The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1882-03-25
MARCH Is, 1882.
Something of a Railroad.

/
there was IA compact resume of the financial
results of last years traffic of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Company. There is no need
to reproduce any part of that here, except
as it may fall within the line of these incl
dental remarks There are many persons
yet in the vigor of manhood who remember
the small beginnings and the struggling
early days of the Company who would have
been stubbornly ineredulous it then told
they might live to see the tracks owned or
controlled by the Company stretching not
only from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, but
to Lakes Ontario, Erie and Michigan
from the Hudson to the Mississippi-from
New York to Washington, Cincinnati,
Louisville, Chicago and St. Louis, with nu-
merous branches, feeders and extensions be-
tween-thousands of miles of track They
would have been equally incredulous if
they might live to see the few millions
raised with such earnest solicitation and toll
expand into the one hundred and seventy
five millions 1910, 900, 0901 of assets now
in possession of the company, with traffic
in volume and value corresponding to that
vast amount of property annual gross
earnings amounting to $75, 82,974-with
net earnings applicable to the payment of in
terest, dividends and all obligations amount
ingto S2S, 939, 696-and with final bal
ance on the books of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company proper of $3.50, 131 over
and above all expenditures after an eight
per cent dividend on the shares had been
paid. Such sayings would not have stood
within the prospect of belief.
Some other things would have appeared
quite as visionary if presented as realities
of the future. Think of 1926 cars and
90T locomotives, which if placed in train
order, would probably make line two hun
dred miles long, possibly longer, for this is
a very rough estimate. That is the rolling
stock equipment of the main line and
branches of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company to-day. Last year the Company's
lines, east and west of Pittsburg, transport
ed 5S,520,6 tons of freight and 30
6S6,9S5 passengers. Rather grand and
Impressive totals these. The freight would
have furnished cargoes for nearly thirty
Thousand ships of two thousand tons bur
den each, and the passengers number about
three-kfths of the total population of the
United ), Us
Having taken bird SIEVE view of these
big figures, we may now turn to some others
that may be regarded as Of the microscopic
order. On the main line of the railroad
philadelphia to Pittsburg and branches),
the company gets 799-one-thousandths of
one cent-that is nearly eight-tenths of one
cent-for carrying one ton of freight one
mile; and it costs the company 437-one-
thousandths of one cent to do the work,
which leaves the company a resulting profit
of 362-one-thousandths Of one cent on each
ton Of goods or materials il transports one
mile. This is getting down to very fine
points, which is necessary in doing the
enormous freighting business that goes over
this road It is the fractions of the mill
that count But look at this from another
point of view taken in the ante-railroad
days. A farmer or country storekeeper
having to haul two sof produce or goods
over distance of twenty miles would have
required whole days service Of two
horse team and driver-say two dollars for
the day, without counting in the return
trip, which might have had load or not.
That was in the days of ''cheap transporta-
tion;r but the railroad does now for %
cents what cost 50 then
Leaving freight, let us look at passen-
gers. II costs the railroad far more to car
nv a single passenger than it does TO trans
port ton dry goods, or pigiron, or wheat,
L
rying such goods, We have seen to be-
437-one- thOusanths of one cent per ton per
mile on the main line Of the Pennsylvania
Railroad while the average cost of carry
ing one passenger one mile is one cent
and 677-one-thousandths of one cent; and
the average charge of the company for doing
this part of its work is two cents and IT'S
ne-thousandths Of one cent for transport
ing single passenger one mile; leaving
resulting profit of 501-one-thonsandths of
one cent-or say, half cent for each mile
passenger Is carried.
But if one would keep on at these inter
esting figures several columns would be
filed. so, stopping right here, it may be re-
peated that while the Pennsylvania Rail-
road, after paying all its obligations Of
every description, and after paying last
year and eight per cent. dividend on last
years business, and after carrying more
than two millions Of dollars besides to the
profit side of the profit and loss account
it can say also what is a most important
thing for railroad company to be able to
say with truth-it has no floating debt
Philg,2elpLia Led0er March 9.