Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-09-03
Washin9tuu Standard
THE LEAD PENCIL.
Many SIN Wonder How the Tree
Is GROWN Around sl.c Lead.

History has failed to record the
name oi the great genius who gave to
the world that most useful little in
strument that should hr in the pos
session al every man, woman and
child IN every civilized community on
the globe. We have heard all about
th,. discovery oi burnt >nGtf and the
sewing machine and typewriter and
all that. but the inventor OF the lead
pencil has, evidently, gone down into
the shadow OF oblivion, "unwept, I'M
honored, and unsung" 1t is a pity.
Inventors, such as he who gave to the
world such an invaluable instrument
as this, the genius who blessed woman
kind with the thimble, the wonderful
being whose happy thought was the
occasion OF the greatest blessing to
womankind-thc hair pin-and few
other human beings who added hap
piness in the world by inventing the
most useful, although simple articles,
that have proved themselves to be in
dispensable to humanity, would be
sainted ii their names only were
known.
When James l., OF England, first
saw an apple dumping, his eyes grew
as large as saucers from wonder as to
how the apple got inside the dump
ling! He would have dropped dead
had he seen lead pencil, for while
the dough grew around the apple, no
tree could ever be found that would
consent to grow around the lead. To
solve this mystery is the object of this
story. One of the great factories and
the head of that factory was sought,
and he said this about the matter,
with every evidence of veracity; he
having no occasion for deceit in this
simple explanation:
II have to laugh at the queer ideas
some people have about pencils. You
will scarcely believe it, but the opin-
ions of people who know nothing
about it seem to be divided between
the melting of the lead and pouring
it into the hole in the wood and cut
ting out the lead to fit the hole"
The great manufacturer laughed
loud, long and heartily over his re-
mark, as almost anybody else would
who happened to be posted in the art.
But there are those who may know
how the hole got into the macaroni,
who cannot imagine how the lead got
into the pencil, and it is just possible
that the pencil manufacturer does not
know the trick about the Italian
comestible. But he had his laugh out
and went on to say:
awe don't do it that way. We have
a simpler and less costly process.
Bless me, how could we sell the best
pencils in the world, in all shapes and
qualities, for cent apiece and less, il
we had to carve them out of solid
lead, or melt the lead and pour it in
the hole? Few people know how it is
done, but I will enlighten you. The
part that goes into our pencils Other
than the lead is cedar and comes from
the swamps of Florida. It is obtained
from the fallen trees that lie there
There are men there who make bust.
ness of supplying to pencil manufac.
turers this cedar in blocks, which are
sawed to the length of the pencil,
some thick, to receive the lead, and
others thin for the piece that is glued
over the other containing the lead
The groove is made by saw, and in
this the lead lies.
II know" continued the manu-.
facturer, "that not one out of ten
thousand persons has the least idea oil
what this lead is. See, here is q fine
black powder; that is graphite, and
costs somewhere about twenty-five
cents a pound. This white substance
is German clay. 1t comes across the
ocean as ballast in vessels, and all it
costs us is for freight. We mix clay
and powder together and grind them
in mill, moistening the mass care
fully during the process, until the two
are thoroughly assimilated and re-
duced to a paste that is about the
consistency of putty. Here are the
dies for the leads, into which we press
this paste of graphite and clay. Each
die is the size of pencil lead, saving
in length. There are four leads in
one of these. After pressing they are
cut into the proper lengths and baked
in an oven kept at very high degree
of heat. That finishes the simple pro-
cess of making the lead, and its hard
ness is regulated by the greater or less
amount of clay mixed with the
graphite-the more clay the harder
the lead.
"These leads are kept in hot glue
and are placed in the grooves as the
blocks are made ready. When the
lead is put in there snugly and for
ever, the thin block is glued to the
thick one and left to dry thoroughly.
When dry the blocks are run through
the machine and cut apart. Next
they are run through a machine that
shapes and Furnishes them, and then
tied in punches, boxed and sent out
complete. The different grades and
values are made by the more or less
fine manipulation of the graphite. As