The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-05-13
PAPER RAILROAD TIES.
An 1nvention which. u 10 said, will a..
American Forests.

|
A tall man, with sharp features md .
thoughtful air. sat In q small study and ra,.l
| gravcly at a brown object that lay at hi, fco,
1t is paper railroad cross tie" he sand
Tho reporter lifted it with some tirl,rl,v
II was Of very close fibre. and 40 highly ro,.
| ished that 1t rcsombled rosewood. Its inycn,,,
| tappod II with his nail. and said:
| y 1t doesn't look much like paper docs M"
" 1t seems moro like iron. Is 1t possiblo ,h,,
1t is made Of paper?"
oh. yes; almost anything can now be mad,
| of paper. A paper ball can be rendered So sol,5
th..t nothing will indent il but a diamond ,onI
Chr wheels are now mado Of paper II.
strength is astonishing You can suspend qag
pounds from Bank Of England note and i,
will not part. Bath tubs. pots. plates. kniye,
forks. cooking stoves. printing presses, steam
engines. aud chimneys nro made Of paper now.
adays. and there il absolutely no liuit To IA.
uses to which it may be put"
" Have paper cross ties ever bee n used9"
Not yet. The cross tie IL my invention"
How did you happen to think OF it?"
Well. didn't happen to think OF IT, c,nc,Iv
started out deliberately to invent subs,i,ufs
for tho wooden cross Ito or sleeper. and ken,
STEADILY at II until / was successful My attcn
tion was first called to the matter by the outcry
raised BY the newspapers against the drs,ruc.
ton Of our forests. Tho report Of the Forestry
Congress proved beyond sha dow Of douh,
that before many years II would BIZ imposs,b,
to supply the demand for WOO den slnepc,s.
Can you believe that nearly seventy million
railroad ties are used every year? Tha, ia
enough to build n solid corduroy road around
the world. More than 10000 miles OF now rail
road were built last yoar. The life of wooden
tic IL only FIVE years and constant repairs nre
necessary. To supply the demand for The great
railroad system of the country IT is necessary
70 chop down three hundred thousand acres ~,
forest year! 1t takes a hundred years 10
grow trees to maturity. and we cut down mil.
lions and millions Of them every year How
scned by tho stntisticinns Of the Forssry Erm.
gress; and adopted BY that body.
,,yo uhey taught me nwhn,esomG lesson tho
,nS NV on h ind the HIT nn Mon,d iT pps it. mse
| have been trying to do this for years Thrv
have tried cross ties q granite. iron steel and
In. s,ock ali to pieces The rails Gould IN not i' 10
fastened readily. other. SO they we're all given
up. Meanwhile wooden tics were constantly
getting higher In price. and was trying To- hit
upon substitute; ! remember that one morn.
brilliant idea. 1t hnd been my habit wa
living IN small town in MASSACHUSETTS, 10
were apraren,ly soand and hnrd in tho
n,nchiae that would saw tho tics il, two
II the middle. Then. l .proposrd to turn
s6nnd snG w" oil nS S G" hc maj
meant to CLAMP tn. tic In the middle with u
ddog. sec3s w ilk" rather Wild scheme. now
Of this Fan | went out on tie railroad with /.
hatchet and chopped into the middle wv mum.
IN a4yanced state d decay. The on; idr,"f
the, tfs was sort OF shell and seemed, sold
ana an. hard; TH c sun hr maJ rsh 1t oil rapidly IN
moisture had slowly soaked through the boy
Of the to nnd r9'te It away gave ur fora
gangs of men who were employed by the rail-
road companies constantly rcnalring and put.
ba ' adlaI to tho cost Of tho shortliyed Wooden
:" Then thought Of papor. There arc score,
prairie grtss. and other ilbrous Substances ara
converted S, HIN into straw board. The process is
n nn' b tHE REESE straw Hi ar
sold all over the country a- substitutes f.,
WOOD WOOD Ny invention utilities straw board Ths
cemented and compressed into mouIds. Il
makes II periec, cross tie. I, is practically
under 800 degrees ' OF II heat, X tmospb"ra
c,angrs hive no effect on it. 1t can be made ~
viii ontwoar flyc wooden ones. and will render
better service been it does not rot and !h"re
20 the Long Branch train last year was due ac-
coiIing 70 official investigation. 10 spreading
rails. Tho wocisn ties had drcayrd SO thai
tn. spikes that Dnld the rails were loose
-. Viii tile paper tic take II spikes 1t seem.
Ike iron"
z" Ii will take n spike MS readily as wood, and
hang to 1t. too. Tnrra is plenty Of give TO tho
paper til" so that The rollin. stock OF u railroad
will not suffer. They ARE OF Uniform size. and
weigh n littl" more than wood"
Suppoae, straw board faH, up in value y
II doesn't mako any difference. The tie can
nE Y N hS, un,.n ntl, Ala 81
being reduced to pup-pralrie grass for IN.
stance. But how can tho straw give out II
takes II hundred years to grow 4 tlr". whi.s
straw grows every year. In the Northw",t
they burn straw IN vast uiahtiiins every year
50 ~ to get II ont %! the way. The paper to
must be adopted before Ions: from sheer NJ.
ccssity. We can't 10 on chooplns down tro"s
forever. The Razor TIC dcal"ns sound, Cui
+. *. Hahn will shortly Introduce Ii on the ella.
vntn,l road. It's pretty good thing guess
eh Z? asked tho inventor. and again lac smiled
and drummed on the tic with his finger nails.