The Washington herald., 1907-10-18
Running Our Railroads.
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

The railroads Of the country give en-
ployment 10 1500.Oo0 people. the force hav-
ing doubled in five years II the freight
engines and cars We're put into one big
train 1t would be about nine thousand
miles long, carrying one-half OF the
freight Of the entire world. and the pas
senger equipment would add another 800
miles 20 its length There were nearly
50O00,OO carloads Of stuff hauled last
year or some eighteen tons for every
person IN the country.
Il is estimated that ''hoboes' cost the
railroads S25.0p0O09 a year. The roads are
adopting vigorous measures 70 get rid OF
them. They are begging the cities and
towns along their lines not TO continue
20 give tTamps the "get-Out-Of-town-oT
gO-to-jail" notice any more but 10 throw
them behind the bars on sight The roads
are asking their cooperation IN an effort
TO put down the tramp nuisance. Not all
the hoboes are patrons OF the 'slde-door
PulImans" Many Of them prefer the
blind baggage or the brake rods Of the
passenger trains. More tramps than pas
sengers are annually killed on the rail-
roads.
The housekeeping expenses Of a big
road are something enormous. In one
year the Santa Fe. for Instance. uses
three tons of pins. fifty barrels OF ink,
and 500 miles Of lead pencils. and sells
over q million bottles Of soft drinks
year on its lines. The Pennsylvania Rail
faad annually pays out some $l5.eJ9 for
the chewing gum it puts IN the slot ma
chimes IN its stations. And though this
road spends 5000 without kissing II
good bye. IL yet saves the waste pins.
waste pens, waste papers, old mops, old
rags. and old bottles, with a care that
would be called miserly IN the average
man. It realizes nearly $10,c9o a year out
Of its waste paper alone.
Another heavy item Of expense is the
printing Of time tables. Four million of
these were given away in New York City
alone in 1855. There are associations
which do nothing but look after the dis
tribution OF time tables. Every hotel
and other public place where travellers
congregate are kept supplied. a few
years ago two men were discussing the
fSberian railroad in Russia, at dinner IN
4 New York hotel One bet the other the
price of the dinner that there was not
a time table Of that road % be found in
the hotel A boy was sent 20 see, and in
a few minutes came back with the
pamphlet.
The first regular time table ever issued
was by the Richmond, Fredericksburg
and Potomac Railroad. In 1895. Copies OF
this time table are now in the Field
Museum, at Chicago.
An analysis Of the last report Of the
Interstate Commerce Commission shows
that freight rates are 10 per cent lower
in the South than they are in the North.
Taking the railroads Of those states north
Of the Ohio and the Potomac and east
Of the western boundary Of Indiana as
one group, and those south OF these two
rivers and west of the Mississippi as
another, it is found that the rate per
ton per mile in the South Is only 80 per
cent of the rate In the North. The roads
of the South get only s. per cent as much
for operating a passenger train one mile
as the Northern roads, and only ~ per
cent as much for operating their freight
trains per mile. These figures apply to a
period Just antedating the reduction Of
rates that has been made by State legis-
lation.
In the Northern group q per cent of
the capital stock paid no dividends, while
Al De. cent of the stock of the Southern
roads paid none. The dividends Of the
Northern roads averaged 40 per cent
while those of the roads or the South
averaged 235 per cent The capitaliza-
a.. 10 of Hn god
So. AS per mile, and Of the roads OF the
South S4S.5O4 per mile Counting each mile
Of second, third, and fourth track as a
mile Of line, the capitalization in the
Northern group per mile Of line was ST.
7a4. as compared with $47.572 for the roads
Of the South.
The Southern roads carried only 81 per
cent as many passengers one mile per mile
of line as those Of the North. The roads
Of the Southern group carried only 81 per
cent as much freight one mile per mile of
line as those of the North. In both in
stances each mile OF second. third. and
fourth track being counted as a mile OF
line. On the same basis the gross earn
ings of the roads Of the South were only
IS per cent as much per mile OF line as
those Of the roads Of the North, and the
total income was only IS per cent as
much. On the same basis the net income
Of the Southern group was only IS per
cent as much per mile Of line as that OF
the roads OF the North.
It is estimated that prior to the anti
pass order Of the Pennsylvania Railroad,
20 per cent Of the passenger traffic Of the
United States was carried on passes. On
this basis some I50, ,0OO0 900 free rides were
had at the expense OF the railroads dur
ing a single year Aside from a few
railroads, there has been
no disT -sltion whatever to get around
the ant-pass law. The 2-cent law in
Virginia has caused one railroad to dou-
bic its passenger eQuipment-the Virginia