Εικόνες σελίδας
PDF
Ηλεκτρ. έκδοση

The statistics are classified into ten districts or territorial groups. The necessity for this classification into groups shown by the map facing the title page of this report arose from the great diversity in the conditions under which railways are operated in various parts of the country. The following table taken from the report shows how various are these conditions:

COMPARATIVE SUMMARY OF TEMS, Y Groups.

[blocks in formation]

The railway mileage of the United States for the year ending June 30, 1890, was 163,597.05 miles, and the increase in railway mileage brought into operation was 5,838.22. The total length of track, including all tracks, sidings and spurs, was 208,612.55 miles. The largest increase in operated mileage is to be found in Group V; that is to say, in the States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. These States show an increase in operated mileage of 1,370.32 miles during the year.

The number of railway corporations on June 30, 1890, was 1,797. Of these 87 are classed as private roads, the total operated mileage of

which is 812 miles, and 48 are roads not in operation. Of the 1,710 corporations doing a public business, 927 are operating companies and 735 are companies whose line is leased to other companies for the purpose of operation. Twenty-two companies, representing a mileage of 1,646.10 miles, have been reorganized during the year; 34, representing a mileage of 1,905.87 miles, have merged their corporate existence into other corporations, and 50 companies, representing a mileage of 6,196.04, have been consolidated with other companies. Thus, 84 companies, representing a total mileage of 8,101.91 miles of line, have disappeared during the year as independent companies.

A classification of railways, according to the gross revenue, shows that 75 companies realize a gross income of $846,888,000, which is equal to about 80 per cent of the total income received by all the railways of the United States. Classification, according to length of line operated, shows that 40 corporations operated 77,872.63 miles of line, which is equivalent to 47.51 per cent of the total mileage in the United States.

The total number of locomotives in the United States is 29,928, of which 8,384 are passenger locomotives and 16,140 are freight locomotives. This shows 5 passenger locomotives and 10 freight locomotives for each 100 miles of operated line. The number of cars used by the railways of the United States is 1,164,188, of which 26,511 are in the passenger service. The number of cars per 100 miles of line is 744.

The average number of tons of freight carried 1 mile per freight engine is 4,721,626 and the average number of passengers carried 1 mile per passenger engine is 1,413,142. A larger proportion of equipment is to be found in the Middle and New England States than in other parts of the country; thus, in the New England States, Group I, there are 28 locomotives per 100 miles of line; in the Middle States, Group II, 46 locomotives per 100 miles of line, while in the States west of the Mississippi the number does not exceed 15 locomotives per 100 miles of line. The number of locomotives fitted with train brake is 20,162; the number fitted with automatic couplers is 955. The number of cars fitted with train brake is 128,241; the number fitted with automatic couplers is 114,364. The increase in the number of train brakes on locomotives during the year was 2,167, while the increase in the number of automatic couplers on locomotives during the year was 733. When it is noticed that the total increase in the number of locomotives during the year was 892, these figures disclose a satisfactory tendency toward a more general use of safety appliances on locomotives. The increase in the number of train brakes on cars during the year was 18,077, and the increase in the number of automatic couplers on cars was 33,854. The total increase in cars, however, during the same period was 95,633, from which it appears that by far the larger proportion of new cars built were not furnished with the safety appliances in question. These facts are pertinent when taken in connection with the statistics of railway accidents.

The total number of men employed on railways during the year was 749,301, being an increase of 44,558 over the number employed during the year ending June 30, 1889. The average number of men employed per 100 miles of line on all roads in the United States is 479. In New England, Group I, the average number per 100 miles of line is 716; in the Middle States, Group II, the number per 100 miles of line is 1,167; in the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and part of West Virginia, Group IV, it is 379; in various sections of the Western States the number ranges from 250 to 359. These figures indicate a higher density of traffic in the Eastern and Middle States than in other parts of the country.

The number of miles of line forming the basis of these statistics is 156,404.06. This mileage is represented by railway capital to the amount of $9,437,353,372 or $60,340, per mile of line. Assuming that the mileage for which no reports pertaining to capital have been received is capitalized at the same rate, the total capitalization of railways in the United States would be $9,871,378,389. The greatest difference may be observed in the capitalization of railways in various parts of the country. Thus, New England railways are capitalized at $50,834 per mile of line; the railways in the Middle States at the rate of $117,902 per mile of line; the railways of the two Southern groups of States, that is, Groups IV and V, at the rate of $47,434 and $46,775 per mile of line respectively; the railways lying west of the Missouri and of the Lower Mississippi rivers are capitalized at about $50,000 per mile of line, with the exception of the States bordering on the Pacific, which are capitalized at $87,104 per mile of line.

An instructive comparison with the actual capitalization of railways is permitted by the table in the report showing the valuation of railway property computed on the basis of the amount of money which the property has actually earned for its owners during the year ending June 30, 1890. If interest payments, and final net earnings available for dividends be capitalized at 5 per cent, it appears that, regarded as a 5 per cent investment, the value of railway property in the United States, judged from the operations of the year ending June 30, 1890, was $6,627,461,140, which is equivalent to $42,374 per mile of line. In the New England States, Group I, the value of railway property, considered as an investment, exceeds its capitalization, it being $57,867 per mile of line; in the Middle States, Group II, the value of railway property is $109,741 per mile of line, a sum slightly less than the actual capitalization; in all other parts of the country the valuation of railway property on the basis of actual earnings falls below the actual capitalization. In Group X, for example, where the capitalization is $87,104 per mile of line, the valuation is but $22,672 per mile of line.

