CHAPTER TWO RAW MATERIALS
Reading edition
Paper has been defined as “an aqueous deposit of cellulose,” and while this is incomplete as a catalogue of the materials composing a sheet of modern paper, it is an excellent epitome of the foundation of paper-making. Minute cellulose fibers, derivatives of various raw materials, are deposited upon a wire cloth by the passage of a volume of water in which they have been suspended. The pulpy film thus formed becomes a sheet of paper, after the expulsion and evaporation of the water which served as a medium for their deposit.
The minute fibers composing this hypothetical sheet of paper may have been isolated from one of several sources of raw materials in present commercial use, or the sheet may be composed of a mixture of different fibers, all more or less pure cellulose, in accordance with the preliminary treatment each has undergone.
The principal sources from which American paper fibers are derived are cotton and linen rags, hemp, jute, wood, straw; and waste papers.
Previous to the year 1840, the sources were limited to rags. These are almost wholly composed of pure cellulose fibers, which give up their non-cellulose concomitants with slight resistance. The more severe chemical treatments necessary for the isolation of cellulose fibers, from wood, for example, half of which is non-cellulose in structure, were unknown to early paper-makers, and only became possible after the discovery of bleaching-powder by Tennant, and the manufacture of soda by Le Blanc.
Although experiments in search of suitable substitutes for rags began to be made in the eighteenth century, it was Keller’s invention of ground wood in 1840, Routledge’s work on esparto grass and wood with a soda process in 1854, and our own fellow countryman Tilghmann’s patent of the sulphite process in 1866, from which we may date the beginnings of the now extensive use of materials other than cotton and linen wastes.
The accompanying table, taken from the United States Statistics of Manufacture for 1909, gives an illuminating indication of the rapid growth of our paper industry, and also shows the remarkable increase in the use of wood celluloses.
It may be observed that the percentage of increase in the use of wood-pulp of all kinds for the decade 1899–1909 was 111.6, and of rags, 50. Approximately four and one-quarter millions tons of paper were produced in 1909, for which the fibers used figured in the following proportions:
Per Cent.
Wood-pulp 61.6
Old and waste papers 21.4
Rags 7.8
Straw 6.6
Manila (rope) 2.6
Of the total amount of wood fibers, the various proportions were approximately as follows:
Per Cent.
Ground wood 47
Sulphite pulp 42
Soda pulp 11
A further investigation as to the species of woods used shows that, while spruce is still the most important, contributing nearly 60 per cent, other woods are being increasingly used.
Another noteworthy fact is the mighty increase in imports of wood-pulps, which jumped from 33,319 tons in 1899 to 307,122 tons in 1909, an amount equal to 12 per cent of all that is used in the United States.
1909 1904 1899
MATERIALS
Total cost $165,442,341 $111,251,478 $70,530,236
Pulpwood, cost $33,772,475 $20,800,871 $9,837,516
Wood pulp, purchased:
Tons 1,241,914 877,702 644,006
Cost $43,861,357 $27,633,164 $18,369,464
Ground—
Tons 452,849 317,286 261,962
Cost $9,487,508 $5,754,259 $4,361,211
Soda fiber—
Tons 154,626 120,978 94,042
Cost $6,862,864 $5,047,105 $3,430,809
Sulphite fiber—
Tons 626,029 433,160 273,194
Cost $27,184,726 $16,567,122 $10,112,189
Other chemical fiber—
Tons 8,410 6,278 14,808
