the long rooms in the upper story. These After being weighed in lots of about one rooms are filled with drops and presses; be- hundred gross, the blanks are taken to the fore each machine a female operative is seated. piercing presses. This operation is performed As in all steel pen factories, there is abun- in precisely the same manner as the cutting dance of light; and warmth, ventilation and out; only, instead of a band of steel, the opcleanliness are fully attended to. The work erative has to place into the tools the small is admirably fitted for females, as it is light" blank," of the dimensions of a pen. This and wholesome, and requires that delicate process perforates the pen at the top of the manipulation and attention for which the sex is remarkable.

slit.

Until this last mentioned process the steel has retained some portion of its elasticity, which it now becomes necessary to remove, as in several of the following operations it must be entirely devoid of temper, and as pliable as lead. To accomplish this the blanks are taken to the muffle room. The muffles are large circular ovens as depicted by the engra

The machines for cutting out, piercing, raising and slitting are small presses in which the power is derived from the screw and lever; the manner of operating them will be understood by observing the illustrations. In cutting out, the punch is affixed to the end of the screw; the die, with an opening in which the punch fits with the greatest nicety, is on ving. The blanks mingled with carbon, are the bed immediately beneath the punch. A ribbon of steel is adjusted on the die, the punch brought down by a smart pull at the lever, and the blank, or bit of steel suitable for a pen, falls into a receptacle underneath. This manipulation requires care to avoid waste, as also attention in observing that the die and punch remain in perfect order. Notwithstanding these precautions, a skillful operator has been known to cut out 300 gross-hammer is worked by the foot, thus leaving that is, 43,200 blanks-in a single day.

placed in iron boxes, which are put into the muffle and subjected to a uniform red heat of twenty-four hours, when they are taken out and allowed to cool-thus the annealing is perfectly accomplished.

The next operation is stamping; this is done by drop presses. The device or stamp is affixed to the bottom of the hammer; the blank is placed on a bed of soft steel. The

the hands free to place and remove the blanks.

Slitting is the next operation; it is done therefore secret. In this solution the pens are immersed, and subsequently exposed to the action of the open air to dry the varnish. As the pens have a tendency to stick together, the workmen exhibit no little dexterity while tossing and moving them about at this stage of the process; for, not only are the pens effectually separated and scattered, but not one is allowed to fall to the floor.

with presses, the same as those used for raising, etc. The slit is made by means of a chisel or wedge, with a flat side fixed to the bed of the press, the descending screw of which has also a chisel or cutter, which very accurately corresponds with the former. The proper slitting of the pen will be found, on due consideration, no easy task. Let those who regard it otherwise take a pair of scis- On the completion of the varnishing, the sors and try the experiment with a piece of pens are taken to the warerooms for inspectin or lead, and look what a gaping, wedge- tion and assorting. In this process it is inlike aperture there will be. Compare this for tended to reject every pen that has been dama moment, with a steel pen, which requires aged in the numerous manipulations it has to be pressed on the thumb nail to show that gone through, and in either of which it is liait is slit, and the contrast will be fully appa-ble to fatal injury. The inspection is an ex

rent. And yet, so sharp and nicely tempered is the alitting tool, and so accurately is the place of the pen determined by means of a guard, that a girl can hardly put it in a wrong position; and a pen slit aside from the center is of rare occurrence.

So perfect is the slit that it admits of no improvement. Although now complete in shape, several other proceses have to be gone through before they are ready for the market. Slitting leaves a burr on the point-therefore polishing is necessary, which is done in the revol ving cans, the accompaniment being the saw-dust of box-wood. When removed from this dust they are as bright as silver. In this condition they are again put in the tempering barrel, but this time to color or bronze them; they are allowed to remain but a few moments, during which time, their former tempering is not affected. After bronzing, the pens are varnished. The solution used for this purpose is peculiar to the establishment and

MEDALLION PEN.

tensive operation, for, besides the superficial examination, each pen must have its temper tested, and the slit proven by springing on the thumb nail. At this establishment there are no "seconds;" the least inaccuracy rejects the pen, and this rejection is final. It is thrown aside for scrap steel. Other manufacturers sell their seconds at about twenty-five per cent less than the usual prices, but this company have determined to sell none but perfect pens. After the best pens are selected out they are counted, laid in piles with great regularity, put in boxes holding one gross each, labeled and sealed, and are then ready for the market.

