The stock passes through one or more of these “Jordans” into the machine chest. Thence it is pumped to a level higher than the machine, and flows through “sand settlers” to a screen. The “sand settler” is a long, open trough containing a series of baffle boards which collect any sediment, preventing it from getting into the paper. Screens are of various types, the main feature consisting of bronze plates pierced with fine slots through which the fibers are forced. The object is to give uniformity to the stock which reaches the machine, and to exclude any knots of stock, strings or foreign substances. The width of the slots is varied to suit different stocks--some slots being as fine as 10/1000 of an inch. We have now described the process of paper-making up to the point where the stuff is formed into paper, and must pause for a description of the paper-machine itself. PAPER-MACHINE. The paper-machine may be considered in three parts: The wet end where the paper is formed and pressed, the middle, where it is dried, and the dry end, where it is calendered, slit and wound. There are two distinct types of wet ends--the Fourdrinier and the cylinder. Both are mechanical reproductions in continuous process of the steps taken in the ancient hand methods, a brief consideration of which impresses clearly on one’s mind the rationale of the machine. HAND PROCESS. The tools of the primitive paper-maker consisted of a pulp vat for the fiber-laden water, a frame, or mold, across which was stretched a mesh of closely woven wire, and a removable frame, known as the deckle, which fitted around the edge of the mold to keep the moist pulp from overflowing and to help regulate the thickness of the paper. Grasping the mold by two opposite sides, the vatman submerged the mold in the water; then raised it out, holding it level. By this means a film of pulp was caught up, being deposited on the bottom of the mold by the passage of the water in which the fibers had been suspended. A lateral shaking motion served to knit the fibers together, and to deposit them as evenly formed as possible all over the mold. As the water drained through, the film of pulp solidified. Then the deckle frame was removed, and there, on the top of the mold, was a sheet of moist pulp. The edges of this sheet would be thin and feather-like as a result of the pulp leaking under the deckle. Hence the term deckle edge. It required a great deal of skill to remove this film, while preserving it intact. This was accomplished by inverting the mold and pressing the sheet upon a moist felt cloth. If the act was skilfully performed, the mold could be lifted away from the sheet, leaving it unbroken upon the felt. Then it was covered by a second piece of felt and the process was repeated until a small pile had accumulated.