To the Editor of the Argus
Dear Sir, - In Tuesday's edition of your Journal, 1st page, 4th column, and in the 7th advertisement, read: "A thorough practical Paper-maker is desirous of meeting with a capitalist to join him in establishing a Paper Manufactory near Melbourne. Apply to Jones and Co., 36, Elizabeth-street."

I do not know who the advertiser is, nor yet the amount of capital which he may have at command; but I rejoice to notice an energetic spirit of active enterprise beginning to diffuse itself over the public mind.

You will probably excuse me, Sir, making a literal extract of the preceding paragraph. I am aware that , in doing so, I, in some measure, invade the prerogative of a printing-office. It may appear like a friendly, or interested, effort to secure a prominent and double insertion gratis. I assure you that such is not the case. The write is, personally, a stranger to me; and I have no other object in this letter, than to congratulate him in particular, and the country in general, for submitting such a laudable and essential proposition.

The Argus, Sir, is the recognised organ of the vox populi in Australia; and, as you have already succeeded in the manufacture of your own printing ink, I am certain that your views, as to the expediency and profit of establishing a Paper Factory in Victoria, on the banks of the Yarra, will not be visionary or speculative; but tangible and sincere.

W[ith all due] respect, allow me to subscribe myself,
Dear Sir,
Very faithfully yours,
ANDREW TIMBRELL
Late E. I. Co.'s Naval Service,
Swanston-street, 13th September, 1853.

We are very glad to hear that this company is progressing, and is likely to obtain public support, a demand for shares having already arisen. We cannot do better, for the information of the public, than here to copy the prospectus, which has already been advertised:-

VICTORIA PAPER COMPANY. - It is proposed to form a company, for the purpose of introducing into the colony the manufacture of paper. From calculations which have been made by competent and intelligent persons (and which are open for inspection at the office of the company), it is quite evident that it will prove a highly remunerative investment, and another step towards developing the resources, and increasing the progress and prosperity of the colony. It is proposed to raise a capital of £30,000 in 3,000 shares of £10 each, 10s. per share to be paid as a deposit with the application for shares, and £2 per share at the time of executing the deed of settlement, further calls to be £1 per share, at a distance of at least one month from each other. The following gentleman have taken a great interest in the undertaking, and agree to act as officers: - Provisional Directors: Lachlan Mackinnon, Esq., F. Sinnet, Esq., Thomas Dickson, Esq. (Director, Gilchrist & Co.), W. F. A. Rucker, Esq., F. F. Lovett, Esq., William Smith, Esq., F. P. Stevens, Esq., M.L.C., William Clarke, Esq., J. Henderson, Esq., J. Howitt, Esq., Treasurer: John Mathewson, Esq., Banker: Bank of Victoria. Secretary pro tem: Mr. David Stevenson. Modern science having shown the applicability of several substances to the economical manufacture of paper, and these colonies being provided with an abundance of material suitable for such purposes, an ample supply can at all times be depended upon. As soon as 1,000 shares are subscribed for, a meeting of shareholders will be held, for the purpose of agreeing to the terms of the deed of settlement, for electing directors, and for commencing the operations of the company. Application for shares to be addressed to the Secretary; or to Mr. Trenchard, solicitor to the company, at the office, 28 Queen-street, Melbourne, where forms can be obtained. Form of application - 'To the Provisional Committee of the Victoria Paper Manufacturing Company: Gentlemen, I herewith transmit to you the sum of £ --- , and request you will allot me --- shares in this undertaking; and in consideration of your doing so, or any less number of shares, I hereby undertake and agree to pay all further calls on such shares as shall be alloted to me to the extent of 10l. per share, and to execute the deed of settlement when called upon to do so. - I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant, Name of Applicant in full, with address, profession or occupation, date.'

It is our earnest hope that this is the forerunner of many similar associations for developing our resources and rendering us independent of foreign supplies. There is plenty of capital to be had, and the new law of limited liability will encourage many to lend their aid in prosecuting enterprises, which only require a little courage and perseverance to ensure the most certain and abundant success.

