Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1913-02-05

electric lights, and graphite mines
Do you know that the lead in the
pencils you use every day Is the pro-
duct Of the earth's inferno Of seye-
raj million years ago? And that the
carbons in the powerful electric
lights that glow in our streets come
from volcanoes that blazed centuries
ago when the world was young ?
Uncle Sans scientists have just COM
pleted an investigation OF graphite
mining-sometimes called lead min
ing-in the United States and the
Old World, and the results Of this
inquiry have developed many inter-
esting facts.
Some Of the most interesting facts
brought out in this inquiry were the
few mines Of graphite in the world,
how artificial graphite or lead is
made, and the extraordinary manner
in which it is mined in Ceylon, In
dia. 1t is also explained how nature
lays up great stores Of lead for flu
ture generations Of school children.
After making coal, it seems that ma
ture simply took one step further
and made graphite, for the latter is
nearly pure carbon and was formed
through the action OF molten rock
forced from the bowels Of the earth.
This rock, after being reduced to al
most a fluid state by the tremend-
Gus pressure in the center Of the
earth, was brought into contact with
coal. The coal was burned out
through chemical actions and the
graphite remained.
A description by the scientists Of
a graphite bed in New Mexico will
illustrate how nature goes about the
job Of making lead. "This is one Of
the few graphite mines in America.
The graphite vein extends into coal
fields, which contain coke. In the
early ages Of the world molten rock
was forced into the coal-bearing
rocks in many places and formed ma
tural coke, but in some places, due
to the presence of certain chemicals
it formed graphite when it came in
contact with the coal. The coal was
completely graphitized where the
rock was forced into the coal bed
Some Of these desposits contain 80 OF
80 per cent pure graphite. This and
artificial graphite are the materials
most often used in the manufacture
of lead pencils"
Every one speaks Of a "lead" pen
Gil as though 1T were really made OF
lead, but, as matter of fact, there
is no lead in lead pencil. The heart
or core Of "lead' pencil, commonly
known as lead, is really graphite. 1t
goes under three names-graphite
plumbago, and black lead. 1t is
known as graphite in scientific cir
cles, plumbago by the custom house
people, and lead by the ordinary
people.
History Of the Lead Pencil.
There is little real history to the
lead pencil. 1t probably goes back
two or three centuries. but that IS
all. Some old parchments have been
found marked with lead ruling, but
this must have been metallic lead.
lie Moine, an authority Of the early
days, speaks of documents marked
with graphite. Other writer's have
found papers evidently written with
piece Of graphite inserted in the
end of stick. And this shows the
evolution Of the pencil.
The first pencil factory in America
was founded by a schoolgirl. There
was graphite mine in england at
that time called the Barrowdale
mine. A schoolgirl obtained some
pieces of graphite and anticipated
quite closely the pencil method of
modern days. In some way she
crushed the graphite, either with a
hammer or a stone, and then used
gum, mixing the two together. Then
she cut an alder cylinder, filled it