davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Ripley County democrat., 1918-08-16
OUR SAVED FOOD
FED The ALLIES
Food Administrator Writes Rresi-
dent America Conserved l4ly
100000 Bushels Wheat.
CREDIT DUE 70 WOMEN.


Conservation measures applied BY
the American people enabled the Unit
ed States to ship to the Allied peoples
and to our own forces overseas I4l,-
100000 bushels OF wheat and 1900
600 pounds Of meat during the past
year. valued In oil OF si.400, 5000.
This was accomplished In the face Of a
serious food shortage In this country,
bespeaking the wholeheartedness and
patriotism with which the American
people have met the food crisis abroad.
Food Administrator Hoover. In let
ter to President Wilson, explains how
the situation was met. The voluntary
conservation program fostered by the
Food Administration enabled che plling
up OF the millions Of bushels OF wheat
during l017-lS and the shipment Of
meat during 1917-18.
The total value Of all food ship
ments to Allied destinations amounted
TO $l,400, 900, 900, alt this food being
bought through or In collaboration
with the Food Administration. These
figures are oil based on Official reports
and represent food exports for the
harvest year that closed June 90, 1918.
The shipments Of meats and fats
Including meat products, dairy prod
fucts. vegetable oils, etc.,l To- Allied Dee
tinations were as follows:
Fiscal year 1gl0-l7. &. lice, 500. 900 Ibs.
Fiscal year l0l7-1s. .,.8,0ll. 100, 900 lbs.
Ripley County democrat., 1918-08-16
m, s44,ooo0OOihs.

increase ss..sssss.. c44.uuUUVO ines
Our slaughteFnhle animals At the be-
ginning of the last fiscal year were not
apnreciably larger than the year be-
for6 and particularly IL hogs; they
sxsales pscl,Ab1s ietA The incraass II
shipmentsis due TO conservation and
the extra weight OF animals added BY
our farmers.
The full effect of these efforts began
to bear their best results in the last
half Of the fiscal year. when the ex.
porta to the Aliies were 2. 2.133. 100000
pounds. as against .266, roo. 600 pounds
IN the same period Of the year before.
This compares with an average Of
80l ,000, 900 pounds Of total exports for
the same half years In the three-year
pre-war period.
In cereals and cereal products ~
duced To- terms Of cereal bushels our
shipments to Allied destinations have
been:
Fiscal year 10io-l7.. .250 9OO. 900 bushels
Fiscal year l9t7-1s. .s4O. 500. 900 bushels
Evening star., 1918-05-26

fretted and pointed out the beauties
of each picture.
Now just take good look at the
mildew on that old Shoe" he would
say. That's real mildew. painted from
life 1t was my shoe. You can almost
smell that mildew. can't you! I call
that a pathetic .picture. An Old
Friend is the title I gave 1t. Poor.
faithful. old shoe, worn out serving
it's owner. and now discarded! Pa
thetic!"
"Dumbed If 'taint." Mr.. Bunker
would say.
more cheerful subject" Roxby Ridge
would say, you'd like the ear of corn
better. See that nail the corn is hang
ing on. Genuine old-style cut nall
not one of these common drawn wire
nails I walked three miles into the
country to get that nall. I found 1t in
the side Of a barn. And that board
Wait minute; 1 have that board in
my closet"
Then he would get the board out of
the closet and stand it beside the pic
ture.
"I vumw Mr.. Bunker would say.
You can't tell tother from which,
kin ye?"
One day. before the close of the frst
week Of the bazaar. Ann Featherby-
Flubb ran up to see Roxby. He em-
braced her in businesslike manner.
and she kissed him with the simple
matter-of-factness of man paying a
bill. She made dive for Roxby's
cigarette box.
"Hovs dear old Mommy?" Roxby
asked.
Throwing fts." said Ann.
Evening star., 1918-05-26
ed.;;::: u: .s< .:;z,S$A: i; *

