25 
Part II.] Pearson : Antiseptic Treatment of Timber. 
installation to treat 450 standard size sleepers per day would be about 
£12,000 Liverpool. 
The charge made for vulcanizing timber is 21 cl. to 4 d. per cubic 
foot, according to the hardness of the wood. These are English rates. 
Dr. Gibson, in his very interesting note on the subject which appeared in 
1898, puts up an estimate fora plant costing R 1,20,000, including 
sheds, etc. His estimate of working runs as follows :— 
Per annum. 
£ 
a. 
V- 
Depreciation at 10 per cent, on R 1,20,000 
12,000 
0 
0 
1 Engineer @ 
R350 per mensem. 
1 Machine-man @ 
„ 100 „ 
1 Stoker @ 
j> 30 „ ,, 
1 Boiler clearer @ 
>} 30 „ „ 
4 Coolies @ R12-8 
>: ^0 ,, >, 
560 
Sundries 
. 40 
600 
7,200 
0 
0 
Annual repairs • 
• • • • 
800 
0 
0 
Total 
. 20,000 
0 
0 
He then goes on to state that such a plant could treat 1,60,000 
sleepers per annum, which works out to 2 annas per sleeper. To this cost 
would have to be added Royalty charges, but it is understood that these 
would not be heavy were a plant to be erected in India. 
Indian Records of Haskinized Timber. 
The records of Haskinized sleepers laid down in India are meagre, 
The results of one experiment which was made by the Bombay, Baroda 
and Central India Railway are to hand. The Company laid down 
5,000 treated sleepers chiefly in the Bombay and Broach Divisions. The 
sleepers in the Broach section fared badly, for within two years out of 
500 sleepers 345 were badly attacked by white-ants, a fact which is 
attributed to the Broach Division being notoriously bad for white-ants. 
Those in the Bombay Division lasted better. 
( 98 ) 
