The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-06-08
PAPER RAILROAD TIES.
from the New York Sun

The reporter lifted it with some diff
Guilty. 1t was of very close fibre, and so
highly polished that it rescmbled rose
wood. Its inventor tapped it with his
nail, and said:
TT doesn't look much like paper,
does it7
1T seems more like iron. Is it possible
that it is made of paper?'
ooh, yes; almost anything can now be
made of paper. A paper ball can be
rendered so solid that nothing will indent
it but diamond tool. Car wheels are
now made of paper. Its strength is
astonishing. You can suspend $50 pounds
from Bank of England note and it will
notpart. Bath tubs, pots, plates, knives,
forks, cooking stoves, printing presses,
steam engines and chimneys are made of
paper nowadays, and there is absolutely
no limit to the uses to which it may be
put"
Have paper cross ties ever been uscd?'
Not yet. The cross tie is my inven
ton"
How did you happen to think of it,
well, | didn't happen to think of it,
exactly. / started out deliberately 10 in
vent a substitute for the wooden cross tie
or sleeper and l kept steadily at it until
Twas successful. My attention was first
called to the matter by the cutlery raised
by the newspapers against the destruction
of our forests. The report of the forest
ry congress proved beyond shadow of
doubt that before many years it would be
irnr m lvr
wooden sleeper. Can you believe that
nearly 10000, 600 railroad ties are used
every year? That is enough to build
solid corduroy road around the world.
More than 10000 miles of new railroad
were built last year The life of wooden
tie is only five years, and constant Ie-
pairs are necessary. To supply the de
mand for the great railroad system of the
country it is necessary to chop down
| 100000 acres of forests year! 1t takes h
hundred years to grow trees to maturity,
and we cut down millions and millions of
them every year. How long can II last?
These are the figures presented by the
statisticaus of the forestry congress, and
adopted by that body.
They taught me a wholesome lesson,
the inventor continued, smiling, gently
drumming on the tie, "ana | improved
it made up my mind that | would find
some substitute for wood Railroad men
all over the country have been trying to
do this for years They have tried cross
ties of granite, iron, steel aud glass. All
failure. Besides being very expensive,
they were too rigid, and knocked the
railing stock all 20 pieces. The rails
could not be fastened readily, either, SO
they were all given up. Meanwhile
| wooden ties were constant y getting
higher in price and. | was trying 10 hit
| upon substitute, | remember that one
| morning conceived what | thought at
| the time was brilliant idea. 1t had been
| nv habit was living in small town
| it Massechusetts-to walk out tie rail
road track worrying over the problem,
| and had noticed that the wooden ties,
| though decayed at the ends, were appar
emily sound and hard in the middle My
! scheme was to construct a machine that
would saw the ties in two in the middle.
Then proposed 10 turn the two sections
! Of the lie about, so that the sound ends
would be under the rails. | meant to
clamp the tie in the middle with a dog.
| Seems like rather wild scheme, now
doesn't it? Well, the day after my con
ceptlon of this plan | went out on the
railroad with hatchet and chopped into
| the middle Of number of the ties
found every one of them in an advanced
stale of decay The outside of the tic
was sor: of shell, and seemed solid and
hard The sun had dried it off rapidly
on the outside after it had been wet, but
the moisture had slowly soaked through
the body of the tie and rottedit away
gave it up for a time | could think OF
nothing feasible. / saw gangs Of mer
constantly repairing and putting in new
ties. This was another expense to be
added to the cost of the short-lived
wooden sleepers.
Then l thought of paper. There arr
scores Of mills in the country where paper
straw, prairie grass, and other fibrou!
substances are converted into straw board
The process is simple The straw is re
duced to pulp and run out into boards
These straw boards are sold all over thu
country as substitutes for wood. My in
vention uti!ies straw board. The eros
tie is constructed of sheets or layers o
paper or straw board, laid one upon an.
other, cemented and compressed int
moulds. 1t makes perfect cross tie
1t is particularly water and.fire proof, al
it is manufactured under 500 degrees o
heat. Atmospheric changes have n,
1 effect on it. 1t can be made as cheap a
wood at the prescott time, and will last a
least twenty-five years. One paper tt
l will outwear five wooden ones. and vii
j render better service, because it does no
J. rot and there is no danger of spreading
Il rails. The accident to the Long Branc
s train last year was due, according t
II official investigation, to spread rails
c The wooden ties had decByed so that tn
D spikes that held the rails were loose
:, Twill the paper tie take a spike?
n seems like IRON"
n 1T will take spike as readily as wool
l. and hang to it, To. There is plenty {
give to the paper tie, so that the rollin
y stock of railroad will not suffer. The
!. are of uniform size. and weigh lit
more than wood.
10 Suppose straw board goes up
l. value.
10 1T doesn't make aqy difference. I'll
IN tie can be made of auy fibrous substan,
le capable of being reduced to pulp-prair
T. grass. for instance. But how can the stra
nr give out? 1t takes hundred years to gro
{, tree, while straw grows every year.
~ the Northwest they burn straw in va
~ quantities every year so as TO get it out
n the way The paper tie must be adobt
a. before long from sheer necessity. Y
.se can go on chopping down trees forevt
d Inc paper tie deadens sound. Col. F.
IN Hahn will shortly introduce it on t
at elevated road. It's pretty good thin
O. / guess, eh?" asked the inventor Al
ch again he smiled and drummed on the
n with his finger nails