We were shown a necessary appendage to the steel pen, at the works of the Washington Medallion Pen Company, which although not a steel pen, is so closely allied to it that we make a passing note of it. It is a newly invented pen holder, which we are informed has been patented under the title of the Washington Medallion Pen-holder. It is briefly described by stating that it differs from all other metallic pen-holders in this respect-it receives and holds the pen firmly, and in a perfectly proper position-straight with the handle, on the outside of the barrel or tube; whereas, all other metallic penholders are so constructed as to make it necessary for the heel of the pen to he stuck into the tube, whereby pens are usually improperly held, and with difficulty removed. When a pen is adjusted in this new holder, pen and holder present the appearance of being one piece of steel, so perfectly are they adapted to each

other.

This Company employs about one hundred operatives, about three-fourths of whom are females; their business is rapidly increasing, and, from present appearances ere another year their operations will be quite as extensive as the largest Birmingham manufactories.

The peculiarity of this art, as compared appear at first sight. If the reader ever with almost all others, is this: the quality of watched the type-founder as he pours the the product does not in any degree depend melted metal into the little steel matrix with upon the regular machinery of the establish- one hand, with the other touches a spring, ment. In nearly all other mechanic arts, the closes the orifice, swings the mould upward product is characterized by the quality of the in a way of his own, touches the spring and machinery used, whereas, in this peculiar art, releases the newly made metal letter, he would the machinery, although the most perfect of understand the peculiar readiness which the its kind, plays only a secondary part, being fingers acquire by constant practice. The used simply to operate the tools with which twisting and straightening the cottons for the various processes are performed-the tools candles, the rolling up of a cigar, the pasting being put in or attached to the presses and re- of labels on pen or match-boxes, are all opermoved at pleasure. Upon the make and per- ations which simple as they appear, are not fect truthfulness of the tools depend the easily acquired and only by application. quality of the pens. The tools are manufactured on the premises by artists known as pentool makers. These tool makers rank in Birmingham as the best mechanics in England, and command higher wages than any other mechanics in that country. They are the chiefs of their shops-all the work being performed under their charge and responsibility. They are constantly on the watch lest the tools get dull, or break, or in some way become imperfect, and require repairing or making anew-for it must be remembered that it is steel tools cutting steel, not steel tools cutting wood, cloth, or leather. Hence it is, that the art is a difficult one. And without that which we pay for liberty-eternal vigilance-the steel pen cannot be made perfect, as a set of tools perfect in the morning may be doing imperfect work before noon. Another necessity of this peculiar business is that it requires for its successful prosecution a constant supervising throughout the various trades, that work may pass regularly through all the numerous processes, from the "cutting out of the "blank to the inspection, assorting and boxing. The least neglect on the part of a general superintendent and the wheels get clogged, and the system deranged, and ruin

soon ensues.

In nine of the numerous operations pursued in this manufacture, each pen has to be singly handled by the operative. All of these operations are performed by females, who, by practice, acquire great celerity in their movements; for in this as in various other mechanical manipulations, the finger is quicker than the eye. The education of the hand in some trades is a more important matter than would

Our first experience with the Washington Medallion Pen was from a few samples procured at the exhibition of the American Institute in October last. We found them very superior, and since that time they have been universally adopted throughout the establishment. Many friends who have tried them coincide in opinion with us. They are really a most excellent writing pen and as they are of American manufacture, it is to be hoped they will supercede all others for home consumption.

The Day is Done.

BY H. W. LONGFELLOW.

The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in its flight.

I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist.

A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.

Come read to me some poem!
Some simple and heart-felt lay,

Madame de Maintenon "was one day solicited by Madame de Brinon, an Ursuline nun, to aid her and a sister of her order in maintaining a school, which they had founded at Montmorency, for the education of girls. She at once sent her some pupils, the children of poor parents, and paid for their support. She visited them often and became so deeply interested in their welfare, that she wished them to be nearer Versailles. She rented a house at Rucil, presented the scholars with clothing and furniture, and moreover called in the pea

*The following extracts from an article in the North American Review for October, 1857, are inserted here by permission of the author.