Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 205, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 August 1912 — ADD TO LIFE OF TIES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ADD TO LIFE OF TIES

VARIOUS PRESERVATIVE TREATMENTS THAT WORK WELL. Neither Metal Nor Concrete. Being - Found Effective as a Substitute for Wood, the Rallroeda Had to Do Something.

In many lines substitutes are being found for wood. The great buildings

of the modern city are so arranged as to need hut little' wood, when compared with the other material which goes into their construction. Steel cars are today the type which is likely to prevail. The time will come when wood will play a far less part in the construction of ordinary private houses than it did

formerly or it does now. But there is one place where no substitute seems to be possible for wood, and that is the railrod roadbed, says tbe Boston Advertiser. It is true that both metal and concrete ties have "been experimented with to a certain extent, but it is also true that neither of these has attained the position of of a satisfactory substitute. For some reason the railroad engineer prefers the old fashioned wood kind of ties. This haß created a distinct problem for the railroads. Ties become worn out and need to bp replaced. New lines are laid and ties must be forthcoming. Extra tracks, on lines where the traffic has increased, demand ties before they demand anything else. Formerly ail that was necessary was for the engineer to make a requisition for so many ties for the department of construction. The ties came as easily aB could well be imagined. Persons all along the road had trees which would make up into splendid ties. Oak and chestnut trees were excellent for this purpose and were to be had at a very reasonable figure. But that was before the price of lumber went skyward with the rest of the market. There was a very good reason for the price of lumber going up. It was In response to the shortness of the supply. The railroads waked up to the fact that the supply of ties was short. * The situation was so critical that It resulted in instant action on the part of the roads. They were forced to go Into forestry. Nothing else, no other course, was open to them. Today many of the railroads have their reservations, where they are growing the sort of trees which they need for ties. But they Are doing something else which is quite as important as the growing of trees. They have been making experiments In order to find out how the life of these valuable logs of wood may be increased. Various preservative treatments have been adopted. and the result has been that the life span of ties has been increased enormously. The more expensive woods now can be used for as much as twenty-five years If the preservative treatment accomplishes what Is expected of it. The life of - the less expensive varieties has also been increased. It is thought that the life of the railroad tie has been tripled by the various means of preservation which have been adopted. The whole master shows how the railroads are being constantly called upon to solve new problems and how successful they are in finding ways out of difficult situations. It also goes to show that if men will only keep on experimenting and hoping they will find a way out of many a seemingly impossible situation.