St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-11-30
The Interstate Commerce
Commission Issues It's
Third Annual.
One Hundred and Sixty-Three
Thousand Five Hundred
Miles Of Road.
The Gross Earnings Of All
Lines Over q Billion
Dollars.
Seventy-Four Companies Do
at Least 80 Per Cent of
All Business.


tlclan'S office of the interstate commerce
commission the third annual report on
the statistics Of railways in the United
states" This report gives cOmpre-
nehSlVe statistics covering the Oper-
ationS of railways for the year
ending June 80 $780, and a
statement of earnings from passenger
and freight service, together with OPP
Grating expenses and fixed charges for
the lime months ending March 81. 1891.
a marked feature of this report, which
adds greatly to the value of its statistics.
is the division of all statistics into ten
territorial groups, as shown by a
map, by which the differences in con-
ultlonS of operation in various parts of
Inc country are clearly brought to
notlce.. Formerly all statistics have been
maSSed for the entire country. and the
averages deducted have been for all the
roads in the Uniten States. The com
parsons rendered possible by this re-
port show marked differences in the diff
xerent parts of the country.
Mlleage-RailwaY mileage in the
United States June 30 1890, was 163,-
697.O5 miles: the increase in railway
mileage brought into operation during
the year was G,03O.60 miles. Michigan
shows the largest increase in railway
mileage during the year, being 4390S
mIles, and Georgia comes next
with an increased mileage of
1874 miles. Group Y. made up of the
states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mis-
SlSslppi,Alabama and Florida. shows an
increased mileage of l.370.32 miles dur
ing the year. The total length of track
Tor the United States, including all
tracks, sidingS and spurs, is 2Oy.O6O67
miles.
Number of COrporatlons.-The num-
per OF railway corporations on June so.
1880, was 1877. Of these ST are cIassed
as private roads, with total mileage
OF SIG miles. Nine hundred and
rWenty-seyen of these corporations
are operating companies and 735
are subsidiary companies, that is
TO say, the mileage which they
0Wn is leased to other companies
for the purpose of operation. Twenty
Two companies, representing a mileage
of 1,646.l0 miles, have been reOrganiZed
during the year, and thirty-four COM
panleS, representing a mileage of
1,9O6.S7 miles, have merged their
corporate existence into other corpora
llons. FIFTY companies. representing
mileage of 6,196.04 miles have been
consolidated with other companies.
Thus S,l01.91 miles of line have, during
the year, disappeared as Independent
companies.
Forty railway corporations operate
T,S12.G3 miles of line, or 475l per cent
Of total mileage. The average length
of line for these forty roads is nearly
1000 miles. There are seventy
four companies in the United States
whose gross income is 1897, 100000 out
M n fnf a e
In the country of l,051, ST. 632; that is
TO say seventy-five railway corporations
receive so per cent of the total amount
paid by the people of the United States
for railway service.
Equipment-The total number of To-
cOmOtiYeS in the United States is 90
$685. Of which 1854 are passenger loco
motives :and TO- 40 are freight locOmo-
tives. This shows ten freight locomo-
tiveS and five passenger locomotives for
each hundred miles of operated line.
The number of cars used on the rail
ways OF the United States is 1,164,13S
of which 2S,5ll are in the passenger ser
vice.
The number of cars per 100 miles of
line is IA. The number of tons of
freight carried one mile per freight ell
CINE is 4,721 ,657, and the mum Der of pas
sengers carried one mile peps passenger
engine is 1,413, l42. Figures of this sort
measure the economy of trans
pOrtatiOn by rail. The larger por-
ton OF equipment is found on
railways in the Eastern and Middle
states. Thus in the New England
states. group l., there are twenty-eight
locomotives per 100 miles of line; in
the Middle states, group H., forty-six
locomotives per 100 miles of line, while
in the states west of the Mississippi.
group X. excepted, the number does not
exceed twelve locomotives per 100
miles of line. The number of locomo-
tives fitted with train brakes is 20, 1921 and
the number fitted with automatic COUP
Ter $50. The number of cars fitted with
train brake IS 1921 and the number of
cars fitted with automatic coupler is
H. 64. When compared with the total
number OF locomotives and cars, it ap-
pears that much remains to be done in
the matter of train brakes and auto
matte c0uperS.
Men EmplOyed-Th total number of
men employed on the RAILWAYS of the
United States is 749. 30l. being an in
crease OF 45,55S over the number en-
plOyed in 1889. The average number of
men employed per 100 miles OF line on
all roads Is 476. In the New England
states, group L., the average number per
100 miles Of line is ZIG; in the
Middle states. group H., it is 1,167; in
group ", covering the states of Vir-
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina
and part Of West Virginia, it is $50. and
III the various sections OF the Western
states the number ranges from $50 TO
32S per 100 miles of Zine. These figures
Indicate the increased density OF traffic
in the Eastern and Middle states.
groups l. and ii. respectively.
Veil Of y nj
404.06 miles Of line, which is made the
basis of statistics in this report, is rep
resented by railway capital to the
amount Of $9.459, 444, 172, which is
equivalent to SEQ, 4S1 per mile of
line. Assuming that the remaining
mileage is capitalized at the
same rate, the total Capitalization
Of railway property in the United States
would be 50, S94, 4S3, 400. The increase in
railway capital for the year ending
June 30, 1880. over railway capital for
the previous year, is S444, 26S, 79S: of
this amount, S2s0,000,G00 at least is due
to the increase in capitalization of lines
already in existence. The proportion of
railway capital represented by stocks is
1862 per cent of the total railway can
ltai. The amount of stock per mile of
line is SZS,3 and the amount of out
standing obligations, including bonds.
equipment, trust obligations, ETC.,
is $40, 2G2. There are marked diff
ferences III the capitalization OF
railway property In various sec.
tons of the country. In the middle
states-group H., for eXample-railway
capital is outstanding to the amount OF
s1lS,G5G per mile Of line. In California
Oregon, Washington and other state.
and territories constituting group X.
railway capital is OUTSTANDING
TO the amount of SS7. lO4
S--- -------- -
MARCELLA SEMBRICH,