The Washington herald., 1913-11-23

'srhen about 100000 poles are needed
every year by railroad. telegraph, tele-
phone and electric light companies and
each pole is a tree rarely under twenty
five feet high and often reaching a height
of forty-hve feet and more. White cedar
from the States bordering Northern lakes
and red cedar from the West are largely
used for poles. There Is sale also for poles
Of oak and chestnut. An entire tree, as
said. Is required for a pole II must be cut
and hauled to point of shipment Even
SO the average price Is only si.se apiece
telephone and telegraph companies pay
$40, steam railroads s2S3 and electric
railway and light companies sass.
TT would SEEM" Mr.. Foiey went on to
say. that the United States will soon
become treeless country. Indeed. that is
the prediction made by good many in
telligent men. but do not share in their
belief. Our people are too sensible to per-
NIT the destruction of all their forests.
Besides, new trees are growing in all di-
rections. While we are using more wood
than is being produced. higher prices will
soon check consumption Substitute will
then be found for lumber.
Increasing Use of Steel.
There are $1,000 saw mills in the United
States. They cut fifty billion feet of
lumber annually. Houses. buildings. and
rough construction require 50 per cent of
the supply. box factories take 10 per
cent, and railroads about per cent. !
am now talking about lumber that goes
through saw mills, and not about wood
that is used for ties and poles. Buildings
by and by will be made almost entirely
Of other material than wood So will
boxes. Chicken coops and pig pens are
no longer built OF white pine. Walnut
fence posts have become rare. Walnut.
every one says, is scarce. >yet about
i6, 900 900 feet are sawed annually in 1850
mills here and there throughout the
country. The railroads are rapidly de-
creasing their consumption OF sawed lum-
Der. Coal cars are being constructed of
steel, as are passenger cars. The Penn
sylvania Railroad needs only 400 pounds
of wood for a modern passenger car
made Of metal.
"A good many inventors are sitting up
nights in an effort to work out a rail-
road tie that will be durable. cheap, and
resilient. Cement is too fragile, and
breaks under the pounding Of heavy
wheels. Steel is too rigid. The Carnegie
Steel Company manufactures ties Of
metal and uses them on its own road.
which runs from Conneaut. Ohio, to Pitt
burgh- The road. however. hauls moth
ing but coal and ore. Steel ties knock
the machinery Of locomotives to pieces,
and make travelling for passengers
rough and uncomfortable Moreover,
metal ties cost "a each. Red oak ties are
better as well as cheaper.
IN the meanwhile timber-treating
plants are being constructed in differ
ent parts of the country. The first
one was located at Lowell, Mass, and
began operations in the year 1S4S.
Wood was abundant in those days,
however. and the idea didn't spread.
A creosote plant was built in Missis-
sippi thirty-eight years ago. Wood
preservation Is an old practice in Eu-
rope. There were thirty plants in the
United States at the end of 1904. The
number has since been increased to
eighty-four or more.
'sTwenty-one railroads have plants
of their own The Pennsylvania Rail-
road has two. We place from $50 to
500 ties in a closed cylinder. 1872 feet
long and feet in diameter. The
cylinder is then filled with creosote.
which is driven into the wood by steam
pressure. The life of an ordinary red
oak tie is eight years. A treated tie
will last fifteen years. Decay is pre-