IOWA. 



431 



holders by purchase at foreclosure, consolidation, or 

 through the medium of construction companies ; the 

 amount reported is $215,979,324.81, or $23,237,943.16 

 less than the reported stock and bonds. It is hardly 

 probable that the commissioners will ever be able to 

 arrive at more than an approximation of the cost of 

 the roads. 



The entire earnings for the roads in Iowa 

 are: 



Passenger, mail, and express $8,646,470 83 



Freight and miscellaneous '23,377,495 20 



Total earnings for the year ending June 30, 



1832 ? * 



Total earnings for the year ending June 30, 



1881 



Increase of earnings over previous year 



The total operating expenses returned for the 



Iowa roads for the year 1882 were 



Total operating expenses for 1881 



28,452,181 91 

 3,751,774 12 



20,512,393 05 

 10,788,404 30 



Excess of operating expenses over previous 



year . . $8.728,988 66 



Excess of earnings over previous year 3,571,774 12 



Making the net earnings less than previous 

 year $152,214 54 



The mileage was increased 911 miles, but the 

 net earnings show but a slight increase for so 

 large an increased mileage, the mileage being 

 much greater than any year since the establish- 

 ment of the board. The operating expenses 

 per mile of road were $3,552.64. 



The earnings for these roads for the 11,- 

 739.59 miles reported in 1880 were $64,433,- 

 179.53, or $5,491.23 per mile; the operating 

 expenses for the same year were $35,624,124.- 

 79, or $3,036.51 per mile. The earnings for the 

 14,109.37 miles reported in 1881 were $76,530,- 

 450.99, or $5,083.73 per mile ; the operating 

 expenses were $46,043,845.22, or $3,346.87 

 per mile. The earnings for the 16,544.46 

 miles reported in 1882 were $92,757,206.22, or 

 $5,606.66 per mile; the operating expenses 

 were $58,776,474.53. or $3,552.64 per mile. 



Forty-nine per cent of the entire roads of 

 the State, exclusive of sidings, is steel rail. 

 For the year 1881 there was reported 40 per 

 cent; for the year 1880, 32 per cent; for the 

 year 1879, 27 per cent; for the year 1878, 22 

 per cent. This indicates, what is the fact, that 

 wherever the traffic is heavy, steel rails have 

 been put down. The percentage of steel to 

 iron rails will not increase as rapidly in the fu- 

 ture as it has in the last four years. 



The board finds that the average rate of 

 freight per ton per mile varies from 9 cents 

 on the Crooked Creek road ; 4*24 on the Bur- 

 lington and Northwestern; 3'08 on the Des 

 Moines and Fort Dodge, to 1*60 on the Chicago, 

 Milwaukee and St. Paul; 1*47 on the North- 

 western; 1-24 on the Rock Island; and -96 on 

 the Wabash. The rates are a little higher 

 than last year. 



The total number of persons regularly em- 

 ployed in operating the roads of the State is 

 28,397, the amount paid them for their services 

 is $14,071,612.54, or two and one half millions 

 more than the earnings of the roads of the 

 State above operating expenses and the taxes. 



During the year 165 persons were killed ; of 

 these 7 were passengers, 89 employes, and 69 



others: 5 by derailment, 2 by collisions, 4 

 caught in frogs, 16 coupling cars, 31 falling 

 from train, 19 getting on and off trains, 4 at 

 highway crossings, 41 from miscellaneous 

 causes, 10 stealing rides, 21 while intoxicated, 

 and 33 while trespassing on track. Of this 

 number, 3 were reported as suicides. 



There were 635 persons injured during the 

 year ; 61 were passengers, 502 were employes, 

 and 72 others: by derailment 59, collisions 

 37, caught in frogs 4, coupling cars 182, falling 

 from trains 57, getting on and off trains 56, 

 at highway crossings 10, miscellaneous 192, 

 overhead obstructions 6, stealing rides 8, tres- 

 passing on track 24. 



The report states that one great sonrce of 

 accident, resulting in a very large percentage 

 of injury and death to the railroad employe 1 , is 

 the present method of coupling cars. While 

 we believe the theory is, and most of the time- 

 tables require, the use of the coupling-hook, in 

 practice men go between the cars, and if for 

 any cause the dead-woods of the different cars 

 fail to meet, they are crushed. Others are 

 caught in frogs, the car-wheel catching them 

 before the foot can be removed. In the report 

 for this year, 4 employes were killed, being 

 caught in frogs, and 16 in coupling cars; 4 

 were injured, being caught in frogs, and 82 in 

 coupling cars. 



The following is a classified statement of the 

 tonnage carried during the year : 



Add to this amount an estimated tonnage for 

 the Chicago, Burlington, and Kansas City; the 

 Kansas City, St. Joseph, and Council Bluffs; 

 the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha ; the Min- 

 neapolis and St. Louis; Keokuk and North- 

 western ; the Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific ; 

 and the Fort Madison and Northwestern roads 

 (whose officers were unable to separate their 

 Iowa tonnage), 1,198,427 tons, and we have a 

 total of 10,975,642 ; deducting from this the 

 freight twice reported, that is, the freight deliv- 

 ered to and received from the smaller roads by 

 the trunk lines (as estimated by the commis- 

 sioners), 380.688 tons, and we have the Iowa 

 tonnage as 10,595,184. 



RAILWAY LAND GRANTS. The net amount 

 realized from congressional land grants by the 

 railroad companies to date of report : 



