V
V
16
MAIL TRIBUNE, Medfofd, Or. A Thursday, April 7, 160
Bulk of World's Pencil Stock
Comes From Area Tree Farms
Central Point - Southern
Oregon and northern Cali
fornia produce the bulk of
the world's mpply of wood for
that basic tool of modern civ-iiization-the
pencil.
About three quarters of the
world supply of pencil stock
comes from this region, ac
cording to Bernard Parent,
manager for Gulf Red Cedar
company, Central Point
Parent's firm, which has its
main manufacturing plant at
Stockton, alone makes about
a third nf the world s pencil
stock. Some 60 per cent of the
logs the Central Point mill
turns into pencil material
comes from forest industry
Tree Farms, where timber is
grown as renewable crop, in
the Medford-KUmath Falls
area.
More than half of the com
pany's output is shipped to
foreign nations.
To Iron Curtain Nation
Some of the firm's pencil
stock even goes to such Iron
Curtain countries as Czecho
slovakia, which apparently
prefers to buy Oregon wood
rather than timber from Rus
sian sources since the U.S. re
moved pencil slats from its
list of strategic materials.
"You can buy a better pen
cil today for a nickel than
you could at any price when I
went to school," Parent ob
serves. "The skills of scores
of different craftsmen and
materials from all over the
world go into the finished
product."
The pencils which make up
the No. 1 writing tool for mil
lions of Americans and others
begin as stately incense cedars
in the forests of southern Ore
gon and the northern tip of
California. Incense cedar is
the preferred species among
East Coast pencil manufac
turers today because of its
soft, even texture and its mar
velously . straight, knot-free
grain. While it is soft enough
to whittle easily, it is strong
enough not to break In your
pocket. The wood has little
pitch and resin.
Until it was discovered in
the 1920s that the West
Coast's incense cedar had all
these properties, however, the
only acceptable pencil wood
for many years previous was
red cedar from the South.
Today almost all pencils are
made of incense cedar-except
those for the United States
Senate, which still insists on
southern red cedar as a tra
dition. The main difference in
appearance of the two woods
lies in their color, and since
people have historically be
come accustomed to the red
dish hue of the southern spe
cies in their pencils the manu
facturers cater to this tradi
tional public fancy by dying
the west's lighter-colored in
cense cedar red.
Paraffin is also cooked into
the wood to keep the pencil
from "frizzing up" when it is
sharpened.
Parent puts between 15 to
20 million board feet of logs
through his mill each year,
cutting them into cants as the
first step in the pencil making
process. He figures that it
takes roughly 2.8 board feet
to make a gross of pencils. An
average three-foot diameter
log may thus produce about
33,000 pencils.
At the firm's Stockton mill,
the cants are milled again to
make slats, and each slat is
grooved to make eight pencil
"halves." With the lead in
place between slats and ad
hesive applied, the individual
pencils are then cut out of
the slats.
Each pencil may receive up
to IS coats of paint, says the
Central Point mill manager.
The "rubber" eraser" which
goes on next actually has little
rubber in it, according to Par
ent. Its main ingredient is a
rubber-like product called
"factice," made by reacting
rape seed oil from the Dutch
East Indies with sulphur
chloride. It also contains pum
ice from Italy and is colored
with cadmium sulphide.
The wooden pencil is still
State Will Auction
Vehicles on Friday
Salem IUPD The state will
conduct its first public auction
of state vehicles in Portland
this year on Friday at 12:30
p.m. at the State Liquor Con
trol Commission facilities In
southeast Portland.
A total of 67 vehicles will
go on the auction block in
cluding 40 sedans, two station
wagons, nine dump trucks,
three scoopmobiles and 25
other commercial vehicles.
the most widely used writing
instrument, having an estimat
ed 10 to 1 sales ratio over all
other writing devices. More
than 1.5 billion wood pencils
are used each year in the
United States-an average of
about nine apiece for every
man, woman and child.
Invented in France some
150 years ago, the common
place pencil is today respon
sible for Jobs and income for
many an Oregon tree farmer
and forest industry wage
earner.
yw!J' frjf J
"':'"'f I
; ..st -rift-if,
mi
? S ft t
in tin i.J
APPLIANCE
CLEARANCE
DEMONSTRATORS . . . TRADE-INS
I ea. Kenmore Electric Dryer 95.00
I ea. Kenmore Electric Dryer 1 129
I ea. Combination Wash-Dryer," 250
J ea. Kenmore Auto. Washer 210
I ea. Kenmore Wringer Washer 88
I ea. Silverione 24 T.V. 249.00
I ea. Silverione Portable TV V9 89.00
3 ea. Portable Radio-Hi Fi cmb. 44
fea. I960 Model Port. TV .JSy, 99.00
I New Upright Vacuum 35.00
I Electrolux Tank 5.00
I M. Wards Tank 9.95
I Lewyt Tank 15,00
I Kenmore Sew. Mach. as is 15.00
I Kenmore Portable Machine 35.00
I Singer Sewing Machine 5.00
"Satisfaction guaranteed
or your money Men
SEARS
OPIN
Monday
1 frld.
