Omaha daily bee., 1883-05-30
PAPER TIES,
An Invention Which. IL Is Said, VIII
Save American Forests.

New York Sun.
A tall man, with sharp features and
q thoughtful air, sat In q small study
and gazed graveIy at q brown obltc
that lay A. his feet. =.
ut is q paper railroad crO's'tie''
he said.
The reporter lifted 1t with some dif.
6culty. 1t was of very close fibre, and
so highly polished that 1t resemoied
rosewood. Its inventor tapped 1t with
his nail, and said:
"It doesn't look much like paper,
does iiT
''It seems more like iron. Ia 1t
possible that It Is made Ct pspefT
"Oh, yes; almost anything can now
be made of pspsr. A paper ball 9
DO rendered SO solid that nothing will
iDdent 1t but q diamond tool Car
wheels are now made of paper. Its
strength is astonishing You can sus.
pend 800 pounds from . B,,k Of Fog
land note and 1t will not part, Bath
tubs, pots, plates, knives, FORKS, cook
ing stoves, printing presses, steam
engines and ohimneys are made of
paper nowadays, and there Is abso
lutely no limit to the uses to which 1t
may DO put"
"Have paper cross-ties ever been
used2'
"Not yet. The cross-tie 1. my In
ventiop."
How did you happen to think of
IN"
swell, I didn't happen to think of
IL exactly. / started out deliberately
10 invent q substitute for the wooden
cross tie or sleeper, and I kept .teadi-
ly at 1t until I was successful. Ny at.
tention was first called to the matter
by the outcry raised by the newspa.
pers against the destruction Of our
forests. The report of the forestry
congress proved beyond a shadow Of a
doubt that before many years 1t
would be impossible to supply the de.
mand for wooden sleepsrs. Can you
believe that nearly so. COO 900 rail.
road ties are used every yeai2 That 10
Is enough to build q solid corduroy
road around the world. More thaa
10000 miles of new railroad were
built last year. The life of q wooden
tie Is only five years, and constant re-
pairs are necessary. To supply the
demand for the great railroad system
of the country 1t is necessary to CHOP
down 300, 900 acres Of forest year!
1t takes a hundred years to grow
trees to maturity, and We cut down
millions and millions Of them every
year. How long can 1t last7 These
are figures presented by the ,tatiati
can Of the forestry congress, and
adopted by that body.
"They taught me q wholesome les.
son, "the inventor continued, smiling
gently and drumming on the tie, land
I improved It. I made UP my mind
that l would find some substitute fol
wood. Railroad men all over the
country have been trying to do thi.
for years. They have tried cross tie,
Of granite, iron, steel and glass. AL
failures. Besides being very e1pen'
sive, they are too rigid, aud knocked
the rolling stock all to pieces. The
rails could not be fastened
readily, either, go they were oil
given up. Meanwhile wooden tiei
we're constantly getting higher II
price, and 1 was trying to hit upon
substitute. l remember that on,
mOrning I conceived what I though
at the time was o brilliant idea, ]
had been my habit was living In
small town In Massachusetts ito wall
out on the railroad track while worry
ing over the problem, and I had no
tioed that the wooden ties, though de
cayed at the ends, were apparsntl,
sound and hard In tho middle M,
scheme was 10 construct q machin
that would saw the ties In two In tn
middle. Then Proposed to turn tn
two sections OF the tie about, 80 tina
the sound ends would be under tn
rails. Imesnt to clamp tho tie In til
middle with . dog. Seems liko rattle
q wild scheme, now, doesn't it7 Well
the day after my conception of thi
plan l went out on the railroad with
hatohet and chopped Into tho middl
Of o number of the ties. I foun,
every n Of them In an advance,
state Of decay. The outside of tn
tie was . sort Of shell, and sseme'
solid and hard. The sun had drie'
It of rapidly on the outside after l
had been wet, but tho moisture ha'
slowly soaked through the body of tn
tie and rottsd It away. gave 1t u
for . time. I could think Of nothin
feasible. I saw gangs OF men VII
were employed by the railroad com
panies constantly repairing and pm,
ting In new ties. This VA anothe
expense to be added to tho cost of tn
abort lived wooden sleepsrs.
"Theu I thought Of paper. Their
are scores Of mills In the oountr,
where paper, straw, prairie grass an
other ibrous substances are converte
into straw board. The process Ia elm
pie. The straw Is reduced to q pull
and u out Into boards. These stra'
boards are sold all over the country
substitute for wood. My inventio
utilizes straw board, laid one upo
another, cemented and compresse
into moulds. 1t makes a perfect cror
tie. 1t Is practically water and 6r
proof, al 1t 10 manufactured under 90
degrees of heat. Atmospheric change
have no effect On 1t. 1t can be mad
as cheap as wood at the present time
and will last at least twenty. five years
One paper tie will outwear FIVE woode
ones, and will render the better ser
vice, because 1t docs not rot, and Their
10 no danger of spreading rails, TIL
accident to the Long Braoh train las
year was due, according to official IL
ves.igation, to spreading rails. Th
wooden ties had decayed, SO tina
the spikes that held the rails wer
loose"
"Will a paper tie take the spike2
snepaa lila iron