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Show OL ~PAPERMAKIN 1 too rapidly their parents chide them by sayin they must have been raised by the papermalers A great deal of paper was produced in Holland i the eighteenth century and it is recorded that i the year 1726 there wassold at Amsterdam a hundred thousand reams in a single day The old European papermalkers, as well as th first American workers at this craft, were much to fond of their drink and could be found almost an night at the public houses which were locate near the mills. The vatman and coucher, wh interchanged their work, could readily be distinguished by their red, muscular hbandsand arms an their stooping backs. This condition was brough about by these workers having their arms in an out of warm water constantly, and by continuall bending over the dipping-vat or coucher's-stool The old mills were inadequately heated and th vat-houses, where the moulding of the paper too place, were usually located in the buildings wher the light was poor and the atmosphere anythin but healthy All through the history of papermaking b hand there was a scarcity of workers, which wa no doubt due to the unwillingness of apprentice tolearn the trade as the work was disagreeable an arduous and only those with exceptional physica endurance could remain long at the craft. Th greatest strain was required of the vatman owin Diital imag © 2004 Marriot Libary, University o Utah. Al righs reserved |