DOMESTIC PRODUCTION.

The United States Census Bureau reports that in 1914 there were 10 establishments in the United States manufacturing asbestos building materials slates, sheathing, siding, air-cell covering, flooring, etc.-and other articles such as mats, pads, holders for sad irons, rings, tapes, yarns, cloths, packings for ice boxes and refrigerator cars, friction and transmission facings and linings, and other asbestos manufactures. As reported by the census for these 10 establishments, the total capital was $2,723,000; the value of the products, $1,813,000; and the industry gave employment to an average of 651 employees with annual wages amounting to $329,000. The Tariff Commission, however, is credibly informed that in 1914 at least 30 establishments manufactured these products and one concern alone reports that it employed 650 workers in that year.

Asbestos paper and millboard occupy an important place in the asbestos industry. The manufacture of these articles is desirable owing to the fact that it permits the utilization in the same plant of short fibers and waste from spinning operations. The uses are varied and the products find ready sale on account of fire-resisting properties and insulating efficiency.

Raw materials.-Asbestos paper is composed of from 90 to 95 per oent asbestos fiber and from 5 to 10 per cent binding material, consisting of starch, flour, cold-water paste, clay, or other fillers.

Because of the greater cost of long asbestos fibers, only the shortfiber grades which are not suitable for spinning (ordinarily termed paper stock") are used. These fibers are generally less than onehalf inch in length, the average being approximately one-fourth inch. Shorter grades make an inferior paper, resulting in considerable breakage in the finished article.

Nearly all the pulp fiber used in the United States is imported from Canada free of duty.

Methods of production.-Raw asbestos fiber, scrap asbestos, binding material, and water are placed in a beater and agitated until the fibers are separated and a smooth consistent pulp is obtained. From the "beater" the material is discharged into a "stuff chest" of large capacity, in which the pulp is constantly agitated, so that as new "beater" lots are fed into it a uniform mixture is made and small variations in individual "beater" lots are prevented from appearing in the finished paper. From these "stuff chests" the pulp is pumped into regulating boxes which control the quantity fed to the paper machine. From the regulating box the pulp goes to the "flow box, where additional water and the overflow from the "wet end" are added to bring the pulp to proper consistency for feeding into the wet end." This "flow box" also serves to settle the sand and hard particles regularly found in commercial asbestos fiber as it comes from the mines. The pulp then proceeds to the "wet end, where it is deposited on revolving, screen-covered cylinders and in turn transferred from these cylinders to a continuous woolen felt. The number of cylinders used, together with the speed of the machine and consistency of the asbestos pulp, determines the thickness of the asbestos sheet. A second woolen felt is fed over the first, so that the pulp lies sandwiched between, and the surplus water is then squeezed out of the pulp by means of heavy press rolls which mat the fibers

together. At the end of this "wet end" the continuous sheet of wet asbestos paper passes over a long bank of steam-heated cylindrical driers. The moisture is gradually driven out of the wet paper by these driers and the dry sheet of asbestos paper is obtained.

The sheet, usually 74 inches wide, is wound on storage rolls. From these large rolls the sheet is led through slitters which cut it into 36-inch widths and then to the rewinders, where it is wound into rolls. of approximately 100 pounds each. These rolls are taken off, wrapped, and headed and are ready for the market.12

In manufacturing asbestos millboard entirely different machines are used. The original mixture is similar, but continuous drums are not employed. The board is built up on a rectangular screen. When the required thickness is obtained, the material is partly dried by squeezing in a hydraulic press. It is then stored in a drying room.

In either case the direct labor involved is comparatively small, although somewhat greater in producing millboards. The methods of manufacture in the United States and in England are almost identical. Similar methods are doubtless employed in other foreign

countries.

Organization. In 1920, asbestos paper was manufactured by 10 concerns in 14 factories located in the States of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Wisconsin.

History of the industry.-The manufacture of asbestos paper began commercially about 40 years ago, but its principal development has taken place during the past 25 years. Many experiments were made to manufacture suitable asbestos printing paper, but on account of the difficulty of obtaining a smooth and even surface and the tendency of the material to absorb ink, like blotting paper, it was found to be not well adapted for this purpose. Early uses of asbestos paper were for ornamental wall paper and carpet linings. None of these uses has been developed in a practical way, but the manufacture of asbestos paper has become a very important industry and it has found extensive uses in ways that were not foreseen by early investigators.

The first paper made in the United States was manufactured by John Roberts & Son Co., in 1876, in a mill near Waltham, Mass. The material first used was imported from Italy. About three years later Canadian fiber was introduced; the shorter grades of fiber which would otherwise be wasted were used for the manufacture of paper and millboard and proved to be very satisfactory. For several years the product of this mill was sold through Rice Kendall, of Boston, Mass. From 1881 to 1900 the H. W. Johns Co., of New York, took the entire product, which was 300 to 700 tons a year. The latter company built their own asbestos mill at Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1900. Keasby & Mattison Co., of Ambler, Pa., began to manufacture in 1897. Other early manufacturers were the Asbestos Paper Co., at Baldwinsville, Mass., and B. S. Binney, at Shirley, Mass.

Domestic production and consumption.-Production in the United. States has made tremendous strides, some plants manufacturing as much paper in a day as was made in an entire year 25 years ago. The average domestic production in the last three or four years has

12 From "Asbestos," published by Secretarial Service, Philadelphia, Pa., January, 1921.

been about 25,000 to 30,000 tons a year, and the present plant capacity is much greater than these figures indicate.

