The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1899-11-11
STORY OF ALEADRENCIL.
SOME INTERESTING FACTS CON-
CEENlNC A FAMILIAR ARTICLE.


How the Pencil Is Made and Where Its
Component Parts Come Erom-M uch of
the Work Done By Girls-lts Name Il
MiSnomer.
An industry for girls that is seldom
exploited, but one whose results mil
lions of people are daily testing, is the
putting of lead into pencils. Althoug Il
no implement is more familiar than
the PENCIL, few people know how it is
made or where its component parts
come from. The following interest
ing facts make one feel that in the
manufacture of even so small an OBJ
ject a big field geographically, his
torically and geologically has to be
covered.
The pine or cedar, the former for
cheap pencils, the latter for more ex-
pensiye ones," said a we!l-known
manufacturer OF lead pencils, "arrives
at the factory in small blocks or
slabs, little longer than pencil, a
little wider than six pencils, and Of
pr.rer thickness. If they are to be
colored they are first dyed. All are
treated to a process which removes
the essential oil and which seasons
them perfectly.
''Tne source OF supply for the cedar
is Florida, and so great inroads have
been made upon the forests for the
manufacture of pencils that the wood
is becoming exhausted. The name
lead PENCIL is a misnomer and halls
from the sticks of lead which were the
primitive pencils. The 'iead' is graph
ite OF plumbago, and comes from the
province OF Quebec or from Ticon-
deroga, the latter having the largest
mines OF the kind on this continent.
cone factory turns out 10000, 900
pencils year. The graphite is first
reduced to an impaipabe powder by
grinding. Water is then added and
the substance is run through mixers
in a fluid state in order to combine
with it whatever quantity of cay may
be necessary to give it the grade de-
sired, The more clay the harder the
lead and vice versa. After this mix
ing has been done, which IS performed
entirely by machinery, the mass Is
taken from the mixers and run through
filter presses in way to exclude tue
water and reduce it to a doughy con-
s;stency. In order to make the mix
ing still more thorough, this doughy
mass is then rassed through dies, by
which IS meant plates with numerous
small perco:ations under great pres
sure, from which the lead--as I shall
call it in Difference to common phrase
o.ogy-issues in tiny rods or wires,
in general appsarance not: unlike the
lead t1at IS put lIto-ru EEHe77e,
but, instead Of being dry audsbrittle,
being sill in moist or soft !condl-
ton.
"Ihe material receives this treat
ment repeatedly through dies with
apertures of different diameters. un-
Ill finally, when the mixing has been
satisfactorily completed, and the mass
is in proper condition. it is passed
through a set Of dies of The exact di-
ameter Of the lead that IS to so into
the pencil. Deft fingers take the
product in this condition, straighteu
ont the leads and cut them to lengths
of about three feet. At this stage it
is still comparatively soft and pliable.
After being cut the leads are allowed
to drv, and are then cut to the re-
CURED pencil lengths and packed in
crucibles and burned for several hours
in order to extract the last. degree of
moisture that remains and to bring
the lead to it's final condition. The
leads are now ready for inserting in
the wooden cases and are sent to the
girls room. The slabs of wood are
put through a machine, giving each
six grooves, square or round, and at
the same time smoothing the face of
the wood.
"rhe girls are seated in groups Of
three, viii slabs, leads and gluepot
before them. The first girl takes a
grooyed strip in her right hand and
six leads spread fan shape in her left,
aud with one motion fills the six
grooves. The next girl coats groove
strip with hot glue anG hands it to
No. g, who takes tie filed strip from
her other neiglbor and lays the one
upor>the other. The filed and glued
strips ars piled together and left in a
press to dry. After that they are
eveuel off under a sandpaper wheel
and cut into single pencils, when they
| are shaped and vanished ready for
the market. New York Tribune.