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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 1916)
TITP SUM3AT . OREGOXIAX, PORTIiAXD, . . ..NOVEMBER. 3, 1916. OREGON CITY'S FIRST PAPER MILL STARTED 50 YEARS AGO Pulp at First Made From Rags, AVhich Were Costly and Hard to Get and Early Plant Fails. A A" 4-S. V K V i5 evMV v T Kfi f---r.-.. . v i. : ' ...', ;', i y 01 IEGON CITY. Or.. Nov. 4. (Spe cial.) Were it not for the fact that the big paper mills at the Falls of the Willamette were exerting every effort to keep 'Dace with orders they might be celebrating- the 50th anniversary of the founding of the in dustry in Oregdn City. In October, 1S66, a small four-story stone building was completed in Ore gon City, the pioneer paper mill of the North Pacific Coast. Its daily output of 1500 pounds of paper contrasts strangely with the 28u tons turned out each 24 hours by tne two companies operating here now. Then the paper mills employed 20 hands, now about 1300 men work in the mills. Paper then was made from rags, for the wood pulp processes of today were just being worked out in the East, while in one of Oregon City's modern mills of 1916 logs enter the mill at one ervd and pa per is turned out ready for the presses at the other. Karly ProreKS Described. "The building for the pioneer paper mill of Oregon is now completed and the machinery well advanced prepara tory to active operations." reads a pa per on the subject printed half a cen tury ago. "It will in evtry particular be a first-class establishment. The capital stock of the company is $50, 000. The present machinery includes one full set of modern cylinder descrip tion with a capacity to turn out about 1500 pounds of paper per day. Of opera tives they will employ about 20 men and women. The building is of brick and stone, four stories high. 30 by 60 feet in size, with an addition 17 by 60 feet, two stories high. This space is divided into rooms adapted for the work of making paper. "When the stock is first received it is weighed and then' hoisted to the fourth story of the main building, used as a stockroom,. As it is wanted it la passed through an opening to the third story or sorting-room, where the process of sorting the material for each particular kind of paper is gone through with and the rags so sorted are placed in proper bins. It next passes to the second story, where it la subjected to a process of cutting and dusting, thence it passes into the first story, where it is codked and is then put into beaters, where it is bleached and ground into pulp. "The pulp now passes into 'stuff chests.' from whence it is pumped up to the paper machines. where the nicest process is performed. After leaving the "stuff chests' the pulp passes Into a vat, where it forms into a. sheet, on a wire cylinder, the water being all extracted by a fan wheel, and turned back to another section of the vat. to pass through the same process over and again, leaving the pulp to adhere to the- filling machine as it moves along, on through the first press rolls. "At this point the sheet Is practically sufficient in itself to bear its own weight and it passes on through the second press rolls, next to the drying cylinder, thence through the calendars, next on the reels and finally to the cut ters, where the paper ia laid off in sheets, and then by the help to the finishing room, where it is counted, folded, pressed, bundled and sacked; finds its way to market. Mill Declared Credit. "Taken through, the work of making paper is one of rare interest. The miil In this city is really a credit to the superintendent, W. W. Buck, and the reluct architect and mili wrieht, A 2i. - vmmWmt 5 Ktoil t6 A ..-, v: Hardin, and an honor to the enterprtse of Its pYoJectors. There is a great de mand for materials, y which it may be kept in active operation when once under way. "The market for paper on this Coast for the past two years has been poorly supplied, most kinds have been high. The two mills of California, at Taylor-1 vine and banta Cruz, have been but a mere 'drop in the bucket.' as it were. while they have been constantly employed, prices of paper still grad ually advance, with a very scant supply. In 1865 the pioneer mill of Taylorville manufactured 5830 reams of news and 6840 reams of wrapping. They are do ing even better than that during the present year, and yet they are not able to fill their orders. We have no repor; from the Santa Cruz mill, but no doubt they are. doing equally as welL" The backers 'of that pioneer plant foresaw a prosperous future, but that future was never realized as far as they were concerned. Half a century ago rags were used almosc entirely for paper making, although the manufac ture of. a paper made principally from wood pulp was' then an accomplished fact. .