Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-10-29
N|LL|GAN. NLk|N I GO.
Call and see the Waldo
MaE2aolin. 1t excels all
others.

| numbered .......... ........ So O10
Freight cars built in the year 1887
numbered ............ .............. 4o,OO0
1t is interesting to note in this con-
nection that nearly 40 per cent. of the
total freight cars constructed in 1897
were for the Baltimore and Ohio rail-
road
For the years preceding the Worlds
Fair We built the normal number of the
cars needed, but since 1892,
through the years of business depress-
| ion, or for the five years ending 1897,
we built on the average only 41,000
freight cars year. There are indica
lions that the year 1898 will show
much greater activity in this line. The
railroads Of the country could use to
advantage 100000 more freight cars
than they now have. 1t is clear that
| renewed activity in freight car build
ing must continue for some years.
There are now $4,000 locomotives in
use, 10000 of them being in passenger
service. All these passenger engines
are fitted with train brakes, and over
half of them with automatic couplers.
Each passenger engine handled upon an
average over $4,000 passen gers during
quarter of miles. Each freight locomo-
tive on an average drew 10000 tons of
freight.
Our freight trains for the year end
| ing September 1st, carried 760,000,000
/ tons of freight and every ton was car
ried On an average of 125 miles, making
in all $4,000, 000,CGo tons of freight car
ried one mile While the average cost
| of carrying a ton of freight one mile
was eight-tenths of a cent, it was only
| six-tenths Of cent in some of the
States. The cost of carrying freight
has steadily fallen from two cents a
mile per ton in 1867 to it's present low
rate Our railroads last year had to
carry a ton Of freight 1880 miles to
make one dollar, and the freight work
done was equivalent to carrying one
ton 1900 miles for every man, woman
and child Of the population. Over three
fourths of the receipts of our railroads
| are for freight.
Our railroads, with their 10000 pas
senger engines and $4,000 cars for pas
senger trains, carried SOC, 100000 pas
sengers during the year ending Sep
| TENDER list, and received for this SER
vice $275 100000. The roads had to
carry a passenger 500 miles in order to
make one dollar. The net earnings of
the roads for the year were a little
more than a million dollars a day.
Zone passenger was killed for every
2,250,C00 carried. Twice as nancy peo-
pie are killed annually by falling from
the windows Of their dwellings as lose
their lives while travelling as passengers
on our passenger trains. The average
mortal, it would seem, is safer as a
railroad passenger than he is at home.
Two-thirds of those accidentally killed
lose their lives at stations, highway
crossings, and while trespassing upon
tracks. The theory of probabilities re-
quired a passenger to travel 100000
miles to be toerably sure of getting
killed. This is equivalent to riding con-
tinuously on an express train for over
400 years. One passenger only was IN
jured in every 4,5OO, coo miles of travel.
at would be interesting to know to
what extent the telegraph, the long dis
lance telephone and our improved facil-
tiles for handling mails had diminished
travel on our railroads"