The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-05-26
HOW PENS ARE MADE.


Part. of the Method Observed In England
lKepta Secret.
A celebrated poet tells 20 that nothing Il
nov. Tho assertion seems true OF metallic
pens. u appears a. certain 40 anything Of
The sort can well be that they wsrs known
10 far back aa tho thirteenth and fourteenth
csnturiea and that they were made IN large
numbers il Birmingham moro than lOO
years ago. II was. however. 1874 or 1872
before steel pens began 10 30 made BY .
cheap procsss and 10 take the place Of the
old-fashionsd quill. If that process had
net been invented what flocks Of geese Ne
should rsQlire now! For u ~ SAID thas
16,OOOO GOO psus are made In Birmingham
svs1y week and that nftesn tone Of steel ars
used in their making. TO watch how pens
are turned o1t 10 very interestinc.
First of all, saw tho London Chatterbox,
sheets Of stssl have 10 be rolled. and az
peus are weighed and not counted "A gross
being considered TO weigh 90 m1ch--it IS
clear that those sheets must be OF an even
thinness. For this reason every part OF she
steel IL measured with very great care ana
faulty pieces are rejected. The steel which
10 al right is cut into strips as broad as
two pens, put together, are long. These
strips are given to women and girls called
''outters." who sit before presses. In
steel IL placed over a little hole. n at the
swing of a handl down comes . punch,
passing clean through the metal, falling
into = hole. u pushing the psn blank
through. The PIECES OF steel thus made
are taken TO another room and shsre tie
hole At ths nib is cut ont with Z second
press iess like the rrst.
Ths sAird process called "annsalins." il
fer the rnrpess Of making tAe steel sofa so
that ID will not crack or break. II very
simple Iks peas sse Put into = farnscs
until they become a dali red. and are saen
saken eas saa showed 10 cool Sraaua!ly.
Xessen Asssrwara s taese pens q
VITA vsadssfsl anieknsss pnt them under
il TIA stage when shs per receives ths
nAzrs et TIA maker and al other %rartcu-
lars wefcA Easy appear on It. Next tas
seas are eeEs av yes another press 10 sns
sAsrs IN watch they reach tho user, ana
after that they are again put IN q furnace
and keassd 10 3 dull rel. On be nR ! ken
out they are thrown into oil. and THIS sud
den cooling has the effect of making them
90 b little that they may be snapped in two
A. easily as q piece of glass. As this pro
cess makes the pens very Rreasy and dlttY.
The next thing done is to boil them In
soda ard water. after which they are white
and clean. They are then placed in an
iron cylinder. which goes round and
round over = number Of gas jets. In
this tho pens are kept until they turn .
dark blue from the effects OF the heat. and
then they are removed. Now the pens are
still hard, but they oan be bent without
breaking. They are. in fact, what ia called
pens are mixed with wet binders, or some
thing which looks like that, and ohurned
BY machinery In IN lion barrel until they
become white. When they have been
treated in the same way with q fine dry
substance they are as bright as silver. Yet
r~Ana NrnNa rn~t 0rA
then We reach what used to be the great
secret of pen-making. 1t was done IN
looked and darkensd rooms. The work
people were bound by oath not to tell. No
visitor. not even royalty itself. was allowed
to see II. And what 10 this carefully hid
den seoret2 Merely Sitting the pen from
the hole (made at the second stage OF its
journey through the works) to the point.
Simply speaking. the tool which does
this consists Of a pair OF scissors nicely
Fixed in a press. Each pen ia held between
W. square blades of steel. These coming
together cut the pen exactly in the middle
OF the POINT. Now the pens are finished
three further processes to make them look
bright aud smart. or to color them between
brown and blue, or to make them plated
with copper or gill;. Who would think that
a pen passed through SO many hands and
took 80 much care and skill to make? Yet
they can be sold at very low ptioes. In
Birmingham some kinds have been bought
at as little az ~ pence a gross. That
means that about fifty have been sold for a
halfpenny. Only about fifty years ago
steel pens not so good as these cost one shil-
ling each. The change has been brought
about by improved machinery and by the
number Of pens which can now be made.
Figures prove that mole steel Is used up
for making pens than FOX swords and guns
all over the world.
For biliousness and sick stomach try 4 dose of
the OREGON BLOOD PURIFIER, . vegetable rem
edy.