Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1888-03-01
RAILROADS OF DAKOTA.
A SYNOPSIS of the Annual Report OF
the railroad Commission Just
Issued.
General Condition of the Roads tx
eellent and Prospects for Exten-
sions Never Brighter.

BISMARCK, Oak, Special, Feb. 10-Gov.
Church is in receipt of the third annual re-
mort of the board of railroad commissioners
of Dakota This board is composed OF Alex
GriOps chairman, Grand Forks; A. Boyhtoh,
Lennox; N. T. Smith, Huron; j. N. quinn,
secretary, Bismarck In the course OF their
report the commission says:
In no state or territory in the Union IL tne
railroad proOlem-the question OF polley,
the powers of the legislature TO controI OF
restrict-of greater importance IMAM IN pa
kota. for she is not only young ana grow
ing territory, but the most productive agfi-
cultural district on the continent que
going through a process Of development, anu
the relation of the railroad to the producer
is the one paramount question winch hes
legislators must solve. Since the passage OF
the interstate commerce law reneWeu co.i-
fusion has been vigorously at work unset
Ting MI past plans of the courts ana the
public, and creating new obstacles MOI that
The law is a detrIment or unjust, put IL Is
new and knotty to all who wouId interpIeV
it. case of interest decided by the liltel
state commissioners recently, and considereo
at the ST Paul meeting, may be mentloned
here, as IL ia identical Win many
in Dakota The millers OF MaZeppa
complained that the Chicago, milwaukee, q
st Paul Disseminated against them ana IN
favor of the Twin Cities to such an 'xtent
that it made it impossible for them tC COM
pete with the large manufactures OF the CIT
les named In reply the railroad company
set forth that Mazeppa was not on the MAN
line OF the road and that the long anu snott
hauln clause of the interstate law ava II Do ap,
nIy The commission ordered the railroad
company to reduce its rates from Mazeppa
10 Chicago from 12lo cents to 10 cents.
With regard TO the railroads OF Dakota
there is much Of which the commission can
SPEAK WITH PRIDE
On several of the lines there have been
improvements which surpass the march OF
railroad progress in any other section OF the
tnent in rolling stock and road bed, tram
service and time are alluded TO, while the
Increased traffic of the roads WITHIN "a
kota show the steady increase in her wealth.
population and prosperity. The totai mum
Der of passengers carried by railroads IN
Dakota during the year ending June ou,
1856. was 10, 333, 26O, while during the
year ending June 30, 1887, the num-
her was 20,637, $50 The total mum
Der of tons OF freight carried In
1886 was q, 1914, 5l9, and In 1851;
24,674, 46S. The number OF tons OF Iocai
freight carried in 1856 was SOS, 0O0; IN
1857, lO.OS4, SS3 The reports of the sew
eral companies doing business IN DAKOTA
show that there are AIS railroad stations IN
the territory, and 1924 railroad employees
who received in salary during the last nscal
wear S4. GAG, lS5. There are thirteen wooden
bridges, with total length of 2,42l feet;
sixteen combination bridges, measuring
1852 feet; three iron bridges, 14,SlS teet;
and there are 3,94l wooden Testles" and
spiles," measuring in the aggregate $50, Iol
feet The railroad crossings at grade num-
Der SO; over grade, 2; highway crossings at
grade 23lS: highway crossings over grade,
2 and undergrade, 10. The following table
shows the miles Of road constructed in Da-
kota in 1887, with the miles OF road now In
operation: