The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-02-16
FORD COMPLETES
 ANNUAL REPORT
INTERESTING FIGURES SHOWN IN OPERATIONS OF B. R., l.. & F.
 co. DURING THE PAST TWELVE
 MONTHS


 The report of President A H. Ford. of
 the Birmingham Railway Light and
 Power company, which was completed
 yesterday, resumes the work of the com
 pany for the past year and is full of
 valuable information. It contemplates
 an expenditure Of about s500.000 on the property during 1910. lie shows an in
 crease in gross earnings of over per
 cent, and decrease in expenses of over
 , per cent. Here Is the report in full;
 Annual report to the stockholders. l Gentlemen: 1909 proved to be 8 period | Of recovery and adjustment over the pre- l Vlous year, and the business Of your com
 pany increased as compared with 1908. We
 have every reason to expect good re- suits for 1910 as all indications seem to | point to prosperous times.
 l With the final consummatlon of Great
 CT Birmingham, which became effective
 January l, all the towns to which our l lines and service extended have been
 brought within the corporate limits of
 the city except Bessemer. Brighton and
 Jonesboro, ard this consolidation will | simplify our operations to some extent, especially as regards licenses, for there 1 will be but one governing body to deal
 with instead of eight or ten as before
 Our policy of giving tlie public an n-
 sight into the details of this business | trough publications in the daily papers
 and the "Illuminator' has been followed
 for the past two years, and we believe l has accomplished a great deal in the 1 way of establishing more cordial relations l with our patrons. This work will be con- l linued during 1910.
 | Gross earnings in 1909 amounted to $,- l ?s2, ,21S. .69 for the whole property, or an increase over 1908 of s119,SS6.s2. equal to 5.55 per cent It is very gratifying, in- l deed to be able to report in this connec- | ton that expenses show a decrease over l that year of s27 ,9s6, 46 or 2.1S per cent. | The surplus of S343.3l4.26 Is a very sub | stantial gain also. the increase amount | ing to s137, ,O04.1l or 66. 40 per cent. In ad- | iitien to the preferred dividend of s2lo.-
 ooO we are enabled to show an earning of | 3.M per cent cn the common stock out stand 9 per cent on this or $700,o00 was paid individends for 1909, that being
 the first since December 1so6
 | Every department contributed greatly 1 to the above results, the railway showing
 earnings of s1, 527, ,01s. .S6 or an increase of l 45O per cent. while expenses were re- duced by about the same ratio or 4.SS per cent resulting in net earning of E43,- | 772 72 as compared with s5sa, .26 for 1908. | This has been brought about by closest | attention to all details Of operation, and q
 great saving hss been made in the dam | age accounts through the adoption of the platform safety gate and also due to the | efforts of the transportation department 1 in training the car men to be careful, | and to the efficient work of the claim de- | partment.
 l In 1909 damages and legal expenses cost 1 his company sl6O, 790 or 10.5S per cent of
 the railway revenue. This was decrease
 of saS,776 over 1SIS, in which year A. 'Si | ger cent of the earnings were expended | for these accounts Although this show l ing is encours ging. great deal is yet l to be expected, or at least hoped Tor. | While earnings have increased lo436 | per cent in the period from 1902 the dam ege account slows 314.11 per cent gain. | During the year 19o suits were filed against us in the railway department and 1 3s7 disposed of at cos. of $l18,331 leaving | the total number standing on the court
 dockets December 31, 223 and tine amount | claimed S1,779.2O1 as compared with N0 1 at the end of 1908 with SS,l72. 472 claimed
 in damages. Aside from our experience
 in the courts, soc claims were also disposed | of for $33.t0l. With the operation of the gates we
 feel certain that great economy will be effected in the future as our experience for the four months from September to December, the period during which all cars were equipped with this device in dicates that saving of s4O,oOO to $5O.oU per annum will result from their opera ton. after making allowances for all ex- penses chargeable to the gates. The new jury law should also operate to our ultimate good in securing better and more impartial juries to try our cases. In the electric department earning of 354oS34lS an increase Of 7.43 per cent as compared with 1908 are shown This increase may be attributed princi- pally to the additional power and sign load on our lnes as well as to ordinary installations made in the year. there being 6265 horse power in motors con nected December Sl, as compared with i495 in 1908 Forty-one new signs were added, making a total of 80 in service or about 80 per cent increase in revenue from this source. A great many smooth ing irons were put out also; and 1t is probable that the total income would have been greater if it had not been the policy of our company to push the Tung- sten lamp. this illuminant being much cheaper to the consumer and more eff cent in operation than the ordinary car bon lamp. We are unable to estimate just what effect this lamp has had. but great
 
 saving has been considerable 10 our GUS toners.
 The operating expenses in the electric department show an increase of 1927 per cent over 1908. but thls is chiefly attrib- uted to the necessities of the superior service being rendered at the present time and our continued efforts to give our customers the most highly developed facilities possible.
 A decrease of PA, 70 has been possible
 In the power plant operating expenses $20. 600 of which was in fuel account alone This is largely accounted for by the uni form and superior quality of coal being received under the terms of our contract prescribing ash moisture and B. T. U. determination. We have renewed this agreement on satisfactory terms until 1913
 The increase of s.50 per cent in gas depart ment earnings-the 1909 figures be- ing s1S9, ,932 l1is due almost entirely to the concentrated efforts of our soliciting force to build up the load, and the num- Der of stoves. gas arcs. water heaters, etc. connected. shows that their efforts have been successful.
 Operating expenses were 12.07 per cent ahead of the year previous, this being |occasloned hy increase in the fitting and complaint departments due to higher cost of pipe and closer attention being given 10 customers installations, and the ne- cessity of making considerable amount of water gas In the last three months on account of the heavy demand. Steam Heat Results in the steam heat