real. If I paint a sawed board. you
are afraid to rub your hand over the
picture for fear you'll get splinters in
your fingers. That's artw
Seems like 1t had ought to be-" ad-
mitted Mr.. Bunker.
"Just you come up to my studio"
said Mr.. Ridge. and he handed Mr..
Bunker his card. 1t need hardly be
said that the card was an exceedingly
lifelike imitation Of birch bark.
The bazaar continued for a matter
Of two weeks. Grandma Bunker
haunted the bazaar by day and spent
basin of water so that she might be
able to attend the bazaar the next
day. The one visit, however, seemed
to satisfy dear old Grandpa Bunker.
Instead Of spending his time there.
he spent 1t in the studio OF Roxby
Ridge. He was buying painting.
Mr.. Bunker's method Of buying a
painting was not new, but 1t was an
admirable one. After looking at all
Mr.. Ridge had on hand Cooking at
them both with the naked eye and the
magnifying glass) Mr.. Bunker an
nounced that he liked two. One of
these represented an ear of yellow
corn hung against weathered
shoe hanging against an equally
weathered plank. In color the corn
was fresher and more cheerful than
the shoe, but the shoe was, perhaps.
more interesting because 1t was mil
dewed. Mr.. Bunker, his baby-blue
eyes beaming with delight. would
look at the two pictures by the hour.
turning his head on one side and
then on the other. while Roxby Ridge
Evening star., 1918-05-26
That's good" was his cheerful re-

That's good was his cheerful re-
ply.
He was working on what he had told
Mr.. Bunker was to be- his masterpiece.
1t was a panel. four feet by three. It
represented a barn door, extremely
weathered, against which hung a pair
of blue overalls. Over the overa1ls
hung a fiddle. In one pocket of the
overalls was a pipe and a package of
from the other pocket protruded a
newspaper. A fly walked across the
fiddle, and from the neck of the fiddle
to the pipe and one corner of the
newspaper was a spiderweb, and on
the spiderweb was a drop of dew. II
you examined the dewdrop through
the magnifying glass you could see
reflected in 1t the dooryard and farm
house, with the farmers daughter on
the back step throwing grain to six
eager chickens.
Roxby Ridge was working on the
feathers Of the chickens that were re-
while Ann examined the chickens
through the magnifying glass. Some
thing clattered on the floor near Mr..
Bunker. 1t was something hard and
metallic. Mr.. Bunker picked it up
quickly and put 1t in his pocket, but the
keen eye of Mr.. Ridge. trained to notice
minute details. seemed to retain an i'm
preston Of a metal badge somewhat like
a policeman's badge. He thought little
of this, however. for Ann was saying she
would be darned II she could see any
feathers on the chickens. She was al
ways brutally frank in criticising Rox-
bys work.
"Just the same" said -Roxby, some
Evening star., 1918-05-26

have drst layers OF rock salt and lime
with potash on top Of them. After
that the earth had another change
and a bed of impervious clay covered
the top Of these beds of salts. This
kept out the rains and the salts have
remained there until now.
'"The potash is mined just like rock
salt. Shafts are run down into the
strata and to tunnels off into the
beds. The potash is blasted down
with dynamite carried on electric
cars to the shafts and taken to the
surface. Some Of it is shipped as
kainit or raw salt as it comes from
the mine: the rest is boiled and
evaporated. forming the concentrat-
ed salts and also the pure potash. such
as Is used in medicines. dyestuffs
etc. The processes of mining and
reduction are so cheap that we shall
probably have to put a tariff on pot
ash or give .bountnes to our manu-
facturers for some time before they
will be able to compete with the Ger
MANS
And now let me show you what
we are doing to create a potash sup
ply of our own. We had none when
the war broke out. We began to
produce in 1915 and during the first
six months Of last year we made
moro potash than in the entire year
preceding. The amount produced in
1917 was about one-tenth OF what
we were importing from Germany
before the war began. and the pro-
duction from every principal source
is rapidly increasing.
Take first the potash we are get
ting from salt lakes where the
mineral is being formed in much the
same way that the great deposits OF
Germany were laid down: Away out
in the Mojave desert of California is
searles lake, where a company OF
capitalists has already invested more
than two and one-half million dollars
to get out the potash which lies In
tho brine under a bed of mud and
crystalline salt. They have put up
an evaporator house made OF steel,
which Is more than 100 feet high has
boilers of ,0O0-horsepower and a
concrete chimney which is about one
ument and nine feet in diameter at
the top. Searles lake has millions
of tons of potash. The lake covers
an area Of almost 5000 acres. and its
depth is not known. The top Is all
salt and mud. but under this covering
is brine whose solids are about
per cent potash. They will soon be
20.00O.000 gallons a day, and from
that the potash output will be in the
neighborhood Of 500 tons. The CHIEF
trouble is the large percentage OF
other salts which are mixed with the
potash. These must be refined. This
is 66 done at San Pedro, pot far
from Los Angeles. Futurs AAAaasno
Evening star., 1918-05-26

