Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1883-07-07

A tall man, with sharp features and
a thoughtful air, sat in small study,
and gazed gravely at brown object
that lay at his feet
ut is a paper railroad cross tie" he
said.
The reporter lifted it with some
difficulty. 1t was of very close fibre,
and so highly polished that it resem-
bled rosewood. Its inventor tapped
it with his nail and said:
1T doesn't look much like paper,
does it?"
1T seems more like iron. Is it pos
sible that it is made of paper?"
"Oh, yes; almost anything can now
be made of paper. A paper ball can
be rendered SO solid that nothing will
indent it but an iron tool. Car wheels
are now made of paper. Its strength
is astonishing. You can suspend 339
pounds from a Bank of England note
and it will not part. Bath tubs, pots,
plates, knives, forks, cooking stoves,
printing presses, steam presses, steam
engines and chimneys are made of
paper nowadays, and there is abso-
lutely no limit to the uses to which
it may be put.
Have paper cross ties. ever been
used?"
Not yet. The cross tie is my in
vention.'
How did you happen to think of
it?"
"Well, l didn't happen to think
it exactly. l started out to invent a
substitute for the wooden cross tie or
sleeper. and l kept steadily at it un-
til 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 q shadow of doubt
that before many years it would be
impossible to supply the demand for
wooden sleepers. Can you believe
that nearly seventy million 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 if only
five years, and constant repairs are
necessary. To supply the demand
for the great railroad system of the
country it is necessary to chop down
three hundred thousand acres of for
est year! 1t takes hundred years
to grow trees to maturity, and we cut
down millions and millions of them
every year. How long can it last? {?
These are the figures presented by
the statisticians OF the Forestry Con-
gress, and adopted by that body.
"They taught me wholesome les
son." the inventor continued, smiling
gently and drumming on the tie,
and l improved it. / made up my
mind that / would find some substi-
tute 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 ex-
pensive, they were too rigid, and
knocked the rolling stock all to pieces.
The rails could not be fastened readi-
ly either, so they were all given up.
Meanwhile wooden ties were constant
ly getting higher in price, and l was
trying to hit upon substitute. l re-
membered that one morning con
ceived what l thought at the time
was brilliant idea. 1t had been my
habit was living in small town
in Massachusetts--to walk out on
the railroad track while worrying
over the problem, and 1 had noticed
that the wooden ties, though decayed
at the ends, were apparently 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 to turn the two sec
tions of the tie about, so that the
sound ends would be under the rails.
/ meant to clamp the tie in the mid
die with dog. Seems like rather a
wild scheme, now, doesn't it? Well,
the day after my conception Of this
plan I went out on the railroad with
hatchet and chopped into the mid.
die of number Of the ties. l found
every one of them in an advanced
state of decay. The outside of the tie
was a sort of shell, and seemed solid
and hard. The sun had dried it of
rapidly on the outside after it had
been wet, but the moisture had slowly
soaked through the body OF, the tie
and r6tted it away. I gave it up for
time. l could think of nothing
feasible. I saw gangs of men who
were employed by the railroad com
panies constantly repairing and put
ting in new ties. This was another
expense to be added to the cost OF
the short lived wooden sleepers.
"Then thought of paper. There
are scores of mills in the country
where paper, straw, prairie grass and
other fbrous substances are converted
into straw board. The process is
simple. The straw is reduced to 6
pulp and run out into boards. These
straw boards are sold all over the
country as substitutes for wood. My
invention utilizes straw board. The
cross tie is constructed OF sheets OF
layers of paper or straw board, laic
one upon another, cemented ano
compressed into moulds: 1t makes
perfect cross tie. 1t is practically
water and fire proof, as it is manu-
factured under 500 degrees OF heat
Atmospheric changes have no efiec
on it. 1t can be made as cheap al
uood at the nrasant time. and vii