167 



takes the same as yellow pine, and all the rest more than double, and this, too, under the 

 same pressure, and at the same time and in the same cylinder as the yellow pine longi- 

 tudinals. Letters A, B, F, M, as you see, very readily absorb the oil as readily as a dry 

 Baltic open-grained sleeper. You will probably like my opinion as to the relative value 

 of the five different sorts. They are all good good enough for any railway work what- 

 ever, but I think the best are A [Upright Y.W] and B [Outeniqua Y.W.], then F 

 [Colonial Fir] and M [Colonial Fir], and after that E [White Pear]. This, of course, is 

 but an opinion, but I am under the impression that the softer-natured wood will wear 

 better and not split so much. Letters A and B partake considerably of the nature of 

 yellow pine, which, though very soft, is undoubtedly the best wood for railway work." 



" 7 feet 10 by 6. Cape Sleeper Native Wood. 



Weight Weight Yellow Creosote 



Mark. No. Clear. Creosoted. To load 50 feet. 



A 1 102 Ibs. 139 Ibs. 74 



B 5 101 141 80 



E 9 154 171 34 



F 10 135 175 80 



M 13 124 158 68 



These results were obtained from an exhaustion of air for 30 minutes, and afterwards 

 a pressure of 120 Ibs. per square inch, applied for nine hours. 



The sleepers were put into the cylinder with a charge of Yellow Pine longitudinals 

 for the Great Western Eailway, into which 35 gallons of creosote was forced. The 

 absorbing capacity, therefore, of the sleepers was equal in that which took the last oil 

 letter E, and about double in letter M, and more than double in letters A, B, and F. They 

 have all, even letter E, taken considerably more than is absolutely necessary or customary. 



By contract with a dry open-grained Baltic sleeper, one of letter A (No. 2), under 

 another experiment absorbed 68 gallons to the load exactly the same as the Baltic Fir." 



p. 19. Sir Charles Gregory to the Agent General. Forwarding a report of Mr. H. 

 Wakefield, " with a statement of the experiments tried by him, which I think are sufficient 

 for present purposes, and which are in favour of the Colonial wood, and although the 

 small amount of deflection before fracture is a defect in the Colonial wood which would 

 make it unfit for many structural purposes, and it would not be a bar to its use as a sleeper 

 if kept properly packed up." 



p. 19. The results of the creosoting by Messrs. R. Lander & Co., of some Cape 

 sleepers treated for 5 hours under a pressure of 100 Ibs. per square inch, are stated to havo 

 been as follows : 



A. Upright Yellow wood. Absorbed 14*9 Ibs. per cubic foot 



B. Outeniqua Yellowwood. 14'2 

 E. White Pear. 6-5 



in reference to which Messrs. R. Lander & Co. report : 



" The 3 pieces marked A, as you will see, have taken the largest quantity of creosote, 

 and the 3 pieces marked B have taken nearly an equal quantity. Both these qualities, we 

 should consider, would make useful sleepers if well dried before being creosoted. 



The 3 pieces marked E you will see have taken very little creosote, being a very 

 close grained hard, and we think a timber that would not be so durable, and would be 

 more easily split in fastening the rails than any of the others 



Having no knowledge of the durability of the different examples in the climate in 

 which they are grown and to be used, we cannot with any certainty give an opinion as to 

 the wear (or value there, but from what we can see of the timber we certainly think it 

 .should, if properly prepared and creosoted, be equal to Baltic redwood, if not considerably 

 more durable." 



