New-York tribune., 1921-05-29

burlington has not built expensive ex-
tensions into other roads territory,
rather IT has built branch lines such
as that from Caspar
mere has been no serious interrupt
ten of the development of the terri
tory which the Burlington serves for
instance, during 1920, the oil receIpts
at the rchnerjes amounted to 6,673 car
loads, and the outbound shipments
therefrom to a0.90S carloads. This Is
considerable increase over 1919. and
the production of crude oil is CON
stantly increasing. Picking out illus
trative industries, the best sugar In
dustry has developed rapidly in the
last few years, and in 1920, there was
approximately l0,500 acres Of new beet
sugar acreage served by the Burling-
ton as compared With 1919. On the
McCook, Alliance, Sterling, Sheridan
ana Naspar divisions alone, there were
i'o49 cars OF immigrants household
goods and farm implements delivered
in 1920. and total of 5.e92 families
were located. In Wyoming alone there
were 2,222,3S9 acres of land home
steaded. The Shoshone irrigation pro
Ject is on new line of the Buring-
ton and this is bringing in hundreds
or new settlers yearly In Omaha.
Neo, the development of the cream
er1es has been remarkably rapid. and
the Burlington is getting the best
snare OF this business, which from
the freight point of view consists Of
bringing in cans Of cream.
In the agricultural development of
the country the Burlington is plavjnc
Leading part. Two special apricui,
tural exhibit cars were operated bv
the Burlington, one to stimulate in
crease IN acreage, and improvement of
Qu@Nty OF the potato crop, and the
other TO stimulate better farming in
c"e SemlaNd region. More than 1000
afmers inspected the potato car and
: ~ OF them were supplied with certl-
hed seed, Field tests proved this seed
better than the native seed. The no.
tato acreage is increased about Is ner
cent along the lines of the BURLINGTON
ana over 100000 lbs of improved seed
potatoes We're purchased through ex-
change bulletins.
me success of semi-dry farming de-
pends largely on the knowledge of the
armer and on his selection of seeds
suited to his conditions. The better
farming car, giving special attention to
.nese subjects, visited i13 towns in
!9-V, ana personal letters and advestis-
ny ooohlels were sent to 2,138 persons
VINO had inquired about land.
All of this may seem somewhat far
away from railroads, but Burlincton
officers themselves believe that II 5os ,oe
been just such development work ae
'hls that has made the Burlington one
or the very few roads which could 90
tnfouhg the generally depressed condi-
liohs OF the last year with large mar
gin OF proilt. In other words. the Bur-
lington Is working under the law of in
cTaeSIng returns. Every hundred tons
OF freight developed yields more than
proportional profit, because averaging
down the overhead cost of operating the
property
The Burlington still needs additional
aifoad facltltles. 1t would be proof
tnat 1t mad overdeveloped its PROPERTY
II thus were not the case. but the chief
distinction between the BurIington and
eastern roads is that it is still possihle
10 Sc return on each $1,000, 900 of ex-
pendlture for additions and better
ments, whereas on the Pennsylvania or
baltimore Ohio additions and better
ments are often a necessity to nre-
serve the present investment. and mn
part OF the eXpenditur in the last ten
wears has added appreciabIv to net in
come available for interest charges and
ulFlGeNdS.
The following table shows the results
81 operation OF the property, regardless
OF whether the government or the Dr-
Fate corporation was operating it. and
exclusive of reserve for 1920 and 1ofo
1920 1919
relght revenues $131.G4673e s107 0f97so
Passenger revenue. 26 4GS of5 ~ ~ ~
Total operating
revenues ....- 1E6E-2 rs t5t o1t roo
of way '
and structures 30 263 10t OF dQ7 = 4,
Maintenance Of '''''
equipment ..... 42366q7 90 400 An,
Traffic expenses 175221- of4 -
Transportation ex- ''''
pepSes ........... 51Q1O42 A1Sq a.
General expenses. 519lO42 41Q9S -
operation ratio .. SG32ra - 81
axes -.......-.... S.792,978 S115.S9e |
The balance sheet as of DecembAr
81, 1920, shows $8.171 900 cash On
hand, no notes PAYABLE but S15685 0o0
audited accounts and wages PAYABLE |
! hls last figure indicates that the |
Burlington, like its competitors and !
connections, is holding up inter-com, |
nany settlements for through rates on
treIght and passengers
Taken as a whole. the year 1920 was
probably somewhat of disappoint-
ment to Burlington officers. but com
pared with the showing made by nearly |
all OF the large roads it is rpnoarlably, |