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W^ood Preservers'' Annual 



The eleventh annual convention of the American Wood Preservers' 

 Association was held January 19, 20, and 21 in the Congress Hotel, 

 Cliicago, and was concluded with a visit as a body to the Field 

 Museum of Natural History, Chicago, and to the Forest Products 

 Laboratory, Madison, Wis. A banquet on Wednesday evening was 

 the leading social event of the meeting. 



The election of officers on Thursday afternoon resulted in the choice 

 of J. H. Waterman, of the C. B. & Q. Eailroad. as president. He 

 resides at Galesburg, 111. H. S. Loud, of New York, who is associated 

 with the IT. S. Wood Preserving Company, was chosen first vice- 

 president; Lowry Smith of Brainerd, Minn., superintendent of the 

 Northern Pacific Railroad's tie plants, second vice-president; and 

 F. D. Bcal, Portland, Ore., superintendent of the St. Helens Creo- 

 soting Company, third vice-president. F. C. Angier was unanimously 

 reelected secretary-treasurer. 



Three cities were voted on as the place for the next annual meet- 

 ing of the association, St. Louis, New York and Chicago. The choice 

 fell on Chicago. Invitations came also from Columbus, Cincinnati, 

 Charleston, S. C, and San Francisco. 



The attendance exceeded two hundred and was representative of 

 all portions of the United States. 



A committee of six, to advise with and assist the president, was 

 elected. Two members will go out and two others will be elected 

 each year. This committee, therefore, becomes a body in perpetuity. 

 It was ordered, as an unwritten law, that the retiring president shall 

 be one of the committee. The election resulted as follows: G. E. 

 Rex, E. A. Sterling, John Foley, C. M. Taylor, J. B. Card, and J. 

 M. Davidson. 



The following papers relating to treating timbers, or to their use 

 after treatment, were placed before the meeting: 

 Air Seasoning of Crossties, by A. 11. Noyes. 

 Sill Ties, by F. J. Angier. 



A Method for Finding the Annual Charges for Ties, by Harrington Kmer- 

 son and T. T. Bowcn : 



The Mechanical Life of Ties as .\ffected by Ballast, by E. Stlmson. 

 Additional Facts on Ti'eated Ties, by J. H. Waterman. 



History of Treated Wood Block Pavement in the United States, by the 

 committee on wood block paving. 



Treated Timber for Factory Construction, by F. J. Hoxie. 

 Laboratory Analysis of Creosoted Wood Paving Blocks, by Frank W. 

 Herrington. 



The Bleeding and Swelling of Paving Blocks, by Clyde H. Teesdale. 

 Destruction of Timber by Marine Borers, by E. S. Christian. 

 Economical Use of Steam in Connection With Wood Preservation Plants, 

 by A. M. Lockett. 



Temperature Changes in Wood Under I'reatment, by George M. Hunt. 

 A Specification for a Coal Tar Creosote Solution, by Hermann von Scbreuk 

 and Alfred L. Kammerer. 



The Comparative Toxi'ity of Coal Tar Creosote and Creosote Distillates 

 and of Individual Constituents for the Marine Wood Borer, Xylotrya, by 

 U F. Shaekell. 



Use op Wood Pavikg Blocks 

 The paper whtch gave the history of paving with wooden blocks 

 in the United States confined its statistics to blocks which had been 

 treated with preservatives. Figures were given by which the increas- 

 ing use of this material in the United States was shown. The earliest 

 date included in the report was 1898, approximately sixteen years ago. 

 During the time that has elapsed since, a large number of cities and 

 towns in all parts of the United States have laid treated paving 

 blocks on their streets. Minneapolis is credited with the largest 

 superficial area of treated wood pavement, its total exceeding a million 

 square yards or about one-eighth of all such pavement laid in the 

 United States in the past sixteen years, as shown by this report. 

 The total for the whole country is placed at approximately 8,455,- 

 000 square yards. 