The following report has been adopted by the Committee appointed to consider the propriety of establishing a Paper Manufactory in this colony: -

"Your Sub-committee, in preparing their report from the materials placed before them, would remark that the information supplied by various parties professing to be thoroughly acquainted with the manufacture of paper, is vague and imperfect, and by no means to be relied upon as a guide for the operations of a Joint Stock Company: for while they have all agreed in opinion that the manufacture in this Colony, of so necessary an article as paper, must be highly remunerative, there is a great diversity in their views as to the means by which it might profitably be produced, such as the amount required, the nature and power of the machinery, the cost of the raw material, and the amount realised therefrom: for instance, in one case where a person presented himself before your Sub-committee, and stated that 87 men and boys employed in connection with machinery which would cost 8,000l., would be sufficient for the manufacture of 1,200 tons of paper annually; in another case the person examined estimated the required number of hands at 140, with machinery to cost 20,000l., to be capable of producing only 728 tons annually.

"In the face of these conflicting estimates your Sub-committee think it most conducive to a thorough appreciation of their value to place them before you in a tabular form: so that the shareholders and the public may draw their own conclusions from the materials supplied to your Sub-committee, by parties who have come forward in consequence of the advertisements requesting information on the subject; but it must also be remarked that some of these parties confessed to complete ignorance of the rag-cutting machine which has recently been introduced into the large mills in England, thereby effecting a great saving of time and labor.

Mr. William Smith - Hands of all Kinds - 33; Nature of Machinery - 2 machines; Cost of Machinery - (blank); Tons of Rags - 1,200; Annual Product - 300 tons fine, 400 tons coarse; Value of Product (blank).

Mr. Hiram Horrocks - Hands of all Kinds - 89; Nature of Machinery - 1 engine of 50 horsepower; Cost of Machinery - (blank); Tons of Rags - (blank); Annual Product - 186? tons fine, 234? tons coarse; Value of Product (blank).

Mr. Mann - Hands of all Kinds - 42; Nature of Machinery - (blank); Cost of Machinery - £3,000; Tons of Rags - (blank); Annual Product - (blank); Value of Product (blank).

Mr. George Knight - Hands of all Kinds - 72; Nature of Machinery - 2 machines; Cost of Machinery - (blank); Tons of Rags - 1,200; Annual Product - 300 tons fine, 400 tons coarse; Value of Product (blank).

Mr. Richard M'Donald - Hands of all Kinds - 65; Nature of Machinery - 2 machines; Cost of Machinery - £13,600; Tons of Rags - (blank); Annual Product - 312 tons fine, 312 tons coarse; Value of Product (blank).

Mr. Nelson - Hands of all Kinds - 67; Nature of Machinery - 2 machines; Cost of Machinery - £8,000; Tons of Rags - 1,600; Annual Product - 400 tons fine, 300 tons coarse; Value of Product (blank).

Mr. Edward Spiers - Hands of all Kinds - 140; Nature of Machinery - 2 machines; Cost of Machinery - £20,000; Tons of Rags - (blank); Annual Product - 312 tons fine, 410 tons coarse; Value of Product (blank).

Your Sub-committee would also draw attention to the estimate furnished by Mr. David Stevenson, the promoter of the present undertaking, but they purposely abstain from offering an opinion on the merits of any one estimate in comparison with the others, as they consider that it falls within the province of the Provisional Committee to deal with that portion of the subject - they would merely beg to express their belief that no fair calculation can be founded upon the foregoing data, inasmuch as they are deficient, and where figures have been given they will be found to be at variance upon those points on which correct information is most needed, viz., in the cost of machinery, labor, and materials required for the manufacture of paper in this colony, and the quantity to be produced from a given power - manual and machine.

Estimate furnished by Mr. D. Stevenson - Hands of all Kinds - 38; Cost of Land and Buildings - £12,000; Nature of Machinery - 2 engines, 2 machines, etc., etc.; Cost of Machinery - £8,000; Cost of Rolling Stock - £1,800; Annual Expenditure, Labor, etc. £18,832; Tons of Rags - 1,000; Cost of Rags - £12,000; Annual Product - 400 tons fine, 350 tons coarse; Value of Product £42,500.

In this estimate the annual outlay for labor and material would appear to be £18,332, and the value of the product is shewn to be £42,500, being a difference in favor of profit and loss of £11, 718, or rather more than 50 per cent profit upon the permanent outlay of £21,000 for land, buildings, rolling stock, machinery, &c., and 39 per cent profit upon the proposed capital of £30,000.

In consequence of the conflicting nature of the evidence, it was determined to suspend operations for the present.

