Periodical Literature. 749 



way, only .007% of the poles having been lost in the first five 

 years. One trouble is that the poles must lie for a year to lose 

 their stickiness. The detail of the process is described and illu- 

 strated by diagrams and cuts. The process is as rapid as the 

 Ruping process ; the costs are practically the same although the 

 Ruping process puts only 4 lbs., the Rutgers process 6 lbs., per 

 cubic foot in ; the former being a rather scanty allowance. 



It is open to question whether either quantity is really the 

 economically most suitable. The main objection to both process- 

 es is that they are applied only for pine and possibly larch (and 

 supposedly other species of similar structure Uke Douglar Fir?) ; 

 they do not work with spruce and fir, since they are too slow 

 in taking up the liquor, requiring too much pressure and time, and 

 the distribution remaining astonishingly uneven. Only when at 

 least 12 to 15 lbs. of oil have been infiltered is partial satisfaction 

 attained. 



The author then describes an economic procedure in preserving 

 telegraph poles practiced in Hungary. Only the lower end is 

 thoroughly impregnated, the top end only superficially. This is 

 accomplished by driving small pointed nails of one-half to one 

 inch length by special machinery into the butt end for the first 

 six feet. This opens the paths for the oil to the interior. Since 

 the conducting of liquids takes place most readily in the direction 

 of the length fibres the nails are so arranged that in 

 length direction nails are placed only every 8 inches, but 

 peripherically every one-quarter to one-half inch ; each hole, 

 therefore opens the path lengthwise for four inches, sidewise for 

 only a quarter inch or less. The penetration is usually a little 

 deeper than the length of the nails. The process used is the Bethel 

 process with one hour heating of the wood and one hour vacuum, 

 and one hour creosoting under 15 atmospheres. According to the 

 nail length the amount of creosote used varies from 5^ to 7 to at 

 most 8 lbs. per cubic foot, mostly concentrated in the butt end. 

 No loss of strength is experienced. Two years' experience are 

 satisfactory. The cost comes to 9 cents per cubic foot, one-half 

 the cost of the former full impregnation. This process was ap- 

 plied to spruce ; whether it would be economical for pine, so 

 much more easily penetrated, is an open question. 



The Austrian Telegraph administration employs another process 



