THE INDUSTRIAL TITAN OF AMERICA 



381 



Photograph courtesy Philadelphia Commercial Museum 



TOBACCO FARM, LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 



It is a familiar sight in this section of the State to see an old-fashioned "Amish" Men- 

 nonite, with his broad-brimmed hat and his "monkey-jacket" coat, contentedly puffing a big 

 black cigar. He may "crucify the flesh" in his clothes, but he surely knows how to enjoy and 

 produce a good smoke. In no Commonwealth of the Union is the versatility of industries 

 or the variety of its people's interests greater than in Pennsylvania. Through farm and 

 factory the same inspiring story of progress runs. 



crete upon us, with buildings, bridges, 

 lighthouses, telegraph poles, railroad ties, 

 even ships, fashioned from artificial stone, 

 that industry is proving one of inestima- 

 ble value to the people. Millions of trees 

 have been spared because of concrete, and 

 thousands of acres of fine forest have 

 been saved from the ravages of the saw- 

 mills because structures which formerly 

 were built entirely of wood can today be 

 erected without it. 



THE STORY OP CEMENT IN PENNSYLVANIA 



It is only a little more than half a cen- 

 tury since all America's Portland cement 

 came from across the seas — and compara- 

 tively little of it was imported for build- 

 ing purposes. This did not suit the 

 ambitions of certain progressive Penn- 

 sylvanians in the Lehigh Valley, who de- 



cided to build their own kilns, and soon 

 began to produce a cement that equalled 

 the best that could be imported "from 

 abroad. 



They found cement rock throughout a 

 broad area in eastern Pennsylvania, of 

 which the Lehigh district — above Allen- 

 town — is the center. To make Portland 

 cement — which, by the way, derived its 

 name from the fact that it resembles the 

 English Portland limestone in color — 

 alumina, silica, and calcium must be com- 

 bined and prepared in a way that the 

 finished product will ''set" according to 

 specifications. Clay, quartz, and lime in 

 this district are the sources of these in- 

 gredients, although blast-furnace slag and 

 other materials are used in some locali- 

 ties. In the valley of the Lehigh River 

 from Siegfried to Easton are great beds 