To the Editor of the Melbourne Morning Herald

SIR. - It would appear from a report published in the daily papers, that the proposal to establish a paper mill in Victoria has been shelved. The committee, innocently enough, furnish the public with the "information" with which they have been "crammed," and then declare it of so conflicting a nature that they can do nothing with it. I never saw the advertisement of the committee, but I take it for granted that they did (as they say they did) advertise for information as to the cost of working, the number of hands required, the machinery, &c. of a paper mill. But did it not strike any of them as singularly absurd that they should ask men to come forward and give them gratuitously information that it might have taken them half a lifetime to acquire? There are persons in Melbourne eminently fitted to furnish the required information; but the committee could hardly suppose that what had cost toil and time to acquire, and what brought grist to a man's own mill, would be suppletd to set theirs going, and that, too, without any "consideration." But the committee having given in their report, and gone to sleep, is no reason whatever that the project of establishing a paper mill here should go to sleep, and that I will now proceed to show.

From a careful estimate of the quantity of double and quadruple demy used in Victoria, I get a value of £32,000; of demy, folio, and quarto post, foolscap, &c. for printing and stationery purposes, a value of £40,000; of wrapping and grocers' papers, a value of £10,000; making in all £82,000; but as I have estimated the cost considerably under the present selling prices, and the prices which have ruled for some time past. I think the sum of £100,000 would more correctly express the value of the paper imported into this market. Of this £10,000, I take it that the sum of £33,000 more than represents the amount which goes into the English of foreign paper manufacturer's pocket, the remainder being made up of freight, and charges and profit. For this let one example suffice: - Sixty-six pound quadruple demy has recently sold at 110s. per ream; or to put the matter in a more intelligible form for the general reader, the paper alone for 500 copies of the Herald costs more in Melbourne than the paper for 500 copies of the Times would cost in London, with the old penny stamp duty included.

Of this statement, Sir, I beg with your permission to make the Committee a free gift, even though they give me no consideration for it. Hoping that the project which they have abandoned may be taken up and carried out by some Wrigley or Spalding, who will duly appreciate the advantages of an overflowing supply of the raw material, and a large, and daily increasing demand for the manufactured article, I am, Sir, your obedient servant, DOUBLE DEMY

There is scarcely any description of manufacture (and, by the way, that word is now a complete misnomer) for which mechanical science has done so much in the way of facilitating and improving the process, and in making machinery supercede manual labour, as it has for paper-making. More than fifty years ago, the inventions of the Messrs. Fourdrinier, although inflicting ruin upon the original patentees, had the effect of reducing the cost of production as much as fifty per cent, while the quality of the article produced was immeasurably superior to that of the paper previously turned out by hand-work. During the last half-century, the system of the Messrs. Fourdrinier has been considerably improved upon, and the employment of human labour in the manufacture has been reduced to its minimum. In every stage of the process, mechanical power is the prime agent, and manual plays a very secondary part. For this reason, independently of others to which we shall presently allude, paper-making would appear to be a branch of industry which might be beneficially introduced into this colony; beneficially, both as regards the general interests of the community, and those of the projectors of such an enterprise. We have no means at hand of ascertaining the exact value of the paper annually imported into Victoria, since this article comes under the general head of stationery in our table of imports; but as the value of this item figures at the sum of £157,750 for the year 1858, we may safely assume that the paper yearly consumed in this colony is worth not less than £100,000. The consumption is steadily on the increase, while complaints are made by the manufacturers in England and France that the supply of the raw material is falling below the demand, and that unless science can discover something to offer in substitution for the linen and woollen rag, the price of the manufactured article must be materially enhanced and consumption checked. In so far as the multiplication of books is concerned, and looking at the miserable quality of some on the literature which is issued by British and foreign publishers, perhaps the imposition of a limit upon such issues is a desirable thing; but as this check would be arbitary in its operation, and just as likely to strangle a good book as a bad one, and as commerce and the diffusion of intelligence must suffer by any falling off in the supply of paper, and by the consequent augmentation of the price of that commodity, we ought to take steps to guard against such a contingency.

