Fergus County Democrat., 1916-03-23
RAILROAD WORK
IN THIS STATE
MUCH MONEY TO BE SPENT IN
MONTANA IN GENERAL CON-
STRUCTlON WORK.
ThE BIG LINES ARE PR0spER|NC

mat the Dig TdllTOduS are eIiJOylHS ,
prosperity and that the new work |
planned in Montana for this year
means heavy development and many |
improvements. as well as the con-
struction OF some new trackage is in
dieated by the following article from
the Butte Sunday Miner:
Counting the continuation of the
electrificationof the Milwaukee rail |
road and the new Milwaukee depot |
that Butte lis 10 have, it can be said
that the present year will see more
money spent in Montana by the rail
roads traversing the state, develop
ment and construction work. than has
been done in many years.
"All the big roads i'll Montana are
prosperous and all are doing more
or less expansion.
In Northern Montana.
"The Great Northern and Chicago,
Milwaukee & st. Paul railroads will
do considerable construction work in
Montana this season. The ST. Paul
will lay the track on the roadbed it
has had graded for two years into
Choteau and Agawam. distance Of
more than 70 miles. This work will
start just as soon as the weather per-
mitS.
"But the most important develop
ment, as far as the st. Paul road is
concerned, will be the construction
east of Lewistown in the country east
Of. Grass Range. There is no longer
any doubt about the plans Of the COM
pany to complete its line east OF Lew
49, %l,r s,f Ni,,
nett, during the coming summer.
large agricultural section will be
served by this line, which was planned
two years ago, but was deferred be-
cause of the money market depression
Incidental to the opening Of the Eu-
ropean war.
"Singularly enough, the Great North
ern has it's line surveyed through the
same section, and for a distance Of
several miles both east and west nf
the town of Winnett, the roads are
parallel and but few rods apart
'Traffice has been heavier on the
Chicago, Milwaukee & st. Paul rail
,oad the past month than at any time
in the history Of the Puget Sound ex-
tension. Large quantities Of lumber
disc and other commodities are mov-
ing west. The local car department
has been working overtime to keep
cars In repair and the loads moving,
\ "a special Chicago, Milwaukee &
St. Paul train over half a mile in
length passed through Butte day or
two ago 1t consisted OF 81 cars con-
tanning It's automobiles en- route from
a factory ia Michigan to Seattle,
Wash The consignment was valued
at over $250000
'There are now four huge freight
motors in service on the ST. Paul be-
tween Three Forks and Deer Lodge
and two more are on their way west.
The first motor for passenger service
will be put to work in a few days.
The passenger motors are geared to
aspeed of rs to so miles an hour, max
imum. 1t is expected that one will
be delivered every two week until the
entire number is received.
The Northern Pacific.
Northern Pacific upset precedent
hy covering it's dividend in January
with something to spare. The month
is usually deficiency" month, and
seldom are earnings large enough to
meet monthly proportion of dividends
January, February and March, nor.
mally, are the worst months of the
fiscal year, and the management or
dinarily expects little or nothing add
ed to surplus account in that quarter
"In January surplus after dividends
was $17l, ,7S9, compared with deficit
of $S7O,857 for the same month last
year. Operating conditions are not
nearly as favorable in first month O
the calendar year as in months JUS
preceding. Heavy SHOWS blocked op
erations at many points, and this con
dition continued into February. Tht
last part Of February showed traf
fic recovery, and loading for TIL,
month will probably be 5 per cent
ahead of last year.
AT the end of January, surplus avail
able for dividends was $16,3S0,550, 0
within a million of the whole year
requirements. In crease over las
year for the same period was $5,8O7
9S5, in itself equal to about 2A pc
cent. on the $248,OOO, 900 stock.
"Another feature OF Northern Pa
cities year is that gross income az
plicable to interest and dividend
shows larger increase than the gal
in gross earnings. The followin
table gives this:
Seven mos. 1916. 1915.
Gross rev. ...$44, ,s57,355 $39.606. Al
Oper. exp. .......-.. 22,598,7S4 2S.1S4,0 ,09
Gross income - q 1,592,10S 15,793,2s
'In the seven months, Northern P
cific spent $1,266.o0O less on maintel
aace Of way and of equipment tina
last year, the bulk of the reduction o
curing in equipment account.
spite CT large gain in gross revenu
transportation costs were only $40
OO0 higher than last year, and tn
small change was due to an increa