Should not character be saturated with preservative principles that
will repel evil influences as the piling mentioned below resists the
teredo:
What will ultimately be the largest plant in the world for
treating timber with preservatives, is now operated at
Somerville, Tex., by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé Railroad,
says _The Railway World_. While every form of timber
treatment is used, the creosote system has proved the most
successful. Creosote is shipped to Galveston in shiploads and
transported thence to Somerville, where it is used to preserve
timber of every variety. This is very expensive, as may be
seen when it is known that piling in its natural state costs
about forty cents a foot, while a treated pile costs between
ninety cents and one dollar. But it pays to go to the extra
expense. Creosoted piling that has been in the Galveston bridge
for nearly fifteen years is still sound and in a good state
of preservation; while the average life of an untreated pile
is less than one year, many of them being unfit for service
after being in the water thirty days. This quick destruction is
caused by the attacks of the teredo, a salt-water mollusk that
honeycombs the wood to such an extent that in a short time it
will not bear its own weight.
(964)