The figures do not show how much of this pavement is made of 

 the several woods listed. It is evident, however, that longleaf and 

 shortleaf yellow pine of the South lead all others. Tamarack holds 

 a rather important place, and black gum is in much demand. Western 

 larch, western red cedar, and Douglas fir meet considerable demand, 



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while Norway jiine is frequently laid, and hemlock less frequently. 

 Black gum is the only hardwood on the list. 

 Construction Timbers 

 The paper by Mr. Hoxie laid particular stress on the necessity of 

 treating timber used in factory construction to guard it against de- 

 cay. Little was said on the subject of the kinds of timber to be se- 

 lected, since, no matter whether hardwood or softwood, it should be 

 jirotected from decay as carefully as possible. There is always 

 danger of attack by dry rot. This insidious enemy of structural 

 timbers may be carried into a building on decaying wood and by 

 that manner be communicated to sound timbers. An instance was 

 cited where a building constructed of oak and pine had remained 

 free from dry rot for twenty-five years only to fall a victim at last 

 after contact with decaying timber brought into the factory. 



The builder should exercise the greatest care in selecting timber 

 for factory construction and use such as is not liable to fall an 

 easy victim to decay; but as an extra precaution the use of treat- 

 ment is recommended. 



Timber Drying by Steam 

 The paper by George M. Hunt, "Temperature Changes in Wood 

 I'nder Treatment," contains interesting data showing what takes 

 ))lace when wood is submitted to steam under pressure until the heat 

 penetrates, and a partial vacuum i.s then pulled. The water in the 

 wood is lieated, under pressure, to a temperature considerably above 

 tliat of boiling water under ordinary circumstances; and when a 

 jiartial vacuum follows quickly, tlie sudden release of pressure causes 

 the water in the wood to boil violently, and the steam escapes from 

 the pores so rapidly that the moisture content of the wood is lowered, 

 jierhaps as much as twelve or fifteen per cent in a few minutes. This 

 happens in case of green wood only. If seasoned wood is submitted 

 to tliis treatment it may actually absorb moisture from the steam, 

 and contain more water at the close of the steaming than at the 

 beginning. 



In submitting timber of large size to this steam treatment there 

 is danger that the rapid drying will produce checks sufficiently serious 

 to injure the wood. 



The Mechanical Lue of Ties 

 Mr. Stimson's paper discussed the wear of ties in contact with the 

 Ijallast in the track. It is well known that rails cut ties badly, par- 

 ticularly if the tics are soft and the traffic lieavy. The deterioration 

 of ties on account of the grinding action of the ballast on the bottom 

 and sides of the tie is not so generally known. It is said that in 

 some instances when ties are of very durable wood they will wear 

 out before decay seriously affects them. Those in the track of the 

 original Panama railroad have been frequently cited as such an 

 example. 



Mr. Stimson shows that tlie tool used for tamping the ballast 

 and forcing it under the tie causes much injury to the wood by 

 bruising it and chipping off sjilinters from the corner's of the timber. 

 When broken stone ballast is employed, the sharp edges and comers 

 of the individual pieces wear the wood rapidly under the pounding 

 effect of passing trains. Much of the cutting of ties by the rails 

 is due to action of sand and grit from the ballast. It inserts itself 

 between the tie and the rail. 



The paper by Clyde H. Teesdale of the Forest Products Laboratory 

 at Madison, on "The Bleeding and Swelling of Paving Blocks," led 

 to one of the most heated discussions of the entire meeting, due to 

 differences of opinion among members as to different preservatives 

 and methods of applying them. 



The discussion which followed the reading of a paper "A Method 

 of Finding the Annual Charges for Ties," by Harrington Emerson 

 and T. T. Brown, led to a statement by a member of the convention 

 that, taking the whole United States in consideration, the annual 

 cost of ties is four times the annual cost of rails. It thus appears 

 that the country's railroads depend more upon forests than on iron 

 mines. 



