The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1907-09-27
LUMBER INDUSTRY RUINED



Last year the lumber and single men
lost orders for $4,000 carloads because
of the car shortage, and in 1905 the
Great Northern and Northern Pacific
added Just one locomotive jointly to
their equipment. The single mills
averaged about six months production.
Stumpage values, however, advanced
because of local conditions and many
farmer made money in supplying shin
gle bolts, which they may not do next
year.
1t may be assumed that the railroads
need the money-probably they do
but it is a fact that the operating ex-
penses in proportion to earnings OF the
Hill lines are smaller than any OF the
large railroads OF the United States.
The average weight of all merchan-
disc except lumber, on the Hill lines
not including less than carload lots is
$4,000 pounds and the average earn
ing is seven mills per ton, or 81 cents
per car per mile. Lumber averages
10000 pounds and the average earn
ing is four mills per ton, or "a cents
per car per mile. Chargeable to the
lumber haul on the Northern Pacific
last year was $28,000,000 or $4,000.
600 more than the operating expenses
OF that road. The cost of hauling
train load, according to the annual re-
port of the Northern Pacific during the
fiscal year ending June 30th, 1906,
was 81, 200.44 and the freight earnings
on train load of lumber at 40 cents
per 100 pounds was Sc, 120.
Thirty-eight per cent of the entire
freight traffic of the Northern Pacific is
lumber and Is per cent of the Great
Northern haul consists of the same
commodity. In 1897 the net earnings
of the Northern Pacific were Sc, 059, 1888
and in 1906, $50, 103,043. The per
centage of operating expenses to earn
ings of this road decreased from 67.17
in 1897 to 1910 per cent in 1906.
That of the Great Northern decreased
from SIS per cent in 1900, to 491a per
cent in 1906. Great Northern stocks
were quoted 141 in 1897 and 348 in
1906, and the Northern Pacific advan-
ced from 22A in 1897 to 232H in
1906. Forty-six per cent of the
freight traffic and forty-eight per cent
of the passenger traffic of the North
ern Pacific in 1906 originated in the
state of Washington. There were
%, 13O,937 tons of lumber hauled
from this state by the Great Northern
and Northern Pacific roads, 1900 to
1906, inclusive, yielding revenue of
$1o4, 299, $1,000.
Silk pays less freight than lumber
and refined sugar takes 90 cent rate
from San Francisco to New York as
against rate of 80 cents on shingles
from Seattle to the Atlantic coast.
1t has been stated by Mr.. Hill that
so many empty cars are hauled across
the continent for the lumbermen that
rates must be advanced. The Inter
state Commerce Commission states
that the average percentage of empty
cars haul of 46 of the leading railroads
of the United States last year was 1872
per cent as against % per cent on the
Great Northern and 81 per cent on the
Northern Pacific. The State Railroad
Commission of Washington on Feb. II,
1907, issued a statement of the empty
car haul of the Great Northern, North
ern Pacific and the o. R. & N. Co. in
which it was conclusively shown that
no empty cars were hauled across the
country for the lumbermen.
The lumbermen have very strong
case, and are confident of winning out
before the Interstate Commerce Com
mission. 1t will take some time, and
in the meanwhile many mills will have
to close down, thus throwing out OF
employment thousands of men. There
fore it is to the interest of all to en-
deavor to persuade the railroad pres
idents not to put this unwaranted, un-
just and uncalled for advance into
effect