New-York tribune., 1907-11-22
B. R. rs ORIGIN PR0BED
COZ. WYLLIA1IS or STAND.
TELLS Mr. Trims Of Profits Of Reor-
ganieati0a COMMITTEE.

mt yesterday n thc investigation by the Pubic
Service Commission of tie Brooklyn Rapid
Transit Company. William n. WINS. special
counsel fo- the commission. drew from Colon~!
rirnothy s Williams admissions that the reor-
garfzaton committee which vas consolidating
railroads in Brooklyn IN 1899 and issuing stocks
and bonds in blocks Of millions made nice fat
pronr for Is members froln one transaction. sub
seeuer.tly realizing .aczt of The profit from the
z r = Itself
The Brooklyn Tnicn E'e=2tcd Railway Com,
ran was the concern whose securities We're be
Ing Issued II acquire other roads + ? olcott,
Tarnes T Woodward Charles Parsons Ernst
9rlaI;nar,n and Leonard Lewisohn comprised the
coTrIalttee ~ charge Of operations. To this com
snittec wac issued S1.o6C"oo Of bonds. carrying
.,i.i. them = pre,riunl of 100000 of preferred
stock O., tie Brooklyn Cuiou. The bonds real
izod. Colonel Williams said. about $S00.0oo. The
reorganization corImi,tec, though. did not make
.!le tTJe.oo1 profit ,vc.ch would be indicated by
1f,e face value Ot tho securities. subsequently,
the 3 n I. bought in 100000 Of Brooklyn
Union preferred. with other blocks Of that stock,
81: figure netting fits holders about 81
Mr Ivinss probe yesterday was turned 70 the
complicated organization Of the Brooklyn Rapid
Transit Company He followed through the
consolidation Of company after company into
new concerns which finally merged into the one
Seemingly he was after information which would
enable the commission TO determine whether all
the outstanding securities were legitimate cap
italization- He even went into the cost Of main
tanning the elevated strUctUre-which cost Is
charged 10 the construction accountant tried
20 get some estimate Of what IL would cost 10 re-
place the whole structure If il We're destroyed
Colonel Williams, vice-president OF the COM
pany. whose knowledge Of affairs during the
sS ey-aD ciZ- b20
that Of any other official was on the stand for
the entire length Of the session. save for few
moments at the end, when President Winter
was called Mr. WINS took UP the history Of
the Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad Com
pany. tracing the absorption OF one company
by another until he had the record clear. 1t
began with the Brooklyn Elevated Silent Safety
Railway Company. incorporated in 1874. The
Brooklyn Union with its present lines dates
from 1899. Construction work was begun early
in the 70's but there were various failures so
that the first trains were not run until 1884 or
1888. Colonel Williams did not know whether
the cost Of these failures charged TO the
capital account
The elevated structure. Colonel Williams said.
vas largely the same as the original structure
It is strengthened from time TO time. new bolts
and rivets are put in continually where needed.
With the proper care. went on the vice-presi-
dent. engineers had told him that the structure
would last practically forever. Repairing
not only the replacing Of worn out sections. II
consisted in Strengthening the structure so it
could carry the heavier electric trains which the
traffic demanded. When the steam equipment
was scrapped the money received was credited
TO the construction account Rebuilding of the
cars for the electric service was charged partly
TO construction and partly TO maintenance. In
1897. according to a report Of the Brooklyn
T--foy fba
S26 623 30 0S. and the company had S26000000
stock and bonds outstanding. The Brooklyn
Elevated Railroad Company at the time of its
formation issued for the properties in the ele-
waited system then about S13OO0O00 of bonds,
81 100000 preferred stock and $12.OO0OOO COM
mon stock.
The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company ac-
quired the Brooklyn Union Elevated Railway
Company in 1890. at which time it already
owned the Sea Beach Railway Company and the
Sea View Railroad Company and the Nassau
Electric Railroad Company. Next came the old
Brighton Beach Railroad Company. through the
Sea View Railroad Company: then the Kings
County Elevated Railroad Company. the South
Brooklyn Railway Company and the Canarsle
Railroad Company originally steam surface
road.
Colonel Williams had no idea what the original
cost of construction was. The cost of a double
track elevated structure, he said, varied from
100000 or SJO00O0 10 S20000GO al mile, de-
pending on the conditions of construction and
the amount of damages awarded to property
owners along the route He would not under
take 10 estimate the cost of reconstructing the
Fulton street line, saying that the engineer. Mr..
Menden. should answer that question.
lie did not know how many cars the com
pany had: il was buying new ones all the time
which cost from $1,000 to $4,000 each. Neither
Colonel Williams nor Mr.. Abel. the company's
controller. would attempt 10 answer Mr.. Irvins's
question TO how much IT would cost to replace
the entire road and equipment If destroyed ex-
elusive of damages. Amy work of construction,
they said. along Fulton street. and some of the
other streets. would be vastly more expensive
than twenty years ago. because of changed
business conditions. -
Next the power system was taken UP. All the
power used on the entire Brooklyn Rapid Transit
system, Colonel Williams said came from the
Transit Development Company. Even the
power houses owned by the constituent COM
panies are leased 10 the Development company
The actual cost, car mileage basis plus *
per cent, was charged TO the respective com
panes; the system profted by economy Of
management. All the stock Of the Transit Devel-
opment Company is owned by the Brooklyn
Rapid Transit.
Colonel Williams volunteered an offhand opin-
ion that the actual cost Of reproducing the ele-
waited properties as they stand would be much