As near as I can recollect, it was about the year 

 1820 or 1821, that my grandfather and father jointly 

 invented and constructed with their own hands a 

 most important labor-saving machine, for laying or 

 weaving the faces for laid paper moulds. Previous 

 to that time it had been done entirely by hand, each 

 wire being laid separately as it was to remain, forming 

 the outer face of the mould; the fastenings or twists 

 of each seam were made by hand one after the other. 

 Hence as a labor-saving machine, twisting all the 

 seams at the same time, it was as one to the number 

 of seams in a face. For instance, a mould for making 

 commercial post paper, has about 22 seams, each bar 

 of the mould frame representing a seam. Double cap 

 moulds have from 28 to 30 liars; besides this saving, 

 a uniformity never before approached, was obtained. 

 The faces, being formed or woven independent of the 

 mould frames, were laid on and secured to the under 

 face or foundation by sewing with wire. This, about 

 the year 1824, was the earliest work of the kind I 

 turned my hand to. 



My elder brother Charles had, about two years 

 previous to this, partially relieved our grandfather 

 from forming the devices for water marks, and sewing 

 them on the moulds, which up to that time, embracing 

 a period of at least 55 years, had been exclusively his 

 work. The manner letters or other devices for water 

 marks were formed of plated copper wire was on 



blocks of hard wood, faced on the end of the main, 

 similar to the blocks used for wood engravings. On 

 these were drawn the letters or other devices. Wedle 

 points were driven into the Mock and left projecting 

 slightly above its face at every point where the water 

 mark wire was to be bent. When the blocks were 

 thus prepared the silver-plated wire was held in close 

 contact with them, and wound or bent around these 

 points until the device was formed. It was then 

 carefully raised from the block, laid on the brass plate, 

 the bends adjusted or squared with small hand pliers. 

 previous to sewing on the mould face. This after 

 adjustment was necessary, as no acute angle or square 

 turn could be made around the steel pins. It was not 

 long before my brother improved on this method of 

 forming the devices. He made his designs on metal 

 plates, and used a tool like the watchmaker's small 

 round handled screw driver, notched on its end to 

 straddle the wire to be bent, holding the handle 

 between thumb and fore finger, the wire on the metal 

 plate, by a simple rolling motion of the tool, he could 

 turn a perfectly square turn, follow the device with 

 all the accuracy of the old method, without requiring 

 any after adjustment. At that time all the makers 

 of fine writing papers were very critical as to the 

 uniformity and accuracy of their water marks, such 

 as arrows, dove and olive branch, Robinson's lamb, 

 Kelter's carrier pigeon, and others more elaborate. 

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