Class XVII.]
443
MM. Schaeuffelex, of Ileilbromi (4 Zollv., 41,p. 1117), displayed a large assortment of well-made andgood papers of every description, thin pelure, or thin postwriting-paper, of good colour, well sized and clean, thefolio ream 11s.; white tissues of good quality at 4s. 3d.or 5s. the ream; coloured tissues, bright tints, 10s. theream; fine and well-made plate-paper, 8 d. per pound ;second quality plate 6jJ. per pound.
About the year 1730, a paper-mill was erected in Mas-sachusetts, and, about the same time, another in Penn-sylvania ; but prior to the American Revolution theprogress in this important branch of manufacture wasvery slow. It appears, however, that before 1768,Christopher Leffingwell began to make paper at Nor-wich, iu Connecticut , and received a bounty from thetreasury of the colony of “ twopence the quire on allgood writing-paper that lie made, and one penny thequire on all printing and common paper.” At the endof the first year, iu May 1770, he received the bountyfor 4,020 quires of writing-paper, and 10,600 quires ofprinting and coarser paper, after which the bounty wasdiscontinued. Messrs. Watson and Ledyard set up apaper-mill in East Hartford , in the same colony; andthis one mill, in 1776 and 1777, wholly supplied thepress of Hartford , which published weekly above 8,000newspapers, and also the greater part of the writing-paper used in Connecticut , as well as much of that usedby the continental army. Shortly after this, paper-millssprang up in every part of the country, and continuedto increase with extraordinary rapidity, as did also thenumber of newspapers and cheap books. Prior to 1810,the materials for paper-making were procured in thecountry; but, since that period, they have been largelyimported from Europe . Nearly all the linen rags areimported, and are in great request in the United States for tlie purpose of mixing with the domestic cotton rags.It is estimated that the Italian rags used to contain about80 per cent, of linen ; but it is found that, as cotton forclothing is increasing in all parts of the world, the pro-portion of linen iu the foreign rags is decreasing from5 to 10 percent, annually. This fact at first created somealarm; but it is ascertained that raw cotton, where it canbe had on the spot for 3d. or 3 \d. per pound, answers as avery good substitute for linen. In the United States , thebest qualities of writing paper contain from 30 to 50 percent, of linen rags. The import duty on rags is 5 percent. In the year ending June 1850, the quantity of rags ]imported into the United States was 20,696,875 lbs., of Iwhich about one-half, or 10,277,337 lbs. were from Italy ; j3,964,815 lbs. from Trieste and other Austrian ports; !1,621,692 from England, Scotland, and Ireland ; 14,540,042 jfrom the Hanse Towns ; aDd 1,619,114 from Sicily . The iremainder were chiefly from Turkey and Canada. !
About 1820, machinery began to be imported into theUnited States from England and France : but, being foundexpensive, this was not much encouraged. It was not tillabout 1830, that Messrs. Phelps and Spafford, of Con- !liecticut, succeeded in manufacturing their machines, jwhich are said to work well. They were much patronised, jand they soon greatly enlarged their manufactory. Not ilong after Messrs. How and Goddard, of Worcester , :Massachusetts , began to manufacture in great numbers Imachines for paper-making. At the present time, these 'two manufacturers produce nearly all the machinesemployed in the United States , and have besides begun to ;export them to South America and Mexico . The machines jmade by these two firms are those known as the Fourdrinier !Machines, with some modifications. A cheaper kind, jknown as the Cylinder Machine, is used extensively for \making the coarser and cheaper sorts of paper. These :machines are also made in many other parts of the country. [
It is only since 1830 that any real impulse has been jgiven to the manufacture of paper in the United States ; ;and this is owing, not more to the introduction of ma-chinery than to the great changes in the mode of manu-facture, as well as in the raw materials. Various articlesare now extensively used which were not thought of ,before the introduction of chlorine and other means of,
cleansing and bleaching. Old junk, rope, hemp, tow,bagging, raw cotton, cotton waste, coloured or filthy rags,&c., are now extensively used even for superior papers.These materials, which were previously only used in themaking of coarser papers, have risen 300 per cent, invalue; in the United States , they are particularly useful,and consequently in great demand, where no linen isj produced for mixing with, and imparting strength to, thei cotton materials.
Since the beginning of the present century, the quantity! of paper imported into the United States has been con-stantly decreasing, so that at the present day the proportionof foreign paper is only between two and three per cent.
: on the whole amount consumed. The paper imported is' now almost exclusively of the superior qualities of writingand fancy papers, and is chiefly brought from Englandand France , each country exporting about equal quantities.Belgium and Italy also contribute a portion. The importduty on all kinds of paper is 30 per cent, ad valorem.There is no excise or stamp duty.
The Reporters regret that they have been unable toobtain from the United States the statistics of paper-making, which were so fully collected for the Census of1850, but which have not yet been published. We are,however, officially informed, that the number of enginesand paper-mills have recently very rapidly increased,especially in the southern and western States. It isestimated that the cost of manufacturing paper at the; present day, with all the improvements in machinery, andthe increase in the variety of the raw materials, whencompared with the old process and materials, is reducedfully 800 per cent. Hence the old-fashioned mode ofmaking hand-made or laid paper is almost entirelyabandoned iu the United States , there being now onlytwo mills of any note engaged in its manufacture. Eventhese only make paper of particular sorts, such as bank-note paper, letter, deed, parchment, and sucli others asrequire great strength and firmness.
The general diffusion of knowledge, and the consequentdemand for newspapers and cheap literature, has renderedthe United States the country which, it is said, consumesmore paper per head for its population than any other,j But the great aim of the manufacturer is rather at; cheapness than excellence in quality, though within the: last five years improvements in the strength and quality| of paper have been made. Rcceutly, the finish of writing’ and printing papers has been much improved by thej introduction of iron and paper calenders.
| The principal mills are in Lombardy, Lower Austria ,
| and Bohemia ; there are also some in Venice, and in thei Tyrol. Lower Austria contains the most extensive mills,j The whole amount of paper produced per annum is now| stated to be 650,000 cwts., 250,000 cwts. being common.writing, and 60,000 cwts. fine paper; 150,000 cwts.
| priming, 100,000 cwts. packing, and 60,000 cwts. paper. of other descriptions. Steam-power is applied in a few! instances, but the mills are chiefly driven by water-power;
: three-fifths of the whole produce is by vat-mills, and two-; fifths by machines. On a population of 38,000,000, it isj stated that three pounds of linen rags are produced per: head. There are, besides, quantities of old rope, &c.,i used for paper-making. According to Messrs. Dernier' and Mayer d’Anemarr, French Commissioners at theAustrian Exhibition of 1845, the number of paper-j machines in that State was 40, the number of vats 940 ;i producing nearly 314,000 quintals (15,011 tons) of paper,valued at 20,500,000 francs, being an average of ii^d.
1 per lb. The number of persons employed was 12,000,besides rag-sorters.
The number of machines is now 49, and 900 vats.Austria exports paper to the amount of 150,000/. peryear.
In Denmark there are six machines, besides one inHolstein, and 20 vats, producing altogether about 1,312tons per year. In 1847, Denmark imported about 300 tonsof paper from Belgium, France , and other countries. The