The Savannah morning news., 1900-07-01
WILL ORDER 1000 cans
president Williams Tell. of the &
A. LIS Heavy Busins


-',e'i'nohd Va, June 3O.-President John
9Aei'on Williams, of the seaboard Air
i1'ne' to-day announced that at meet,nss
OIL the directors and Stockholders a. ~,
oeaooand Air Line Railway, the Florida
central and Peninsular Railroad and tbA
S'eoisla and Alabama Railway this week.
arrangements were perfected by which
'ne Seaooard Air Line Railway assumes
'Ne operation, on and after July l. of The
georgia and Alabama Railway and the
FLORIDA Central and PeninsuIar svstep,
as divisions OF the Seaboard Air Linz svs-
TEN.
a. these meetings the necessary steps
were taken for the immediate cnnsolida-
'oh with the Seaboard Air Line Railway
OF some six or seven individual roads sm-
oIaeeo IN the system, aggregatine more
'hah GU miles of road, the earnings of
winch WILL after July l, be consolidated
"t'l tlose OF the main stem of the system
'ioih richmond to Ridgeway.
o Is Iurther announced thar more than
" per cent. or the capital stock of the
georgia and Alabama Railway has al
ready assented to the plan by which fine
capital stock OF that company will be re-
trec and replaced by the new securities
OF the Seaboard System.
Inc jurisdiction of the general officers
Oh 'he Seaboard Air Line System has
Deen extended over the two systems thus
absorbed, and President Williams also
announces several important changes
among the officers, which are seen in
another column of the Morning News.
Presld MT Williams was asked whether
the contraction in general business was
being ie,t as yet by the Seaboard. He re-
pied:
If slackening in business which is re-
per ed in different parts of the country
has not gun to manifest Itself with us.
On the contrary, tie movement of freight
and passengers over the Seaboard is grow
irg uninterruptedly, and the only difficult
~ We rave TO contend with Just now is
serious shortage in cars. We cannot
begin to furnish the equipment REQUIRED
to transport the business that is being
offered to us. We are running many extra
trains to move this traffic, and at a NEE
ing of our directors this week I found it
nece ssary to recommend the purchase of
700 additional freight cars, for which we
will send out specifications to the car
builders at once.
" The linking together fthe Florida Cen
trail and Penisular and the Georgia and
Alabama divisions of the Seaboard Air
Line will mean large increase in bust
ness TO all parts of the system. The old
main line of the Seaboard will hereafter
enjoy large business in Florida products,
especially in the line of fruits and vegeta-
bles, of which it. has heretofore had no
share, and the business which 1t will de-
rive from the Georgia and Alabama in the
way of lumber and other Georgia products
will be considerable.
Il think it will be but little while
now before the earnings of the consolidat-
ed system will reach and exceed $1,000 900
a month. l have not, of course, received
a report of the earnings of all divisions of
the system for the last quarter of the fiscal
year ending July 80, but the earnings of
all the roads embraced in. the system for
the six months ending April l show that
we had earned about 100 per cent. more
than the interest on all tstanding bonds
for that period. The pronounced manner
in which the people of the seven Southern
states which are traversed by the 900
miles of the Seaboard Air Line are prov
ing their loyalty to il is simply magnifi-
cent"