The Harrison times., 1914-06-20
PENCILS OF TODAY
Made Of Graphite and Hardly a
Century Old.
Originally Of Lead and still SO Called
Popularity, They Are Manufactured
by Machlnery-Hard to Find
Good Wood.

There are people surviving even to-
day who can remember when the
lead pencil as we know 1t today was
not. Like friction matches and pins,
lead pencils have become such an
everyday necessity, so cheap and in
such constant requisltion that little
thought Is given to them, to their ori-
gin or the process Of manufacture
1t was not until we'll near the mid.
die OF the nineteenth century that
quill pens were succeeded by steel
pens, and II was In comparatively re-
cent times that the lead pencil Of to-
day, consisting Of a vein Of graphite
inclosed within strips Of wood, was
invented, says the Cleveland Plain
Dealer. The nineteenth century was
well under way when the only lead
pencils known were, in fact, pencils Of
lead, literally what the name implied
They took various forms, simply frag-
ments Of the common mineral lead,
exactly such lead as we see today In
the form Of lead pipes and sheet lead,
cut, rolled, or pounded into strips or
pencils
If anyone will take a piece of ordi-
nary lead, say from lead pipe with
knife scrape or cut away the little
corroslon on the outer surface, and
make a rounded point 80 that 1t Will
run smoothly, he will find that 1t serves
very we'll as a pencil, The mark
which It makes Is lighter in color than
that made by the graphite pencil, but
It is perfectly legible and 1t Is not
30 easily erased
In the district schools in the early
part Of the nineteenth century 1t was
the custom Of pupils to have these
homemade lead pencils, as we have
indicated, that were merely sticks or
strips Of lead sharpened to a point,
and they were well nigh indestructi'
BILE, for much use made little impress
sion upon the point,
The first graphite pencils were
crude, They consisted simply of strips
Of naked graphite and they were un'
couth, inconyenIently modelled and un'
popular because they soiled the hands.
Finally, the lead pencil consisting OF
the graphite inclosed in wood came
into being and at first 1t was crude
Now, graphite ID not lead, although
II Is q mineral but from the fact,
probably, that II succeeded the real
lead pencil and made clear black
mark It was styled black lead,' by
which name II continues to pass to-
day,
Graphite Is mined In various parts
Of the world, In parts Of Scandinavia,
Germany, Russia Austria, Wales and
in several parts Of the United States,
II has been mined commercially on
the north side Of Mount Monadnock In
New Hampshire, but that was many
years ago.
The graphite ~ II comes from tho
mines IL crude, and one might as well
attempt TO lrace Inc WIN piece OF
hard coal ~ with pIeoo OF rough
graphite It must Grst be refined, and
refining Is accomplished by grinding
II, transforming It into powder wash.
Ing It and preoipitatIng II In water un'
I'll the pure graphite Is left In the form
Of rosiduum This IL placed In
molds and kiln dried, resulting In the
graphite aB we have II In different
kinds Of pencils,
Az important as the graphite iB the
wood from which the pencils are made,
This wood Ia clear The wood for tho
manufacture Of lead pencils should be
strNIghtgraInod, and must be free
from knots, A great deal Of the wood
for lead pencils made in this country
comes from Florida, and considerable
Of It comes from othor parts OF tho
south
II ls known ~ red cedar although II
IL not, strictly speaking, cedar, al
though belonging to the same family