The bulk of the output is consumed in this country, and the existing domestic manufacturing capacity is adequate to supply normal demands.

Domestic exports. Official statistics of exports do not distinguish between the various classes of asbestos manufactures, but it is known that the bulk of the exports under this classification consists of asbestos shingles and corrugated sheathing which are sold chiefly in Canada and Latin American countries. The statistical tables of exports of all classes of manufactured asbestos are given in the discussion of asbestos textiles, supra.

FOREIGN PRODUCTION.

Among the foreign producing countries only Canada, Great Britain, and Germany are of importance at the present time in the manufacture of asbestos paper and millboard. Of these Canada is the only country in a position to compete successfully in the domestic market. However, that country has but one small plant manufacturing this product, whereas in the United Kingdom there are eight firms that manufacture asbestos paper and millboard in connection with other asbestos products and two firms that manufacture only heavy asbestos products under which paper and millboard are classed. Heavy asbestos products of European origin are, however, practically eliminated from the American market because of transportation costs.

IMPORTS.

Official statistics of the quantity and value of asbestos paper and millboard annually imported into the United States are not available. Only small quantities of these articles made in foreign countries are sold in this country and are the output of one Canadian mill.

PRICES.

Prices quoted on asbestos millboard are usually the same as the prices quoted on asbestos paper, and vice versa, and vary but little from month to month during the year.

Prices paid in 1920 by consumers for commercial grades ranged from $10 to $15 per 100 pounds in January, from $12 to $18 during February to November, inclusive, and $10 to $18 in December. For special grades the prices ranged from $15 to $35 per 100 pounds in January, $17 to $40 from February to May, inclusive, and $17 to $35 from June to December, inclusive.

Prices of the Canadian products are practically the same as those obtaining in the United States, whereas British prices usually range somewhat lower. In January, 1920, the price of millboard in England was £55 per ton of 2,000 pounds, or approximately $10.45 per 100 pounds (exchange at $3.80).

Asbestos paper and millboards-Average market prices paid per 100 pounds by consumers

in 1920.

Asbestos paper and millboard have never been specially mentioned in any of the tariff acts.

COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS.

In the manufacture of asbestos paper or millboard the main item is the cost of raw material-short asbestos fiber. Canadian fiber is the only variety that is used to any extent for this purpose either in the United States or Europe. South Africa and Rhodesia do not export any quantity of material suitable for the manufacture of these articles. Direct labor is a minor factor in cost, and, while some labor is needed to keep the automatic machinery in repair, differences in labor cost here and abroad are so small that they may be neglected. in considering the strength of the domestic industry.

Next to raw material, transportation is probably the most important item. The freight on raw material from Canada to the United States and from Canada to Europe is nearly the same, but since most of the American factories are located near the Atlantic seaboard, they have advantages in the American market as compared with European manufacturers to the extent of the cost of shipment across the Atlantic. The development of the industry in Canada, close to the supplies of raw material, may, however, be a factor in the future. One plant has been established at Deschenes, Quebec, and is shipping some of its product into the United States.

Asbestos papers and millboards-Rates of duty.

ASBESTOS AND COMPOSITION PIPE AND BOILER COVERINGS.

GENERAL INFORMATION.

TARIFF PARAGRAPH, ACT OF 1913.

PAR. 367. Manufactures of * * * asbestos, * * * or of which these substances or any of them is the component material of chief value, not specially provided for in this section, 10 per cent ad valorem.

DESCRIPTION.

Asbestos and composition pipe and boiler coverings are manufactures of non heat conducting and heat resisting materials used as coverings for heat generators and heat conductors. The principal ingredients are asbestos and magnesia. The coverings usually are prepared in tubes, blocks, or felt, or in a loose composition, as cement, to be applied with a trowel.

Some of the principal uses are for covering steam and hot water pipes, gas producing lines, and furnaces, in the manufacture of locomotives and stationary boilers, stoves, and ovens, as a lining for smokestacks and steel safes, and as a filler between boiler tubes.

DOMESTIC PRODUCTION.

In 1920 there were at least 36 concerns in the United States, distributed in various States from New York to California, manufacturing asbestos and magnesia coverings. The total quantity or value of the annual output is not known. The American industry, however, supplies the bulk of these articles used in this country.

Raw materials. Asbestos fiber, asbestos paper, magnesia, and cementing material of a mineral character are the materials used. The asbestos used in the industry comes mainly from Canada and enters this country free of duty. Asbestos paper is made in this country from short asbestos fiber and a binder paste. Magnesia is produced from dolomite rock or magnesite of domestic origin. The import duty on carbonate of magnesia is 1 cents a pound; the raw materials, magnesite or dolomite, are free of duty.

Equipment. The machinery and other equipment used in the industry are manufactured in America in quantities sufficient to meet all requirements.

Methods of production.-Asbestos tubes are made of successive layers of asbestos paper separated by strips or dividers of the same material, forming a series of very small air spaces. The tube is made in 3-foot lengths and split lengthwise, for easy application; or of successive sheets of corrugated and flat asbestos paper cemented together, in sections usually 3 feet long, covered with canvas and split lengthwise.

Asbestos blocks and lagging are made up of asbestos fiber with cementing material on the outside surfaces to hold the fibers together, or of successive sheets of corrugated and flat asbestos paper cemented together. The blocks are usually made 3 feet long, from 12 to 14 inches wide, and from 1 to 3 inches thick. Lagging is made to templates as desired. Blocks are sometimes given a vitrifying treatment which renders the outside very hard and adds to the refractory character of the insulation.