^ ^b;WigSai-fa:.:^!OSai<^tSlj^>K-a^^J!;:;:^^to;l:KW:b ' .c;ltf^ 



It seems tliat undue imiioitaiice lias I pen attaiOicd to tlie recent an- 

 nouncement that the cutters of red ce.lar wood for pencils in Tennes- 

 see have quit work be;ause the pencil slats, which are the partly-manu- 

 factured material, cannot now be shipped to Germany where the 

 pencils are made. It is doubtless a fact that the Tenessee cedar 

 cutters have quit making pencil slats; but that does not imply that 

 America will experience a scarcity of lead pencils. Kothing in the 

 nature of a pencil famine need be looked for. This country has not 

 depended to any great extent on Germany and Austria for pencils, 

 as some persons have supposed; and at this early period of the war 

 steps have already teen taken to make in America the line of pencils 

 wliich have been coming from Germany. 



It is reported tliat a large factory is to be located in Toledo, O., 

 owned by Americans, to make the I'aber pencil, or a grade corre- 

 sjionding to it. It has been made in Germany up to the present time; 

 but now its American distributors have decided to build their own 

 plant, and have selected Toledo as the place. It is said that the 

 factory will cost .$200,000 and will employ 200 people. 



Leaving the proposed factory out of consideration, no distress 

 would be caused in this country by cutting off the pencil imports 

 from Germany. The United States is able to take care of itself in 

 that respect. The German and Austrian imports of this article have 

 been greatly overestimated in popular opinion, as a preliminary in- 

 vestigation will amply show. One of the first unexpected facts to 

 be brought out by such an investigation is that England furnishes 

 more of our lead pencil impoits than Germany and Austria combined, 

 and it is further shown that thirteen countries, instead of one, ship 

 pencils to the United States, though very small quantities come from 

 some of them, as the following table of lead pencil imports in 191.3 

 shows : 



Value of lead 

 Coiiulry iwucll Imports 



Knslnnd $2!)5,143 



fiormany -. 254.nS0 



Franc e o 929 



Ausi ria 72^ 



Netl orlnnds 387 



Canada jjjq 



Scotland 3J4 



Japan 4g 



I'a'v ^..... 38 



Switzerland 25 



Turkey in Asia 8 



Hongkong _ 4 



Denmark • ;; 



Total $.594,917 



In the foregoing table, and in the following statistics in this 

 article, crayons, if made of graphite or pUimbago, are included with 

 pencils. 



The American Supply 

 The United States exports more pencils than it imports. Such ex- 

 ports are over and above wliat its own people use at home. The 

 following figures show the export of lead pencils from this country 

 last year: 



Value of lead 

 Destination pencils exported 



North America $:!.!n,410 



Kurope 173,202 



South America ' 4S 910 



Oceania 436.-,- 



Astn '.'.'.'.'.'.'.['.'. 21.'9.'iG 



^''•'<=" 1,413 



Total $C25,.548 



These pencils go to nearly every country in the world with which 

 the United States has any trade. The largest purchaser is England, 

 Canada is second, Mexico thud, and Cuba fourth. 



Eleven establishments in the United States make lead pencils. One 

 is in Georgia, one in Iowa, one in Massachusetts, two in New York, 

 —32— 



two in Pennsylvania, and four in New Jersey. These establishments 

 rate in size as follows: One turns out a product of less than $.5,000 

 a year; two have a product exceeding $5,000 and less than $20,000; 

 two produce more than $20,000 and less than $100,000; two over 

 $100,000 and less than $1,000,000; and four exceed $1,000,000 output. 



There are 4,134 wage earners making pencils in the United States., 

 This does not include those who cut the wood in the forest and dig 

 the graphite. The invested capital is $7,867,247; the expense $6,804,- 

 05S per year; and the total product is worth $7,378,744. 



It may be noted that the output is stated in value, not in pencils. 

 It would be difficult to determine the actual number of pencils made 

 in a year, because crayons and pencils are listed together. Estimates 

 of the number are published from time to time, as stray items of 

 news, but such estimates do not appear to be founded on reliable 

 statistics. The figures which the government collects to show exports, 

 imports and manufactures all aie based on value and give no informa- 

 tion regarding the actual number of pencils produced. An estimate, 

 which is perhaps as nearly right as any, plaies the production of 

 lead pencils in the United States at 220,000,000 a year. 



The principal pencil wood is southern red cedar, but several others 

 are used. A wood of dark color is wanted, and it must polish smooth, 

 whittle easily, and in first-class pencils a pleasing cedar odor is 

 expected. Many attempts have been made, some of which have been 

 fairly successful, to color woods artificially for the pencil makers; 

 but no artificial product has yet been devised to equal, in all respects, 

 the hcartwood of mature southern red cedar. 

 Peniioi.deus 



Penholders are not classed as lead pencils, and have no right to be 

 so classed; yet they are pretty closely related so far as manufacturing 

 is concerned. In some factories the penholder is a by-product of the 

 pencil. Wood may not be satisfactory for a pencil, yet suitable for 

 a penholder. This is particularly true of the sapwood of red cedar. 

 The maker of high grade pencils will not use it, but the penholder 

 maker asks for nothing better. 



It is probable, however, that most penholders never see a pencil 

 factory. They are made of woods which do not go to pencil makers, 

 such as basswood and white pine. In addition to the enormous 

 numbers of penholders used at home, we export them to the value 

 of $74,808 a year to practically every country in the world. England 

 is the largest buyer of these penholders, Canada next, Argentina third, 

 Mexico fourth. The number exported last year amounted to 11,221,- 

 0.')6. 



New Specifications for Hickory Handles 



Through new specifications for ax, sledge, adz, pick and other 

 hickory handles, the Panama canal authorities have recently purchased 

 large quantities of this class of material for one-fourth less than 

 formerly paid, and at the same time are getting just as serviceable 

 stock. 



The War Department and the Navy Department, as well as the 

 Panama Canal Commission, have adopted these specifications, which 

 were prepared by the Forest Service primarily for the use of the 

 various branches of the federal government. Subsequently, however, 

 they have been approved by the trade, both manufacturers and deal- 

 ers, and adopted by several of the leading railroads. 



The new rules are the result of a long study of the subject, covering 

 exhaustive strength tests, investigations of the growth of hickory in 

 the woods, processes tff manufacture and market conditions. Under 

 the new specifications handles are selected according to weight, as 

 influenced by the density of the wood, and they now include material 

 which may be either partly or wholly of hcartwood, known generally 

 as red hickory. Red hickory was formerly discriminated against in 

 commercial grading, but it is now acreplcd, since it has been found 

 that weight for weight it is jr.st as serviceable as the white hickory. 

 Handles which contain small sound knots or bird pecks, so located 

 as not to affect the strength, are also accepted. 



