The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-12-18
sITsADOU7RAILROADS
W. d This Country's Wealth Is
Invested IN Them.
|.,,,pv N COST OF TRANSPORTATION
.s.d thousand New Freight
v..ded Every YeRr-Tons
o. Of freight Carried. 4~
- connercNa1.

york Commerci~i.
' ,.s,autaneous photograph Of any do.
human activity" says Duane Doty
y pullman Palace Car company. con.
~ instructive study. and especially
4, Includes our own field Of effort
..anty.two miles of railroad in 1890
rs dine than the BIBLICAL span sl
..ore yours and ten Allotted to the
our railroads have reached their
-. rsrpitude, though still in the
'en lime OF their evolution. Had our
ki'ls .s S exclusive OF Alaska, as many
~ 4 rallsoad proportionately as the
!. d lHsnois. 1t would nave oVV.o0o miles
~ ,oads, or considerably more than
~ -mss It's present mteage, or, really,
s.,,sr mileage thOn THAT OF all the ex-
" ~ = roads IN the world.
~ -, laborer able to earn 81 day.
~, a. a carrier of freight does In
- rrlh transport one ton. say. OF
~ - mile by working hard for four
IA Il osher words, IS would be a fair
- she work that would have to be
q % a. our railroads NOV carry one
!, sssivht one mile for eight-tenths Of
y. !. IN or,e one shousandth OF the cost
~ ~ = at amount of work by muscular
~ line M whole population OF the globe
-. "a amount OF railroad mileage pro-
..,sly that we have In the United
~ M worlds railroad mileage would
1ssm6al instead of one-itenth Of that
u a. now. Our period OF existence
4, m be looked upon as the Childhood
n NICE, "A retrospective review OF OUT
ka,rds 4 glance at Their present condi-
4 "a eliurpses afforded of their proba-
k,x.s and possibilities. fully Illustrate
4. ~ mat we are only in the dawn OF
m,,srial development. The habitable
~ n the carth's surface. comprising
Y ,scsr two fifths of its land mUsses
q An our present very imperfect ag-
E,tus car, easily support four times the
~ nnulation, or $500, 000. 900 human
~ nd this number Will be reached
i - hence. or by the year 2150 A. ID.
ssrth q roads now owned by 1000 coy
r.ins 1856, 500 miles, double, triple.
rsule and yard tracks, sidings aud
k.oa,s bSO00 miles. Total of all tracks
I 4 Iinited States today. 244.500 miles.
~ average value of our railroads Is
M nlaced at 5000 a mile, though 1t
I nile more than that: at this rate,
\ w miles OF road is worth S11. 19i ,O00.-
4 fne Investments in these roads. In
~ capital stock, funded, unfunded
4 errsnt debts, can safely he placed at
4 D0yoOO00O Our population is now 49,
lM. II the wealth of our country has
.yssel IN the past eight years proper
suiAy with the increase between 1851
4 $780, the wealth of the whole country
" 3 $4,000 .000. 900. or $3.50 for every
d, woman and child of the population.
4 average wealth in 1850 was only $30S
! tap.ta, the increase being nearly four
\ aace then The wealth. OF our country
On Increasing at the rate OF $4,000. 900
n. One-seventh of our wealth is in
tsuat,, or s160 for every member Of our
rslshon.
The railroads OF the United States now
.lr $4,000 persons, and the average |
M pay Of each is 1865. A few officials
tta large salaries but the $4,000 sta
4 ms1 and the track repairers and the |
W swltchmen. fagmen and watchmen
ID small wages, though their pay is
n end their employment. as a rule. I'M
fruptet. There are now $50 employees
sefT 100 miles of road. or Az to every
Exclusive OF sleeping cars. our rail-
y non have 1.325,000 cars of all kinds,
q cars to every locomotive, or cars
fsy mile OF road. Inclusive OF sleep
on, there are now $4,000 passenger,
7 a. and express Cars in use. Considering
me o. freight car twelve years. and
amnes after that length OF service