The puzzle is solved.
Click
to read the 06/116/01 update. (Located a record of the mill in
this article).
The photos and text of this article are reproduced from an article in the National Geographic Magazine, March 1920. The Papermaking History Page wishes to thank Ben Arnold of Metso Paper for his valuable assistance in producing this article.
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RAW MATERIAL FOR THE GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
) The mills of the Champion International Company
which makes the paper on which the the National Geographic Magazine is printed
are located in Lawrence, Mass. This picture shows great piles of pulp-wood
ready for conversion into paper for The geographic. Parts of these wood piles
are more than 30 feet high. the cars shown in the picture are on a trestle 21
feet high. The geographic Magazine mailed in a single year, if laid side by
side would reach from Quito, Ecuador across Columbia and the Caribbean, thence
across the United States and Canada, through the North Pole, and across
Siberia, China and Siam to Bangkok. it tales 33,000 miles of wrapper to mail
one year's edition. It would require a bookshelf more than three and a half
miles long to hold all the copies of this month's issue of The Geographic.
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GEOGRAPHIC PAPER MATERIAL, READY FOR CONVERSION INTO PULP.
) The wood from which The Geographic paper is
made is first converted into chips. it is then put into hugh steel digesters,
where, with the use of chemicals, and under a high steam pressure, it is
converted into pulp, much as the juices of the stomach digest food. The
digesters are directly under these bin, and are filled by pulling a slide at
the bottom of the bins. Both acids and alkalis are used in converting the wood
chips into pulp. in general practice, sulphorous acid is used in treating the
long-leaf coniferous woods, having the longest fibres, such as spruce, hemlock
and fir, and caustic soda in treating the broad-leaf woods, such as popular
and chestnut, leaving the shorter fibers.
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A CORNER OF THE BEATER-ROOM, WHERE THE DIGESTED WOOD IS FURTHER TREATED BEFORE BECOMING READY FOR CONVERSION INTO PAPER.
) In this room digested spruce wood, treated with
sulphur fumes, and digested poplar wood, treated with caustic soda, are
mixed-the one to give strength and the other (to) bulk the paper, long fibered
wood making strong paper just as long-staple cotton makes string cloth. Clay
used for filler, and other materials are then added, and the mass is thoroughly
beaten and mixed and brought to a proper consistency for use in the
paper-making machines.
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NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PAPER IN THE MAKING.
) In this large room, some two hundred feet long,
the liquid pulp shown in the previous picture is converted into uncoated
paper. At the rear of each machine is a tank of pulp. A film of the pulp flows
upon an endless belt of fine mesh wire, which is shaken vigorously. The water
drains through the wire and gradually the residue solidifies. By the time the
endless belt reaches the turning point, the residue is solid enough to hold
the form as paper. Is then caught up between two rolls which squeeze out the
remaining water. Thence it passes around a series of iron drums filled
with live steam: these dry it. After that it passes between the calender rolls
emerges in the foreground as machine finished paper. These machines give one
an idea of the huge proportions of a modern paper machine.
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IN THE COATING ROOM
) This picture shows the rolls of paper made on
the machine shown in the image above, just starting on the coating-machines.
The paper passes through a bath of coating material; then through felt-covered
rolls; then between vibrating brushes, which lay the coating material exactly
and smoothly on the paper. it then passes out at the left into the drying room
(see the following illustration).
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THE DRYING ROOM IN THE COATING MILL AT LAWRENCE, MASS.
) After the paper has received it's coating from
the coating machine shown in the previous picture, it passes in a continuous
web to the drying room. Blasts of hot air coming out of galvanized ducts
beneath support it for a distance of 100 feet, until it reaches the
drying-chamber in the rear of the room. Here it hangs in festoons much like
those of cotton cloth. In the picture, the paper is passing from right to
left. After leaving the drying-room, it is wound on rolls as shown in the next
picture.
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PAPER READY FOR THE CALENDER PRESSES.
) This picture shows the paper after it has been
coated and dried as shown previously and is being rolled at the end of the
coating machine. It is now ready to be sent to the big presses which calender
it or iron it, as popular parlance would have it. This and the two previous
pictures show a continuous process over a single machine but on account of the
length of the machine, the process is illustrated in sections.
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A BATTERY OF CALENDER PRESSES AT WORK FINISHING MAGAZINE PAPER.
) After the coated paper has been dried and put
into rolls, as shown in the preceding pictures, it is brought to the room
shown here. A roll is put in the reel at the man's shoulder in the foreground
and started through the machine. it passes between the two top rollers, and
then in and out between the succeeding rollers until it reaches the bottom.
many tons of pressure have ironed it before it comes out and is rolled up
again. this process gives it the finish that the national Geographic must have
to maintain its high standard.
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THE SORTING MILL IN THE PAPER MILL
) After the paper has been
calendered, the big
rolls are put into a cutting-machine that cuts the continuous roll into sheets
of the desired size. These are ten examined, sheet by sheet, by the women
shown in the picture. All perfect seets are put into a pile and the imperfect
sheets are placed in another pile. The perfect sheets are then ready, after
trimming for the presses of the National Graphic. |
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
) This is the March 1920 issue cover. The
paper-making story is part of an article in this issue titled, "Massachusetts-Beehive
of Business" by William Joseph Showalter.
Note: The Papermaking History Page has made in depth searches to locate or find a record of the Champion International Company paper mill of Lawrence, MA without success. Apparently the mill has been closed for quite some time. The only reference we uncovered was an obituary of a person employed by Champion International Company during his life time but no indication of length of service or date. The Merrimac Paper Co., of Lawrence, MA reviewed the paper machine photos and information we furnished them but could not identify the machines. They were confident the machines were not part of their mill history. We thank Rick Gibbons of Merrimac for taking the time to evaluate the information. We also did a search of the records we have of machines built by Black Clawson, Beloit & Pusey Jones. The earliest Champion machines found were built in 1920 for the Canton mill, by Pusey & Jones. Both machines were left hand. Update June 18, 2001: Finally found a record of the mill described in this article in a 1942 edition of Post's Paper Mill Directory. The information of Page 193 is reproduced exactly as listed. Champion-International Co. (C. T. Dole, Pres.; W. T. Dole, Vice-Pres.; Sec. and Treas.; A. M. Howe, Vice-Pres. in Charge Mfg.) Paper Mill. Eight beaters and three Jordans; one 126" and one 166" Fourdriniers; widest trimmed sheet, 160". Water and steam. Surface coated papers. 200,000 lbs. 24 hours. Pulp Mill. Three digesters. Water and steam. Soda fibre. 60,000 lbs. 24 hours. Update October 3, 2007
We will continue to search for more information on this mill, particularly when the mill was closed, the circumstances of the closing and who supplied the paper machines. We would appreciate any information concerning the Champion International Company of Lawrence, MA or of paper machines built for that mill. |
The Papermaking History Page wishes to thank National Geographic Magazine for permission to post this article.
For more exciting information and articles about the world we live in, visit the National Geographic Magazine Website.
Forward comments about this article to Luigi Bagnato