NORTH CAROLINA'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE 

 WINNING OF THE WAR 



BY CRETE HUTCHINSON 



AT THE present time the Railroad Administration 

 is facing a serious shortage in tie production. West 

 of the Mississippi 50,000,000 cross ties are required 

 annually for replacement ; East of the Mississippi 80,000,- 

 000, with approximately 20,000,000 additional ties for 

 street railways and other industrial needs. A grand total 

 of 150,000,000 cross ties or four billion five hundred mil- 

 lion board feet of timber. Six months ago, only forty- 

 five per cent of the amount needed was produced, due to 

 additional requirements for transportation of war ma- 

 terials, withdrawal of labor into war industries, the draft- 

 ing of labor into the Army and Navy and the rearrange- 

 ment of methods of purchase by the Government control 

 of railroads. The present purchase methods include 

 new cross tie specifications, grading rules, a publishing 

 of prices with power to purchase direct for cash from 

 producers. Against the shortage of 65 per cent six 



months ago, the present shortage is only 40 per cent 

 and probably will be reduced to 30 per cent by the end of 

 the year due to a better understanding of specifications, 

 general requirements and prices paid, together with the 

 ability to pay cash. 



Thirty-four per cent of the timber used by the Rail- 

 road Purchasing Committee is white oak. Large areas 

 of the forested section of North Carolina in Transyl- 

 vania, Jackson, Graham and Clay counties contain this 

 desirable timber and has been obtained through Jonathan 

 Starr of New York for the needs of the Government for 

 the period of the war. In the North Carolina tracts are 

 approximately 152,000,000 feet of poplar; 240,000,000 

 oak; 120,000,000 hemlock; 32,000,000 yellow pine; 41,- 

 000,000 hickory ; 50,000 black walnut ; 249,000,000 chest- 

 nut ; 50,000,000 bass ; 75,000,000 white pine ; 32,500,000 

 beech and gum, and 10,000,000 feet of locust. The white 



MOUNT TOXAWAY IN THE "LITTLE SWITZERLAND OF AMERICA" 



One hundred and fifty-two million feet of poplar and forty-nine million feet of chestnut are scattered through the North Carolina acreage acquired 



for the Railroad Administration for cutting into cross-ties. 



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