The banner-enterprise., 1883-05-31
Paper Railroad Ties.

y tall nan with sharp features ana
a thoughtful air, sat in Il small study,
in New York, and gazad gravely at a
brown object that lay at his feet.
ct is a paper railroad cross tie he
said.
The sun reporter lifted it with some
difficulty. 1t was of very close fiber,
and so highly pol shed that it resemb,ed
rosewood. Its inventor tapped it with
his nail, and said
1T doesn't look much like paper,
does it?"
at seems more like iron, Is it pos
sible that it is made of paper?.'
"Oh. yes; almost anything a be
made of paper. A paper ball can be
rendered SO solid that nothing will in,
dent it but a diamond tool. Car wheels
are now made of paper. Its strength
is astonishing. You can suspend 339
poun Is from a Bank of England note,
and it will not part. Bath tubs, pots,
plates, knives, forks, cooking stoves,
printing presses, steam engines and
chimneys are made of paper nova
days, and there is absolutely no limit to
the uses to which it may be put
The inventor proceeded to tell the
reporter that nearly O,0O0,0O0 rail
road ties are used yearly, and that he
had started to invent IA substitute for
the wooden cross-tie or sleeper. His
attention was first attracted to the
matter by the cutlery raised in the
newspapers against the destruction of
forests. Continuing, he said to the
reporter:
There are scores Of mills in the
country where paper, straw. prairie
grass and other ibrous substances are
converted into straw board. The
process is simple. The straw is re-
duced to pulp and run into boards.
These straw boards are sold all over
the country as substitutes for wood.
My invention utilities straw board.
The cross tie is constructed of sheets
or layers Of paper or straw board, laid
one upon another, cemented and COM
pressed into molds, 1t makes a perfect
cross tie. 1t is practically water and
iireproof, as it is manufactured under
500 degrees of heat. Atmospheric
changes have no effect on it. 1t can
be made as cheap as wood of the
present time and will last at least
twenty-five years. One paper tie Will
outwear five wooden ones, and will
better service, because it does
not rot an there is no danger Of
spreading rails. The accident to the
Long Branch train last year was due,
according to official investigation, to
spreading rails. The wooden ties had
de aged so that the spikes that held
the rails were loose"
"Will the paper tie take u spike? 1T
seems like IRON
1T will take a spike as readily as
wood, and hang to it, too. There is
Of give to the paper tie, so
that the rolling stock of a railroad will
not suffer. They are of uniform size,
and weigh a little more than wood"
"Suppose straw board goes up in
yalue?'
ut doesn't make any difference. The
lie can he made Of any librous sub
stance capable of being reduced to
)ulp-prairie grass, for instance. But
low can the straw give out? 1t takes
/, hundred years to grow a tree, while
straw grows every year. In the
they burn straw in vast
quantities every year so as to get it
nut of the way. The paper tie must
,e adopted before long from sheer ne
'~essity. We can't go on chopping
Town trees forever. The paper tie
sound. It's n pretty good
hing, I guess. ehY" asked the in
.entor, and again he smiled and
Irummed on the tie with his finger
nils