Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-02-23

Washington, Feb. %. - That the
humble railroad tie is most import
ant factor in the material development
of the country is a great truth that IS
little understood by people outside of
railroad circles The putting engine
that speeds at the rate of mile or
more q minute over the country is a
slave to the two steel rails that III
sure a smooth and safe road. AMI
these rails in turn depend on the old
fashioned wooden cross-tie which
holds them in place.
Yankee invention has not yet found
substitute which has induced the
railroads to give up wood, although ex-
perts say that the day will surely
come when the country's forests will
no longer be called upon to supply the
demand fer ties. Up to the present
! time it seems that no other material
, has been found which has the resi-
| iency of wood and which at the same
time causes less wear and tear on
/ the rails, fastenings and roadbed.
The country's railroads during the
last two or three years use 110,000,00)
f; to 150,000.000 of sawed and hewn ties
a year. The ideal tie timber is white
oak, which combines the qualities of
durability, hardness, strength and
close grain. 1t is not only excellent
for ties, but is widely used in ship
building, for general construction, in
cooperage, in the manufacture of car
Iriages, for agricultural implements, ir-
terror finish of houses and for furni-
ture. On account of this wide use.
the supply has been greatly reduced
and some of the railroads have been
forced to pay almost prohibitivc
prices for ties, or to substitute other
and cheaper woods to replace the
white oak ties rapidly disappearing
from their lines.
Over 40 per cent of the ties recently
| purchased by the railroads of the coun-
try are oak, according to latest Stats
: tics of United States forest service
Cross-ties of southern pine formed
somewhat less than 25 per cent.
Douglas fir ties ranked third, with ap.
, proximately 10 per cent of the total
Naturally the proportion of these two
timbers will increase as the supply of
loak dwindles. This is also true OF
cedar, chestnut, cypress, western pine
tamarack, hemlock and other trees
which are coming into the market ne
tie timbers.
: Cedar, which is very durable, ha?
been extensively used to take the
place of white oak for ties, but it i
so soft that it is readily cut by the
rails. This necessitates the use of tie
: plates and other protective device,
when cedar ties are used. AS the sup
l. ply of cedar is also running short, i
is necessary for the railroads to seel
d further for new tie timber One q
/ the woods which has all the requisites
of a good tie, with the exception o
durability, is the beech.
A beech tie generally consists large
d ly of sapwood, which partly account.
# for its lack of durability, but, ON tn
/ other hand. allows thorough an,
!. easy preservative treatment. In Ger
many and France, beech ties hav
9 been successfully preserved from de
cay, and are used very extensively
Beech is found widely distribute,
throughout the eastern part of tn
United States, and at the present tim
is comparatively cheap and abundan;
If, therefore, the railroads whose line
. are located in the regions where beec'
= is abundant can make use of this WOO
= treated with some suitable preservE
p tive. another source of supply of ii
y timber will be opened up.
Stumpage values have been increa.
ie ing so rapidly during the last fe,
. wears that many railroads have foun
ieiit necessary to modify their timbe
o lpolicy, and they yearly apply preserv;
IS Itives to a greater number of ties an
lelto more kinds of wood Substitut