Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 November 1868 — Pencil-lead Mines and Lead pencils. [ARTICLE]

Pencil-lead Mines and Lead pencils.

there ia not A particle of lend in the pancil Tha material variously known aa black lead, uiiKuoiiu rto the fact that previous to ,the employment of. graphite for making ponbeat graphite was obtained, not in very huge quantities, at lk.irowdale, |in rK.J’T.VpImh wliere it was discovered in 1864, espy in tlio reign of Queen Elizabeth, and pencils, npmh like theee-stiU in general use. were produced the ( vear following. As the supply of tho graphite (known in Cumber--1,111,1, while in the mine, by the name of ■wild) will) hflit lhtge, the Britisji cG«>varn'nfertt from th'e first took gfout pains to pfcv'ont the exportation o ' this article, and a+dn lolityilt I® home sale tp,,p ftgPP l !* just sufficient to meet tho estimated demand. Graphite ia found in various parts of Europe, aud evon in North America,but ofttcrwjr ■ *#»|ripr: JJWtMj*. lana mines were worked nut a tow woekH eaeli year, yet tho yield of wad was estimated at £40,000 a year. While the graphite' boiLede England supplied the best pencils to tlie world. Year after year fora century past, the graphite ’ deposit ‘ln the Cumberland became ‘•fine by degrees and gradually The. tonal* Was that graphite powder had to be compressed into a solid cake from which pencils could be supplied. A French variation, said to be an lmpracemcnt, was to mix the 'powered and purified "graphite With cltfjr, which is largely done still. Nearly one hundred pud fifty years ago tho pencil manufacture commenced in England, and. iptpidnnd in ’’Franco, wiis transplanted to the village pf Stain, near Nuremberg, in Bavara; and littlo more than a century since Ca*per Faber thero began to make the pencils which continue torire made by.his descendants and bear the family fiame through the world. Tho present John Lothair Faber, great-grandson of Casper, has been Read of the firm since 183‘J, midis not only very wealthy, but has recently been ennobled by the King of Bavaria. One of his brothers is associated with him at Stein, in the process of manufacture; the yoiingest of tlie three, Rberpurd Faber, represents the firm for the Western World at New York. Stein is hternUy a to\vn df pencil factories, of which -lfaron Faber is the ruler, taking «we of the health, govertr"Hient, education, lndastiyjllnit aud amusement-.. of tlie inhabitairts, ansiulwayß.living iu their jnidet. It may Ire uskvd—how do the Fabers make lead pencils without the famous gruphite'fromCumberland ? It appears that twenty years ago John i'eter Alibert, a -Frenchman, resident iu Asiatic Siberia, having heard of the gold discoveries in California, begun to examine the Bandy beds of, various rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean, lie found samples of pure graphite, evidently brought ft great distance l>v the force of the stream, in ouo of the mountain gorges near Irkootsk, aud purKumg -his discovery, trucked back to a braheti w the Salau Monutain range, on the srtomitt ~of Mduut Eatougoi, 'Jt'/H mills west of tho town of Irkootsk, near the Chinesu frontier, ju the midst of the rocky desert, and found pure graphite. Alter years of costly labor, Albert found nu exUaustless deposit of graphite, equal to the host ever taken from Cumberland. Beside uecoratiug and rewarding him, the Russian Government changed tho fiauio of YJ!ouut Batougol to that of Alouiit, Alrberl, Neatly every crowned head iu Kurcpe has honored him. . nr r. ’ ‘ •••••!

With the consent of- the Bnssian government, Ahbert now supbSCT Faber’s hoUse^exclusively with grapiUito i|f»m the mine in Asiatic Siberia. Pencils of this material were first made by Baron Faber iu 1861, and were not introduced into tlie American market until 1863, from which tiiuo artists anil others perceived aud acknowledged i heir superi. rifv. If the world were to endure a thousand years more, there is miffioient graphite in Mount Alibe.rl Jo supply its population wth good .black lead pencils. - -j ■ (lurjiiiis Fiuts Rrs.-Htiitig tlie Oldest House tit the City of New York.

