Gainesville daily sun. (Gainesville, Fla.) 190?-1938, 1909-03-01


truth that Is little understood by peO-
pie outside Of railroad circles. The
putting engine that speeds az the rate
OF a mile or more a minute over the
country Is a slave TO the two steel
rails that insure a smooth and safe
read, and 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
experts say that the day will surely
come when the country's forests viii
no longer be called upon TO supply
the demand for ties. Up 90 the pres
ent time Il seems that no other ma
terial has been found which has the
resiliency 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 used 10000
900 to $4,000, 900 Of sawed and hewn
ties a year. The ideal tie timber Is
white oak. which combines the quail
ties Of durability. hardness. strength,
and close grain. Il Is not only ex-'
cellent for ties, but Is widely used in
ship building, for general construc-
ton, in cOOperage. in the manufacture
Of carriages, for agricultural imple-
ments, interior finish Of houses, and
for furniture. On account Of this wide
use the supply has been greatly re-
duced and some Of the railroads have
been forced to pay almost prohibitive
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 recent
ly purchased by the railroads Of the
country are oak, according 60 latest
statistics Of the United States Forest
Service. CrOss-tles OF Southern pine
formed somewhat less than % per
cent. Douglas FIR ties ranked third,
with approximately 10 per cent Of the
total Naturally the proportion Of
these two timbers will increase as the
supply OF oak dwindles. This is also
true Of cedar, chestnut, cypress, West
ern pine, tamarack, hemlock, and
other trees which are coming into the
market as tie timbers.
Cedar. which is very durable, has
been extensively used to take the
place Of white oak for ties, but IL is
so soft that ii is readily cut by the
rails. This necessitates the use OF tie
plates and other protective devices
when cedar ties are used. AS the sup
ply Of cedar is also running short IL
is necessary for the railroads 20 seek
further for new tie timber. One Of
the woods which has AL the requisites
OF a good tie, with the exception Of
durability, is the beech.
A beech tie generally consists large.
ly OF sapwood. which partly accounts
for is lack OF durability. but, on the
other hand, allows a thorough and
easy preseryatiye treatment. In
Germany and France beech ties have
been successfully preserved from de
cay and are used very extensively.
Beech Is found widely distributed
throughout the eastern part Of the
United States, and az the present time
Is comparatively cheap and abundant
n. therefore. the railroads whose
lines are located In the regions where
beech Is abundant can make use OF
this wood. treated with some suitable
preseryatiye, another source OF sup
ply Of tie timber will be opened up.
Stumpage values have been increas-
ing so rapidly during the last few
years that many railroads have found
Il necessary 10 modify their timber
policy. and they yearly apply pre-
seryatiyes 20 a greater number OF ties
and 10 more kinds Of wood. subsu-
tute woods naturally vary with diner.
ent sections Of the country, but In
most cases they lack the two essential
qualities found I'm white oak, namely
resistance 10 mechanical ware and 20
decay Experience proves that wear
can be successfully retarded by the
use OF tie plates and other mechanical
devices. and decay can be postponed
by the application OF proper preserya.