Cost $326,259 $264,678 $465,255
Rags, including cotton, flax waste and sweepings:
Tons 357,470 294,552 234,514
Cost $10,721,559 $8,864,607 $6,595,427
Old and waste paper:
Tons 983,882 588,543 356,193
Cost $13,691,120 $7,430,335 $4,869,409
Manila stock, including jute bagging, rope, waste, threads, etc.:
Tons 117,080 107,029 99,301
Cost $3,560,033 $2,502,332 $2,437,256
Straw:
Tons 303,137 304,585 367,305
Cost $1,460,282 $1,502,886 $1,395,659
All other materials cost $58,375,515 $42,517,283 $27,025,505
PRODUCTS
Total value $267,656,964 $188,715,189 $127,326,162
Newspaper:
In rolls for printing—
Tons 1,091,017 840,802 454,572
Value $42,807,064 $32,783,308 $15,754,992
In sheets for printing—
Tons 84,537 72,020 114,640
Value $4,048,496 $3,143,152 $4,336,882
Book paper:
Book—
Tons 575,616 434,500 282,093
Value $42,846,674 $31,156,728 $19,466,804
Coated—
Plate, lithograph, map, woodcut, etc.—
Tons 6,498 19,837 22,366
Value $555,352 $1,458,343 $2,018,958
Cover—
Tons 17,578 22,150 18,749
Value $1,982,853 $2,023,986 $1,665,376
Cardboard, bristol board, card middles, tickets, etc.—
Tons 51,449 39,060 28,494
Value $3,352,151 $2,764,444 $1,719,813
Fine paper:
Writing—
Tons 169,125 131,934 90,204
Value $24,966,102 $19,321,045 $12,222,870
All other—
Tons 29,088 14,898 22,503
Value $4,110,536 $2,928,125 $3,673,104
Wrapping paper:
Manila (rope, jute, tag, etc.)—
Tons 73,731 86,826 89,419
Value $6,989,436 $6,136,080 $5,929,764
Heavy (mill wrappers, etc.)—
Tons 108,561 96,992 82,875
Value $4,380,794 $4,035,588 $4,143,240
Straw—
Tons 32,988 54,232 91,794
Value $870,419 $1,389,348 $2,027,518
Bogus or wood manila, all grades—
Tons 367,932 228,371 203,826
Value $19,777,707 $10,099,772 $9,148,677
All other—
Tons 179,855 177,870 67,338
Value $10,202,035 $8,774,804 $3,293,174
Boards:
Wood pulp—
Tons 71,036 60,863 44,187
Value $2,639,496 $2,347,250 $1,406,130
Straw—
Tons 171,789 167,278 157,534
Value $3,750,851 $4,367,560 $3,187,342
News—
Tons 74,606 38,560 32,119
Value $2,215,469 $1,174,216 $930,531
All other—
Tons 514,208 253,950 131,777
Value $17,539,768 $9,070,531 $4,829,316
Other paper products:
Tissues—
Tons 77,745 43,925 28,406
Value $8,553,654 $5,056,438 $3,486,652
Blotting—
Tons 9,577 8,702 4,351
Value $1,186,180 $1,046,790 $580,750
Building roofing, asbestos, and sheathing—
Tons 225,824 145,024 96,915
Value $9,251,368 $4,845,628 $3,025,967
Hanging—
Tons 92,158 62,606 54,330
Value $4,431,514 $3,013,464 $2,265,345
Miscellaneous—
Tons 96,577 106,296 49,101
Value $6,869,169 $6,729,820 $2,795,841
Wood pulp made for sale or for consumption in mills other than where produced:
Ground—
Tons 310,747 273,400 280,052
Value $5,649,466 $4,323,495 $4,433,699
Soda fiber—
Tons 155,844 130,366 99,014
Value $6,572,152 $5,159,615 $3,612,602
Sulphite fiber—
Tons 444,255 376,940 271,585
Value $17,955,748 $13,661,464 $10,451,400
All other products, value $4,738,549 $1,924,195 $919,415
WOOD PULP
Quantity produced (including that used in mills where manufactured), total tons 2,495,523 1,921,768 179,535
Ground, tons 1,179,266 968,976 586,374
Soda fiber, tons 298,626 196,770 177,124
Sulphite fiber, tons 1,017,631 756,022 416,037
EQUIPMENT
Paper machines:
Total number 1,480 1,369 1,232
Capacity, yearly, tons 5,293,397 3,857,903 2,782,219
Fourdrinier—
Number 804 752 663
Capacity per 24 hours, tons 10,508 8,569 (3)
Cylinder—
Number 676 617 569
Capacity per 24 hours, tons 6,316 4,740 (3)
Pulp:
Grinders, number 1,435 1,362 1,168
Digesters, total number 542 517 426
Sulphite fiber, number 348 309 (2)
Soda fiber, number 194 208 (2)
Capacity, yearly, tons of pulp 3,405,621 2,644,753 1,536,431
