The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1924-01-31

stance to prevent decay, and espe-
cially protecting those parts that are
set In the ground, is an old practice
and In recent years has been the sub
ject of intensive study by experts
When the civil engineers of Idaho
met at Pocatello recently, they
visited the timber treating plant OF
the Oregon Short Line in north Po-
catello.
The purpose of treating timber Is
not only to keep out dampness, but
to keep out insects In the forms OF
fungus chiefly. Where the fungus
attacks the wood. it is generally at a
knot or rough place in the timber or
at a check or crevice. These animal
forms multiply rapidly and go thru
timber or into 1t and cause rapid
decay. sometimes spelling tie or
telegraph pole in year or two,
Coating the wood with something
which the insect cannot live in or go
thru affords the desired protection.
If the timer is dented or nicked after
treatment it is likely to open up a
road for their entrance.
The treatment employed at the
Pocatello plant Is to coat the wood
with creosote while hot, and altho
the heat damages the wood about 10
per cent. 1t doubles or trebles the life
of the stick. There is great diff
ference in the effect of given treat
ment upon different kinds of wood,
and it is not advisable for an
amateur to undertake treatment of
wood without first learning from
some authority whether the treat
ment is adapted to the wood. The
effect is different on green and sea-
soned wood, sappy spots and wood
dried under different conditions.
At the Pocatello plant there is a
steel tube large enough to receive
train of sixteen small cars loaded
with ties, each car carrying from
forty to fifty ties. The engine spots
the train and pulls away and the
door or cap of the tube is closed,
the whole tube being alright. Air
pumps are operated to create
vacuum to draw the sap out of the
ties and after that is accomplished
by standing in the vacuum an hour
or two, the valves are opened and
thin hot creosote is rushed in until
the tub is nearly filled, so the tim
bers are immersed in it. Then steam
is forced in from the bottom and it
rises thru the mass, keeping it very
hot and diffusing it into every pore
and crevice under heavy steam pres
sure. The injury to the wood is due
to the heating, and this is cut as
short as is practical. The fluid is
drawn off and the train hauled out
into the open, where power crane
lifts the loads, car at time and
lays the ties into the standard rail-
road cars, all hot and steaming. The |!
fluid may penetrate two inches at
one spot and only a fraction of an
inch near it in the same timber. !
After the timbers are cooled and |
dried they do not show the creosOte
very much The timber looks
Drowned and in some places dark,
depending on the amount it has alb
sorbed at the spot. After treatment
they are handled as carefully as pos
sible to save breaking thru the sur
face to allow insects to get into the
wood below the chemicals.
Making Ice Chemically
The Oregon Short Line has plant
1T PocatellO, where it makes ice for
he system, instead of getting it from
Snake river at HUMPHREYS, as they
lid for long time. They draw the
water from Battise springs and make
wo grades of ice, the opaque or
halky looking ice for ordinary use
md the clear ice, made from dis
illed ice for hospitals, dining cars,
lotels and other places, where there
s need for perfect sanitation and
,urity
The water is placed in square cans
olding 800 pounds each, and is |
landed by cranes, placed in the
reezing watts and lifted and dumped
nd transported about the place, to I
he store room, to the top of it fOtry- {
light feet from the floor or out into I
he cars, all by power machinery. The {
lain store room is 100 feet square l
nd forty-eight feet high, with, am c
lonia pipes all about it to- conduct I
II heat out of the room. No sawdust q
, used and the ice is scarcely I
ouched by human hand or anything 4
erishable. hey have facilities for I
,ading train at time, the ice be-
1g delivered to each car door by l
lerely turning the switches along ?
lie route of the belt delivery.
Addition to Power Plant i;
The Idaho Power company has p
urlng the past year ana nall spent C
bout a million dollars building
ew unit in their American Falls
liant, and will be continuing con-
,ruction work for a good while to Q
)me. The company erected vii L
age of houses for the workmen, .
18th offices and good roads all espe-
ally made for the project. A great u
cal of new construction of dams has 8
cen completed, and the plan seems n
, be to pick up the water below the a
roposed storage dam as it is re- a
,ased for power purposes, always {
rawing from the same levels, since t
ley must be able to take 1t when y
he reservoir is empty as we'll as q
hen it Is full. q
The work is under direction Of d
enry Senger, chief engineer OF the Y
iaho Power company, who has had e
barge of construction of their finest
over plants, notably the one at n
hoshone Falls He and his assist "
nts showed the Idaho engineers 0