Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-12-13
Errntttg Glrat

Hundreds of abandoned or dis
used limekilns throughout this part
of Pennsylvania will be fired up
again and made paying enterprises
this winter and next spring, accord
ing to expressions of opinion made
at the December meeting of the
State, Commission of Agriculture
by men who have been studying the
fertilizer situation. From reports
reaching here there will be a great
demand for fertilizers of all kinds
in the spring as thousands of acres
are being prepared for seeding next
spring and as the supply and price
of agricultural lime have been re-
ported as unsatisfactory, steps to
| bring about a revival of the busi-
ness will be taken. In some of the
| limestone sections of the state, not
ably the SHsquehanna Valley, scare
! ity of labor has reduced the output
and farmers having quarrtes and
kilns on their properties were un-
able to get men to work them. The
use of lime as n fertilizer has In
creased enormously In Pennsylva-
MIA in the last two years and bids
fair to be enlarged.
The limekiln is n familiar object
all through Dauphin county. but
especially in the lower end. There
is hardly a mile that one can go
along the Reading pike or the high
ways that meet Ii every now and
then and roam off to reunite a little
further on that kiln is not to be
seen. Clear into Lebanon county
the farms contain kilns and there
are uuarries many of them far re-
moved from railroads and operated
| only for lime for burning for the
! farm, The Cumberland Valley is
also rich in limestone and thereN are
sections of York and Lancaster
county which are in sight of the
I boundaries of Dauphin which have
many kilns: Many of these kilns
are big, modern affairs, which have
in many cases produced valuable
| lime, but the lack of men has caus-
ed the Dauphin county farmer to
| buy where he could and the result
has been that with stone and Kilns
| men in charge of farms are unable
to get what they need so much. 1t
is characteristic of this rich agricul-
tural region that it has the soil and
all that makes it rich, but that it's
sons are either in their country's
service or>engaged in war industries
to an extent that hampers food pro-
| duction. 1t was so in the Civil War,
too, they say.
This is the period of the year when
/ the small checks and money orders
are reaching the State Treasury IN
such quantities as to fairly clog it.
| The activity of the Auditor Gen.
erals department in collecting taxes
and the rush for automobile regis
trations is causing a big increase in
| the volume of money handled and
a big jump in the number of items
that must be carried. A consider
able amount of money'is being ham
died in cash.
Harrisburg friends of Joseph N.
Mackrell, Pittsburgh newspaper
man, who is, we'll known to many
people in this section of Pennsyl-
wanna, will be interested to learn that
he has been chosen illustrious po-
tentate of Syria temple of the Shrin-
ers at Pittsburgh, one of the most
| influential organizations of the An
cient Arabic Order. 1t has over
| 1000 members. The Pittsburgh
| Chronicle Telegraph says of the
election of Mr. Mackrell: His ele-
vation comes from the position of
chief rabban. 1t was night of un-
usual interest to Shriners and was
accompanied by some unusual fea-
lures. The new potentate is posi-
Ebla the, youngest man selected for
that ieNalted, Position among the
SONS of the desert" in many years,
and in addition to that every station
in the fez wearers was filled without
| a single contest. Syria has been ac-
customed to interesting balloting in
| past, elections, and that led Imperial
Treasurer w. S. Brown to remark
that the name of the temple should
be changed to Harmony"
| In spite of all that is said by men
who affect indifference there is con-
! siderable uneasiness hereabouts
over possible recurrence of infiu-
enza and it is showing it's effects in
the energetic manner in which qui-
nine is being bought up and taken.
When the storyofthe epidemic comes
to be written in this community 1t
is going to have its humorous as we'll
as its tragic side. Men who never
| drank before learned the lure of
the highball and some who had
| trodden the primrose path with
cocktails and champagne gave it up,
while quinine and other drugs won
devotees who had considered tn em
as excuses before.