The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1905-06-09
SOMETHING ABOUT
THE LEAD PENCIL
The Per Capita Consumption
of America Is Double That
of Europe.
MAINTAIN SIX
Together They Employ More Than g..
600 People and Pay Nearly
$1,000 900 in Wages Annually
Import Our Graphite.

Pearson's Magazine: Every Ameri-'
.an man, woman and child uses two
pencils annually at the lowest calcu-
lation. Our per capita consumption Is
double that OF Europe, perhaps because
there is more i%liiteracy across the
ocean, or perhaps because we are more
extravagant and waste quite as many
pencils as we use. There are six lead
pencil factories in the United States:
two in New York. two in New Jersey,
one in Illinois and one in Massachu-
setts. Together they employ more
than 1000 people. pay nearly seven
hundred Thousand dollar in wages an
nuaily and their yearly output. at the
rate Of 10000 gross daily, Is worth more,
han two million dollars. We are now
making as many pencils as all OF
Europe combined: we supply nine
tenths of our home demand and ship
a considerable quantity abroad. And
yet. despite the growing Importance OF
the industry and the fact that millions
Of people could not get through a
working day without the use Of a pen
low this Indispensable little article Is
made.
structurally speaking. the lead pen
ell consists OF an outer shield or COW
ering and OF ar inner piece of round.
solid graphite. The wood. which is OF
pii!he Importance, must De duTaDte
and compact: straight grained and
soft. SO that 1t may be alike easy to
polish and whittle: IL it is fragrant so
much greater its value. Now Of al,
the trees in the world u Virginia or
red cedar, which grows SO luxuriantly
In the south, particularly in Alabama
and Florida. is the only n whose
wood meets all these requirements.
Our pencil manufacturers own their
own cedar mills, but the European
makers, much to their dislike, are
obliged to purchase their pencil cover
!ng from us. In order to place them
selves on an equal footing an attempt
was made to transplant the Virginia
cedar. Germany devoted a hundred
acres to that purpose some forty years
ago, but the climate proved unfavor-
able and a few stunted trees with wood
as hard as oak, proclaimed the expert
ment a rank failure.
On the other hand, we go to foreign
markets for our graphite, the best
qualities of which come from eastern
Siberia, Mexico, Bohemia and Ceylon.
Our largest factory, taking advantage
aas all of it's graphite prepared in Ger
many and sent here ready for use.
Nor is cheap labor the only considera-
lion, for the German graphite makers.
ike the wood carvers of Switzerland
and the toy makers of Nuremberg, fol-
WV SAS NAAoS AASill Al ~ oollt lohC
20 1T quite naturally and leave the rest
If the world behind in experiences.
Pencil leads consist of a mixture OF
clay and graphite, both undergoing a
careful and separate treatment before
hey are united. The raw graphite.
after being reduced to a fine powder in
L mortar, sifted and freed from i'm
%2urities by mineral acids. is washed
md fired to a bright red heat. The
,ext step is to add water to the prepa-
l ~ I ~-el -@.,. "a sA- a.
The heavier particles sink. From this
vat the water carries the lighter par
icles n another at a lower level.
md then on into n or Two more.
where the heavier particles drop to the
bottom and the, finer particles are car
lied over. The graphite drawn from
he last vat in the series is in a state
IF extremely fine division. and it's value
reserves 1t for use in the best pencils
,nly.
The clay, purged OF sand and iron.
goes through somewhat the same pro-
graphite, the proportion varying all the
way from equal parts to two of clay
or one Of graphite-the amount of
clay depending strictly on the degree of
hardness or softness wanted for the
pencil leads.
When the particles of clay and
graphite are thoroughly incorporated
md ground together they are placed in
Gags and squeezed to the consistency
IF dough by a hydraulic press. The
.ormless substance, ready to be shap-
ed into pencil rods, is forced by a pis-
ton in continuous threads through the
many apertures of a strong upright
o-ass cylinder, each of the apertures
being of exactly the same size as the
eads that are to be fitted in the pen
Ellis. The long threads Of graphite are
'eceived and arranged on straight
grooves of a wild board and left to
harden until they become as stiff as
'ods. Afterward they are cut into
'equisite pencil lengths-seven inches
rs a rule-packed with charcoal in a
covered crucible and submitted Il a
high furnace heat.
Legal Formally.
Golfers Weekly: John G.. Car
isle tells OF a case that many years
lgo he MAS called unnn To try hefnra-