THE VALLEY OF HEART's DELIGHT
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The Lick Paper Mills
In a county where there is so much fruit grown,
there is naturally a great demand for paper in which to wrap it for
transportation. It was discovered early in the history or
transportation that fruit kept better when wrapped in paper than when
allowed to come in contact with with other fruit. Most of the
better quality of fruits that are now shipped green, such as peaches,
pears, oranges and apricots, are wrapped in paper, and this is nearly
all furnished by the Lick Paper Mill, which is one of the largest paper
manufacturing plants on the coast.
The mills were originally built by James Lick, who gave to the world
the great Lick Observatory,
and were used by him for manufacturing flour. They were
eventually purchased and transformed into paper mills. In 1882
the principal buildings were burned, and the present more extensive and
commodious buildings were erected. A spur track was also built
from the main line at Agnews Station to the
mill, for the shipment of the product.
The property is now owned by the Lick Paper Company, the majority of
the stock being held by A.
D. Remmington, who owns the great paper mills at Watertown, New
York; and the remainder by J. G. Scott, and other officers of the
company.
Over a million pounds of the fruit paper are manufactured per annum,
besides thirteen other varieties, such as manilla, red express, gray
express, druggists' wrapping papers, etc. The output per month is
about two hundred tons, worth about $12,000. About forty men are
emptied, and the mill runs night and day.
Newspaper is made of wood, such as poplar, spruce or hemlock.
Paper for wrapping fruit is made of cotton and wood pulp, red express
of burlaps and wood pulp, and druggists' paper of chemical fiber.
The mill is locaed on the Guadalupe, a stream which flows through San
Jose, and into an artificial lake on the Lick property, where the water
furnishes part ot hte power necessary to propel the machinery. In
addition to this, there are three steam engines the entire plant
representing an investment of about $500,000. The buildings
are three stories in height. The foreman's residence, formerly
the private residence of Mr. Lick was built with marvelous care and at
great cost. The gounds are laid out very handsomley, being
ornamented with rows of fan palms and fruit trees and bends and banks
and flowers, which, it is scarcely necessary to state, grow here in
great profusion and with remarkable vigor. The property is within
the artesian basin, and there are upon the property several artesian
wells. These furnish an abundance of water for irrigating orchards,
gardens and lawns.
SOURCE: Sunshine, Fruit and Flowers
A Souvenir of the San Jose Mercury, pub 1886
transcribed by cdf
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