Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-03-09
oLyMrI,. ASHINGToN TER.
OLYMPIA. FRIDAY Evening. MARCH .. 1855
An Interesting Exhibit.


enables the Governme III TO furnish
reliable statistics concerning mauv
industries which had been hithelto
inadequately reported. Especially
was ills true of railroads, as many
of the companies did not choose TO
give information, and there va, no
way of compelling them TO do 50.
1t seem, that Congress fully realized
the necessity of compulsory means to
perfect the work contemplated, and
the result is, we have the most COM
plete census ever taken by any
nation. The statistics relating to
railroads, besides being new, possess
a peculiar interest at a time when it
has become the leading enterprise of
the country. The Rotlroad Gazrtr
having summarized this information,
we quote from its article few facts
and figures. 1t will be remembered,
however, that they are based upon
period anterior to the census year,
1850.
The work done by these 8G,781
miles of railroad included PSI ,022, 10
freight-train miles and 13S, 225 Cpl
passenger-train miles-together more
than four times the distance from the
Earth to the Sun; and traffic equiva-
lent to one ton of freight carried 49,
34S, 846, 693 miles, and one passep.
ger carried 6, 1S9, 24O, 914 miles, with
the following results:
Per freight Per pass. Per ton Per pass
Receipts. =. g IS 81 y 1sects. sssets.
The report gives the through ton
mage mileage as Sc per cent. of the
whole, but it is not at all likely that
the companies all made the same de-
finition of through freight, concern
ing which there are different prac-
tees, and some would include twice
as much as others. The average rate
on local freight is given at 1.G4 cents
per ton per mile; on through, 1.01.
The train movement was equiva-
lent to % passenger trains and very
nearly four freight trains each way
daily, or one train in each direction
every 81 hours. This should give a
realizing sense of the unused cap
acity of the railroads. Some even
single track roads probably have ten
times as great q train movement.
One double-track road has had more
than sixty times as many trains.
The traffic was equivalent to 50 pas
sengers and SO tons of freight each
way daily over the entire mileage,
and the average train load for the
whole United States was Al pas
sengers and 129 tons of freight
equal to a full car of passengers and
eleven cars of freight. Meagre as
this seems, the average freight-train
load is probably larger than in any
other country. The largest average
on any one road in this country is
about twice as great as the average
of the whole county.
The census has divided the ex-
penses between passenger and freight
traffic, SO as to give the cost per pas.
senger-train mile and per passenger
mile separately. 1t is not at all pro-
bable that this division is an accurate
one, as the accounts of many COM
panies do not show plainly even what
was exclusively chargeable to one
branch of the traffic, but nevertheless
the figures given are probably ap-
proximately correct. They make the
expense per freight-train mile about
80 per cent. greater than the expense
per passenger-train mile; but the
earnings of the former are SO much
greater that its profits are Sc per
cent. greater. The average rate per
ton per mile, 1929 cents, is less than
in any other country, which we hardly
expected. For the lines between the
Mississippi and the Atlantic sea-
board north of the Ohio, rates were
known to be much lower than any
foreign rate; but we have great
many railroads in thinly peopled
country on which rates necessarily
are high-on some very high. But
the proportion of this high. priced
traffic is so very small that it has
comparatively little effect on the aver
age rate; and the enormous traffic of
the trunk lines and their connections,
which have an average rate of less
than q cent. per ton per mile, has
great effect on the average rate of the
whole country.
The average passenger rate (2.33
cents per mile) is higher than in
the principal countries of Europe.
with the possible but not probable
exception of England. Not the
least interesting feature of the re-
port is the statement OF the num-
Der of men employed. This has
sometimes been absurdly exaggerat-
ed. The Gems us shows that there
were 418, 1857 in 1880, or an average
of 4.S per mile of road. The wages