Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-04-27
Big Industrial Corporation Has
Helped to Develop Island
Prosperity

Oahu has railroad. but it does
not start nowhere and end up a tree
as a certain scribe once credited it
with doing This is according to Wal
ter r. Dillingham;, treasurer of the
Oahu Railway L. Land Company
whose talk on the history of the com
pany since its organization more than
% years ago was feature of the
AID Club luncheon recently.
Mr.. Dillingham; was one of the speak
ers at the Ad Clubs Oahu Day.
The other speakers told OF the various
places about the island which are of
especial interest to both tourist and
kamaaina. Mr. Dillingham;, in telling
how to get there" summarized the
history of the railroad. F1ecked with
humor here and there, it was talk
which at once impressed the listener
with what is being done on Oahu to
keep ahead in the big things in COM
mercial and Industrial life.
1t was more thai 25 years ago when
the railroad was first started. Twenty
years ago it boosted of % IL miles
of road; that was when it was de-
day the company maintains 121 miles
of road which, as Mr.. Dillingham; put
it, connects Honolulu with the out
side world"-the Marconi wireless sta
ton at Kahuku.
The road spans in time the islands
sugar development of from 5000 tons
to the now annual crop of approx
mately 125, 200 tons. The same scribe
who said the road started nowhere and
ended up tree, also said at that time
that, as freight, it carried an occasion
al bunch of bananas or bag of rice.
That may have been all right then,
said Mr.. Dillingham;. However. today
the company thinks nothing of freight
ing 10000 tons of pineapples a sea
sen.
Taxes on property from Eva to Ia
huku, inclusive. at the time the rail
road was started amounted to $685.
$50. 6S. In 1914 the taxes on the same
properties amounted to 100000. This
is one example of how the land along
the line has increased in value in the
past 20 years. Mr.. Dillingham; explain
ed. The railroad paid $SI, 324.OS inI
taxes in 1914. which means that every
two years the company pays back to
the government the amount of the sub.
sidy paid the railroad, which was
$196.9S0.
The capital of the road 20 years ago
was $2,O00,000. Today it is SS,O00,000.
The gross earnings then were 100000
and now they are $1,300000; the
freight earnings were SAB 900. and to-
day they are $4,000: the passenger
earnings were $4,000 and now they
are 100000. Twenty years ago freight
tonnage amounted to $4,000 and in
1914 this had increased to 100000.
thousand passengers
were carried yearly then, while in 1914
10000 persons patronized the cars.
Passengers carried one mile were 907.
900 20 years ago In 1914 they amount
ed to 15,435,000.
The passenger rates of the company
show less than 2 cents a mile, said
Mr.. Dillingham;. This is lower than
the average rate on the mainland. Mr..
Dillingham; added that since the start
Of the pineapple industry the branch
lines built for the development of the
pineapple business has practically
doubled the company's total mileage
OF 20 years ago.
In explaining the reason why the :
has equipped it's lines with |
narrow gauge-three feet-track. he |
said that this was to work in coopera. |
ton with the plantations, all of which |
have built their own railways on the =,
narrow gauge plan. This enables the !
to ship a car of merchandise
to one of the plantations and shunt
it off on one Of the plantation sid
ings, from where it then may be, taken
% that part of the plantation for which