320

MODERN PAPER-MAKING

amount of specks which may be allowed in a good sheet, and this can only be
arrived at by long experience in sorting such papers.
The sorters, who must have experience, while referring doubtful questions
to their forewoman, use their own judgment as to what shall constitute a good
sheet, and any sheet which does not quite reach this standard is placed on one side
to be sold as retree. Those which contain blemishes in the third degree are put
among the broken, and obviously faulty and useless sheets are sent back to the mill.

[Greenfield Paper Mitt
fig. 137.—examining, cleaning, banding and packing Cons of cigarette paper
So far we have dealt only with dirt or blemishes in the paper, and these
may consist of all kinds of foreign matter, such as pieces of metal from the beater
knives, chips from buttons, etc., small pieces of rubber, specks of improperly
dissolved dye, splinters of wood, shive, shine, froth and many other things.
Besides dirt, there are other things which may spoil an otherwise perfect
sheet of paper; and the women must be on the look out for light or heavy sheets,
which must not be allowed to pass, sheets which are too low or too high in
finish, and those in which the water mark is defective, or, in the case of a paper
in which the mark has to register, is out of place.