The age-herald., 1900-12-31
MORE THAN 48OO
 MILES WE'RE BUILT
Railroad Construction During the
 Year 1900
TEXAS LEADS ALL STATES
J. H. Barrett Will Probably Go With the Chicago & Alton-Was Gen eral Superintendent of Trans
 portation of Southern.

According to the Railway Gazette of New York greater mileage of railroads was constructed in 1900 than in any pre- vious year since 1887, when railroad build ing in the United States reached it's high est record The number of miles of new roads built in 1900 exceeds 4SOO, according to the Gazette, and is distributed among over forty of the states of the Union. The Rail- way Gazette shows returns covering 2S6 companies in 4S states and territories with 4S04 fl miles as the estimated total These figures are necessarily preliminary, and the completed returns will undoubtedly add to this mileage The comparison with the returns of 1899 is favorable, during which 2S4 companies built 4569h miles. the largest new building since 1891 and 1892. Only about 2OOO miles a year was built during the four years from 1894 to 1897.
 Texas Leads.
 Texas heads the states this year in new buildings, with 313 miles. Five other states | built more than 200 miles each; Iowa, s7S miles; Minnesota, 255; Pennsylvania, 2S5; West Virginia, 215, and Louisiana, 203 miles. Alabama built 1S7 miles; Mississippi, 173;
 
 each, 169; Florida. 157; Wyoming. 15S, and South Carolina and Tennessee each, 146 miles,
 Among the companies building the Chi csgo, Burlington & Quincy leads, with 21S miles in four States and territories. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul built 173 miles; the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific 169 miles; the Northern Pacific, 151 miles,
 
 Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern, 100 miles; the St. Louis & San Francisco, Ill miles; the Seaboard Air Line 95 miles; the Illinois Central, 91, and the Gulf & Ship Island 70 miles. Most of the extended building was by the larger and older com panies
 Figures from the same source show that the output of locomotives and cars will be greater in 1900 than in any previous year. All the contracting locomotive works will have built 3153 locomotives. This Is 6SO, or 275 per cent. more than in 1899, when the record was also broken. Of the total out put this year 5O5 or about 16 per cent, will have been exported Last year, 514 locomo- tives were exported
 The various carbuilding works in the United States will have built 124,106 cars during the the year, as against 123,S93 in 1S99 Of this years output 113,0O are freight, 1515 passenger and 6091 street cars for use in this country, and 2561 freight, 121 passenger and 74S street cars for export The extension of the steel car industry is shown by the fact that of the total freight cars turned out this year, 4,464 were all steel; AT of these were for export. Last year the total was 10,5O0, while in 1898, but 27OO steel cars were built.
 Another Estimate
 The Railway Age of Chicago estimates the number of miles of new road construct ed in 1900 at little over 4300 miles, or about 200 miles less than in 1899. There is a dif- ference of five miles in the figures com piled by the Railway Age and Railway Gazette in the mileage of new road In Ala bama, the Age fixing it at 1s2 and a frac- tion miles and the Gazette at 1S7 miles. Twenty-eight railroad systems of the country control 147,00O miles of the total of 1sS,OO0 miles of railroads in the United States at the present time This Is equal to about 75 per cent of the total mileage of the country. Fifteen corporations exert a controlling influence in railway affairs over a large proportion of the country, and eight men stand at the center of railway influence They are J. J. Hill, w. K. Van derbilt, George Gould, A. J. Cassatt J. H. Schiff, J. P. Morgan, J. H. Speyer and E. H. Hartman. They stand for New York Central, Erie and the anthracite coal roads, for Pennsylvania, Baltimore and Ohio, Chesapeake and Ohio and Norfolk and Western; for Southern Railway, Chi cago and Alton, Illinois Central, St. Paul and Northwestern, Great Northern, North ern Pacific, Union Pacific. Southern Pa cific, Texas Pacific and Missouri Pacific They represent all of the great systems except the Burlington, the Atchison, the Denver and the Louisville and Nashville, and the end of railroad concentration is not yet.
 Mir. Barretts New Position.
 It Is stated that J. H. Barrett general superintendent of transportation of the Southern Railway, who some time ago