Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-05-12
we'll seasoned red cedar will not be re-
fused by some factories. :

1uSeQ Dy some Iactorles. rE ."
Fully three -fourths of the cedal
i wood purchased by the pencil facto
ries cannot be used for pencils, but hai
to go into the waste heap or be uset
| up as some by-product., Only the hear
wood is good for lead pencils. The out
side or sap wood Is sometimes utilized
for pen holders. Pencil wood must b
straight grained and free from knot!
and black specks. Before the wood be.
came SO scarce, the sap wood was al
lowed to rot by keeping the logs II
water. This process tended to make
the heart wood brittle and soft, goot
qualities for the pencil maker.
The search for cedar has spread
throughout all the southern states, and
has been most thorough. AS late al
1900 nearly 100000 feet Of good red
cedar timber were RATED down the
Cumberland river from the vicinity OF
Lebanon, Tenn. 1t Is said by experts
that another such lot Is not likely to
be secured in this country within the
next half century. The virgin cedar
stands have all been exhausted, and
old cuttings have been gone over re-
peatedly. Logs and trees which were
passed by a few years ago are eagerly
taken now. Old stumps are cut up and
good pencil wood secured from them.
Barns and cabins built of cedar many
years ago are not escaping the search
ers who buy this wood in large guam
titles. Fence rails and pickets are
also taken. Sometimes the pencil men
will secure old cedar rail fences by
building modern woven wire fences In
their places. Gi
The pencil industry Is not the only
one which is bei1g embarrassed by
this exhaustion Of the supply Of red
cedar, which the United States de-
partment Of forestry claims could have
been prevented II this government had
taken the same precautions as did that
of Germany. The manufacturers OF ci-
gar boxes have had to substitute an
other wood because 1t has become inn
possible for them to secure cedar. In
the minds of some smokers this fact
Is responsible for the deterioration In
the flavor of q number Of brands of ci-
gars. Instead Of being packed in box
of fragrant red cedar, most cigars are
now put up in boxes made Of poplar
or some other soft wood and are cover
ed and lined with a thin veneer of
Spanish cedar which is imported from
Cuba for that purpose, IN sRl II .tb
In the colonial days In this country.
red cedar was used for many varieties
of household wares. Well buckets were
made Of red cedar, more frequently
than from any other wood. At the st.
Louis Worlds fair was exhibited red
cedar bucket with brass hoops which
was made in Tennessee in 1857. Its
wood was till sound, although It had
been in active use more than CEN
tury. i Few cedar buckets are to be
found now. Incidentally it may be
mentioned that the use Of paper as a
material for manufacturing water
buckets has been more satisfactory
than for lead pencils and the paper or
fbroid water buckets are to be found
in large variety in every house fur
nishing store. - "n% p" t3'l
Cofins Of red cedar were used ex-
tensively in the southern states half a
century ago, and frequently they were
placed In boxes of the same material.
It has been rumored that old grave
yards have been rified by the pencil
wood seekers. This report has been de-
MED rather Indignantly by the manu-
facturers who claim that aside from
other reasons, wood which had been
buried for so many years In board
thickness could not be perfect enough
to be available for pencils as, notwith-
standing its durability, cedar will de-
cay under such conditions.-Frederick
J. Haskin.