enough to last this whole country 1000
years at our rate Of consumption when
war was declared. What we need is
some cheap process to get the stuff
out.
Germany has the only big potash
mines upon earth. They are situated
in Prussia, and the best of them are
under q town named Strassfurt on the
Bode river. a branch of the Elbe. hun
dreds of miles from where they are
fighting in France. The mines were
discovered about sixty years ago. The
erty there, and 1t was making salt
from the brine Of the springs and
wells Of that neighborhood. Then bor-
ings were sunk to discover rock salt,
and great quantities were found
about Quarter Of mile below the
surface. Upon the top of the salt
s.rs be:=. Of potash ana magnesium,
Evening star., 1918-05-26

to the works will probably increase
$4,000. 900.
At owens lake, California, they are
preparing to get out potash by new
method, without the employment of
artificial heat. This lake has water
as bitter as that of the Dead sea. 1t
contains salt. soda, borax and other
to hold about 5000, 900 tons of pot
ash. and a large part Of this will be
gotten out by evaporating the water
In watts by the heat Of the sun. The
lake has an area of 100 square miles
and it is about thirty feet deep.
hills of northwestern Nebraska. in
which the potash from the great
prairie and forest fires Of the past
are supposed to have drained. The
largest of these is Jesse lake, which
covers about 240 acres. The waters
of this lake are brine. Its bottom
is a dark green mud. under which is
a layer of sand about twenty feet
thick. This sand is charged with
brine; 1t has more salts than the
waters of the lake itself. and the
brine. when evaporated, gives a
product containing from 20 to 80 per
cent OF potash. There are several
companies working in Nebraska, and
they are now producing large part
Of our potash supply.
X
We expect to get potash out OF the
Great Salt lake. One company Is al
ready erecting a plant there and an
other Of large capital is expected to
do likewise. These companies will
extract the potash salts from the
liquor left after the common salt has
been separated. They are working
on the same principle as the Span
tards, who are trying to get potash
out of the sea. They first take out
the salt and then run the liquor which
is left into tanks for further evap-
grafton. The final salts contain about
12 per cent of potash. This comes
from the waters Of the Mediterranean.
which have more salts in them than
the oceans themselves.
And this brings me to the potash
in the Pacific ocean, which Uncle Sam
proposes to gather by means OF a
plant. This is q seaweed that grows
wild in tho ocean. 1t is the largest
plant known. and 1t sometimes runs
100 feet from where it attaches itself
to a rock by a root or holdfast: II
goes from this anchorage in a hexi-
Bile hollow stem, which is much like
a long stick of macaroni to the high
tide surface of the ocean, and there
develops into a float. the shape and
size of a small. empty watermelon:
From this float gigantic leaves spread
out over the water in every direction.
covering the surface like a field Of
pond lilies and sometimes impeding
navigation. This plant is known as
kelp. It feeds upon the water and
absorbs the potash. When the plants
aEO tAksR out and dried about one
Evening star., 1918-05-26
Am Army industrial Scientists Working increase Food Supply of the United Stat

fourth of their contents is chloride
of potash.
The Department Of Agriculture has
surveyed several hundred square
miles of these kelp fields OFF the coast
of California and the bureau OF soils
has erected an experimental plant at
Summerland to determine the best
methods of harvesting the kelp and
extracting the potash. Three or four
large companies have been formed
which have turned out a product of
several thousand tons of potash dur
ing the past year. One OF these 10
the Hercules Powder Company, whose
plant has a capacity OF 1,ooo tons OF
wet kelp per day, and another. swift
& Co., which ships its product to Its
fertilizer plants in the east. So far
the output of potash from the keip
fields has disappointed the operators.
The story of the potash we are getting
as a by-product from our cement mlils
and iron ore furnaces is more gra.lLs
ing. In fact. it is so encouraging that
the experts believe that If all our cement
mills were equipped with by-product
plants they could annually save more
than $4,000 tons Of potash, and that hat
amount might be so increased that IT
would equal one-half of the supply We
have been, importing from Germany.
This potash would come from the fiue
dust which has been floating away on
the air from the chimneys Of the cement
mills, poisoning much Of the vegetation
about It comes from materials that IN
most mills are still going to waste ana
whose saving would greatly better the
conditions nearby.
In fact. the origin of the invention for
saving this potash came from the injury
done to the orange trees by the duse
from a cement plant at Riverside. ia
southern California. This plant was
making Portland cement in large guam
titles and the dust from its chimneys
SO affected the citrus fruit orchards
nearby that their owners brought dan-
age suit after damage suit At first the
company tried to buy up the orange
groves. but it could not take in all
Of the adjoining territory, and final
" sent for Mr.. F. G. Cottrell, who is
now the chief metallurgist Of the bureau
Of mines Of the geological survey. and
asked him to experiment on getting rio
Of the dust. He succeeded in doing go
by means of electricity. and upon ex-
animation found that the dust contained
a large amount Of potash which could
be easily saved. He found that more
than two pounds Of potash were lost in
making each barrel of cement and that
this was carried away in the dust Of
the fiues The total loss of potash in
the kilns was more than 1900 pounds
every day. The saving by this new
process was so great that at the high
prices brought about by the war the
hy-product potash of the plant promised
to bring in even more money than the
cement itself. The process was intro
amount of potash has been saved. The
Security Lime and Cement plant near
Hagerstown, Nd, has recently installed
the Cottrell process and is saving al
most 5000 pounds of potash Q day.
FRANK G. CARPENTER
Evening star., 1918-05-26