The total amount of stock issued on railways in the United States is $4,409,658,485, of which $2,811,526,552, or 63.76 per cent paid no dividend. In the New England States 24.58 per cent of stock paid no divi

dend; in the Middle States 47.27 per cent of stock paid no dividend; in Group IX, which comprises Louisiana, the greater part of Texas, and part of New Mexico, 99.99 per cent of stock paid no dividend; and in Group X, which comprises the States bordering on the Pacific Ocean and certain States and Territories adjacent, 83.54 per cent of stock paid no dividend.

The number of passengers carried by the railways of the United States during the year was 492,430,865, the passenger mileage for this period being 11,847,785,617 miles. This shows an average journey of of 24.06 miles per passenger. The passenger train mileage for the same period was 285,575,804, showing the average number of passengers carried in a train to be 41.

The number of tons of freight carried by the railways of the United States for the period covered by the report was 636,541,617; the number of tons carried 1 mile was 76,207,047,298, This shows the average haul per ton to have been 119.72 miles. Freight train mileage for the same period was 435,170,812 miles, showing the average number of tons in train to have been 175.12. The average number of passengers carried 1 mile per mile of line on all railways in the country was 75,751, and the average number of tons of freight carried 1 mile per mile of line was 487,245. These figures are significant as measuring the density of passenger and freight traffic. If the corresponding figures were given for each of the groups into which the country is divided, it would show the greatest diversity in the density of traffic. In the New England States, for example, the average number of passengers carried 1 mile per mile of line was 233,530, and in the Middle States it was 183,121. In Group IX, on the other hand, the average number of passengers carried 1 mile per mile of line was 33,561 and in Group VIII it was 37,027. Nothing could indicate better the difference in the conditions under which railways are operated. In freight traffic the divergence is even more marked. Thus, in the Middle States, Group II, the number of tons of freight carried 1 mile per mile of line was 1,348,107, and in Group III, that is to say, in the States of Ohio, Indiana, and the lower peninsula of Michigan, which stands next to the Middle States in density of freight traffic, the number of tons of freight carried 1 mile per mile of line was 793,763. The corresponding figure for railways on the Pacific Slope is 191,806, and in Group VIII, which comprises chiefly the States of Kansas, Southern Colorado, Southern Missouri, and Arkansas, the number of tons of freight carried 1 mile per mile of line was 243,753.

The average receipts per passenger per mile for all railways in the United States was 2.167 cents; the average cost of carrying 1 passenger 1 mile was 1.917 cents. The average receipts for carrying 1 ton of freight 1 mile was .941 cent; the cost of carrying 1 ton of freight 1 mile was .604 cent. The average revenue per train mile on passenger trains on all railways in the United States, was $1.08.041; the average cost

per mile of line of running passenger trains was .80.984 cents. The average revenue from a freight train running 1 mile was $1.65.434; the average cost of running a freight train 1 mile was $1.05.711. These figures indicate the margin from which railways must secure their profit in the business of transporting passengers and freight.

There is a marked difference in the rate of traffic receipts in the various groups into which the country is divided. The lowest rate per ton per mile is in Group III, that is to say, in the group comprising the States of Ohio, Indiana, and lower peninsula of Michigan, it being .695 cent; the highest rate per ton per mile is found in the railways of the Pacific Slope, it being 1.651 cents. The lowest rate per passenger per mile is found in the New England States, it being 1.912 cents; the highest rate for passengers is found in Group IX, comprising Louisiana, the greater part of Texas, and part of New Mexico, it being 2.583 cents per passenger per mile.

The statistics of accidents show in what portions of the country railway traffic is relatively more dangerous. The total number of persons reported as killed during the year was 6,334, and the total number reported as injured was 29,025. Of the total number reported as killed 2,451 were employés, 286 were passengers, and 3,597 were classed as "other persons." Of the total number reported as injured 22,394 were employés, 2,425 were passengers, and 4,206 were classed as "other persons." Among employés one death occurred for every 306 men employed, and one injury for every 33 men employed. The largest number of casualties occurred to men engaged directly in handling trains; thus, while trainmen represent but 20 per cent of the total number of employés, the casualties sustained by them account for 58 per cent of total casualties. The most common accident to which railway employés are liable arises from coupling and uncoupling cars, the total number of casualties due to this source being 8,211, of which 369 were fatal. - The figures further show that one passenger is killed for every 1,727,789 passengers carried, or for every 41,425,823 passenger miles accomplished.

In assigning accidents to territory, the country is divided into three divisions, the first comprising the territory north of the Ohio and Potomac rivers and east of Illinois and Lake Michigan, the second the territory south of the Ohio and the Potomac rivers and east of the Lower Mississippi, and the third comprising the territory west of Lake Michigan, Indiana, and the Lower Mississippi River. A comparison of the liability to accidents in these divisions shows the greatest danger from railway traffic in the second division, and the least danger in the first division named. Thus, in the first division 1 passenger was killed for every 2,519,851 passengers carried, or for every 47,037,067 passenger miles accomplished, while in the second division 1 passenger was killed for every 838,555, or for every 31,021,814 passenger miles accomplished. In the first division 1 employé was killed for every 290 men employed, or 1 trainman for every 107 men employed; while in

« ΠροηγούμενηΣυνέχεια »