The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-05

Alabama through which the Coast Line masses and that this prosperity IS greater than was ever contemplated when the Atlantic Coast Line was built. The road has 670 miles in Geor- gia.
 President Conner intimated that some portion of the $32,000 per mile of the Atlantic Coast Line was watered, representing the stocks. bonds. etc., assessed on the prosperity in Alabama
 The Chairman said the railroads claim they do not make money in Ala bama but he is sure that they do.
 Mir. Kent a Witness.
 w. w. Kent, Freight Traffic Man ager of the Chattanooga Southern Railroad, next testified for that road. He said there were forty-two miles in Alabama and that fertilizers were not being used along the road In this State.
 Fertilizer traffic is an uncertain quantity, said MT. Kent The cotton in the region traversed by the road of MT. Kent, is hauled not by the road to an appreciable extent but by wagons across-country to the mills.
 The road could be rebuilt at about $21,OOO per mile. It runs through a mountainous country and only one- tenth of the business is domestic.
 The Chattanooga Southern Railroad has no terminals and consequently, according to MT. Kept, the mileage cost of construction shows up com paratively small.
 w. A. Winburn, Vice-President of the Central of Georgia Railway, testi- fled for that road. The rates on ferti- lizers now in effect, he said, were re- viewed by the Commission and ap- proved. He said no changes have oc- cured since to warrant reduction in fertilizer rates,
 The Central of Georgia Railroad earned only S9.4O per mile in 1904 which does not include deduction of taxes, according to Mir. Winburn. The gross earnings by the road m lSO4 were $3.674 per mile.
 MT. Winburn said that the average distance that fertilizers are hauled in Alabama has been decreasing every suc- cessive year. All the lines of the Gen. tral of Georgia Railway have the same tariff charges on fertilizers. He said that 1t would require greater outlay to again construct the Central of Geor- eia Railway than 1t did originally. About one-third of the Central of Georgia Railway business Is domestic business in Alabama.
 President Conner said that his family had been connected with the Central of Georgia Railway and that he knew the reason the road was bankrupted be- cause the president refused to sign fictitious securities. He had inherited some of the income bonds that were is- sued upon the reorganization of the road. He regarded them as practically worthless until recently they began to appreciate in value. He concluded that by the rise in the prices of securi- ties the road was making money. On the income bonds no interest Is paid until net earnings were shown.
 Answered MT. WInburn.
 Answering MT. Winburn. the chair man said he did not believe that in- come obligations are legitimate when the road charges unreasonable rates and prohibits developments to be looked forward to-
 There are 567 miles of the Central of Georgia in Alabama.
 The chairman reviewed in detail the history of the Central of Georgia Rail way in all it's acquisitions. He in- formed MT. Winburn that the south eastern part of the State through which the Central of Georgia Railway