Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1909-06-13
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
WORTH OF CROSS TIES
Railroads Have Bought Large Mum
bers of Them During the Pres
eE. Year.

WASHINGTON, June 1e-During
the year 1908. the steam and electric
railroads of the United States pur-
chased more than ll2.O00.000 cross
ties. costing at the point of purchase.
over $j5.00O0O0. an average Of fifty
cents per tie. according to statistics
lust made public by the Bureau Of the
Census in cooperation with the United
States Forest Service. This was
"a. GOO 600 ties less than the quantity
purchased in 1907. when the total was
approximately 1913. zoe, 600. the highest
ever recorded. The decreased pur-
chases in 1908 were of course. chief
ly due to the business depression
which affected every line OF industry
This forced most of the roads TO pur-
chase only ties which were absolute
ly essential for renewals. and heavi-
~ cut down the purchase for new
track. In 1908 only 7.43i 900 cross
ties were reported as purchased for
new track as against 23.557 900 in 1907
OF the total number of ties purchased
for all purposes. the steam roads
took approximately ninety -four per
cent, leaving about six per cent for
the electric roads.
Ii is very interesting to note the
Wide range of woods used for cross
ties. The preliminary report by the
Census Bureau lists separately fif-
teen classes or species. OF these
the oaks are now and have always
been by far the most important The
oak ties amounted to more than AS
= nf the
total quantity purchased. Next to
these ranked the southern yellow
pines. with 81 .500,0 600 or nineteen per
cent of the total 1t will be seen that
the oaks and southern pines combined
furnish nearly three fourth of all the
ties bought by the railroad companies
last year Cedar and chestnut sup
piled more than 100000 ties each.
and DOuglar fir nearly as much About
100000 tamarck ties were purchased.
nearly $500, 600 cypress ties. and. in
round numbers. 100000 each Of
western pine and hemlock. Redwood,
white pine. gum. beech, spruce. and
several ether woods were used in
smaller quantities
While the oaks and particularly
the white oaks. have always been the
preferred woods for cross-ties and
stiil form a large proportion of the
total. the increasing prices which the
roads have had to pay for satlsfac-
tory oak ties are forcing them to
look more and more for substitutes.
This accounts in part for the great
variety of woods reported. White
oak, untreated makes a tie which
gives excellent service for many years
but it has been found possible to take
woods which naturally are not du
rable. give them a treatment with
either creosOte or zinc chloride. which
VIII prevent decay, and thus get
longer service from them than can
be secured from untreated oak ties.
Among the woods which have been
most largely treated so far are the
yellow pines, particularly loblolly
pine. Douglas fir, western pine, and
lodgepole pine.
This years statistics adds to the
list two kinds of cross-ties which
previously had not been reported in
sufficient quantity to justifying list
ing them separately. These are gum
and beech. The purchase of gum ties
slightly more than 1900 of them We're
reported in the previous year. OF
beech ties, the purchases in 1908
amounted to nearly $4,000, against
but little more than 1000 in 1907.
These are woods which are distinct
ly not suitable for cross-ties unless
they are given preservative treat
ment Their increased use, there
fore, is one of the many results of the
progress of wood preservation in the
United states. For many years beech
has been one of the principal cross
tie woods in Europe. where its value
when given chemical treatment was
long ago recognized. II is not I'M
common for European roads to secure
from twenty to thirty years of SER
vice from beech crOss-ties. I'm
treated they would not last long
enough TO warrant their use at all.