would be in running order. He spoke of having for 

 years made a study of the practicability of making all 

 parts of his machines of uniform size and shape, and 

 having the work systematically done to rule by tem- 

 plets and fixed gauges. The key seats in light shafting 

 were milled, but for heavy shafting and gearing the 

 cold chisel and file were still doing the work. 



At the noon hour, when the machinery stopped, I 

 was taken into the storeroom, in which were arranged 



all the various parts of the Fourdrinier machine, with 

 the exception of the frames, press rolls and drying 

 cylinders. It was from this room that the reads-made 

 duplicates to replace the broken parts had been sent. 

 I would here note that r )4 years ago this was the 

 first instance I had seen where making the component 

 parts of machinery interchangeable had been reduced 

 to an absolute system, that is now so universally 

 practiced by all first-class machinists. [47] 



16. A Visit to England. Ill: 

 Ibotson's Pulp Dresser 



Richard Ibotson, of Poyle, Middlesex County, .1 

 short ride northwest of the center of London, was 

 the paper manufacturer who in 1830 patented a 

 pulp dresser, mentioned in the last chapter, for 

 removing "knots," or small globular masses 

 of pulp, from the paper stuff being fed to the 

 Fourdrinier continuous-web paper making 

 machine. 163 



The bizarre adventure at "Crusty's" paper mill, 

 related here, in which George Escol scampered 

 over a plank to gain entrance at the back door 

 after he had been shouted away from the front 

 door, resulted from his consultations with Bryan 

 Donkin about the merits of his father's pulp 

 dresser. 



Trom the storeroom we returned to the office, 

 and soon Mr. Ibotson came in, and on being intro- 

 duced it was evident that he had been prepared by 

 letter for the business in hand. He was not long in 

 coming to Mr. Donkin's views as to the importance 

 of securing and controlling the right of our pulp 

 dresser, but there was an obstacle in the way; a 

 mill in Kent was running on the fine tinted papers 

 for the bristol boards, then being extensively used by 

 Dobbs, and the firm of De la Rue & Co. for their 

 beautifully embossed boards or cards, which at 

 that time was the fashion's rage. These delicately 

 tinted papers were entirely free from knots and 

 imperfections, and Mr. Ibotson had learned that 

 the proprietor of the mill claimed to have invented 



183 Sec note 156, above. 



and had in use a pulp screen or dresser greatly 

 superior and less costlv than his. If this was the 

 case there would be no use in securing further rights. 



He had been trying to learn the nature of the 

 invention, but so far unsuccessfully, but what little 

 he had learned had inclined him to believe it was ,111 

 infringement on his patent working secretly to avoid 

 payment for the right. 



Mr. Donkin concurred in this view. He had built 

 the Fourdrinier and other machinery for the mill, 

 and had recently sent workmen to make some 

 changes in gearine, who had not been permitted to 

 go into the machine room. The owner of the mill 

 was not remarkable for courtesy or refinement, and 

 at other times was rather crusty, and still Mr. Donkin 

 thought if I would be willing to go to the mill with 

 a letter of introduction from Mr. De la Rue, who 



127 



