The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-04-30
Ohio Railroads.

Mr. JOhn ". JnompsOn, the lsaiIioau
Commissioner OF Ohio, has issued his
first annual report, which, like the seven
that have been prepared by his prede-
cessers i'm the Office, gives US some vslu-
able statistics in regard to the progress
Of our railroad system, if wa may call
that n system which 10 IN effect but frsg
ments and connecting links oi the sys-
tens that have had their growth and are
manaADd in other States. We have no
local railroads any more--or NJ most
but two or three in the Stste-all ol
them having either been leased or swal-
lowed up by the great East and West
lines.
Mr.. Thompson's report embraces sta
tistics from sixty-one railroads, which
have q total length Of 3,5l6 miles with
in til. State lines. These tixty-ons
roads have 1874 miles of msin track
aud ,142 miles of double track and sid
ings, and represent an aggregate cost Of
$27a,937,oi2. or something over 46l 900
iniie for their construction aud equip
ment. During the past year-or rather
the year which closed ON the first of last
July-there were 800 miles OF railway
constructed within the State. The year
before that the increase was $40 miles.
This falling of, IL 10 presumable, arose
from two causes first the decision of
,he supreme Court that the Boesel Rail
road Law was unconstitutional; aud.
second, the financial panic OF the fall Of
ls73, which put q stop 10 30 many spec
ulations Of all kihds. While these cause.
did not Kill off many of the railroad en-
terprises which were really meritorious
aud promised TO become good invest
ments, they put III end to a great many
wildcat spcculsii,ps which would never
have been oi value either to the stock
holders or the sections OF country
through which they were projected.
Out OF the 4,374 miles OF railroad in the
siale there were iSO miles on which no
reports were made of earnings and ex-
penses. The grsse earnings Of these re :
main6sg 4,1s3 miles were = 81, III, las, or
$s.a6l 29 per mile. twenty-five per
cen.. OF tins amount WAS from passen-
ger service, seventy per cent. from
freight. and the remaining ivs per cent.
from express services, carrying the mails
and miscellaneous sources. The cum
shows falling Of Of t9ss,202. or, in
round nunbers, . million dollars. from
that ef the preceding year, on the 1867
miles operated ut that ti0e. This 10 .
dccrease Of ten per cent. in the reve-
nues, though the increase in the cost or
operating was only S.s2 per cent. as COM
pared with the previous year. Taking
these figures AS a basis, and excluding
the interest on bonded debts. the total
net earnings OF ohio railroads during
the year was el0,s73, ,44a, an average oil
$2.4l0 per mile. This also shows de-
crease in earSings Of 3.29 per cent. from
last year.
In the way o! dividends TO stockhold-
srs, only seventeen Of the cigbty-onel
roads in operation have made any re-
ports. Fourteen Of these are on thcirl
portion OF the stock. These fourteen
are as follows: Cleveland, Columbus.
Cincinnati and Indianapolis, $50 peri
cent. Massillon and Clev eland, o (; Gen.
trail Ohio. 6; Pinsburg, Fort Wayneasd
Chicago. 7; Cincinnati aud Baltimore.
3 Harrison Branch, 9; Little Miami, 8 :;
and Xenia, $40; Clevelsnd
and Newburg, Columbus and Hockingl
Valley, 10; Cleveland and Mahening
Valley, 1875; Cleveland and Pittsburg
II. The Dayton aud Michigan paid AMI
8 per cent dividend on ito preferred, and
3 SO on common stock; the Lake Shore
and Michigan Southern. 10 on preferred
and 1 on common. Three CompaRiss
paid only on their preferred stock tho
Cincinnati. Sandusky and Cleveland g.
per cent. and the Newark, Somerset
aud Sfraitsville, and the Toledo, Wabssht
n nd W esiern. each, z per cent.
These figures are in some cases maRi-l
fes,ly incorrect. For instance, the
and Hecsing Valley 10 psth
down ~ making . dividend of ten per-
cent, while its earnings were nearly
double that amount, the remainder be-
ing declared in the way Of stock divi-I
dends. The Little Miami declared Al
dividend Of eight per cent, just the
amount paid il a. interest by its iessses.
the Pan handle corporation. while the
Columbus and Xenia earned $40 perf
cent on the same lease. In the latter
case the excess arose from the stock hav-
ing been watcred at the time the lease
was made, while in the former il was
not. The report is In the main very
valuable one in its statistics, and show .
the condition Of the Ohio railroads ne
40 IL is possible without re-
course being had to inquisitorial legis-
lation.--t Cincinnati Enquirsr.
ryThs disciple Of Confncirs who
~1;ts fba Evspin0 Sfa r thin L = that Ranrl