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

| roads OF the department OF ABr1cuI-
ture and the Paint Manufacturers
Association, for the purpose OF deter
mining the relative merits of vari-
Gus paint pigments as preservative
coping for iron and steel, have yield
ed results OF great importance"
What nature can do, man can
sometimes do even better, and In the
case of making graphite, single
company using the power generated
by Niagara Falls, manufactures more
! artificial graphite than all the graph
lite produced by the mines OF the
| United States. Hard coal with
small amount of ash is the material
used, and the electric furnace does
| the rest.
85 Pencils q Year for Each Human.
The process is a patented one. The
| product Is used largely as a lubri-
cant, known generally to the trade
| as plumbago, and the invention
solves the problem Of the supply Of
| grease to make the world go round,
| so long at least as the coal supply
lasts. Since 1904 this company has
made fully 50,OO0,OoO pounds of
graphite at an average cost of 7
cents a pound, and a multitude of
wheels of industry have thus been
made to spin more easily. Graphite
greatly improves the oil as a lubri-
cant in every respect. Specially pre-
pared graphite will remain suspend
ed in oil, displaying no tendency to
sink, so that it can be fed through
| automatic oil cups. When suspend
ed in water this graphite will pass
through the finest filter paper.
The use Of graphite in pencil MAX
ing is its oldest application, but the
| percentage of graphite used for this
purpose is estimated as low as only
per cent of the total production.
Still, with a worlds production an
nually Of about 100000 tons, it can
be seen that allowing per cent for
pencils, 100000 tons, there would be
sand tons is 100000 ounces, and
| one ounce of graphite will make the
lead" for 20 pencils. This is IS
pencils for every man, woman and
child in the world, illiterate, heather
and all.
Another use for graphite is in the
manufacture of crucibles for making
fine grades of steel, brass and
,of hot &c
| nearly pure carbon, is relatively in
| ert chemically, and volatilizes only
at high temperature makes it of ex-
ceptional value for this purpose.
| Most OF The sraphite used in the Uni
/ ted States for crucibles is imported
! from the sreaC graphite mines of
: GcyIOD, the equal of the Ceylon pro-
, aUCL Tor this purpose not being found
in any other locality. Stirring rods
and other refractory products are
made from material similar to that
used in crucibles. Another import
ant use is as a rust preventive for
structural iron and steel. Graphite
is also largely used in various cleo
| =,
and as a protective coating for gun
powder.
| The story of what is probably the
oldest graphite mine within the Uni
ted States is interesting. This mine
became known to the whites in 1888,
and mas been worked intermittently
| for more than two centuries and a
half. Recently a company has been
| incorporated which Is now attempt
ing to develop the property by the
methods OF modern mining engineer
ing. The mine is located in the
midst Of tract of land almost as
wild and desolate to-day as it was a
century ago near Sturbridge, Mass.
| The existence OF this deposit Of
graphite was known early in the COL
ony's history. About 1888 one John
Oldham, of interesting memory in
connection with the battle Of Plym-
outh and the Massachusetts Bay Col
onies, made trip overland to Can
ada, trading with the Indians on the
way. He returned with a stock Of
along some "black lead" he found
! near Sturbridge The Indians told
him there were great quantities Of it
around that region.
| Governor Winthrope became inter-
ested, and made a contract with a