The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-08-14

executives have to know things, not
guess at them, hence they must "get
right down to tacks" as the saying
goes. There Is only one recourse 70
insure this. and II is to the way-bills.
Prodigious as is the task of checking
In detail the manifolded copies OF the
way-bills, running In numbers into
hundreds of thousands in the course
of the year. all leading companies
have regularly constituted bureaus
that do II, Do &c so thoroughly that
the shipping and delivery points. as
well as the rate. on every pound Is
made of record. The per ton per mile
statements are thus based directly on
the actual. not ON the. estimated, cal
culated, Appropriated, or In any man
ner guessed at figures.
Through these statistics 1t is dem.
onstrated that the average distance
carried in 1904 was nearly thirty.fiye
miles, or twenty-five per cent. great.
err than in 1896. and the average rate
actually received per ton per mile was
four per cent. less the former than
the latter named year To be minute,
decrease OF twenty-seven thou.
sandths of a cent; or, from six hun
dred and twenty thousandths of cent
to five hundred and ninety-three thou
sanths of cent per ton per mile.
Should some impatient individual
declare It call rot to cut so deucedIy
fine" hint that the other end OF the
proposition, the total tons carried one
mile. represented In 1904, matter
of eight and quarter millions. may
bring him to recognition of ex.
tremes, sometimes, meeting.
Just little thing like the twenty.
seven thousandths part OF a penny
per ton per mile meant. In this in
stance, no less a sum than two and
quarter millions of dollars to the
company. and for that, az well-only
in the opposite dtrection--to tho pub
lie; leaving the money in the pockets.
the spellbinders would have It are
always being picked by the railroads.
Reverting again to the comparative
showing, gross earnings from opera
ton reached sixteen thousand three
hundred per mile in 1904, an increase
OF sixty per cent. over '96. Operating
expenses, as to be expected from so
largely augmented vioume of business.
went up appreciably-fifty per cent.
per mile. But in ratio to earnings
they were nine per cent less per mile
than In 1896. Net earnings from OPP.
GRAFTON Increased very greatly; near
ly hundred and fifty per cent. as a
whole, and eighty per cent. on mileage
basis. The gross income from all
sources in 1904 reached seventeen
thousand dollars a mile, an advance OF
six thousand Ave hundred dollars per
mile over 1896. While general in
come account thus showed an increase
OF sixty-two per cent. the gross expen-
SEES and charges per mile increased in
ratio but little more than a half: to
be exact, thirty-three per cent. AS
consequence, the net income from
all sources made the strongest kind
OF showing against that OF '96. Then
everything in the way OF investments
had been sacrificed. Operating ex-
penses mounted up to ,seventy-one per
cent. OF the earnings and net income
voiced figure of speech rather than
reality. 1t was scarcely fourteen
dollars a mile, whereas nine years
later. or in 1904, 1t was three thousand
one hundred dollars per mile.
There has been nothing of the fren-
zied order in the B. and o. rehabilita-
ton. None of the so-called systems
legerdemain. Results prove II. While
in volume the swelling of capital liza
bilities has been notably large, 1t is
to be considered In such connection.
that the mileage has very materially
increased since '9G-doubled. Per
mile, the additional bonds, or funded
debt, approximates but ten thousand
dollars; sixty thousand now to fifty
thousand then. an increase of twenty
per cent.
In 1896 the ratio of the bonded to
the entire debt, liabilities-funded
and stock. was seventy-one per cent.
In 1904 it was fifty-six per cent, or,
little over half to something less
than three-quarters of the entirety.
Much of the larger increase was I'M
the common stock which was in ratio
of seventeen per cent. to the whole
in 's6 and thirty per cent. in '04.
Preferred stock. twelve per cent. of
the whole in SO was fourteen per
cent. of 1t in '04.