The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-08-28

Wood Each Year-Makers Searen
For a Substitute.
An impending shortness of lead pen
ellis throughout the entire world is
forecast in the Scientific American un-
less n substitute wood can be found
to take the place of the practically ex-
hausted supply Of American pencil ce-
dar. The properties Of the native pen
cil cedar, which includes the northern
red cedar and southern cedar. are so
marked and so different from those of
other commercial woods that it seems
almost hopeless to ind a satisfactory
substitute. Even now earnest expert
ments are being made with several va
rieties in the hope of finding a suitable
substitute. The most recent Is with
an East African variety of wood re-
sembling cedar.
There is no other wood using indus
try in the United States so dependent
upon a single species as the pencil in
dustry is upon red cedar" says the
scientific journal. THE scarcity of the
pencil material will soon be felt also
IN Europe. A firm in Nuremberg, Ger
many, makes annually over 800, 100000
lead pencils out of the American cedar.
About 100000 tons, or 100000 cubic
feet, of wood are required for making
these pencils. An equal amount is con-
sumed annually in the United States
in the pencil industry alone. This
makes a total of over 100000 tons, or
about 100000 cubic feet, of wood
annually, or a little over 600 tons of
cedar wood are used for pencils each
day in the year. How long the sup
ply will last at this rate of consump-
ton it is difficult to say, but 1t Is certain
that unless a suitable substitute Is in
troduced some of the mills now in op-
Grafton must shut down inside of a
few years.
Requirements Most Rigid.
1.-THE requirements for wood used in
the pencil industry are most rigid. The
wood must be soft, light, strong, close
and strong grained, free from defects
and must not check or warp. The
physical properties Of cedar are sub
ject to considerable variations, due
this reason it must be carefully inspect
ed and graded as to quality. The light
est and softest wood is produced in the
swampy hummocks of Florida and
Georgia
"The older the tree the softer and
better the wood becomes. The wood
of the shell of rotten logs Is said to
be the best for making lead pencils.
The hard flinty wood, such as is OBJ
tained principally from trees on the
dry upland or near its western limit Of
distribution, is considered poor grade.
Pencil makers both in this country
and abroad have long since been search
ing for a suitable wood to take the
place Of cedar, and an announcement
has been made that a substitute was
discovered In East Africa which may
be obtained in sufficiently large guam
titles at a reasonable price In Eu.
rope this announcement was accepted
at its full face value. In America the
pencil makers prefer to wait pending
more exact information for fear that
this discovery may share the fate of
many others, which under the rigorous
test OF quality, amount of available
supply and cost Of production, have
failed to realize the anticipadons form
ed by them or even to establish a
claim to commercial value. There can
be very little doubt, however, in case
Of the wood from East Africa, because
It is known to be very good wood and
pencil makers have tested it and found
1t to be an excellent substitute for the
American cedar.
East African Cedar.
THE introduction of a new wood is
usually very slow, and the promoters
and eXploiters of strange woods fire.
quently score heavy losses, although
the kinds they import are good and use
full. This East African cedar is now
being imported into Germany, and it
is likely that 1t will soon be used in
this country. The tree which yields
this wood is very closely allied to our
pencil cedar and is known botanically
as Junlperus procera. 1t forms beau
tiful tree from 20 to 125 feet in height
and from two to four feet In diameter.
Slater, an English naturalist, states
that In British East Africa the tree
often attalns height of 200 feet and
n diameter of six feet. East African
cedar is distributed over the mountain
GUS districts from Abysslnia southwark
into German East Africa and is found
In great abundance around Kilimand-
scharo.
"Similar to our native cedar, the
wood is soft, light, durable, easily
worked, highly scented, of good color,
uniform texture and fine grained. The
annual rings Of growth are indistinct
to the unaided eye. The surface ex-
posed by cutting the wood with a
sharp knife is very smooth and has a
satiny luster. These are facts which
will place this wood on par with the