Central SP J-teol Til P.M.
101 I. JACKSON
III Madferd ShoB.ina
ILLUSTRATE STEPS Illustrating steps in pencil making,
Bernard Parent, manager of Gulf Red Cedar company, Cen
tral Point, shows section of incense cedar cant, at right, 1
which has been sawed to make pencil "slats." At left are )
slats that have been grooved to make pencil halves. With I
lead In place, two slats will be glued together, then cut into i
eight pencils. (AFPI Photo)
IAJT 2 DAYS!
FRIDAY - SATURDAY
S T O C K I N
'PENCIL WASHED A "Paul Bunyon Pencil" Is washed
down as It goes into the mill at Gulf Red Cedar company,
Central Point, where it will be cut Into stock for an esti
mated 33,000 pencils. The company figures it mills about a
a third of the world's supply of pencil stock. Some 60 per
cent of the logs for the Central Point mill come from forest
industry Tree Farms where timber is grown as a renewable
crop. (AFPI Photo)
e if
m
annual h;
lp I
N JUST WEAR A SMILE
f V A ( J
1 ; r .. . ; ' ' v.- 1 1 rw 1.1
SAVE UP TO 90c ON
EVERY BOX
WITHOUT SEAMSi
Sandal Foot
Now 1 .40 pr.
Demi-Toe Sheer
Now 1 .25 pr.
Reinforced Sheer
Now 1.15 pr.
WITH SEAMS:
Tissue Dress Sheer
Now 1 .40 pr.
Walking Sheer
Now 1.15 pr.
Reg. 1.65
3 pr. 4.05
Reg. 1.50
3 pr. 3.60
Reg. 1.35
3 pr. 3.30
Reg. 1 .65
3 pr. 4.05
Reg. 1.35
3 pr. 3.30
Want to feel like a woman? It's simple when the sil
houette is sheath and your Great Jantzen is in truly
feminine puff-puff matelasse. From seashore to sea
shore you'll like the wonderful things Jantzen does for
a body. Sizes 10-16.
The tide rolls In carrying the Great Jantzens that changt
the whole shoreline into a horizon filled with luxuriously
colored Acrilan (Cotton, Acrilan, Nylon, Rubber). This
turkish Bather in colorful horizontal stripes. Inner center
panel for control. Sizes 8-16. ,
19.95
19.95
ll
1 ."3J-'"T i
SPRING HOUSEWARES
SALE!
OUTDOOR CLOTHES DRYER
All aluminum. Durablt, lightweight, collapsible. Popular paral-
el line type with 30 drying lines
13.88
IRONING BOARDS
Solid ill metal construction. Sturdy balance.
Adjustabl. to desired height. Three styles to 4.88 - 6 88 - 9 88
elect from.
E-Z FOLD TABLES
All metal. Take them anywhere. Durable sturdy support. Foldl
down to size of card table. Comparable value 10.98.
KITCHEN UTILITY TABLE
All metal. Four easy turninej wheels. Convenient electrical outlet.
Kigid-Lok corner construction. Comparable value 5.9B.
PLASTIC TUMBLERS
fA Salt, shatterproof . . . will not break when dropped.
neat resistant , . . sale in most dish washers. Ideal
for children. Reoular 25e each.
GE ELECTRIC CLOCKS
Accurate, quiet, self starting. Famous General Electric oualitv.
Regular value 5.98.
ELEC. CAN OPENER
REVERE TEA KETTLE
7 PC. BEVERAGE SET
All hammered mirropolished aluminum. 2 quart pitcher Six
12 ounce tumblers. Comparable value 3.98. '
PATIO CHAIRS
Light weight aluminum. All nylon webbing. Folds compactly In
seconds. Durablt . . . colorful.
All mttal construction. With knife sharpener. Cans lock on to
avoid spilling. Comparable value 29.95.
Full two quart capacitvl All stainless steel with solid copper bottom
for faster healing. Regular 5.25.
7.88
3.88
4 for 88c
3.88
18.88
3.88
2.88
4.88