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Show Use Fences for Lead Pencils. i Town in Tennessee and in many other localities now they are exchanging brand-now. shiny wire fences for disreputable dis-reputable old rail, zig-zng, Virginia, snake and stake and rider fences which were laboriously .split and put up by honest sons of toil ereneratlons ago. The people who give away the brand-new and expensive ex-pensive woven wire fences are delighted to take the old rail fences in exchange, and the farmers are proud and happy to get the wire fences; so everyone is glad. The answer is "lead pencils." More than two years ago wp had Mripppd our cedar lands of practically all the 'old growth, and since then of all llit-! rest of the cedars, except the mere saplings. Then the pencil mnnufacturers started to bring cedar from ahroad, and i hen the war came along, and it began to lonk as though lead pfneils would become be-come as cos;iy as e-rss or coal or other commodities, until certain agents discov- j ercd that throughout manv sections of j the country there were miles and miles i of the very best sort of cedar, thorough- ' ly dried and seasoned, serving as fences. ! Some of the oM rails vvre sent to a pencil manufacturing concern. The wood was cut up into strips and proved to he the very best pencil cedar i-5'- "-umutiiG- turers had been able to get hold of for years. There was no seasoning to do it was in prime condition for making into peivils the moment it reached t lie shops. "Get al! you can of this wood," was the order to agents. "What will you take for your rail fences?" one Tennessee farmer was asked. "Gosh. I wouldn't sell them fences. It would take years to split up more rails," said the farmer. The agent had an idea. "If I put In modern woven wire fences may I have the old wooden ones?" "You net you can, until they come and get you," was the answer. "Who come and get me?" asked the I agent. "The crazy house people, where you broke out from." snorted the old farmer But the agent ordered the fencing and his men put It up and shipped tiie old i cedar rails, which were from twenty-fl'" -to seventy-five years bid; to-the factor I X-i 1 :h i-Mup of ibf cedar -was so diua, greater than the cost of the wire feno . ...i Lie i-ncil makers were delighted--" Philadelphia Press. |