LEAD-COVERED PAPER-INSULATED TELEPHONE CABLE 439 



passing the wire through an alternating-current electrolytic cleaning 

 bath before it enters the paper forming machine. A narrow sheet is 

 formed on each conductor in an ordinary single-cylinder paper machine, 

 the mold of which has been divided into 50 parts by means of celluloid 

 strips and so arranged that a part of the sheet of paper is formed 

 before the wire comes in contact with it. The remainder of the sheet 

 is then laid down on top of the wire without any break in the formation, 



Fig. 6 — ^Paper insulating machine. 



and the resulting narrow ribbon of paper carries the wire imbedded in 

 it. Thus fifty conductors are being insulated simultaneously. Two 

 sets of press rolls take the excess moisture from the sheet, and leave 

 it ready for the polishing operation. Various types of polishers have 

 been developed and the one now in use consists of two short, specially 

 shaped blocks, with a third block located about centrally to the other 

 two. These polishers are rotated very rapidly around the wire 



