MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1885. RAILWAY SELEEPERS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 87, 16 March 1885, Page 2

MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1885. RAILWAY SELEEPERS.

f An other phase of the question of the difficulty of obtaining 1 a stufl^cient quantity, of railway sleepers 'lor' n«o m the public works of the Colony, is touched on m the article m the Wellington Post from which yre quoted m Saturday's issue. Our contemporary observes that there is another, poiut to wh|ch the attention of the Minister might also be most usefully directed. .This- is the question of rendeiing comparatively soft wood available for railway use by the adop-' tion of the crepsbting process. We have before, us a copy of a paper on , f'jtheiau^iseptic treatment; ( oif timber," which was read by Mr S. !jB. Boulton, Assoo* lnsl. Qtvil Engin,eers, before the Institute m May last, Sir Joseph ' Baza^gettb, ,C.B.^ m 'the chair. :It ri^fult.rpf interesting, information on the. subjeiQt, . and of the" mosit reliable evidence ofithe value of :> tlie creosoting; proceas m prolonging the life of a|l. ( timber, used for sleepers, and m rendering, suitable, i|br such use man} varieties of timber which otherwise would be quite upfinit^ible fc Jt i appears to w* that, the nrocess i? worthy a thoroughly exhaustive trial here, and ; that it ip hill of great possibilities m tHe future of our i/ait ways' and (the timber trade. ' In a letter to' ;our Wellington contemporary, which aj»pears m the same issue, Mr J: R, Geokge writes :■ — '" If" thie system of creosoting slcepei's, was adopted it would prevent the splitting complained of m black birch sleepers, and give a considerable value to a class of timber land that is at present considered r almost, useless. ' The, new iftystem of, creosoting timber consists m exhausting all the water from it m the form of vapor, and while the timber is m the exhausting' chamber the creosoting material is introduced, and the exhausting process continue], the creosote thus taking the place of the water evaporated, the quantity usually absorbed being about one gallon to each cubic foot of timber. Ore osoted sleepers are : known to have J»een m .jtse upwards of 30 years, ou some : English 'railways, which withoub that treatment would probably, hiave been useless m one third pftho'.' period. The subject is one of sufficient importance to doservw iTitiie 'attention from the Public Workls Office than it has vet received." , It hns, often occurred 'to ut< thsit it woiilcl he quit«« ]>ossiblH to preserve some of ihe softer woods wluch are . met with so. abundantly, m Ibt New .Zealnni) fprests, so that they Would 'be p'rulereii' snitiiljle for iiniiway sleepeis. The Public WorliS'Def'artment (ippp:u\s not to have given i>liis phase o£ the question sufficient attention, iv the way of pwctical exp^-i-

--ments, or they would before now Lave discovered some method by which the desired results could be achieved. If jsuch softer timbers Ottawa, for..instance, could be made' to answer' ih.e purposes, of railway sleepers, at a cheap outlay, a great impetus would be given to ( the trade.y To our mind, -it «!oeg socm -wholb/ incomprehensible' that New Zealand should, have \'o semi abroad tor timber for railway sleepers, densely covered as a large poition of its surface is with magnificent forests. -But so long as thd Der { pattment will only sanction the use of picked totai'a, and .so lbng a* it* regulations are so absurdly stringent, ,and- frequently enforced with such an absence of intelligent discrimination, so long will the existing relationships between the .saw millers and the Government be, found unsatisfactory.. We thiuk'th® Goyerninent might very advantageously offer a bonus tor the eheniical preparation of some of the softer timbersiso abundantly touud m New Zealand for the purposes of railway sleepers. Were success tp attend the experiments m this direction^the results would be a largely increaseivyalue to large areas of at present unproductive forest land 5 , the supply at a diminished .cost of railway j sleepers, and the retention m" ihese' districts of large sums of money sent:.to the other colonies, and to the South Islabd lor material with which tho North Island itself has been endowed ■by nature on a scale of unprecedented liberality. It is not to be wondered at that the timber industry, generally sneaking,' languishes when so little is being done Jby A Q:Oveiunient to develop and foster ir.