-Two plants, both near Philadel phia, were turning out paper made from wood and straw, mixed in propor tions ranging from 60 , to 80 per cent wood. Wood Pulp Method Employed. - It was not until many years later that wood pulp paper became a reality in Oregon. Some sulphide pulp was Imported from Germany in Inter years by the H. L. Pittock plant on' the Clackamas River, and the first wood pulp actually made In the state of Ore gon was turned out on a common feed mill. Wood was fed into the mill in small pieces and cut into chipe, which were actually used in paper making, however, with little success. Mr. Buck, who can be considered the pioneer paper mill : promoter- of the North Pacific Coast, did not see his dreams realized to their full extent. His mill at Oregon City, while it turned out straw and Mapila papers, much of which wae shipped to San Francisco in competition with California mills, it did not prosper. The machinery gave no end of trouble, rags were high and even difficult to buy at a liberal figure. At one time Mr. Buck is said to have offered $2500 to any person who could adjust his . paper machine so that it would run satisfactorily. - Other difficulties crept into the busi ness, until in the Summer of 1867, less than a year after the mill started, it was shut. down. The Bank of British Columbia held claims against the plant totaling $10,040. and Sheriff W. P. Burns sold the ' property, building, equipment and stock' August 19, 1867. Company Is . Reorganised. Barly in the Summer of 1867 W. W. ButVc, his son. H. S. Buck, and H. L. - sol; T? Pittock, publisher of The Oregonian. formed a new paper company, called H. L. Pittock & Co. They decided to rebuild Mr. Buck's sawmill on the Clackamas Riv.er. situated about a quarter of a mile above the present county bridge across the river. The mill was put to work preparing lum ber which would be necessary for the new buildings of the paper plant and modern machinery was ordered from Worcester, Mass. - An early account of the plans of the company recites the fact that the company planned to make every grade of paper from strawboard to cream , laid note paper. In the meantime there was- a paper shortage in Oregon. The Oregon City Enterprise carried the following para graph at the head of its local column in the issue of August 22. 1867: . "Many of our readers this week get more margin with their paper than l either useful or ornamental. Others will get but half a sheet. This is pro volflng and worries our good temper but is wholly -unavoidable. We had a supply of paper on hand that would have kept us through until the Clacka mas mill - starts, but we loaned it to The Oregonian. and Mr. Pittock has been disappointed in not procuring stock for bis own use and for the use of others, we presume. It is to be hoped that the mill will be able to meet the demand next week." T'le Enterprise in the lisue of Sep tember P. 1868. announces that the Clackamas mill was running and that that issue was printed on stock from the H. L. Pittock & Co. mill. Mr. Pittock bought eome of the stock of the first Oregon City mill at the Sheriff's sale, adding it to his plant on the Clackamas. - Early in the Summer of 1866 there arrived in Oregon City, after a trying trip across the plains in an ox team, W. H. Smith, who served more than three years, as a Captain in the Civil War. He and his brother spent the Summer cutting cordwood and early In the Full they came to Oregon City in -1 search of employment. The flnst paper mill was being constructed, and the two brothers went to work. Captain Smith put on the roof of the building and then went to work permanently for Mr. Buck at the sawmill on the Clackamas. The backers of the new paper enter prise determined not to make the mis takes of the first company, and en deavored to secure an experienced pa per maker. They were fortunate in being able to induce William Law thwaite. then with the Taylor Paper Company at Taylorville. Cal.. to come. Mr. Lewthwalte, born on the Isle of Man. came from a family of paper makers and learned the trade ae a boy. In addition to knowing every detail of papermaklng. he was also a mechanic of no small ability. He arrived in Ore gon about the time construction work began on the mill of. H. L. Pittock A Co., superintended ' the reconstruction of the sawmill and the installation of the machinery and was in charge of the plant as superintendent until the construction of the rst mill at Camn, then La Camas, began early In 1883. He was the father of A. J. lewthwalte. manager of the Crown Willamette Pa per Company, and brother of John Lewthwaite. superintendent. During the time Mr. Lewthwalte was superintendent. Captain Smith was ma chine tender, and when Mr. Lewthwaite went to Camas to take charge of the mill building there Captain Smltn act ed e superintendent In his tead. The machinery was taken from the Clacka mas River mill to Camas and the build