The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1850-10-26
From Diekens,s Household Words. ]
The stesi-Peas


$3.50 AN ILLUSTRATION OF CHEAFHEss. sa.
We remember (eary reInembrances are more durable
than recent) ephet employed by Mary Wolsonscroit
which then seemed as happy as il was original" ne
igoa pen OF Gme.a Had the yndicaess of the Rights
the iron pen s the almost universal instrument OF wn
ting, she would have bestowed upon Time less COM
mon material for recording his dolngs, -,
While we remembering LEI US look pack lol = mo
ment upon our earliest school days-the days OF large
text and roupd.hand Twenty uIehns 81 Al ong desk
each intent pa eS
fully school boy phrase The Pen begins 70 splu
ter A bold effort must be made. We leave the form,
and iinidy address the writing master with-"Please,
SRI mend my pen" slight frown subsidies as be sees
that the quill very bad-oo soft or loo hardused 10
the stump He dashes i away and snachng feather
from bundlea poor, Thin feather such green geese
drop on common--shapes II INTO apen, Tins mending
and making process occupies all his leisureoccuples,
He has bs w h
bad qus They are the neanest produce Of the pucked
i tb. process s, going on Il The many thousand
schools Of our land where, with all drawbacks Of i'm
perfect education. both as TO numbers educated and gifts
impaired, there about two millions and hall Oh emil
dren under daily instruction In remote rural districts
probably-n the towns certainly not The seam-engne
10 the n-make Hecaombs OF geese are consume
AZ Michaeimas and Christmas but no. all The geese IN
the world would meet the demand OF England Tor pens
The supply OF paes de foe grds will De kept upthat OF
qulis whether known as primes, seconds, or Pnons
must be wholly inadequate 10 The wants OF arftng PEG
pie Wherever geese bred In these islands so assured
" D each succeeding March will every full fedged VIC
tim be robbed of his quilts, and then turned form on me
worthy OF the name Of bird. The country schoolmasle
the same spring tme will continue 70 buy the small
est quilts low price, clarity Them after his own rude
fashion, make them into pens aud soely spite the boy
who splits them up too rapidly. The better quilts Will
still be collected and find their way TO The quil-dealer
who will his empirical arts before they pass to the
staoper He will plunge them into heated sand 10 make
the external skin peel oani the external membrane shye
up; or he will satnate them with water, and alternately
contract and swell Them before charcoal hre or ne VIII
dip 10 nitric acid and make them Of gaudy brancy
but treacherous endurance. They will be sorted, &C.
cording 70 the quality 81 The baIes with the utmost n
looking at their iealhery ends iapering 70 points the
uniniiaied will regard only The quill portion There Is no
article Of commerce in which the market value 10 so dill
fcuit u BE- determined with exactness For the finest
and largest quilts price unreasonable for those
Of the second quality too exorbilant charge is often
made, The foreign supply is large, and probably ex.
cees the home supply OF The superior article VIVA, the
exact amount is we know not. There Is no duty now
ngaiisa The iarh Of ls45one Of the most lasting
monuments OF the wisdom OF our great commercia min
abolished the duty OF hall crown thousand l9
1882 the duty amounted 10 four thousand two hundred
pounde; which would show an annual importation Of
thirty.ihree millions one hundred thousand qulis1
enough, Perhaps. Tor the commercial clerks Of England
together with the quilts OF Homegrown, but how to
serve leter-writing popuatlon'
The ancient reign Of the quill pen first seriously
disturbed about twenty years ago An aborve mi-
tation OF the form OF pen was produced before maj
or ivory handle, and sold Tor half crown man
might make his mark with one, but as to writing. 1t was
finished inventions for the luxurious under the tempting
names Of ruby pen, on diamond pen, with The PLAIN gold
pen and the rhodium PEN for those who were skepuca
10 the ewelry OF The lnkstand The economical use
al the quill received also The attention OF science,
machine invented divide the barrel engthwlse into
two halves and, BY the same mechanical means these
halves subdvlde into small pieces cut pcnshape,
si and nbbed But the pressure upon the quill supply
grew more and more intense. new power had risen
up in our world-a new seed sown--ihe source OF all
good or the dragons teeth OF Cadmus
Ohellos sword had "he ice. brooks temper = but not
all the real or imaginary virtues OF the stream that gave
its value the Spanish blade could create the elias
ITCHY OF a steel pen. Flexible, indeed, is the Toledo
if thrust against wall il will bend into an arc thai de-
scrbes three-iour,hs OF circle, The problem TO be
solved in the steepen is TO convert tue iron OF Dame
into substance thin the quill OF doves pin.
ion but strong the proudest feather OF eagles
wing The furnaces and hammers Of the old armorers
could have solved lhs problem The seelpen be-
longs to our OF mighty machinery IL could not have
existed 10 any other age. The demand for The instru
ment and the OF supplying il together.
The commercial importance OF the steel pen was hrst
manifested TO our senses year or two ago az Shehed
We had witnessed all the curious processes OF e6nuerfng
iron into steel, by saiuraiing with carbon IN the con-
verng furnace; OF Htrng the bars so converted into
nsder substance ander NE noIsana nam nf a
the steel thus converted and tilted into ingots oil higher
purity; and, finally, of milling, by which the mos,
perfect development OF the material is acquired, under
enormous rollers About two miles from the me.
tropolIs Of STEEL over whose head hangs canopy OF
smoke, through which the broad moos OF The distance
where the fitting and rolling processes carried TO great
perfection. The din OF the large Tits is heard half mile
of Our Jingle, our legs remble, when we stand
close TO their operation Of beating bars Of steel into the
greatest possible denslty Tor the whole building srates
as the workmen swing before them in suspended baskets
and shift The bar al every movement OF these hammers
OF the Tans. We pass onward 10 the quiet rolling
department The that has been tilted into the per-
feet compactness has acquire the utmost possible
enuity large occupied by furnaces and rollers
The bar OF steel dragged out oil the furnace al almost
awhile heat There are two men at each roller. It's
passed through the hrs, pair and us squareness snstanl
second pair, and a third, and fourth and filth. Tn.
bar is becoming a sheet OF steel Thinner and thinner
IL becomes, until Il would seem that the workmen can
scarcely manage The fragile substance II has spread out
like mofsel Of gold under the heaters hammer into at
leaf The least attenuated sheet ~ only the
hundredh part of inch in thickness some sheets are
made thin the two-bundredih part OF an inch And
Tor what purpose this result OF the abors OF so many
workmeD. OF such vast and complicated machinery des
tined i-whai the final application of material employ
ing 90 much capital ia every STEP from the Swedish mine
10 its transport by railroad 10 other seat OF BRUSH
industry The phoie rs prepared for one steel pen man
pfaetory al birmingham
. There nothing very remarka able in stellpen manu-
factory, regards ingenuity Of conrvance factory
organization. Upon large scale Of production, the
oil labor engaged in producing 50 minute article
necessarily striking But the process IS just curious
and interesting VI conducted in small shop as 10 large
The pure steel, il from the rolling mi, " cut
up into strips about two inches and bali IN width, These
further cut into the proper SIZE for The pen. The
pieces are then annealed and cleansed The makers
is neatly impressed the metal and emitting TOO
forms the slit, athuu III impereciy IN THIS Stage The