The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-28

built could withstand the tremendous strain
put on that at Hurricane creek, he that
treStie or bridge wood, stone or iron. Phi
vate dispatches received by parties in this
city state that the baggage car was next to
the locomotive. The front axle, or one of
the Journals of the front truck under that
car broke. The truck was slowed around
directly across the track, dropping down
on the cross-ties. The weight of the train
behind that baggage car was $40 tons,
driven within a momentum of forty-five
miles per hour With this condition of facts
there was but one of two things which
could happen, namely, either the immov
able mass should succumb to the irresistible
| body" or vice versa; OF, in other words,
either the train should reduce itself to
klndling wood and remain on top of the
trestle, or else the trestle must succumb to
the momentum of the train and 60 down
with it.
Now, to deal with Mr.. Wyckoff, whom
presume meant to be fair and simply to mar
rate what he understood to be facts. left
the employ of that company on Sept. Is,
1856, and up to that time had been actively
employed as civil engineer, for some eight
years, on new construction, also on mainte-
nance of way on the old line. | have passed
over every bridge and trestle on that line
hundreds of time, both on trains and walk
ing, and can prove that there was not one
trace of rotten timber in any bridge or
trestle on the day that l severed my connec-
ton with that company and it is matter
of absolute physical impossibility
for any decay, such as to affect
stability of the structures, to have
taken place since. We calculate the life of
such pine as We put i'll such structures at
six years, and to my personal knowledge
that trestle has been rebuilt, even to the
piles and every piece of timber in the
structure, less than two years ago. Mr..
Wyckof is not consistent i'll his statements.
First he states that 1.-THE ties are so rotten
that man dare not step with whole weight
upon them" Second, zone can stand on a
bridge and by merely jumping up and down
shake the whole bridge" etc. In reply to
| this, if the ties are so rotten that "a man
| dare not step with his whole weight upon
them" how is it possible for locomotives
| weighing sixty tons to pass over the road,
many of the engines being rigid ten
| wheelers? Secondly, Mr.. w. must weigh
powerful lot" if he can ''stand on a
bridge and by merely jumping up and down
| shake the whole bridge" etc, particularly
| so in view of the fact that each pile in
| trestles and bridges is driven with ham
mer weighing 1920 pounds, falling 40 feet,
| the last blow of which given to the pile
only moves it one-eighth of an inch.
The superstructure is bolted to these piles,
which are mOrtise and tenon, with one
| inch wrought iron bolts, vertical and hori-
zontal. The trestles are of the inverted
| ''Wn type, which is the strongest known to
engineering. The timber is Of the best
heart pine, free from sap and wind shakes.
Every trestle and bridge on that road is in
speeSed weekly, both by the bridge gang on
| the sections and by the Supervisors of
Bridges and Trestles on their respective di-
visions, and it is impossible for any rotten
| timber to be or remain in any of them.
As to rotten cross-ties, there has not been
one in the road since 1877, the year in which
the road was purchased by the Plaut Invest
ment Company, and Immediately afterward
relaid with heavy steel rails and put in
thorough condition; ard there is not one
rotten cross-tie in the road to-day and has
not been since that time. The records of
the company will prove this, which is very
easy matter to do.
j. NJ HALLowEs, SO Nassau street.
NetU York, March 10, 1888