Las Vegas optic., 1913-08-14

/ complainingly, enduring 100 degrees
temperature superheated with mans
most effective heating plant. Ne
braska state Journal.
) S. P. Losing Money
San Francisco, Aug. 14.-Even
though it is operating S77 suburban
, trains daily out Of the Oakland and
, Alameda moles, and has carried in
the last year about 10 million pas
sengers. the Southern Pacific COM
! pany is losing appropriately three
and quarter million dollars annual
lily on the suburban electric service
in Alameda county, These figures
were made known today from author
itative sources.
1t is said that the total passenger
!revenue for the 12 monrns ending
I, June 80, 1918, was $1,S65 ,7O7. .15, while
the total expense was $4,613,262 leav-
ing a deficit to the company of just
$3,247554.S5.
In the hearing before the California
state railroad commission few days
ago, C. w. Durbrow, an attorney for
the railroad, testified that, without
interest on the 46 million dollars In
veted in the properties, and the taxes
amounting to 54 thousand dollars, the
loss on direct operating expenses
alone was $364,0OO for the year Ad-
ding to this amount the interest, taxes
and other fixed charges, the figures
given above are obtained
The statement is made that In
} these computations 80 per cent of
the items are those exclusively FOR
electric trains and not for steam
trains. On the remaining 10 per cent
only that portion is included which
can properly be allotted to suburban
service.
: The meaning of this loss can be
J better appreciated by talking in terms
Of passengers and miles, For every
, mile the Southern Pacific company
carried a passenger on its ferries and
trains on suburban trips, it received
less than cent while the cost of the
, same service was three times as
great, or something like three and a
sixth cents. That is to say on all of
the 10 million travellers the railroad
] company lost two and a fifth cents
, for every mile it transported each
one of them. Or, again, each passen-
ger, on the average, paid about seven
and fifth cents, regardless of dis
} tance, and yet it cost the carrier "a
and a fraction cents to serve him. On
every one of the 10 million passengers
the company was out little over II
cents for having had him as a Gus
/, toner.
These statistics are taken from the
T actual records of the railroad and
from the same reports as are sub
mitted to the state and federal com
missions. Their being brought to
light in a public way is one of the
beneficial effects of the working of
the public utilities act. The people
and the carrier alike are benefited by
the knowledge of the facts, for each
is entitled to the worth of the dollars
it expends.
The property investment of 46 mil
lion dollars is in accordance with
detailed exhibit already filed with
the state railroad commission Inter
est on it at per cent would be two
million, seven hundred and seventy
two thousand dollars. 1t would thus
seem that the passenger earnings are
actually only one-half of the interest
charges alone, to say nothing of the
cost of managing the business and
of paying the taxes. Six per cent is
taken as the interest rate in order to
be on a conservative basis, although
it is we'll known that in the present
condition of the money market, this
is low Were per cent taken the
loss on the Alameda county lines
would be $4,000 per year greater
than sS.247,OOO.
It is pointed out, further, that the
Southern Pacific equipment at the
present time is new, and that, there
fore the charges for maintenance are
comparatively light. AS it gets older
more will be required to keep up lo-1
comotives and cars.
colonist Rates Effective Soon
Beginning September 25 colonist
rates win be in effect over the Santa
Fe to all points on the Pacific coast.
The fare will be $S8 from Chicago and
| st. Louis and $50 from all points in
Missouri 1t is expected that pas
canoar traffio will he baavv during