considered by the Jury accordingto the best information obtained, and they find thatmills established where civilization has made little pro-gress are the most favourably circumstanced. The priceof rags mainly regulates that of paper, and the value ofrags is always in proportion to the degree of civilizationand prosperity of the country. Thus Smyrna, whichsome years ago converted its rags into coarse boards, andsold them to the paper-makers of Europe for makingpaper, now makes good writing and other papers, the lowprice of •which proves that both the raw materials and thelabour must be cheap in that part of the world.
In proportion to the progress of civilization, paper-machines have been introduced into the different parts ofthe world. North America possesses a great number.South America has now begun to obtain them from theUnited States . In Africa there is only a small vat-mill atBoulac, near Cairo .
The following is an account of the number of paper-mills in England, Scotland, and Ireland , and the numberof beating-engines employed : also the amount of dutycharged on paper, the quantity imported from variouscountries, and the amount exported from Great Britainin the year 1850. (See Table, p. 430.)
By a Parliamentary paper, published March 9, 1852,the number of paper-mills at work in England on the18th February, 1852, was 304 in England, 48 in Scotland ,and 28 in Ireland , making 380. There were 1,610 beac-iug engines at work, and 130 silent.
Sharp, in his “ Gazetteer,” ed. 1852, p. 977, states thenumber of paper-mills to be 800, employing 30,000 hands;but the Table (p. 430), obtained officially from the InlandRevenue Office, gives the number of mills as being only415, including England, Scotland, and Ireland .
The amount of duty charged in the year 1850, showsthe enormous amount of 62,960 tons weight of paper pro-duced in Great Britain in one year! The first paper-machine was erected in 1804.*