The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1900-06-22


which he used to sit are cherished by
the citizens.
A Herd of BuffaIo-Some Crosses"
Wisconsin is strong on it's natural
EsS<ory side 1t abounds in animal life
of all kinds. Near Alma, near the Mis-
s.ssippi river, is collection of buffalo.
s. ID. Hubbard has recently been ar
ranging to have them shown at the
state fair. The owners now have
about forty animals, comprising thor
oughbreds, -bloods three-quarter-
bloods and seven-eights. The animals
would prove quite an attraction at the
fair. Their transportation is an item,
being connected with a good deal of
trouble, owing to the fact of the ami
mails not being used to being tied or
led.
A Private Snap in Trout.
Then, too, near Hudson, Wis,
is a trout brook industry. Graves
& Crazy bought the grounds sew
en- years ago. The preserve con-
tainS 100 acres Of land which is mean
dered with the rarest of brook water
and dotted with no end of cooling
springs. The drawback was the an
nual dread of high water from the
overflow of Willow river; but this has
been overcome by the construction Of
a dyke, a half a mile or more long,
ON the entire north border of the prop
ertV.
And now the raising Of trout is car
ried on in earnest The runs" are
well filled with speckled beauties in
all stages Of development from the
tiny eggs to the lusty parent fish
weighing four and five pounds apiece.
The company has in the brook 10000
stock trout for market use, from which
they are making lucra tive sales daily;
125,O0O yearlings, and 275,0OO fry. Of
the last $4,000 are steel heads re-
ceived from Oregon as an experiment..
The fish eat 500 pounds of fresh
ground liver each week. The market
trout are also fed regularly with
cooked food, according to a formula
provided by the government. 1t takes
40 pounds of clean, fresh flour daily
for the ratiOns Of stock trout alone.
These sell at 80 cents a pound to
clubs, restaurants ana hotels in all
cities in this part of the country.
Three Big Railways in Wisconsin.
Henry Clews, the New York banker,
gets out al investors Guide" every
year and in it are much interesting
data Of three colossal railroad systems
that thread lines across the face of
Wisconsin.
The ST. Paul road operates the most
mileage Of it's own (6,191 miles,; but
the Chicago and Northwestern is not
far behind with SOFT miles. The
Illinois Central does things Oh a scale
of 1880 miles, plus $50 miles, leased
line, Yazoo and Mississippi.
The finances of these systems of
course runs UP into the hundreds of
millions. l have summarized some Of
the totals, in even millions.
Capital stock st. Paul, common,
$47, 100000; preferred, $36,OOO,0O0;
funded debt (bonds), $136000,0OO.
Northwestern, common, $39,O00,000;
preferred, $22,00O,000; funded debt
(bOnds), $135,0O0,00O.
Illinois Central, capital stock, $52,-
100000; funded debt, 1923, 100000.
Earnings, Gross and Net.
Now as to the gross earnings, the
total receipts. For the past twelve
months the st. Paul reported $3S,OOO,-
600; the Northwestern. the same; and
the Illinois Central $2S,OOO00O. While
same amount, the operating expenses
and taxes of both lines were practi-
cally the same, $24, 100000 for the st.
Paul and $25,OOO,OOO for the North
western. The net earnings and the
fixed charges of the two lines are
strangely alike, too-$14, 100000 and
$13, 600, 900 for net earnings respective
ly, and fixed charges something I'M
of each company is given as over ST.
100000, here again the st. Paul item
being half million larger, the amount
set apart for dividends is: st. Paul,
S4,60O,OO0, and Northwestern, $780,
900.
The Illinois Control set aside ST.
S12,500 for a dividend of ) per cent.
on it's stock The interest on bonds of
these companies is in the cases of all
these systems a very large item, ap-
pearing under the head FIXED
Charges" and this must be paid be-
fore the stock gets any dividends.
But the stock itself is a fortunate
possession Thus in 1898 st. Paul
preferred paid per cent and the COM
mon per cent. st. Paul preferred
stock has paid per cent dividends
in 1883 and 1884, Z per cent; 1885,
per cent; 1886 and 1887. per cent;
1888, 21a per cent; none until October,
1892, when 21a per cent was paid;
1893, 2 per cent; 1894, per cent;
1895, 2 per cent; 1896, per cent; 5
per cent yearly since. From 1902 to
1908 the company has So ,557 900
per cent bonds maturing, which are
convertible into Z per cent. stock, One
of the main sources of earnings of this
road is the carrying of spring wheat.
1t belongs to the important group Of
grain carrying roads known as "grang-
ers." This stock is largely held ir
Europe.
AS for the Northwestern stock, the
preferred pays per cent. annually;
the common paid per cent. from 1891
to 1894; per cent. in 1895; 5 per cent.
from 1896 to 1899 and 3 per cent.
(semi-annually) January, 1900. North
western is one of the important
"grangers," connecting with the wheat
belts of Dakotas, Nebraska, ETC.; its
lines also tap the mining regions of
Michigan and the Black Hills.
The Northwestern formulated an i'm
al>. +1,> -;