The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-08-31
[. & A. RAILROAD IN HANDS OF RECEIVER
 RESULT OF STRIKE.
Earnings of Company Fall 0ff-0peration of Trains of the Road Will Not Be
 Affected
By Associated Press


 Chicago, August 30.-The Chicago and Alton railroad was placed in the hands of receivers in federal court today by Judge Carpenter. w. G. Bierd, president, and w. w. Vince lock, an attorney, were named as the receivers.
 According to a statement by Silas II. Strawn, appointed counsel of the receivers, the receivership was pre- cipitated principally by the great falling off in the earnings of the company due to the coal strike and by the extra expenses dIe to the shopmen's strike.
 The suit. resulting in the receiver ship was filed by tine Texas company of New York and Chicago, a cred itor with a claim of about $52,000 At the offices of MT. Strawn, 1t was stated the receiyership will not in any way change the operation of the roads trains.
 Admit Insolvency.
 Mir. Strawn said the board of direc- tors of the road, meeting in New York today, admitted the roads in- solvency. The total indebtedness. 1t was estimated, will amount to about sl4. 100000. What the assets total Is at this juncture impossible to say. Mir. Strawn said.
 "The Chicago and Alton Railroad company has for several years been unable to meet all of the interest on it's six per cent general mort gage bonds." Mir. Strawn's statement said, but the holders of these bonds have permitted the interest to remain unpaid in the hope that general rail-. road conditions would adjust them- selves in such a way as to restore the property to an assured and req sonable prosperity.
 Until the coal strike commenced April 1, gross earnings of the Chicago and Alton were very good, but, like all. other railroads, it has been suf- fering from excessive and unreasona- ble operating costs both in wages and materials. especially fuel, and steadily mounting tax burdens. The directors, however, have been hope- full that these conditions would soon approach more nearly to normal or would, in part at least. be met by offsetting factors of a helpful char acter. But such excessive costs bear | particularly heavy on short railroads | with expensive terminals such as the Alton which operates q little oyer | 1000 miles and terminates in Chi cago St. Louis and Kansas City with an average freight haul of only 1855 miles and average passenger haul of only 65 miles.
 | Strike Troubles. The receivership at the present time, however, was precipitated by the great falling off in earnings due | to the coal strike and also to the | further long continued and extra ex- penses due to the shopmen's strike. | The companys normal coal traffic is l heavy and practically all mines on it's line have been closed since April |, thus entailing heavy loss in revenue and at the same time it has been com- 1 pelled to buy much of it's fuel coal l from southern fields. which, with ad- | ded freight charges paid foreign | lines. cost 1t two or three times the former price. Through these con- curing losses in revenue and un- usual expenses the company has fallen behind. exhausted it's current resources and it is not able to con- tinue operations without accumulat- Ing large floating debt which the directors did not feel justified to incur and probably could not have incurred"