POLE TO POLE AND PILLAR TO POST 17 



atives is coming to the rescue. Once pine poles 

 were considered useless; they would rot away inside 

 of five years, but today the butt is impregnated with 

 creosote and the pole is then found to give twice the 

 original length of service. It is now estimated that 

 one pole in every six is made of creosoted pine, fir 

 or spruce. There is no reason why these compara- 

 tively rapid growing species could not be re-estab- 

 lished in the eastern and central states from which 

 they have practically disappeared, why they could 

 not be planted in even the smallest wood-lots, and 

 why they could not be sold at maturity with con- 

 siderable profit to the grower. 



Wood poles are not used solely for carrying 

 wires. How could we maintain river ferries or any 

 form of steamship transportation without wood for 

 piers, docks and piles? For ferry-boat slips nothing 

 has ever been discovered to take the place of wood, 

 its resiliency being necessary not only for preserving 

 its own life but that of the vessels constantly crash- 

 ing and chafing against the piles. Concrete and steel 

 docks for large ships have been successfully built 

 and operated in many places, just as steel frames 

 set in concrete have been used as substitutes for 

 wooden poles in high power transmission, but the 

 original cost is considerably greater than that of 

 wood construction. Think of the old wood pier on 



