The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1883-08-23
PAPER RAILROAD TIES.
y" AnFention which, IL Is Snid, will Snye
American Forests.
IFrom the New York Sun.l

mt his feet.
1T is paper railroad cross tie," he
The reporter lifted it with somo diff.
Guilty. 1t was of very close fibre, and so
mighty polished that it rcscmbled rose
wood. It's inventor tapped it with his
nail, and said: cit doesn't look much
like paper, docs it ?"
lit seems more like iron. Is it pos
sible that it is made of papcr?"
"Oh, 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 sus-
pend $50 pounds from q Bank of Eng
land note and it will not part. Bath
tubs, pots, plates, knives, forks, cooking
stoves, printing presses, steam engines,
and chlmneys ere made of paper now
adays, and there is absolutely no limit
to the uses to which it may be put"
Have paper cross tios ever been
vontion."
it?" i,r' ~ 'i'''" VI
"Wcll, didn't happen to think of it,
exactly. L started out deliberately to
invent substitute for the wooden cross
Tic or sleeper, and I kept steadily at it
until L was successful. My attention
was first called to the matter by the
outcry raised by the newspapers against
the destruction of our forests. The
report OF the Forestry Congress proved
beyond a shadow Of doubt that before
~ l.,
supply the demand for wooden slcepcrs
Can you believe that nearly seventy
million railroad ties arc used cvcry
year? That is enough to build n solid
corduroy road around tho world. More
than 10000 miles of nov railroad wc:o
built last year. The lifc of wooden tic
Is only five years, and constant repairs
arc necessary. 70 supply the demand
for the great railroad system Of the
country 1T IS necessary to chop Gown
thrco hundred thousand acres of
forest year! 1t takes n hunGr Il
years to grow trees to maturity, and wo
cut down millions and millions of TN, m
every year. How long can it L st
These are the figures presented by the
statisticianS of tho Forestry Congress and
adopted by that body.
"Ihcy taught me n wholesome les
'rplI, tlit Ctill llllCtl, Smlllnp
gently and drumming on the tic, "and
improved it, 1 madc up my mind that |
would find sOmc 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 and glass. All failures Besides
being very expensive, they were too
rigid, and knocked the rolling stock all
TO pieces. The rails could not be fns-
tened readily, either, so they were all
given up. Mcanwhilc wooden ties were
constantly getting higher in price, and I
was trying to hit upon substitute. I
remember that one morning [ conceived
what thought ut the time was a brilliant
idea. 1t had been by habit was living
in small town in Massach,sctts-to
walk out on the railroad track while wor
rying over tho prohl, m, and had no
iced that the wooden ties. though de-
caycd at the ends, were apparently sound
and hard III the middle. My scheme was
to construct q machine that would saw
the ties in two in the middle. Then I
proposed to turn tho two sections of the
tic about, SO that the sound ends would
bc under the rails. / Imeant to clamp the
tie Iii the middle with dog. Seems like
rather wild scheme, now doesn't it?
Well the day after my conception of this
plan went out on the railroad with my
hatchct and chopped into the middle OF
number of the tics. I found every one
of them in an advanced state of decay.
The outside of the tic was n sort of she'll
and seemed solid and hard. Tho 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 rottcd it away. l gave it up
for n time. | could think of nothing
feasible. [ saw gangs of men who were
femploycd by the railroad companies
constantly repairing and putting in new
ties. This was another expense to bs
added to tho cost of the short lived
wooded slecpcrs.
"Thcn thought of paper There aro
scores OF mills i'll the country whore pa
per, straw, prairie grass, and other
1lbrous substances nro converted into
straw @ board. The process is simple.
INC straw IS reduced to pulp and run
out INTO boards. These straw boards
are sold all over the countrv os snbsti.
tutcs for wood. My invention utilizcs
straw board. The cross tie is constructed
or sheets or layers of paper or straw
board, laid one upon another, ccmcntcd
ma compressed into moulds. 1t makes
n perfect cross tie. Tt is practically wa
'cr ana 1lrc proof, rs it is manufactured
under 500 degrees of heat. Atmo,.
pherc changes have no effect on it. II
can be made as cheap as wood Mt the
present time, and will last mt least twcn-
tS-hVc years. One paper tic will out.
wear wear tive wooden ones, and will render
not'ef 1 r. service, because it does not rot
"ilH there Is no danger of spreadino
rails. The accident to the LONG BrancS
Ga;n' .rai9 laSt year was due, according to of.
MIA lrIi'l investigation, to spreading rails
n hne wooden ties had dccaycd SO TINT
'ho e12iiI SPiKes that held the rails were loose"
soor,s Ml1i II, the paper take a spike 1t
cit will take spike rs readily IA
wood, and hang to it, too. There is
plenty OF give to paper tie, SO that
the rolling stock Of tho railroad will not
suffer. They arc of uniform size, and
weigh little moro than wood"