Trials

Dr. A.T. Pierson once wrote, "In a paper mill what a contrast between the heap of filthy rags at one end and the pure and spotless white paper at the other! What a trial the rags go through before they emerge in this new form! Torn to pieces and ground to pulp, bleached with chloride of lime till all stains are removed, washed over and over; submitted to another bleaching by the action of chlorine and alum; washed again, till the pulp of stuff is white as cream of snowflakes! Caught upon a wire cylinder, after the sever shaking by the Fourdrinier process which crosses the fibers and gives compactness and firmness to the fabric; and then passed between and around the hot surfaces which makes the paper smooth and even - how like the diving discipline by which our filthiness is cleansed way; how like the tribulation out of which all come up who have washed their robes and make them white in the Blood of the Lamb!"