The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1895-06-28
Abstract of "StatistiCs Of the
Railways of the United
States" for the Year
Ending June 80, 1894.

Ending June 80. 1894
The Seventh Statistical Report of the In,
terstate Commerce Commission, prepared
by its statlStcan, being the complete re-
port for the above named period, for which
a preliminary income account was issued
in December, 1894, has just been submitted,
of which the following is an abstract
In the introduction of the report eSpeclal
attention is called to the peculiar conditions
affecting the operation of railways during
the year covered by the report. First, the
report covers the last four months OF the
Columbian Exposition, during which time
there was an increased passenger trafhc;
Second, it covers a period of widespread
and unprecedented business depression.
Third, on June 30. 1894, 1872 roads, 0perat-
ing upwards of $4,000 miles of line, and
representing about One-fourth of the total
railway capita iZatiOn, We're IN the nandS
of receivers. The effect of these conditions
is apparent in nearly all of the figures pre-
Sented.
The total railway mileage in the United
States on Jnne 80. 1894, was 17S,7OS. 90, an
increase during the year of 2,241.4S miles.
The increase during the previous year was
1887 SO miles. sThe percentage OF increase
in 1894 was less than for any proceeding
year for which reports have been made to
the Commission, and 1t is not probable that
the year ending June 80, 1895, will show
much Improvement. The state of Pennsyl-
vania shows an increase of 5000 miles;
Florida, 234,82 miles; North Dakota, 195.5 81
miles, Ohio, 184.02 miles; Georgia. 1921
miles; Maine. 1850 miles; Missouri 120.51
miles; West Virginia, 1876 miles; and
Minnesota, 1863 miles. The States of
Kansas, Maryland. Massachusetts. Nevada,
New Hampshire, North Carolina, Vermont,
Virginia, and the Territory of Arizona,
show slight decreases in mileage, due to
remeasurements and abandonment of lines,
aggregating 1872 miles The number of
roads abandoned was l6. The total mile
age of all tracks was 233 53S 6' miles, which
includes 10, 1890 miles of second track;
953. Is miles of third track; 7l0.99 miles OF
fourth track, and 4266167 miles of yard
track and Sidngs.
CLASSIFICATION OF RAILWAYS.
The total number of railway corporations
on June 30, 1894, was 1924. an increase dur
ing the year of %. Of this number 745
were independent operating companies,
and 945 maintained separate operating &C
counts. The number of companies main
tanning financial accounts only was S0i, of
which 334 were operated under lease for
fixed money rental, and 1870 for contingent
money rental; 243 were controlled through
the ownership of stock by the operating
company; the remaining 81 returned no in
formation as to tae form Of control. The
number of roads not in operation was II,
of which 80 were Independent roads; 10
were subsidiary roads. parts of systems,
and seven were private roads. In addition
to the roads already referred to there were
SO private roads operated in connection
with logging milling and mining indus
tries. The movement of consolidation dur |
ing the year on the basis of mileage invOlv- |
ed has been greater than for the year pre-
viOuS; Is. roads representing L. 3464 miles, |
have been merged % roads, representing |
2.35l,99 miles have been reOrganizPd; and |
IA roads, representing 1.590.34 miles have |
been consolidated, A classification of rail- |
ways on thelbaSiS of operated mileage shows |
that "A roads, each with mileage of over |
1000 miles, operate l0O,547. 29 miles of line,
or $3.50 per cent of the total mileage of the |
country; % roads, each with a mileage of
over 600 and less than 1000 miles, operate |
17,91S.35 miles of line, or 1903 per cent of
the total mileage; % roads, each with a
mileage of 400 and less than 800 miles, Oper |
ate Ii. 90 miles of line, or 6.57 per cent of
the total mileage: AZ roads, with mileage
of over 250 and less than 400 miles, operate
1875 50 miles of line, or 1856 per cent of
the total mileage; and q07 roads, each with |
a mileage of less than 2j0 miles, operate the
remainder of the mileage, 34,9l0.26 miles,. or
49, 81 per cent of the total mileage From |
this it will be seen that 80 roads, represent |
ing the first three classes, operate 12.q0 per |
cent of the entire mileage nt the country.
EQUIPMENT.
On June 30, 1894, the total number of To- |
comotves was 35,492. an increase during |
the year of 704. OF these, 1888 were pas
Senger locomotives; 10000 were freight To- |
comotives; 5,086 were switching locomotives |
and 5l3 were unclasStied. The total mum
Der of cars reported was 1,27S,078. Of |
these 33,018 were in passenger service;
1,205, 1859 were in freight service; and 1881 |
were caboose, derrick, gravel, officers pay,
and other cars in the cOmpany'S service.
These figures do not include cars owned by
shippers or private individuals. The in
crease in the number of cars during the
year was 1872, against an increase of 58,-
S54 during the previous year. This falling
off in the ratio of increase is due to the fact
that the railways have during the year de-
strOyed large number of old wOrnout
cars. The number of passengers carried
per pas enger locomotive was SO, 500, and
the passenger miles per passenger locomo-
carried per freight locomotive was 31909,
and the ton miles per freight locomotive
was 4,0l6, 755 With the exception of the
item of passengers carried. these figures
show decrease in the efficiency of lOcOmo-
tlveS. The numper of passenger cars per
100000 passengers was 81, and the num-
Der of freight cars per 100000 tons of
freight was l.SSS. During the year 1879
locomotives and 303S6 cars were fitted
with train brakes, and 1,197 locomotives
and 1915 cars were fitted with automatic
cOuplerS. While the gain in the use of both
these safety appliances is largely in excess
of the increase of equipment during that
year, it cannot be considered as showing a
marked tendency toward compliance with
the law, as 1880 percent of the total equip
ment is still without train brakes and 7277
per cent without automatic cOuplers. The
law requires that all equipment shall be sup
piled with these safety appliances before
January, 1898. while 1t requires that all cars
shall be provided with grab irons or hand
holds and drawbars of a standard height by
July l, 1895.
EMPLOYEES.
The total number of railway employees
on June 30. 1894, was 1890 a decrease, as
compared with the number on Jnne 80. |
1893, of 93, 1914, or 10 per cent. This is a
smaller number employed than in any year
since 1890. This decrease is, of course, due
to the heavy falling off in traffic and the en-
deavOrs of the railways to economic. On
the basis of four persons being dependent
on each wage Garner, it shows that over one
third of a million of people have been de-
prived of their regular means of support.
The class of employees showing the great
pSt decrease are traPEmep fbp dnprpa for