Though the steady march of progress and invention has given to the modern paper-maker marvelous machines by which the output is increased a thousand-fold over that of the old, slow methods, he still has many of the same difficulties to overcome that confronted his predecessor. While the use of wood pulp has greatly changed the conditions as regards the cheaper grades of this staple, the ragman is to-day almost as important to the manufacturer of the higher grades as he was one hundred years ago, when the saving of rags was inculcated as a domestic virtue and a patriotic duty. Methods have changed, but the material remains the same. In a complete modern mill, making writing and other high-grade papers, the process begins with unsightly rags as the material from which to form the white sheets that are to receive upon their spotless polished surface the thoughts of philosophers and statesmen, the tender messages of affection, the counsels and admonitions of ministers, the decisions of grave and learned judges, and all the “Wisdom of things, mysterious, divine,” that “Illustriously doth on paper shine,” as was duly set forth in rhyme by the “Boston News Letter” in 1769. “The bell cart will go through Boston about the end of next month,” it announced, and appealed to the inhabitants of that modern seat of learning and philosophy to save their rags for the occasion, and thus encourage the industry. ♦The methods of to-day♦ The rags do not come to the mammoth factories of to-day in “bell carts,” but by the carload, in huge bales, gathered from all sections of this great Republic, as well as from lands beyond the eastern and the western oceans. The square, compact, steam-compressed bundles are carried by elevators well up toward the top of the building, where they await the knife of the “opener.” When they have been opened, the “feeder” throws the contents by armfuls into the “thrasher.” The novice or layman, ignorant of the state in which rags come to the mill, will find their condition a most unpleasant surprise, especially disagreeable to his olfactory nerves. Yet the unsavory revelation comes with more force a little farther on, in the “assorting-room.” ♦The thrasher♦ The “thrasher” is a great cylindrical receptacle, revolving rapidly, which is supplied with long wooden beaters or arms, passing through a wooden cylinder, and driven by power. ♦The sorting room♦ When the rags have been tossed in, there ensues a great pounding and thrashing, and the dust is carried off in suction air-tubes, while the whipped rags are discharged and carried to the “sorting” and “shredding” room. Here the rags are assorted as to size, condition, and the presence of buttons, hooks and eyes, or other material that must be removed. Then those that need further attention are passed on to the “shredders,” these as well as the “sorters” being women. The “shredders” stand along a narrow counter; in front of each one there