Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-07-17
The Railroads Of ihe Country.

ls1 w WdSUlIS dIl dUStIdCV vi us loI lu-
coming report on the condition and
work of the railroads of the country
FOR the fiscal year ending June 80, 1900.
Since the railroads are such an impor-
tant factor in the business Of the coun-
try and this prosperity SO well indi-
Gates the general prosperity which
prevails. some of the statistics CLEANED
from this report are most interesting
and instructive. For instance, we learn
that 4O51 miles of railroad were built
during the year. the largest increase
in seven years. making the total single
track mileage of the United States
1s3.345 miles: that 53.6SS.722 more pas
sengers and 1i1.916,656 more tons of
freight were. carried than during the
previous year: that the railroads
earned sl73, 432 696 more than during
the previous fiscal year: and that there
was net decrease of 10 in the number
of roads in the hands of receivers.
The number of railroad corporations
included in the report is 2.023. These
corporations employed at the end Of
the year. 1.0l1 .653 persons. gain Of
SS,729 over the previous year. Think
what vast army this is. over a mil
lion persons, almost all men, employed
by the railroads of the country. one
person out of every - of our popula
ton. No! other single item sums UP
more impre ssivcly the stupendous i'm
portance of our railroad interests. 1t
is almost all well paid. high grade. in
telligent labor and directly supports
four or five million of our people.
There are over 10000 engineers as
many firemen, 30 900 conductors. $4,000
other trainmen. $4,000 switchmen and
hagmen, 100000 working on the main
tenance of equipment, $4,000 on the
maintenance of ways and structures.
and 10000 for general administration
purposes. During the year ending
June so. 1900, $517 264,Sil We're paid in
wages and salaries. The compensat
of the employees of railways for the
fiscal year 1900 represents 60 per cent
of the operating expenses of the roads
and SO per cent of their gross earnings
As to the equipment of the railroads
we find that there were 1865 locolro-
tives in the service of the railways on
Jnue 20. 1900. or 900 more than the year
previous. The total number ot cars Of
all classes in the service Of the rail-
ways on the same date was 1.45o S3S.
an increase of 74,922 being shown in
this item. OF the total number, 34,113
are assigned to the passenger service.
1855, ,531 to the freight service, and 50,-
594 to the direct service of the railways.
1t should be understood, how
ever. that cars owned by private com
panies and firms and used by railways
are not included in the returns made
to the commission.
The amount of railway capital out
standing June 30. 1900. was sl1 .4?l.o34.-
$50. This amount assigned to a mile
age basis represents a capitalization OF
$61, ,49O per mile of line. OF this amount
s5,S4557?.593 existed in the form of
stock, of which A.522. .291, ,S3S was COM
mon stock and s1.323, 2s7.755 preferred
stock The amount which existed In
the form of funded debt was $685., 45o,-
367 This amount was classified as
mortgage bonds. $4,000. .626. .s23: miscel-
laneous obligations. s464,9S3.341: income
bonds, 1885, SS3; and equipment
trust obligations. $50. O.30S.320. The
amount of current liabilities not in
cluded in the foregoing capital state
ment was s5947s7,s7 or s31s3 per mile
of line. OF the capital stock 81 per
cent. and of the mortgage bonds 5.44
per cent. was paying no interest. The
amount of dividends declared during
the year was sl39. .597.9 .972. which would
be produced by an average rate of 5.23
per cent. on the stock on which some
dividend was declared. For the year
the gross earnings from the operations
of the railways. were 81 ,4S7. .044.S14, be-
ing s173. .434. 500 more than for the pre-
ceding fiscal year. The operating ex-
penses were 1861 .42S.51l. the increase in
this item being s1O4. .459.512.
The casualty chapter of the report is
of interest From it we learn that dur.
ing the year no fewer than 1865 person:
were killed and 5000 injured. as tho
result of railway accidents. OF this
total. 255O of the killed and 1868 Of the
injured were employees. AS to the
others. 5O66 of the killed and GAG of the
injured were trespassers on the tracks
a great number of lives needlessly lost
There were 249 passengers killed and
4I2s injured, being one passenger killej
to every 2.316,6iS carried. wonderfully
small proportion. when you come to
think of it. The large number of en-
ployes killed and injured shows the
great risks which this class is con.
stantIy running. and proves that safety
brakes and automatic couplers have moi