New-York tribune., 1908-09-02
B. R. 7. REPORT GOOD
WINTER ON TRANSFERS.
Company's Earnings Equal 4.fo
Per Cent on Capital Stock.

The annual report of the BROOKLYN Kappa
Company for the fiscal year ended June % shows
sbe gross earnings for any year IN the his
torr Of the company, amounting to sls.S1oSe.. an
increase Of s4sse7s over the preceding tweiVe
months Net earnings were Se3oes1. an increase OF
.I5lo5 Total income was ss.6osSll- an increase
OF sIy 7es IS over the preceding year An increase
iu the taxes and nxed charges OF the company,
ssx sal over the preceding year shows a net in
come OF s. on, ,s7s 2s from which is deducted Tor
befterrnents not charged TO construction $zzs''4e'
This leaves a surplus for the year from earnings
of ss44 oea. Depreciation OF securities discount on
hon5s sold etc all amounting 10 s., IA, ,e3S brings
the gross surplus OF the company as on June so to
& ss s5e 90 an increase Of s1e. .453 q over June So
1907 The net surplus equal to 40 per cent
On the company's stock
That the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company is
still spending funds generously in the improve
rent OF the transportation facilities Of the borough
IS shown by the increase in the construction ex-
penditures account. In the fiscal year just closed
ss.z7e $50 03 was expended upon this account. as
compared with s57OS1SS o. spent upon construction
during the preceding year. great portion OF this
increase was due to the purchase Of one hundred
new elevated motor and one hundred closed sur
face cars. which already In service There
were SIS 1s4 e57 passengers In the fiscal year.
an increase Of ss45sSO passengers over the preced-
ing year The average gross earnings a passen-
ger were s67 cents. The average cost passenger
carried was 225 cents, leaving average a pas
seneer net Of 1.42 cents from which must be taken
all changes other than for operation The percent
age of operating earning for the system. in
eluding special appropriations for additions and
better1nents to the property. s1.25 per cent
compared with 6142 per cent for the previous
year The average number OF cars operated daily
for the twelve months ending June 50, 1905. was
a.2as increase Of 52 per cent.
President Winter, in the report, calls attention 10
the large development in power facilities in the
year. the installation Of numerous modern signal
plants and the reconstruction OF the terminals Of
the two East River bridges. He refers to the
cent investigation of the company by the Public
Service Commission, and says 1t is gratifying TO
be assured that the result was altogether favor
able to system by, among other things. impart-
ing 20 the public fuller knowledge Of its opera
tions financial affairs and policy, than would have
been otherwise possible and so clearing away many
false impressions which had become more or less
fixed IN the public mind.
The opening OF the subway. Mr.. Winter says Tor
regular operation between Battery Park and the
terminus st Flatbush and Atlantic avenues has
somewhat affected the revenue Of certain lines
but materially harmful results to the business
Of the company manifested and none are ex-
pected from this addition 10 the lines Of
naunIcatton between Manhattan and Brooklyn In
conclusion Mr. Winter says:
For some years past through mergers, leases
and other forms OF combinations. segregated lines
Observation-Disclosures to tbe very great advantage of
public travel. whatever may be said concerning
the rapidly Increasing demand for more and bet
ter local transportation. and the assumption that
tes b be ,np5e in ffe iTn0roVenent Of ex-
isins facflites and creation Of sui more costly
means of transit. and these vastly enhanced con-
in t5e rate of fare 70 on the cotrary through the
of transfers the average gross return a pas
transportation supplied per capita and the amount
received for II have come bI a5n Gl9se TO
cannot continue without serious results alike TO
private capital is to be the means Of further
transit Development in this city. the investor
and reasonable return thereon The case is
exceptional where this can be given on the pres
ton, amount realized passenger carried
When President Winter was seen at his Office he
discussed IN detail the transfer system from the
point OF view of the company.
''The transfer system is growing evil" he said
'The principle involved is to take passengers from
any point lines to any other point for one
fare and with the of two transfers. We en-
deaTor to hold the passengers TO this. To carry
out the plan, the passengers are supposed to take
the most direct route. There always many who
do not wish TO by the most direct route. They
start out with three or four errands TO perform.
Taking circuitous route, they stop of at the IN
tersecions of the lines and attend their business
and then continue their journey. all on one fare
Likely enough they return TO the point from which
they started, for lines intersect one another
that making loop Of this sort is simple enough
sn many parts Of town.
For instance. passenger has errand to per-
form at NostraEd avenue and Fulton street. He is
in Manhattan. lie takes Fulton street car and
gets a transfer. At Nostrand avenue he gets off
attends 10 his business. boards Nostrand avenue
and gets transfer TO Gates avenue. At Gates
he takes car bound for Manhattan and re-
turns TO that borough, all fare. Many OF
the shoppers do the thing. They take a car
that will carry them to the shopping districts and
get transfer TO another line that will take them
home without payment Of another fare when their
shopping is done. 1t is safe to say that a large
part Of the traffic can loop back to the starting