The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1889-01-12

RAILWAY STATISTICS.
The Number Of Miles Of Rails Laid Dur.
ing the Past Year.
The Progress in the South Demonstrat.
ed by Figures.

The Progress in the South Demonstrate
ed by Figures.
NEW YORK, Jan. 1.-The Engineer
ing Neacs this week will say: Sine,
January LIST, 1888, the total amount
of railway construction in the United
States has been 6,430 miles. Thi.
new track has been laid on $50 new
lines which were built by 100 differ
ent companies. The new railway
construction for the year in the New
England States amounted to 1T
miles, divided among the nine com
panies. In New York, New Jersey
Maryland and Pennsylvania, 1T
miles were constructed by twenty
three companies. In Ohio, Michigan
Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, S3s
miles were built by thirty-one com
panies. In Virginia, West Virginia
North Carolina, South Carolina
Georgia and Florida, 1,107 miles
were constructed by forty-two com
panies. In Alabama, Mississippi
Tennessee. Kentucky and Louisiana
946 miles were built by thirty one
companies. In Missouri, Arkansas,
Texas, Kansas and Colorado, New
Mexico and Indian Territory, 1904
miles were built by twenty nine
companies. In Minnesota, Nebraska,
Dakota, Wyoming and Montana, 750
miles were built, divided among the
twelve companies. In Washington
Territory, Idaho, Oregon, California
and Utah, 937 miles were built by
twenty-five companies. In Canada
fourteen companies have built six
teen new lines whose total extent is
355 miles. In Mexico the two prin-
cipal American systems, the Central
and National have been active in
construction and have laid track on
495 miles of extensions.
ACTIVITY IN THE SOUTH.
The 6,430 miles completed in the
past year in the United States, while
it is only half that recorded for 1887
and but two-thirds of the mileage
-bailtin 1886, is still a large showing
for year in which confidence in
railway investments has received
such serious shocks. Kansas still
stands at the head Of the list of States
with 523 miles, and is followed by
California with 465, Georgia with
349, Kentucky with 351, Washing
ton Territory with 304. Taken as a
whole the South has shown more &C
tivity compared with the North than
ever before.
The only very long line built dur
ing the past yedr was the extention
of the Chicago, Kansas d Nebraska
division of the Rock Island system
to Colorado Springs, 29S miles in
length. Most of the grading on this
line was done this season, but on
very large proportion of the longer
lines built during the year much of
the grading was done in 1887 This
in part, accounts for the amount of
construction for the year. Plans
made and partly carried out during
the previous year had to be carried
through to avoid loss.
A noticeable difference between the
extensions of 1888 and those of the
two preceding years is that very few
of the former are important as COM
petative lines, while in 1886 and 1887
the great feature of the work was
the construction of line to COM
pete for the traffic between Chicago
and the two centers, Kansas City
and ST. Paul as well as the now com
peting route for the trunk line traffic
via Sault Ste. Marie. Many of the
extensions compete, indeed, with
older lines, but the competition is of
only local Importance, and in gcner-
al it is local development rather than
competition which has been the spur
to railway building during the past
year. A great contrast between 1883
and the two preceding years is seen
in the ownership of the extensions.
EFFECT OF THE INTER STATE LAW.
The twenty-six companies that
built 9,O65 miles in 1887, or nearly
70 per cent Of the whole mileage,
built only 2,513 miles this year, or
only SO per cent of the whole. The
current belief that the Interstate
Commerce law tends to force the
local roads to consolidate with the
great system is hardly corroborated
by the larger number of local lines
built in 1888. 1t seems, indeed open
to question whether the law while it
tends to force the consolidation of
competing lines, does not handicap
the great systems, which are serious
ly affected by competition and leave
almost untouched the small local
roads which in their limited field are
of all they survey.
SOUTHERN INDUSTRIES.