Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1906-07-27
WILLING TO GIVE
A REDUCED FARE.
ST. PAUL ROAD SUGGESTS A PAS
sENGER RATE OF TWO AND A
HALF CENTS A MILE.
statistician Ellis Declares Lowering TO
Two Cents Means Big Loss to
Local Business.

MADISON. WIS, july -f'-LopS
ciaI. 1.-The final arguments or the NIL
waukee road on the mater of the reduc-
ton in the passenger fare to cents was
made today before the railway commls-
sion.
Burton Hanson, general counsel, WIZ
liam Ellis, statistician, w. D. Wynne,
auditor and E. w. McKenna, second
vice president and general manager Oh
the road, were in attendance.
Mr.. Ellis testified that the average
rate a passenger q mile was 2.Oo cents
and that for the year 1905 the average
fare paid by passengers was Z.Sl cents.
Between April 8 and May 70 OF TINS
year special blanks were furnished TO
conductors showing the number OF pas
sengers, state and interstate ana the
distance each passenger RODE
Amount of Local Business.
1t showed that OH the Chicago and
Milwaukee division the local business
was 29.4 per cent. and on the northern
division the local business was Sb per
cent. The total showed that 6l1a per
cent. of the entire business was local
The local business for 1900 consisted III
carrying 2,S53,S 21 passengers and the
total revenue received was 81, S6,OS9
and that the average rate mile was
226 cents. This reduction from the
regular 3-cent fare is made entirely Dy
excursion and Communication tickets. MI
Ellis said that the earnings On the
roads capital from local passenger ser
vice in Wisconsin was 81 Of l per cent"
The statement was made that a re-
ductiOn to 2 cents would cause reduc-
ton in receipts of local business OF S3oo,
715 and on the Wisconsin portion or IN
terstate business of S3Ol, S4S.
COMPROMISE Is Suggested.
For the first time in all these hear
ings, the suggestion was made to the
commission today, by Mr.. Ellis, that the
fare might be reduced to 21a cents a
mile. Tables and schedules were intro
duced, showing the effect such reduc-
ton would have and the statement was
made that should the 212 cent fare be
adopted, the net loss on local business
instead of being $36S,715 as under the
2-cent fare. il would be only $l4,OOC
approximately.
Two-th;rds of the passenger traffic IL
and out OF Milwaukee is for less than :
cents a mile and about So per cent. OF
this same traffic is for 1.54 cents mile
approximately. This is due to the use
of Communication tickets, ten, twenty OF
fifty mile ride tickets sold to points with
in a radius Of fifty miles of the city;
Mr.. Hanson filed his answer printed
w. l.. HOuSer.
Figures on Expenses.
Mr.. McKenna, in answer to a question:,
said that there was a certain epidemic
of petitions for better passenger service,
not alone from citizens Of Wisconsin,
but from almost every state i'll which
their line operated. Mr.. Mckepna teS-
tilted that it cost from Is to 70 per
cent. more to do local business than to
do through business. which was true
both of passenger and freight.
The additional cost in local freight
business is due largely to the cost Of
handling the commodities at the sta
tons. and while this is not true OF pas
sangers who handle themselves, the adj
ditional cost of insurance meaning the
insurance for the protection and safety
of passengers while Ell route" fuel cOu-
sumption. wear of the rails. station eX
Denses and the expense OF the extra time
of employees made the cost for paSSen-
ger service of the loccl business as much
as the additional cost in the freight.
Cost of Trains
He testified that the actual speed of
the local trains was much greater than
the actual speed of the through trains.
The cost of equipment of through
trains was worth much more than the
equipment Of local trains; for example
the through train which runs from Mil
wau1ee to Minneapolis is worth Sis,
600 while the local trains cost $4,000,
This is exclusive of locomotives, which
IvouId cost n hout S14 0fB1