The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-05
IDEAL BLOCK FOR
 STREET PAVING Movement is on Foot to Use
 Despised Woods TESTS VERY SUCCESSFUL Representative of Wood Preserving Company Will Make Tour of the South, Hunting for Black
 and TupeIo Gum.
TESTS VERY SUCCESSFUL

Washington, October 4.-(Special)- )-- which find their ideal home in the Dismal Swamp and other marsh y places of the South Atlantic and Gulf states, will probably play an impor- tant part in solving the street pave ment problem, which veXes the officers of every municipality Experts who have experimented with the timber of sidered almost worthless, say that 1t makes an ideal paving block when properly preserved
 representative of large wood- preserving company of New York which makes speciality of the man ufacture of street paving blocks, has just left Washington after a confer ence with officers of the forest service regarding methods of wood preserva- tion. His company Is now dealing all most exclusively in black and tupelo gum and he is highly elated with the experiments which have been made.
 Wood is now considered the strong
  terials from which the ideal street pavement of the future will be manu- factured. It Is practically noiseless and this quality is very desirable in large cities where there is much traf- fic. When properly preserved and laid, the best wood pavements are said to resist wear and tear as well as any other material now in use.
 Wood received Il bad reputation as a paving block in this country when it was laid in various cities number of years ago. It failed because Ameri- cans at that time knew practically nothing about wood preservation for paving woods, laying the wooden blocks just as they were sawed Of course. wear. tear and weather soon made the pavement almost unfit for use. Foreign nations first made sue cessful experiments in the preserva tion of wood used Tor paving, and now Uncle Sam has also learned some very important things about the manufac- ture of wooden paving blocks and in some respects has gone the European manufacturers one or two points bet ter.
 The company whose representative has been in Washington conferrng on those matters of wood preservation. has just completed a three-eylinder treatment plant at Norfolk, Va. wh ere the wood will be impregnated with creosote and rosin by the pressure cylinder method The natural tough ness of the wood makes it wear well, and the chemicals forced into the fibre will render 1t immune from decay for many years.
 The turning of black and tupelo gum to account, on so large a scale, Is matter of importance in connection with the waning timber supply. Lum- bermen have always considered it an inferior wood. Except for special uses, such as mauls, mallets, boards for wagon and cast beds, and for other purposes where a wood is wanted which will not split. black gum .4as been rejected by farmers and lumber men. It grows over a tolerably wide region, and is abundant on the low, marshy lands near the coast of the southern states. It finds it's ideal home in the Dismal Swamp, where other woods, especially cypress. once grew in great abundance.
 Several tests have shown that black and tupelo gum. when given proper preservative treatment. is an excellent material for street paving. The blocks are cut to stand on end about three inches thick, four inches wide and ahout eight inches high. The wood is not very hard, but it's toughness gives tt superior wearing qualities. W. s.