Strange, almost phenomenal, conditions come about in the transformation from filmy pulp to finished paper.  A sheet which, though formed, is at the first press-roll too fragile to carry its own weight, becomes possessed of a final strength and power that is almost incredible.  The myriad of minute fibers composing the sheet, upon drying uniformly, possesses great aggregate strength.  A sheet of paper yields readily to tearing, but the same sheet, when a perfectly even tension is applied, will demonstrate that it is possessed of wonderful resisting power.  In evidence may be cited an instance that seems almost beyond belief.  Through some curious mishap a web of heavy paper, in fact, bristol board, which had been thoroughly formed, was suddenly superheated and then cooled while still on the driers.  This was caused by a difference in temperature of the driers and resulted in the sudden contraction of the web of bristol; the strain on the machine was so great that not only were the driving-cogs broken on two of the driers around which the paper was at the moment passing, but the driers themselves were actually lifted out of place, showing a resisting power in the paper of at least several tons.  The paper now passes to the upright stack of rolls which are known as “calenders.”  The word is derived from calendra; a corruption of cylindrus, a roller or cylinder.  They are simply rollers revolving in contact, and heated from the interior by steam.  These calenders are used for giving to the paper a smooth and even surface, and are also employed in the smoothing and finishing of cloth.  The speed with which the paper passes through these cylinders is remarkable, from one hundred to five hundred feet running through and over the machine in a minute; and in some of the most recent mills the web is as wide as one hundred and fifty-six inches (thirteen feet); this is very nearly double the average machine width of a very few years ago, while the speed has increased in proportionate ratio; only a few years ago the maximum speed was from two hundred and fifty to three hundred feet per minute; at this writing (1900) there are machines in operation which run as high as five hundred feet per minute.  But great as has been the increase in the production of paper, the demand has kept pace steadily.  The wonderful product of the rag-bag holds an invincible position in the world’s economy.

For machine-finished book and print papers, as well as for other cheaper grades, the process ends with the calenders, after which the paper is slit into required widths by disc-knives which are revolving, and so cut continuously.  Paper intended for web newspaper presses is taken off in continuous rolls of the widths required, varying from seventeen to seventy-six inches, according to the size of the paper to be printed.  These reels contain from fifteen to twenty-five thousand lineal feet of paper, or from three to five miles.  The amount of paper used in disseminating the news of the day is enormous; sometimes one or two mills are required to manufacture the supply for a single metropolitan daily, while one New York newspaper claims to have used four hundred and fifty tons of paper in one Christmas edition, which is about four times the amount of its regular daily consumption.