which were thought to. be Of no value.
Tho mines were first worked for the
salt and 1t was later that the value
Of the potach with discovered. Now the
potash is the principal product and It
is mined not only at Strassfurt, but
at number Of other places in that
part of Germany. There are about
two hundred mines in operation. and
the output is millions of tons per
year.
I recently talked with a mining ex-
pert who visited the German mines
Just prior to the war. He tells mo
that the German government is the
head of the sydicate which controls
tho supply. The kaiser, dictates just
how much potash may be taken out
every year and to what countries, the
exports may 60. He hxes the domes-
tic and foreign prices. and II the
Evening star., 1918-05-26

ulations they are fined. The daily out
there are something like $4,000 men
at work in the mines.
I asked as to the source of this
potash. The mining expert replied:
'"The deposits were probably made
millions of years ago. The German
scientists say that part of the coun-
try was then a great lake which was
connected with the sea by shallow
channels through which the water
came at the time Of storms and high
tides. There was no outlet to the
lake and the torrid climate of that
age dried the water so rapidly that
great quantities of salts were left.
AS the water became heavy the rock
salt which was least soluble dropped
to the bottom and later on the more
soluble salts began to fall 30 that we
Evening star., 1918-05-26
Copyright. 1918. by Frank G. c.rp.nter.)

Copyright, 1913, by Frank g. CarpenterJ
~ = AS the mailed fist Of the kaiser
Ill a grip on the throat Of the
American farmer? The Ger.
q q mans think SO. They believe
that their potash mines are the key to
tho food supply of the world and that
when the war is over they can dictate
which of the nations shall have plenty
of food and which will go starving. DR..
Wilhelm Ostwald Of the University Of
Leipzig and one of the kaiser's privy
councillors. recently warned the United
States that America had gone into this
war like q man with a rope about his
neck. He said that rope was the potash
in the hands Of the kaiser, and that 1t
would surely be frightened after peace
came.
This threat might have created some
CONSERVATION four years ago. At the
time the war broke out Germany had
mines which were supposed to be the
only cheap supply Of potash on earth.
She had a monopoly of tho worlds pot
she mined for her own farmers. We
took more than half of the balance, and
our imports amounted to several hun
dred thousand tons Of pure potash a
year. We bought more than million
tons of the raw material as 1t came
from the mines. and this annually cost
our farmers about $20.oCo.oo0.
As soon as war was declared the
prices rose to the clouds. In 1914 mu-
riate Of potash was selling for $3s a
ton. 1t doubled and quadrupled in
value. and by December. 1915. 1t was
$500 per ton. Then Uncle Sam began
to sit up and take notice. He had had
his chemical and mining experts at
work before the war began. He now
added to the force. and since then we
have been taking potash out of GER
tain salt lakes OF our western deserts,
out of the nue dust of our cement
mills and blast furnaces, and from the
seaweed which grows in great guam
titles in the waters of the California
coast. The government is investigat-
ing certain rocks OF the United States
which are rich in potash. and the
green sands along the coastal plain of
the Atlantic which contain the same
vestigations are such that We expect
to be able to make ourselves in
dependent Of other nations as far as
potash Is concerned for all time to
come.
But first let me tell you something
about potash. / have been talking
with the experts of the bureau of
mines and those of the experimental
laboratory OF the bureau of soils on
the Arlington farr,. At the ,at.e-
. 1i.ce they are usine / r'c"@s%. sim
Evening star., 1918-05-26

