PAPER SORTING 321
In jogging up' the sheets the sorter will observe those sheets which are not
cut square, or are too long or too short, or cut with ragged edges.
From the foregoing remarks it will be seen that the sorters' work requires
experience and skill, and, above all, great care and concentration. A good
sorter works at a very fast speed, and rarely allows a faulty sheet to pass, so
that she is a valuable asset to the salle, and gets the best qualities to overlook.
New sorters gain their experience on lower grades of paper, which do not
require such careful sorting. It is usual for good-class papers to be turned as
they are being sorted, so that both sides of the sheet can be examined, and
during the turning movement the appearance of the 'look-through' of the
sheet and also the water mark can be seen. In this way crushed sheets, and
blurred or otherwise imperfect water marks, can be seen and thrown out.
It often happens that a small piece of wire, forming part of a letter or design,
becomes detached from the dandy roll, and this may not be immediately
.observed at the machine, so that, unless the sorters are very careful and skilful
in watching the mark, they may let through a quantity of paper with the
defective mark, and if it is detected by the customer the paper is quite likely
to be rejected.
In the sorting of water-marked papers for postage stamps and security
papers, which are needle-cut and have to register exactly, it is necessary for
each sheet to be placed in a frame with a glass back, in order that its exact regis-
tration may be carefully checked.
In order that the work of sorting may be thoroughly and carefully carried
out, there must be adequate supervision of the sorters by capable forewomen,
\vhose duty is to watch the sorters regularly, check their work by occasionally
resorting it, and removing any faulty sheets which may have slipped through
unnoticed. It is also very necessary to watch that a sorter working very fast
does not crumple the sheets by rough handling. Many sorters otherwise efficient
and careful have this fault, which is mostly the result of gripping the sheets
too tightly with the left hand.
After the paper has been sorted it is carefully jogged, and stacked ready to
be counted into reams. The counting or telling is quickly done, usually by
women, who turn over the edge of a handful of paper and run their fingers
across the edges of three, four or more sheets at a time. Often it is necessary
to 'quire mark5 the reams, and in this case a slip of coloured paper is put in
after every twenty sheets.
Unless the paper is specified all 'insides' or each quire perfect, it is usual
to pkce a quire of retree at the top and bottom of each ream, so that if the
paper is slightly marked or creased by the tape or during handling, it will
generally be the retree quire which will suffer.