The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1870-02-05

Twenty years ago all the slate pencils used
were manufactured in Germany. She then sup
piled America with this commodity. In 1850,
there was young man living in West Rutland,
w.. eighteen years of age. who fortunately dis
covered supply Of stone for making frst-class
article of slate pencils. He began BY whiting
out the pencils aud selling them to school chill
dren. Being a better article than that for sale
in the stores, he found ready sale for all he
oorld white out
He argued that If they would sell thus readily
at home, they would sell readily everywhere.
He became possessed of the idea that there was
fortune in the business, and his dream has been
realized. This quarry of slate pencil stone was
situated in large ravine. four miles north OF
Castlston, VT, near Bomoseen Lake. The land
on which 1t was situated was for sale at one hun.
dred dollars. He purchased it, and began opera
tions BY saving out the pencils and whiting
them round
The business of making them grew immensely
on his hands, SO that it was impossible to keep .
clean order book.
Machinery was invented TO facilitate the pro.
cess, which has reached something like perfec.
ton, and enormously increases the production Of
pencils. At present the quarry and mills are
owned by joint stock company. They are VAL
ued at three hundred thousand dollars. From
6fty to one hundred thousand pencils are turned
employed in the quarry and in the mill.
After the stone is quarried it passes through
four processes before it is made into pencils. It
is sawn into rectangular blocks fivs inches BY
seven, and split BY hand into slabs of tho same
length and breadth, which are carefully assorted.
These slabs pass through machine which shavss
them all to the uniform thickness of . quarter
of an inch, when they are ready for the final
process.
The machinery for reducing these slabs to
pencils consists of iron plates fitted to receive
them, fastened to al endless cham which passes
over rollers at either end.
These plates, of which there are about twenty
on chain, each receive q slab, and a. it passes
frolu one roller to the other the pencils are cut
and rounded out halt way to completion by
semi.orcular knives; a dozen different sets Of
knives being firmly fastened above them.
The slabe are then turned over and passed
back through another machine exactly similar,
and perfect pencil is the product.
They are counted out by children and packed
one hundred in box. The pencils are sold BY
cents box or ten times the cost Of slate pencils
in Germany, where one thousand can be bought
for less than fifty cents. Being made from su.
perior article of stone, they are used throughout
the United States in preference to those import.
ed from Germany.
The slate pencil business, like the pin bust.
ness, is small one in itself, but becomes large
where it is necessary to supply all the school
children of America with pencils. Twenty
years ago the whole idea of it was in the brain
of young Yankee boy To-day it is q business
involving over quarter million of money. It
has been and will continue to be profitable
business this is the only quarry and slate pen.
Gil mill in the United States.
Besides manufacturing the pencils, the firm
have mill fer grinding the stone to -four, belt.
ing it finer than fine -four, to DO used in the pro.
cess of manufacturing paper, especially wall
paper. This -four sells for twenty dollars tun.
Tha stone from which the pencils are made con.
tains upwards of thirty per cent. of alumins,
from which slate pencils are manufactured in
Scotland. The company are putting up build.
ings and will soon be manufacturing alum On q
large scale.