The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1917-09-13
UNION PACIFIC is UTILIZING
THE RAILROAD TIES

In these days of the scarcity of
coal. the old railroad tie has finally
come into its own. On the Union Pa
cific Railroad, at least, the time hon
ored system of burning these old ties
has been discontinued
In hundreds of instances along the
right of way Of the Union Pacific,
arrangements have been made with
owners of adjoining farms to whom
the old ties are given in payment for
the blowing of fire guar S.
This guard acts as a effective break
to prevent the spreading of fires which
start from sparks of locomotives.
At other points, the old ties are
gathered together and shipped to
nearby point where they are cut up
and used by the railroad itself as fuel.
Much of this material is used in fir
ing stationary engines. At several
of the district terminals, these old ties
are sawed up into stove lengths and
sold at nominal sum to railroad en-
ployes. The same is done with dis
placed bridge timbers, the wood of
old cars that are torn down, and the
wood on the cars that are destroyed in
wrecks.
Wreckage of freight cars is no long
err burned up. but the iron and steel
is carefully collected and sawed, as
well as the fuel value of the wood
Old waste from journal boxes is
also saved, and is valuabel in starting
fires in engines.
No acurate figures are available
showing the exact amount of fuel thus
utilized, nor is any record kept of the
| amount of coal which is thus saved for
other purposes. There are hundreds
of thousands of old ties removed every
year, however, and great piles of dis
placed bridge timbers, in addition to
great quantity of wood saved from
worn out and wrecked freight cars.
The program worked out by Presi-
dent Calvin of the Union Pacific Rail
road, is, LET NOTHING OF VALUE
GO TO WASTE"
Coal dealers in certain sections of
the country are already seeking to
make use of the time-worn scheme of
saying: "He did it, in order to es-
! cape the criticism involved in the ma
tion-wide protest against the high
| price of coal.
| An Omaha dealer, smarting under
peremptory order of President Wilson
who acted in response to the general
public protest, and directed cut in
the price of coal at the mines, sought
to throw the burden on to the rail-
roads. He was quickly called. how
ever, by Ballard Dunn, Special Re-
preventative of the Union Pacific
Railroad, who showed that coal is
hauled by the railroads at an average
of less than half cent ton mile.
In fact the rate on coal is the lowest
of all freight rates.
The Omaha dealer sought to leave
the impression that other commodi-
ties were hauled at cheaper rates. es-
pecially near beer and chickens. Here
! is what Mr. Dunn said in his answer:-
"The coal dealer, who says, give us
the same freight rate on coal that we
get on near beer and real reduction
to the consumer will follow is delib-
erately attempting to derive the pub
. lie.
"The freight on near beer, from Chi
cago to Omaha, is % cents hundred
| pounds, or at the rate of $40 ton.
The freight rate on chickens, from
Chicago to Omaha, is 45 cents hun
dred pounds, or at the rate of 50 ton.
"It is at once apparent why a car
load of coal from the Illinois fields,
even at the rate of $265 ton or 13A
cents hundred, should cost total of
$132.5O as compared with $50 on a
carload of chickens and Sc on car
load of chickens and $66 on carload
of near beer. The carload of coal
holds 100000 pounds, the carload Of
chickens only 10000 pounds and the
near beer only 10000 pounds. Weight
is necessarily the basis of all freight
rates.
"In other words, a carload of coal
is equal in weight to carloads Of
chickens and to one third carloads
of near beer. If near beer weighed
as much as coal, a carload would cost
1920, and If chickens weighed as muct
rs coal, the rate a carload would bt
$45O.
Practically all the Illinois coal
burned in Omaha comes through the
mines in Southern Illinois and il
! transported to Omaha through Eas'