The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-02-19

lrga have been old ny those sSlss
hold the stock that they had been paaa
good dividends annually. and had ais
been given certificates 81 tndsbx%dnsSs
and adI1ional shares Of stock without
the nf anything therefor
without Further information. there
fore. than that offered by the repcrts
IN IN. North Carolina Corporation
Commission. that the passenger earn
lngs are more than si.5ae per mile 81
ROAD operated by the Atlantic dsaSi
Line Railroad Company and the state
rnents of stockholders and the refGsal
Of his company IN civ any informa-
ton with respect to its business. am
particularly it's refusal 10 give infor-
nation as To what Items GO 10 make
up its operating expsnsr account ana
give US an opportunity 10 purge 1t. u
i safe 10 assume that two cents pc.
mile will be just IN this company
The southern Railway Company car
stand q two cent rate even better. \
few figures from the report Of this
company to the North Carolina COR
y.oration Commission Will be interest
ing;
The Southern Railway Company re-
ports passenger earnings ~$l,s2s.af
per mile for its lines of road in the
state of North Carolina for the fiscal
year ending June 30th. 1906.
It's passenger earnings per train mile
OH / 'N41 t4Gif(s - ~AA| "a
Cannon. president OF the Norfolk and
Southern. in his statement before the
committee undertook 70 show that
earnings per train mile. of 800 was
necessary 10 prevent loss. If ne was
correct in that statement, then there
Is net earnings or more Than 10 per
cent net on passenger earnings by the
Southern Railway Company, on lis
owned lines.
The passenger earnings, per train
mile is not. however, a safe method
OF determining the income of a ratl-
road company. The Norfolk
Southern showed an income from
passengers Of but Al cents per train
nile. and when Mr.. Cannon was ask
ed whether his trains ran at a loss
o. 80 cents per train mile, he stated
ttiat they did not. and explained the
small return by showing that many
freight trains on his lines carried pas
sengers, and were accounted passen-
ser trains and credited with the re-
ceipts from the few passengers who
travelled in the caboose of the freight
rains
1t is very difficult, without cross
examination of the railroad authori-
ties who make the reports. to get The
information that is necessary to fix
passenger and freight rates, because
II this. the operating expense &C.
count, and the account for mainten-
dnce Oh equipment anu ways - nol
purged Of imprOper, items.
This is illustrated by an examina-
lion II the report of the North caro-
lima Railroad Company. The pa
senger earnings per mile Of road OPP
Grated by this company are s6,032.25.
The passenger earnings per train mile
f are S1.5e IA.
While according to the report. this
is one Of the most profitable pieces OF
road operated by the Southern Rail
way Company, still there are strong
reasons for believing that the expens,
account is improperly loaded. y
few items will illustrate this. For
instance there is charged for repairs
of road way" S215,501. 80.
Renewals Of ties" $48,319.95.
Repairs and renewals of building:
and fixtures" s39,447.88.
Repairs and renewals of locomo-
tives," ~$200,2S3.50.
Repairs and renewals of freight
cars" $231.O6S.32.
Engine and round house men
$21.413.17.
'.Fue for locomotives S~2S8.OS6.50
"StatiOn service" $117,643.66.
h total for maintenance Of way
and structures charged is $344,991.GS
The total for maintenance of equip
ment is $517,458.98.
The total for conducting transpor-
tation is s1,61S,676.5O
The total of general expenses is
S~119.922.23.
The total taxes is ~ss7,6O5.s6, making
a grand total of $2,668,656.25.
1T may we'll, and with justice, be
suspected that the total Of $500, 2S3.5t
for renewals of locomotives, lnC
$231,O6S.32 for renewals of freight
cars is for the renewals of the car:
and locomotives that run over the di.
visions of which parts of the NOrtf
Carolina Railroad are parts, and ar.
unjustly charged up to the Nortf
Carolina road.
The questions ~propounded to tn,
Southern Railway Company by til,
House m on Public Service
Corporation. would have developed
this fact if they had been answered
We hear much talk about the larg'
sums OF money railroads spend, ii
their efforts to keep abreast with tn.
Industrial development of the country
The question of the figures withou
an itemized statement of the purpose.
OF the expenditures is very misleading
The Southern Railway Company':
Financial Methods.
An article in the Wall Street Journa
of Tuesday morning, January %, 1907
illustrates this. The article is upo
the subjecc of the Southern Railway
n the point made is that the effor,s
of this company have been 20 secuft
additional railroad properties, Whlcl
> are often run down in physical con
d1uOn, When these acquisitions We're u
little strategic value, but would nav
been of great value to other raiiroa'
/ systems, and that the southern ha
bought them up in order TO acqdtrS
a monopoly. and We're coihpellei y
pay a high price for these propert,ea
J and that there was but sllght coihptfi
s sation for their ownership.
, These roads so acquired should haT,
| had no attractions for the southern
Railway Company, doing business Niti
Insufficient trackage facilities in tn,
: territory already covered by it.
/ If he Southern Railway Compan.
had expended its energies in doUbl