So far as these colonies are affected by the matter, there is, probably, no part of the world in which the supply of the raw material for the paper-maker is so abundant, in proportion to the population, as in Australia, and in Victoria more especially, owing partly to the prosperous condition of the community, and partly to the rapid wear and tear of clothing by the climate. And if it pays to collect rags here, as is now done, ship them to England, convert them into paper, re-ship them in their new form, and sell the commodity at such a price as necessarily includes double freight, and the profits of half-a-dozen parties to the transaction, the local manufacture of the article would surely remunerate the paper-maker here, who would only labour under the disadvantage of having to pay higher rates for labour than his British or French competitor, manual labour entering, as we have already remarked, not at all extensively into the fabrication of the product.

Besides the abundant supply of cast-off clothing available for conversion into paper- pulp (and we may remark, in passing, that the value of our imports of soft goods is in excess of one million sterling per annum), the colonies contain many vegetable products capable of being manufactured into paper. Attention has already been directed to some of these, and careful inquiries would no doubt demonstate the existence of many others which have been hitherto overlooked. The fibrous quality of the bark shed from so many of our indigenous trees seems to suggest conditions favourable to the success of an experiment directed to ascertain its utility for the purposes of the paper-maker; while the forests and native grasses of New Zealand might be laid under contribution for the same object. In fact, there appears to be no serious obstacle, and many inducements, to erect paper mills in this colony, wherever the proximity of a large population to a running stream of water favours the establishment of such an enterprise.

TO THE EDITOR OF "THE ARGUS"

Sir, - It has been frequently a matter of surprise to me that colonial energy has never been directed to the manufacture of paper. It surely cannot be numbered among those manufacturing interests which, it is said, will not flourish here without protective duties. An ever widening market, a steady and continual advance in prices, combined with an inadequate supply of the raw material in the older countries, would seem to offer peculiar advantages to those who should enter into that business in this colony. As the people increase in intelligence, so does the demand for paper extend, and severely tax the capabilities of the manufacturers. It is stated that the consumption of paper per head by the Americans exceeds that of England as three pounds weight to one. In the latter country we know that the supply cannot keep pace with the demand, and that the high price of paper has become both a serious obstacle to the publication to literature, and an onerous tax upon the consumers. The item of paper is so heavy a charge that some of our Birmingham productions have been driven out of the Eastern markets, especially in Africa, by the Americans, who have no excise duties to add to the first already heavy cost of this valuable commodity. So much for the question as it stands at present.

Now, if a few lumberers in the United States are able, with their necessarily limited means, to build and erect paper-mills, and work them with handsome results, till they soon become enabled to erect all the extensive buildings required for a first class establishment, I cannot think that Victoria presents insurmountable difficulties to the manufacture succeeding here. Many of the humble mills I allude to are only worked a portion of the year, and yet is seen they pay handsomely. Probably in many places here it would be impossible to obtain a sufficient supply of water-power all the year round; still, if the returns are so large, we should not be at a greater disadvantage than our American brethren. They suffer, not from want of water, but from a want of material, and being compelled to use shavings, swamp-hay, cotton waste (if procurable), Indian corn refuse, and old woollen rags, they are on the whole unable to produce a first-class bleached paper; but they do manage to produce a coloured, tough paper, and very serviceable for ordinary purposes, as their envelopes, &c., testify. These humble mills have, however, shown that good writing paper, of other colours than the orthodox cream-laid or blue-post, is obtainable from these coarse materials.

With these examples before us, I can see no great obstacles to a simple following out of this course with most advantageous results to those engaged. On several of the gold-fields we find sufficient water-power is obtainable to work heavy mining plants; one would imagine, therefore, that the same supply could be obtained for the purpose of making paper. In advocating the establishment of these primitive and simple mills I would suggest situations near the gold-fields, for several reasons - first, because a large supply of rags is easily obtainable without much difficulty; secondly, because a market is already at hand for the manufactured article, and also, because the system of small co-operative bodies is better understood on them. During a long residence on the gold- fields I have met many who are thoroughly acquainted with the manufacture of paper; and I am confident that, in the present depressed state of things on most of them, this subject only requires ventilating to produce tangible results. We see small bodies of men on them encountering months of labour and anxiety and overcoming difficulties by great perseverance, with, in many instances, only prospective advantage: the same efforts applied to this branch of industry, by bodies similarly associated, would at least be more certain in its results, and I think more productive, on the whole. The portion of time not employed in manufacturing could be profitably spent in procuring material and otherwise.

