Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1879-12-06

Dividend of per cent. on
capital stock May 1st, 10. 58,S72.00
For right of way, &C., chgd
to P. & L........ ........ S,925.OO
Balance carried to credit of
profit and loss ac't.......... 41,91 90
Total $685., 68
The following expenditures have been
made for renewals and betterme ents and
charged in expenses of operating as above:
Cost of laying twenty-five miles, 1892
feet of steel and four miles, 1,2S8 feet
OF iron rails less value OF old rails
released S59392 43
Eighty thousand nine hundred and
thirty cross ties, cost % 26O At
Thirty-three and a half miles crushed
stone ballast .-......... 1896 98
boilers for others, etc............... q, ,72O "A
Cost of 81 new cars built and rebuilding
nineteen on old trucks, and re-
pairing otherS........ .............. 21,944 20
4OGotI'.'''''''..'.'..' ...SAtt,oA4 Il
These expe1 ditures for renewals aud bet
terments have suthced to maintain the
physical condition of the property in an
improved condition. The operations for
the year have resulted in paying the inter-
est on the entire Indebtedness of the Com
pany, three per cent. dividend on the cap
ital stock, and reducing its floating in
debtedness by the sum of $41 97I. 90.
Only three per cent, however, has seen
divided, as it was resolved to pay off the
remnant of former debt, created in the
purchase of steel rails, before dividing
more than this sum annually. The amount
carried to the credit of profit and loss falls
short of paying that debt only 81, 968 54 !:
therefore it may be said to be practically
paid.
A line of telegraph has been erected on
the right of way of the Company, between
Cleveland and Dalton, in accordance with
the provisions of our contract with the
Western Union Telegraph Company there
for, at cost of little over a thousand dol
lars, which is charged in operating ex-
penses.
The floating Indebtedness of the Com
pany has been reduced by the proceeds of
the sale of $780, ,0U0 on the Western North
Carolina Railroad bonds, and further by
the balance of the undivided net
earnings, as previously stated, amounting
in the aggregate to S73,47L.
Reference Is made to The condensed bali
ance of the Secretary and Treasurer, here
to annexed, which shows the financial con-
dition Of the Company.
Reference is also made to the accom-
panying reports of Z. M. McGhee, Vice
President and General N anager, and Maj.
j. +. o. Brien, Chief Engineer and Super
intendent, and James Il. Ogden, General
Freight aud Passenger Agent, which give
in detail the operations OF the road for the
fiscal year.
The decrease in the earnings of the pres
ent fiscal year, as COM pared with the pre-
vious year, is mainly attributable to the
prevalence of yellow fever in the South
west during the summer and autumn of '78,
and is really less than was at one time ap-
pretended. The same causes have, to
some extent, affected the earnings for the
current fiscal year, but nevertheless
the present outlook is encouraging.
The increase in the earnings of roads
in the section of country traversed by your
line, will not be anything like as great as
it has been during the summer and au-
tumn on Northern and North western
roads, which have felt the effects of a
bountiful harvest and the stimulus of an
unprecedented European demand for the
products of that region. We may reason
ably hope, however, that the revival of
business, now becoming quite general, will
extend to our section of the country and
result in considerable increase in our
revenue.
-Four thousand tons of steel rails have
been contracted for and will go into the
track during the next spring and
summer. After this it is estimated
that our annual requirements for steel will
per annum until the entire track is re-
newed; which at this rate will require
from five to six years.
The ballasting should go on as rapidly as
the means of the Company will permit un-
til the entire road-bed is thoroughly bal
lasted with crushed stone. At the present
rate this will require about four years
more.
There has been no change in your out
standing bonded Indebtedness.
We have sold $35, 900 of the Western
North Carolina bonds. which were on hand
year ago, leaving one hundred and
ninety-four of these still on hand.
The earnings of the Memphis and
Charleston Railroad show deficit on the
amount required to meet its interest on the
fiscal years operation, ending June Both,
1879, of $50, OBJ. 80, and it was quite clear
that default would be made in the pay
ment of its coupons unless your Com pany
advanced the money. Such default would
have put it in the hands of the >past-due
coupon holders to obtain a receivership for
that road, which would in effect annul the
lease under which you are now operating
it, Believing that you were justified in
making temporary advance for the pur-
pose Of purchasing the coupons, and thus
prevent an immediate cancellation Of the
lease, after consulting number of your
Board of Directors and large stockholders
it was agreed that your Company should
advance, temporarily, the required amount,
to be reimbursed out of the first net earn
ings The necessary advances were made
and the coupons purchased, which ad
vances it is believed will be returned to
you by the first of next January from the
net earnings of the road.
Since the purchase of coupons above re-
ferred to, the Annual Meeting, or Conven-
ton of Stockholders of the Memphis aud
Charleston Railroad Company, has been
held, which Convention of Stockholders
authorized certain amendments to the lease
now existing between that Company and
your own.
AS the lease now stands either party to it
notice, in writing, to the other.
The proposed amendments withdraw
from the Memphis and Charleston Rail-
road Company the right of cancelling the
lease, so long as the East Tenn, Va. & Ga.
Railroad Company will supply any deficit