HARDWOOD RECORD 



43 



editors who apparently have carefully analyzed the merits of the 

 two types of cars, and the clipping bureau of this publication 

 reveals the fact that there are published hundreds of editorials on 

 the subject favorable to wooden cars that positively have not ieen 

 paid for. Hence, the public can analyze the true facts for itself 

 as to whether the arguments in favor of the wooden ear, pub- 

 lished freely and gratuitously, or the arguments in favor of the 

 steel car, very largely subsidized matter, constitute the true facts 

 in the case. 



As an example of this latter class of literature, the following 

 editorials, of marked fairness, on the subject are quoted: 

 (Scranton, Pa., Times, Jan. 31, 191Z.) 



WOODEN vs. STEEL CAKS 



Contrary to general impressions, it is not settled yet whctber the steel 

 car provides the safety that has been claimed for it, and in many quarters 

 the wooden car is still regarded as preferable. According to the opinion of 

 one railroad expert, the only advantage of the steel car is the absence of 

 material that is likely to burn. He points out that the days of Pintsch 

 gas lighting are ended, and that now all cars as a rule are lighted with 

 electricity, which has eliminated the dangers of fire even where the 

 wrecked cars are of wooden construction. "As a matter of fact." said this 

 expert, "the dangers of flre in a railroad wreck are now less than they are 

 in a fireproof building." In the event of a railroad wreck, the main 

 purpose lies in the problem of getting the occupants of the cars out of 

 the wreckage. Holes were readily chopped in the roofs or sides of the 

 old wooden cars, but when a couple of steel cars are piled on top of one 

 another, or are sent Into a river, it is a difficult matter to gain freedom 

 for the passengers. There is a mighty force exerted when two solid steel 

 trains come in collision. In the case of the wooden ears, so railroad men 

 say, the first crushing of the wooden material tends to consume the shock, 

 but when the solid steel frames withstand the impact, the effect on the 

 passengers is said to be terrific, and they are likely to be killed. 



In a comprehensive article on this subject in the Railway Age Gazette, 

 details are given of the effects of the rear end collision on the Chicago. 

 Milwaukee and St. Paul at Odessa, Minn., on Dec. 12. The following 

 opinion is expressed : "It must be concluded that in accidents of this 

 kind none of the various types of steel passenger car construction of 

 equal weight have any particular advantage over wooden equipment so 

 far as resistance to impact is concerned, and there is not much difference 

 In the cost of repairs of the heavier parts of the construction." 

 (Freight, New York, Jan., 1912. J 



PUBLIC SAFETY 



In the carriage of passengers by rail or water the first consideration 

 ought to be and must become the prevention of- loss of life in accidents. 

 and secondly, conservation of health under the most comfortable condi- 

 tions the passengers elect to pay for. Humanity and justice will compel 

 the legislator to enforce this policy where a voluntary effort is not 

 apparent in the conduct of the carrier. 



To reach this end, however, no political measure having the effect of 

 personal notoriety is to be considered. The experiments leading to any 

 conclusions must be by scientific men and without regard to whom they 

 ma.v affect in a business way. 



As to rail lines, there is much interest in the adoption of all steel cars 

 to replace wooden ones, or cars partly wood and partly steel. Probably 

 the most impartial board to pass on the matter is the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission, and that body of men, while, in so far as can now be 

 seen, it favors the all steel cars, is not yet beyond the phase of further 

 consideration. 



Railway men of high position and with full realization of their 

 responsibilities are of divided sentiment. Some are quite sure the all steel 

 car is a success except as to the difficulties in operation, and others are 

 uncertain as to all steel construction, waiting for more light and believing 

 in a steel under-frame properly reinforced, and wooden upper structure. 

 The weight of engines and equipment upon rails, ties, roadway and bridges 

 is not to be neglected as an element of danger, and some time the 

 maximum must be reached in the part of railroading over which trains 

 move. 



The best thought of the country is being given to the subject, and public 

 safety is the prime thought uppermost in the consideration of the govern- 

 ment officials, who will undoubtedly give any recommendation their 

 greatest force in the conclusions placed before Congress. 