The •,Hermit of New York,’, ifi his last letter; says; The oldest house in this city is at theVoFuer of -Greenwich 5 and Cedar streets, mid ns it Is the only wooden house on any of the four corners, formed by the' intersection of three streets, it may easily be recognized, li is about' twenty feet square and is two stories in height. Tire weather boards have no doubt been in use a ectttrirV, arc still of good-scroop, and so is the antique roof. The first floor is occupied as a grocery,'and the upper story is tenanted by several poor families, who ns a matter of course, pay enormous rents, and brace, old us it may he, it still pnys as Bell ns one of modern construction. When tho house was built it was in the suburbs of the city, which then contained aboutUOJOOt) iishnbitants It was the •‘Beach House, ” and stood on the margin of the Hudson, which -byTccs-moffitbngia-Hvpow-cuglilhimdri.il feet distant. The amount of land thus rnftdo by docking tuitttrgTfvcrdn this side of the town is equal to ah Ait one thousand acres uuorth $300,000. The ‘•Beach House” is in tlie hands of the Grommeiia ihmilv, who have held it-fei along time, and will uot sell it at any price. Adjoining this house is oj>o of simitar character, which uiust.fhimTjheen.built about the sithre time.. Although Of small (flzej it was ,ouo* used as a tavern, aud accommodated the emigrants who lauded at tho quay; in front. Quito a curious ciicninstanoc is “connected' with this old house. For mfire than fifty years a man has been known,to come tiunuiUly to this spot on, a certain day; and spend many

hours gazing upon that old tavern A friend recently inquired the reason. ‘‘Sir,' was the reply/‘fifty yfars ago f qnft-red tliat house, a poor WunvarlroiA Okitigowi All I had in the world was contained in a pocket handkerchief. In that little gnmat I slept the first night I was ig Amerfea, and now I make it a rule to come here on the anniversary and thunk God for his mercy to rue.” (he man thus letened to wak tUe late William Scott,'for many 1 years -a"p r °minent mercliant in this oity. Immediately on leaving tlie tavern referred to, he hired a basement anil commenced weaving rag carpet. After gettiug a small capital in thjs f manner he opened a retail store and ftdm this liumbfo .I)«BftiflinS he 'henama'' worth 8300,000. The rtext mdest building in Uje my is tho “old Walton house.’, This well kii’own strnctnfo is in Franklin square, near Harper’s 1 took establisninont It was bu ll before the fdvolifllon by an English gentleman named Walton, >n wlmt was the aristoerptiic. part of the city. It was a building of very great pertenfions in his day, npd its (Hinint heads carved in brown stoho still show tbo taste of its author. It has now •become a cheap boarding house or jilnCn of bodily laitcrtliinraenti where ode ciAi drink beer and cat jyelsn rarebits amid the memories of fornicr grandeur.

. Btfufi'iivir Us«io;ioLo»i/i| Facts.—Tlio past ifMpmer will long Tiq ie^ugi)' , ’ga)d v , amongJaUitiSfofotflstH as one of extruorili-T iftrjr coutiTCds.’ While Thiglniiff rind the , greateri p&rt of the Continent of Ejiropd ‘ w ore 'scorch ed To the dolor of brown paper, r*in fell'’ in nine moulhsi being Iltfichcs utorc than the annual average. 1 u Gnrenvt, Ahumdabad, andSurß*'tU(un.fU«fcofhouses' were washed awayj and jb'u we Slfor andthef. In tbe> ‘ rain fall *«» sßccesaive, Part# of Italy weroways MiNilfeW by • gteaf grips; * »ml so. i-ainy ia it at Oonio UutJ the itimiress of Russia and other visitors to tin siorjc-ricf the famous kku find more qnartcis in Miinu. l'hie, agnin,’is in striking Jn4n(st vktli the ddightjul ; rijfifiiau kiJjumef weather which itew pfdvh*! in Efig, ‘ibfid? wfMiins«) -v a' u'v Hit* %v; —The most recent »tylo of y in 51 iV an is invented bv vaKabonds, who invite vpnng milliners and •eamstroasca to s the bolt champeirap. drag them witli Wuc containing opium, and then dorooil ihem of their h*fr. A heavy reward is offered for Urtl capture of the knivea. -