in on the Clackamas again were re built, this time Into a furniture fac tory. Since then the structures have been destroyed by fire. Capacity Two Ton a Day. The Bucks and Mr. Pittock continued In business for some time when Mr. Pittock took over the entire plant. The mill' had one machine, making, ac cording to Captain Smith, a trifle less than twp tons of paper a day. A wagon -t-Mv Tr : 1 i.wn. 9 n-,i"imij.4'j.,.1 1. mo'.i 4 v. 1 . " 1 I - Fj'rs-Z in Orcfyon Ziyt Completed, SO hauled the finished product to Oregon City from .day to day, and carried the rags and straw back to the mill. Nets discarded by the fishermen on the Columbia, sails front the ships that came Into Portland: straw from the farms In the vicinity, chemicals shipped up from San Francisco and rags gath ered from a score of towns were shlDDAri in the Pittn-1 nlianr t.- k. r-nn. verted into paper of a dosen kinds. The Camas mill waa built by the Co lumbia River Paper Company, organ ized by Mr. Pittock and his associates. It produced its first paper in May. 18S5. Mr. Lewthwalte was superin tendent and for about six months Cap tain Smith was a machine tender in the plant. The building burned in Septem ber, 1S87, but soon thereafter the con struction of a new mill on the site of the old was begun. Then followed consolidations and ex pansions until we have the Crown Willamette Paper Company of today with mills here capable of turning out over 2U0 tons of paper a day. another big plant at Camas, Wash., a mill at Floriston. Cal.. and another at Lebanon, and other Interests. After the Oregon City Paper-Manufacturing Company, as the backers of the first paper mill called themselves 50 years ago, had gone out of existence, the old was rebuilt and for years was used as a flour-mill. Joseph W. Ganong. now manager of the Portland Flouring Mill Company, and his brother. Clark, went to work in that plant. For a score of years It was known as the old brick mill. Recently it was acquired v5 .t-x.rt 11 . . ) - ... 1 ' A - .. . ' by the Hawley Pulp & Paper Company and. part of Its walls form part of one ofthe buildings of the Hawley mill of today.' . Although that plant, completed 50 years ago this month, could not pro duce In an entire year one day's out put of the great mills that line the banks of the Willamette now; although I its machinery was primitive and its I methods Insufficient, it uu the pioneer mm 01 ine- .-Nonnwesi. ana ine inira completed on the Pacific Coast. Com pare the antique machine so carefully described in that pioneer paper with the modern newspaper machines now being operated on the Pacific Coast, and which are capable of turning out newspapers at tne rate of Ti'O feet per minute in widths of 174 inches. Resort to a : pencil 'and paper to get the fuil significance of those figures. Geared up- to its hlchest speed, this machine will turn out eltht miles of paper almost'll feet wid in an hour. In two days' time it can pro duce enough to lay a strip of paper a foot wide across the continent with several hundred miles to spare. The Crown Willamette Company in its mills here alone employs almost 000 men in the Winter months, or about 45 tiins as many as worked in that mill 50 years ago. This is the growth of the paper. in dustry In Oreeon In half a century, and the end to this expansion is not here. One million dollars is going into new mills at the present time and Oregon City soon can claim without dispute the. honor of being one of the half- i i 4 .,,.. . . . , , f t. AiJ isf : is ft I v.. y?&r-s slyo. dozen principal paper-making cities of these United States. Scholarships May Bar Germans. LONDON. Nov. . The House of Commons passed this evening the sec ond reading of the Rhodes Estate hil. which would exclude Germans hence forth from enjoying scholarships at Oxford fniversity under the Cecil Rhrds trust tund. Peelinpr the Skin is Better Than Bleaching Ever vlnce th discovery that nifrcoliei wx would absorb and remove a dlscolor.d complexion. Its tim by ladies aa a uhU tuto for uleiching rnnnn hag grown rap W'y. A pt'rfert complexion can be main tain." J Indefinitely If this remarkable aub "thtieu la uaed. lis beneficent cleennlnc. cliari;ig and preservative action Is quickly anparvnt. and ladles who have been paying hi ;n prices for "special bleach" from beauty sp-ciBllats soon recoanUe that mercolliwl max outranks them all. It hajs become bo popular that It can b- obtained at all drus xlstn. Uo huv..- It In oricinal one-ounce packages. The favorite way of using- Is to to apply it like cold cream, before retiring, mashing- It off In the morning. The saxollte lotion for wrinkles and the fa'-ia contour r-as also become extremely p--t-ulHr. tine unnv of po :U-red siixoltte Is die-solved in one-half piut mitch hazel. Hathlnn the fact; in this has a splendid effect -in eraaing wrinkle and - Improving contour. -Adv. - 1