There are some things that might be done hastily that would involve 

 an enormous tax on the people without reaching the purpose sought, and 

 this question has the possibility of such a result. If we as Americans 

 were not in such a rush to get from one place to another, possibly a 

 more moderate speed, with roadbed, rail and equipment suitable to it. 

 would conserve a great many lives now worn out early because of our 

 phenomenal pace. At any rate, let our experts settle the question right 

 before Congress passes any permanent laws. 



Newspaper editors of publications of the Hearst stripe, if they 

 have any interest in the truth about the relative merits and 

 safety of the two types of ears, can very easily get at the facts 



and publish them. The steel trust, which probably inspired the 

 publication of the series of verbatim editorials first quoted in 

 this publication, as prophesied in a former issue of Hardwood 

 Record, has not sent out pernicious, paid literature covering the 

 Odessa or Fort AVayne wrecks or any of the numerous failures 

 which have unmistakably shown the frailty of the steel cars. All 

 these editors have to do is to seek the expert opinion of com- 

 petent engineers of car building companies, and it is dollars to 

 doughnuts that, without exception, these experts will confirm the 

 evidence that has been thus far presented by Hardwood Record. 

 STEEL IN THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY 



In wide display in a leading Chicago newspaper of February 6 

 is an advertisement of the Alco motor truck, which is described 

 as "Road Locomotive — All Steel." The first paragraph of the 

 advertisement reads: 



"Like the new steel railroad coaches — or, better still, the loco- 

 motive — the Alco trucks at the Coliseum show are wellnigh 

 indestructible. Scarcely a stick of wood is found above the 

 wheels — the spokes of the wheels are of wood, because wood is 

 resilient. ' ' 



Does not this very paragraph tell the surpassing merit of wood 

 as compared with steel? The one word "resilient" tells the 

 whole story. Resiliency means not only elasticity, but the 

 capacity of taking up shock and returning to place after shock. 

 Wood has all the merits and none of the demerits of steel. It is 

 subject of demonstration that in automobile construction wood 

 sills are superior in every particular to the steel chassis frame 

 now generally employed. The wood sill permits a resiliency of 

 construction which is impossible with the steel frame. The wood 

 frame makes possible a degree of easy riding and an absence of 

 jar and road shock that is obtainable only with a wood sill. 



Such automobile makers as employ wooden sills usually use 

 second growth ash, but doubtless there are other woods that are 

 of equal value for the purpose. Such makers say they employ 

 wood because "it is stronger and lighter," and also because "its 

 capacity for absorbing vibration and road shocks is very much 

 better than that of steel." 



One automobile manufacturer recites, in support of the conten- 

 tion that a laminated ash frame is lighter and stronger than steel, 

 a number of tests. Pieces of ash 4" wide and 2" thick were 

 placed upon a support 24" apart. The maximum loads per unit 

 weight were obtained. They were as follows: Solid pieces, 2,370 

 pounds; thoroughly seasoned laminated solid pieces, 2,500 pounds; 

 laminated piece sap-wood, 1,950 pounds. It will thus be seen 

 that the thoroughly seasoned glued-up piece was the strongest. 

 At the same time, tests were made of channel steel of the same 

 comparative sizes as would be used to make a chassis frame of 

 the size for which the wood pieces are used. Low carbon and 

 chrome nickel steel were used. In no case did the unit weight 

 load get above 1,550 pounds, whereas it went as low as 625. The 

 piece which gave the 1,550-pound unit weight load weighed 12.25 

 pounds and was 4i/4 inches high, 1 13/16 inches wide and 2/10 of 

 an inch thick, while the strongest piece of ash weighed but 6.25 

 I'Oimds. The tests recited were made by the Franklin Automobile 

 Company of Syracuse, N. Y. 



Now as to the relative merits of automobile bodies made of 

 steel, aluminum or wood. This subject has been discussed rather 

 comprehensively in these articles in the past, but latterly Hard- 

 wood Record has been making some investigations in Great 

 Britain, France and Germany to secure the consensus of opinion 

 on the subject among the automobile makers of the high type 

 of foreign machines produced. It is found that from five to ten 

 years ago the foreign automobile manufacturer, owing to the 

 relatively low cost of steel as compared with wood, carefully 

 investigated and thoroughly experimented with both steel and 

 aluminum for body-making purposes. The result proved so unsatis- 

 factory that today there is not an automobile body made by a 

 leading European manufacturer of anything but wood. More than 

 one-half of these bodies are made of mahogany, and the remainder 