liar to those recently adopted in the ce-
ment plants of the country. We all
know something about pure potash
as a drug. We use chloride of potash
to take away warts. and bromide Of
potash to put US to sleep when our
nerves are excited. Some of us need
Seidlitz powders. another potash COM
pound, when We wake up. Permanga-
nate of potash is disinfectant large
ly used by the surgeons on the Euro
pean battlef1elds, .and cyanide of pot
ash is one of the most active of
poisons.
The agricultural experts tell me that
potash is great source OF our food
supply. 1t stimulates the plants like
cocktail; it contributes to the
strength of the stalks and nils out the
kernels of our cereals. We have to
use large quantities of 1t for our po-
tatoes and other truck crops: we use
II for cotton, tobacco and oranges and
also for peaches and all kinds of fruit
crops. Just now the great demand for
1t is In the southern and eastern parts
of the country.
This valuable stuff is an element
which is scattered through almost
everything all over the earth. but
usually in such small quantities and in
such combinations that it Is not possi-
BILE to get it out at profit. Potash 10
There is more of 1t in the crust Of the
earth than there Is water upon the
earth. 1t Is found in sea water. The
oceans have 30 much potash that II 1t
could all be taken out and spread over
the United States 1t would cover this
whole country with a bed of solid
potash one hundred feet deep. II you
could surround Massachusetts with a
tight fence six or eight miles high and
pour that salt in. 1t would fill that
mighty bin and leave billions Of tons
of potash to spare. 1t Is potash of
that kind which we are trying to save
from the kelp farms on the California
coast. The seaweed grabs the potash
into itself to such an extent that some
kinds of dried kelp have 500 pounds
Of pure potash to the ton.
There is potash in most kinds Of
plant life. and especially in hard woods
Of one kind or another. We get II by
burning those woods to ashes. and at
the present prices such ashes have be-
come exceedingly valuable. They are
now worth about Is cents . bushel.
and a single coal scuttle will contain
salts worth dime.
Much of our common granite con-
tains 5 per cent Of potash mad we have
while in the leuoite hills of Wyoming
there are ten square miles Of volcanic
rock which analyses from 8 to II per
cent potash. There is SO much Of
that rock in sight that tho experts of
our geological survey have estimated
II to cratail nearly qucrter of a
iii =. tcns e !. otash.- That ould be
The evening world., 1918-06-13
TELLS WHY THE BRITISH
ARE NOT ATTACKING NOW
GuStave Herve Believes Foch May
Feel Able to Check Drive
With French Reserves.

PARIS. June 13.-Gustave Herve, in
his newspaper La Victoire. undertakes
to answer the question. which he says
reaches him from many readers: Why
should the remainder OF the western
front be inactive. while the Germans
are making the greatest efforts. and
Why should not the British make a
xrong attack which would relieve the
pressure on the French?
The editor points out that Gen. Foch
as Generalissimo disposes OF all the AL
lied Armies-Britlsh, American. French.
Italian. Belgian and Portuguese. II he
does not move the British forces. II Is
contended. 1t may be because there are
still heavy concentrations OF German
reserves before the British front and
that the front must be held soldly.
Gen. Foch may also feel able with tho
French reserves to defeat tho menace
toward Paris.
"Our Generallssimo." NJ. Herve con-
cludes, knows too Dwell the vital Inn
portance. strategically and economic
ally. OF the capital TO leave II TO the
mercy OF any unfortunate chance"
The evening world., 1918-06-13
100000 GERMAN TRAINED
SOLDIERS FORMING ARMY
UNDER new FINNISH RULE
Preparations Believed to Mean Oc-
cupation of Petrograd or
Mufman Peninsula.

STOCKHOLM, June 13 Omitted
Press).-It iB authoritatively learned
that the new Finnish Government is
forming an army OF 100000 German
trained soldiers. or these $4,000 al
ready are under arms. 1t is also
learned that 10000 German troops
now arc in Finland.
Most assuredly these preparations
are for the occupation either of the
Murman Peninsula or Petrograd-
probably both.
Curious events also are transpiring
on the southern borders of Russia.
Both the Soviet and the Ukrainian
Governments declared their readiness
to conclude peace long ago. Now
when negotiations are proceeding
German troops have occupied valuik
and the Turkish Government, con.
trary to the Brest- -Litovsk treaty
claims Novc-Rosisk. There Is but
slight doubt that Germany seeks &C
occupy the whole of Russia and re.
store the old regime.