Leaving this portion of the subject for the present, and having somewhat touched upon the value of rags, permit me to throw out a suggestion or two which I think might be acted upon with advantage. It almost impossible to impress too strongly upon everyone the value of the humblest piece of rag, no matter whether woollen or not, or however insignificant it may seem. If we could make the "rag-bag" an institution in every house, few could appreciate the benefit they would be conferring upon society at large. It should not, however, be looked upon as a profitable concern; indeed, for some time it will be looked upon as a very troublesome appendage in the household, or else as a convenience when "the fire won't light." Why should not an hospital like the Melbourne one have its rag department; and if heads of families would only insist upon the establishment of the bag as a "fixin" in every household, and let its contents go to the hospital, it would soon been seen how valuable the collective contributions would prove, though individually almost valueless. The revenue that would accrue to the Melbourne Hospital from the carrying out generally of such a system would be larger than most people would imagine. I believe it would benefit the charity handsomely, after paying the expenses of packing for shipment home - if not saleable at a fair rate on the spot, and I have an idea that the results would be very unexpected and gratifying.

If I have succeeded in drawing attention to this valuable manufacture, I shall be satisfied; and, before I return to the subject with more details, hope to see it so treated as to lead to practical results.

I am, Sir, your obediently,
AN INGLEWOOD MINER
Melbourne, June 26

Some years ago there was a talk in your town of the establishment of a company for the manufacture of paper. And curiously enough, if I am not mistaken, it was proposed to make Tasmania the scene of the company's operations. In the first place, because labour was cheaper in Tasmania than in the gold colony. In the second place, because the rivers and mountain streams of this island afforded an abundance both of water and of water power - two essentials in the particular manufacture contemplated. The project fell through because there was an anticipated difficulty of finding a sufficient supply of the raw material for paper-making. In those days, you know, it was thought that the only available pabulum for the paper-mill was rags. But that hypothesis has long since been abandoned. In days when we build houses of iron and glass: make pipes to sustain an enormous pressure out of papier mache, and so forth, we can surely contrive to manufacture paper out of anything that is at all fibrous in its composition. I do not know what has become of the project of the ingenious Frenchman, who purposed to weave silk out of mulberry leaves, dispensing with the intermediate agency of the worm, whose task it has been for these many centuries past to spin the thread, "long drawn out," which has supplied the silk loom with its material. But it seems certain that we can dispense, if we will, with the whole system of intermediate agency between the native form of vegetable fibre and the "old rags" to which it becomes ultimately reduced, after being worn, worn out, and thrown away. Any fibre is capable, apparently, of being used; and the practical shape the question assumes is, where can a fibre be found?

I think it likely that after the lapse of these years since the idea was first mooted, Tasmania will become the seat of a paper manufacture. And on this point, postponing for the present other subjects, I am going to have a gossip. Some months back I was introduced to a gentleman, the connection of a high church dignitary here, who had journeyed from South Carolina in the United States. An Englishman, he had found there an opportunity for the profitable investment of capital. He was interested in a patent for the reduction by a very simple process, as he affirmed, of coarse vegetable matter to a fine fibre capable of being used in paper making. This gentleman showed me a bundle of fibre very much resembling fine tow, which had been produced from the hard knotted stumps of the sugar cane in Carolina. At that time the process was a secret. But as specifications have since been laid in the office of the Attorney-General, accompanying application for a patent, so that the rights of the inventor are secured, I am at liberty to describe the operation, which is beautifully scientific and simple. I witnessed, some few days back some experiments for the reduction of fibre of coarse stringy bark - a most unpromising and cantankerous-looking material. No appliances were available, but an old steam engine of small power, and a steam tube or cylinder. Into this cylinder was inserted some pieces of stringy bark, hard and coarse. The process is based upon the fact that all vegetable matter consists of cellular tissue, and that these minute cells contain water. The bark being subjected to the pressure of hot steam, the heat converts the watery particles in the substance of the material into steam, whilst the external pressure of the steam supplied from the boiler, prevents its explosion. After an interval of a few minutes, the cylinder is opened, the material ejected, and being relieved from external compression, the steam generated in the cells causes the whole mass to explode, and a heap of fine fibre is the result. Whether our mind is practical enough to turn to use this most costless method of preparing a fibre for the paper mill to take in hand remains yet to be seen. My object is to awaken your mind to a sense of the fact that their are fields here for the investment of Victorian capital, or, to put the thing in other shape, that you can find many materials here which might feed your manufactories and enterprise.

Papermaking in Victoria to 1900  |  Back to Home Page