Ground, tons 1,809,685 1,515,088 (2)
Sulphite, tons 1,250,983 885,092 (2)
Soda, tons 344,953 244,573 (2)
The comparative statement follows:
Kind of Wood. Quantity, in Cords, of Pulpwood Consumed
1911 1910 1909 1908
Total 4,328,052 4,094,306 4,001,607 3,346,953
Spruce, domestic 1,612,355 1,473,542 1,653,249 1,487,356
Spruce, imported 903,375 902,407 768,332 672,483
Hemlock 616,663 610,478 559,657 569,173
Poplar, domestic 333,929 315,717 302,876 279,564
Poplar, imported 34,295 45,359 25,622 22,653
Pine 124,019 105,882 90,885 84,189
Beech 44,320 44,265 31,390 (2)
White fir 36,493 30,845 37,176 (2)
Cottonwood 25,043 31,099 36,898 45,679
All other 88,268 97,092 151,179 140,547
Slabwood, etc, 280,534 262,637 248,977 (3)
The high point of importation of chemical wood-pulp was reached in 1914, when approximately 3,600,000 tons came in from Europe and 92,000 from Canada. In January 1916 owing to the war, imports for the month from Europe dropped from an average of 30,694 tons to 12,985 tons, while Canadian pulp increased from an average of 7,654 to an actual importation for the month of 28,833 tons.
Although the use of wood now so heavily overshadows that of rags that it almost seems as though the latter were being slowly abandoned, this is of course only relatively true, their consumption being actually greater than ever. The mere cost of the rags in 1909 was slightly in excess of the total value of all paper products recorded in the United States Census for 1850, a circumstance which leads us to wonder at the timely discoveries which made wood cellulose available.
It is evident, however, that to some extent paper history is already beginning to repeat itself. The visible supplies of wood are markedly less, as evidenced by their increasing costs, and we are forced to a much more active attitude than one of mere speculation as to what new sources may become available to supply our demand for paper, which has lately been increasing in the value of the annual products by almost 11 per cent.
In the decade from 1899 to 1909 shown by government statistics, book-paper advanced 104 per cent in quantity, but 120 per cent in value; writing-paper, 88 per cent in quantity, but 104 per cent in value; wrapping-paper, 43 per cent in quantity and 72 per cent in value. It is true that rising wages account in part for these changes in value, but above and behind all this stands the inexorable law of supply and demand.
The discrepancies between the percentages of increase in production and value serve to emphasize the increasing difficulties in obtaining raw material. That sprucewood is being consumed in this country faster than it is grown, is indicated by the recourse to less-favored species, as well as by the steadily increasing imports, both of pulpwood and wood-pulp. This situation emphasises the great importance of conserving waste papers, in spite of the fact that 21.4 per cent of the fiber used in 1909 in the United States were derived from waste papers. Vast quantities may readily be saved which now go to waste, as was definitely proved by England’s experience during the war, when the imports of pulp were shut off and immediate substitutes had to be found.
This is a matter demanding the attention not only of printers, but of municipalities and nations. It offers an immediate source of relief from the drain on our forests and is hence a most practical form of conservation. Furthermore as demonstrated by the city of Cleveland the revenue from collecting waste papers assists substantially in offsetting the cost of the collection of municipal wastes.