Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1900-08-06
TIE Q'S' BURNT CLAY
The Making Of the 90 Railways
Famous Broken Pottery Bal.
last Described.
Great Activity Along the Line
Mail Contracts Will Be strug.
gled For.
Beautiful Crops Thru Southern Iowa
GreatStock Shipments Of
Small Towns.

Corning, Aug. 6.-This is the Burl-
ington's busy Year and all kinds of inl-
provements are under way. The early
Or belated traveller sees train loads of T
laborers carried to and from the scene
of their daily toll; he notices caravans
of teams at work on grades and fills,
and passes camps hustling with the
work of railroad construction. The 1Ql'
is getting ready for the inevitable att
tack of the C. & n. w. on its profitable |
mail contracts. 1t is seeing its rivals
every Improvement and carelessly
lingering a long stack of reserve chips.
The Burlington plays the game. It has
held the Northwestern safe 50 far and
1T becomes necessary.
Along the main line the double tracks
are stretching toward Omaha. straight
lines replacing the short curves and the
grades are sinking to level reaches of
shining steel.
AT McDill, a siding west of Osceola,
three steam sllovels and the gangs
necessary to their operation are MAX
ing the broken crockery the Burlington
uses for ballast. The rock ballast ia
Imiliar to#travelers and residents along
the NORTHWESTERN or the sand, ballast of
the b., C. r. & n. are replaced on the
o. by burnt cay. The steam shovels
start Il rick of this clay very similar
70 the long ricks familiar to our child
hood when farmers stacked their grain.
The shovels spread a layer of the clay
and then from the great furnaces of
the machine a layer of blazing coal is
spread above it.. Alternate layers Of
clay and burning coal are piled above
the other until great ricks fifteen or
twenty feet in height and the length of
the clay deposit are snouldering and
burning and turning to red broken
pottery which is said to furnish the
best track ballast known, in SO much
that it is absorbant and prolongs the
life of a wooden tie for years. AT Nc
Dill there is probably a mile of such
riclSs now burning. Enough to load
thousands and yet thousands of fiat
!scars. Truly the 20" is a great system.
This is the blue grass country of Iowa
and thousands of cattle crop the boun
ittful pastures. 1t is a grain country as
well and it would be difficult to find a
stretah of railorad of the same length
that carries as much stock to market
as the Cumberland branch of ths Burl-
l.ington. orient,a bright little business
town north Of Creston on this branch
1 has avera ged for the past six moths to
l5senG out over 81 900 worth OF stock and
grain every day.
BridgeWater. a still smaller town and
Alassena of about the same population
as Orient equals or exceeds Orient'ss
liayera sc.
AIasseisa's8 new brick blocks which
i5iiave replaced The frame buildings des-s
lstroysd in the disastrou fire that de-
yastated the town few months ago
are a great addition to the wealth and
| beauty If the village When the lne-5
vitable fire detroys ne other side Of he
principal street and it is rebuilt of
brick Massena Will have become one.
lgof the nsatest little cities in the state.
by that time il Will be ready for some
sort of fire protection, a necessity it
lacks at present.
In a southern Iowa city where a
couple Of wealthy families have IN
| vested in automobiles and others are
i5consi eiering tine adyisa bilitw of a similar
purchase, lives a business man lately
Esttldchtug MILF pi2s,le sslNss pa Idts SIS
/ Speaking Of his consequent retirement
1 from business one said on the street the
Eother day that Blank was closing out
because he had locomotor ataxia.
4 Well said his business competitor, a
4 man must be blamed fool to leave a
( good business just to ride around in
one of those things and then after
/ they explained to him they took him in
and made him buy riotous living for
4 the croWa.
A n "a NTosCRIp