Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/59

PAPER 49 were applied, and the papers have retained these names. Thus " cap " or "foolscap pa- per " was so called from the water mark rep- resenting a fool's cap and bells ; "post paper," from the design of a postman's horn ; what was called "pot paper" had the design of a pot or jug; and "hand paper" was distin- guished by the figure of a hand. "Water marks on bank notes, checks, and other commercial papers rendered forgeries more difficult. With the mould in the workman's hands, a loose frame called a deckle, of the exact size of the mould, is held down upon its upper surface, serving as a margin to the wires, and deter- mines the size of the sheet. A proper quan- tity of pulp being dipped up and shaken with a peculiar motion acquired by experience, the fibre is spread evenly over the wires, and the water in great part flows through. The vat- man then slips off and retains the deckle as he slides the mould along the edges of the vat to another workman called the coucher, and taking another mould to which he adjusts the deckle, he repeats the operation. The coucher meantime sets the mould on its edge to drain while he arranges on the table close by a sheet of felt cloth on which he lays the sheet of fibre by overturning the mould. This is returned to the vatman, who passes along another mould and sheet, and this is laid upon another felt with which the first sheet is covered. About 130 sheets are thus piled up alternately with as many felts, and the whole pile is then slipped under a press, by the action of which much water is squeezed out and the sheets acquire tenacity. These are then separated and piled up by themselves, and again pressed ; and being again separated, or parted, they are piled and pressed a third time. Thus the marks of the felts are removed, and the paper is in good con- dition for drying, which is effected by hang- ing the sheets on hair lines in lofts or rooms specially devoted to this purpose. In favor- able weather the drying may be completed in 24 hours, after which the paper is sized by dip- ping it several times in a preparation of glue and alum. The sheets are again pressed to re- move the superfluous size, and are returned to the drying rooms, where they are suspended upon the lines and dried much more gradually than before, several days' time being requisite for the size to become well incorporated with the paper. The finishing is effected by pressing the sheets laid alternately with glazed paper boards with some hot metal plates interspersed through the piles. This gives the name of "hot pressed." It may instead be rolled with smooth copper plates between the sheets. By this method it was often three weeks before the paper was finally finished from the first treatment of the rags, and for every vat, from which about 150 Ibs. of paper might be made in a day, there were employed eight men and about as many women. Paper making by hand een wholly abandoned in the United States, where even the finest bank-note paper is manufactured by machinery. In this process the pulp is thinned with water suffi- ciently for spread- ing it on the web of the machine. There are several forms of machines in use, but the Fourd rimer is the most common. As improved by Bry- an Donkin and others, its action is described as fol- lows in Knight's " American Me- chanical Diction- ary:" "Pulp from the beating cyl- inder is admitted to the chest a through a strain- er &, consisting of a sheet of metal through which strips are cut; it is here constantly agitated by a stir- rer c, and is caused to flow into a second and small- er chamber provi- ded with a small- er stirrer, which delivers it (after passing over a channelled plate by which extra- neous matters of greater specific gravity than the pulp are arrested) on to the endless wire web or apron df to this a sha- king movement is imparted, dis- tributing the pulp fibre evenly over its surface. It is supported on a se- ries of small roll- ers, and the width of the paper is governed by dec- kle straps e at each side, which are carried by rollers f, their tension ing regulated by the arrange- ment shown at g ; Ji is a vacuum box