Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-30
SOUTHWEST
is BENEFITED
WOOD PRESERVATION LEADs TO
SAVING
Government Forest Service Work
Proves Proper Treatment Pre-
serves Commercial Tlmhers
Almost Indefinitely

other section of the country because OF
enormous saving to lumber users which
will result from the preservative treat
ment OF timber. The successful investi-
cations of the government and private
corporations in wood preservation mean
great benefits to the southern half OF the
state, because this part of the great
southwest Is a heavy consumer OF timber,
particularly poles used in the extensive
development OF the country through cleo
tricity, industry's greatest agent Of prog
ress. Fe
In and around Los Angeles alone there
are consumed annually from 10000 to 10000
poles, and in the next five years there
will be more poles used In this locality
than In any other portion of the United
States. The poles used are cedar from
Washington and Oregon.
A few years ago preservative treat
ment for telegraph, transmission and 9TH
er poles was unknown in the United
States. but the constant increase In the
cost of the higher grades of timber and
the substitution, in many Localities, OF in
ferior woods for the woods formerly used
has made a preservative treatment al
most a necessity The use of the So
called inferior woods is made possible
only by the use of preservative treat
ment.
owing to the scarcity and the difficulty
of getting poles, due to poor transporta-
ton facilities, the various pole consum-
ing companies In Los Angeles turned
servative treatment for the wooden poles
in use. Various methods have been tried
by these companies, mostly applications
OF different oils with brush to the out
side of the pole, but these have been
abandoned to a great extent as not CIV
ing the desired results.
Four years ago the Pacific Light and
Power company set pole line from It's
power house at Mentone to San Bernar-
dino Two hundred and one of these
poles were treated, forty-three with car
bolineum: ISL with asphaitum and ce-
ment, the pole being first wrapped with
buriap and then dipped in the compound
and twenty-five with asphaltum and ce-
ment, with no burlap wrapping.
Recently 1888 of these poles were exam
ined, the earth being removed from
around the pole to depth of one to two
feet. The treatments showed results as
follows:
Results Differ
OF the forty-three poles treated with
carbolineun, twenty-seven were exam
ined and found rotted through the sap
wood; eighty-seven of the poles treated
with asphaltum and cement with the bur-
lap wrapping were examined and SEEM
ingly all were sound, as the compound
and the burlap formed hard shell on
the outside of the pole. On twenty-five
of these the burlap was cut and the wood
underneath examined. OF these twenty
fiye poles fourteen were sound and eleven
rottd through the sapwood. Qf the
twenty-five poles treated without the
burlap wrapping, twenty-one were badly
rotted.
Crude oil has been used to consider
able extent in Southern California as a
pteservative The method employed is
not to treat the wood itself, but to sat
urate the ground around the pole with
oil and encase the pole in bitumen
formed by the moisture of the oil and
the earth This method of treating poles
has been used extensively, but the poles
SO treated have not been set long enough
to show results. Steel poles have been
substituted to some extent for wooden
poles on long transmission lines. On the
new line of the Edison Electric company
from the power house at Kern river to
the distributing stations in Los Angeles,
steel towers set in concrete are in use.
This line is 167 miles long and trars-
rnits 10000 horsepower The wires are
carried on insulators feet high and
are given span of 700 feet. On the high
tension distribution lines of this COM
pany a tripod-shaped steel pole is in use.
The pole is built of three three-quarter
round pieces of steel, set in concrete, one
foot apart at the base and tapering to
point at the top. The steel legs are lat
ticed from base to- top. A great deal of
trouble has been caused by the leakage
and induction on these steel towers,
causing death to animals, fires, etc.
Ip Fresno the San Joaquin Light and
Power company is using poles OF the
western yellow pine. Owing to the high
price of poles in Fresno and to the diff
ficulty of getting any cedar poles there.
the company about three years ago
started using this pine. The poles are cut
in the mountains north of Fresno and
are hauled in by teams. This pole has
an average life of two years.
In setting the pine pole the company
has used two methods to increase the
life--the use of crude oil mentioned above
and the use OF a cedar stub. The pole
is strapped TO 10x10 inch by 10 foot
cedar stub with two u bolts, the butt Of
the pole being kept a foot above the
ground to prevent the fungus getting a
hold on the pole.
The methods mentioned above as be-
ing used by these companies proved un-
satisfactory, andg two years ago several
of the pole consumers in Southern Cali
fornia appealed to the forest service for
help. The forest service started some
experimer ts in February, 1906 which are
now nearing completion.
Use Open Tank
In these experiments only the open
tank method has been used. This con-
sists in giving the pole bath of hot oil,
followed by a path of cold oil. The pole
is placed in tank of hot creosote oil
to depth of one foot above the ground
line when set and kept there from three
to eight hours, depending on the condition
of the wood and the penetration desired.
The pole is then placed in a bath of cold
oil.
When the wood is heated in the hot
oil the afr and moisture in the wood cells
and intercellul4r spaces is expanded and
some OF 1t is driven out. and on INNER
sion in the cold oil the difference in tenn
perature causes the expanded air and
moisture to contract, thus forming a
partial vacuum, which causes the oil to
penetrate the wood.
The. western yellow pine is found to be
q wood which readily takes treatment
In the experiments carried on in South
arn California a renetra tfon of from fxun