The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-04-18
sEABoARD PLANS COMPLETE.
.o,,sotIDATIoN WAS SUCCESSFUL
LY CARRIED OUT.

n
4a,,,s status-Totni capitalization
:, $4,000 a Mile, Only $4,000 of
,,;ch Is in Bonds-ShOrter Line
e,ured-ResuIts That May Be Ex-
,.ad From the Systems Opera
ton.
7,ortsmouth, Va, April H.-President
Inn SHELTON Williams, of the Seaboard
a. line system to-day made the follow
ING announcement;
"0nr plans for the formation OF the new
e,,board Air Line system, embracing be-
.,.ean twenty-five hundred and three
.,,,,,sand miles of road, have been sue
..-sfpIIv accomplished. The name of the
Nv company is the "Seaboard Air Line
pailwav.' and its charter which was
-.ranted by the Virginia legislature, is
.robablv the broadest, strongest and most
,,,nlable ever granted in this state, not ex-
,sntine the charters given to the Southern
halfway and the Norfolk and Western
railroad under which their re-organiza-
inns were carried through.
.oThe new Seaboard Air Line Railway
controls 100 per cent. of the entire capital
stock of eleven of the eighteen railway
comnanies comprising the system, and 1t
owns between SO and 100 per cent. of the
entire CAPITAL stock of four more railway
(.,r1nanies. between 80 and SO per cent. of
orother and between IS and IS per cent. of
~. stock of the Seaboard and Roanoke
railroad. a road eighty miles in length, in
which latter road, T. F. Ryan, of New
york owns a minority interest.
"To-morrow night we finish track lay
10 Wis
petersburg, to Ridgeway, N. c., 103 miles,
and Saturday night is to witness the COM
nlation of the ninety mile extension from
Cb-raW s. c., the present southern ter
minus of the Seaboard Air Line, to the
junction with the Florida Central. and
Peninsular Railroad, south of Columbia,
s c.. thus completing a new all-rail line
from Richmond 10 Tampa, Fla.
Outstanding Securities.
"Irnder our plan of consolidation the to-
+aI amount of bonds. outstanding on the
combined system will be about $4,000 per
mile. with $1,000 per mile of preferred
stock and $4,000 per mile of common
stock. representing a lower capitalization
than that of any system on the United
States with equal mileage, the total
amount of bonds and stock outstanding
being about $50 900 per mile of road own
al or about one-half of the capitaliza-
+ion ner mile of road owned by the Sea
boards principal competitor, the South
ern Railway The total amount of stock
outstanding on the new Seaboard Air
line system will be about S44, ,0O0 being
very little more than the present aggre-
gate capital stock of the eighteen roads
"a present comprising the system, which
OBI stock will, of course, be retired
''Tt has naturally required many mil
lions of dollars to carry this great enter
Prise to successful consummation.
Practically the entire amount OF money
Involved has been furnished by the direc-
tors of the system and by investors and
capitalists in Virginia, Maryland and 9TH
or Southern states. Neither our syndicate
nor any railroad company in the entire
system nor any allied corporation owes
one dollar to any bank, bankers or trust
company in New York, Philadelphia or
Boston The only obligation which we had
with any Northern banking institution
was with the Produce Exchange Trust
Company of New York, and a few days
AZ we retired in advance of their ma
tdrity every obligation held by the Pro-
luce. Exchange Trust Company against
my interest connected either directly or
ndirectly with the Seaboard Air Line or
its constituent companies. AT the same
time We purchased the entire interest to
. which the Produce Exchange Trust Com
pany had subscribed a year or so ago IN
the aboard Air Line and the Florida
Central syndicates, and these syndlcate
certificates have already been turned INTO
the Continental Trust Company of Baltl-
more for conversion into greater 0ed-
board Air Line certificates.
On Il Conservative Basis.
"Our new securities have been issued on
Il a conservative basis. The actual aggre-
gate earnings of the several properties
composing the new Seaboard system for
the twelve months ending March /, 1900
& exceed So 450, 000 Net earnings, after the
Il payment of operating expenses ana taxes,
4 exceed 100000 and the fixed charges ON
the system for the same period, including
q interest on all outstanding bonds and
rentals, amount approximately to 81, 10000
leaving a net surplus for the twelve
months over and above interest charges
OF $4,000 Interest charges on the en-
b tire amount of new 4 per cent. bonds, which
are 10 be issued under the plan of consoi-
71ton VIII amount to only about $780,
Co.,
III is thus seen that without making
any allowance for the two or three hun
drel miles of new road which are to be
ooeH') for business in the next few days,
ana without making allowance for the IN
creased earnings and reduced expenses
q which viii naturally follow, the linking
81 together into one compact system OF the
eighteen heretofore disjointed railroads
uprising it, the earnings of the past
Ff.Fe months are enough to take care
81 OF the interest on all the new bonds to
7e issued, and yet have a margin of half
a million dollars, or sufficient to pay
d per- cent on the entire amount OF new pre-
n erred stock 10 be issued under the plan
"a or consolidation
81 The Seaboard Air Line Railway Is the
gnS road operating it's own lines from
III lIehmond and Baltimore to Jacksonville
81 IN Tampa, and its route is materially
"A shorter than any combination of other
ln' which can be formed. The saving
" distance, for example. between Wash
81 i&ton and Tampa, by the Seaboard Air
Il "H ms compared with the route by the
nern Railway and the Plant System,
tAout 100 miles. The directnesK of its
ih6s nd its excellent physical condition
Ee II advantages over its competitors,
81 are likely 70 be keenly demonstrate
WHOM che new connecting links are put
81 MO operation"
Nr. st. John Is Happy.
y Zee President and General Manager st.
S'ho is especially happy to-day and has
'lnlng but organizations for President
Ai1me and his associates for the sue