COTTON WAREHOUSES. 



21 



the same length of time at $1,000,000, or 25 cents on the $100 per 

 annum. It seems a radical statement, but it will be seen that if 

 every warehouse now in existence were destroyed and new ones 

 constructed to protect the entire crop, the expenditure of the 

 $64,000,000 would effect an annual saving of $7,000,000, assuming 

 that all the cotton would be stored for a period of six months. This 

 saving of $7,000,000 would represent a fair income on twice the cost 

 of the warehouses. 



This is a rather remarkable showing, but if we would profit by the 

 experience of the cotton mills and adopt their methods this saving 

 could be greatly increased. At the cost of constructing the present 

 cotton-mill warehouses (Table X), it would be possible to erect build- 

 ings to store the 16,000,000 bales of cotton at a cost of $44,800,000. 

 This would represent a saving in cost of construction of $19,200,000 

 over the assumed cost. It will be seen further from Table X that 

 the mills in many instances pay an insurance rate of less than 12 J 

 cents on $100. On this basis the 16,000,000 bales of cotton valued 

 at $50 per bale could be stored for six months for $500,000. The 

 figures show that it would be possible to make a saving of $7,500,000 

 per annum by the investment of approximately $45,000,000 for 

 standard and properly equipped warehouses. 



INSURANCE RATES. 



A careful examination of the insurance records in the cotton-pro- 

 ducing States shows that the average insurance ra'te is about 3 per 

 cent per annum, including all cotton risks. These investigations 

 show clearly that the average rate on cotton in the present ware- 

 houses is not less than 2 per cent per annum, and if cotton in com- 

 press sheds, terminal yards, and various other hazardous places is 

 included, it would seem that an estimate of 3 per cent is not too 

 high. It is therefore safe to use 2 per cent as the basis of . the esti- 

 mates in the preceding paragraphs. Table VIII shows that a large 

 number of brick warehouses in Georgia and North Carolina pay 

 approximately 2 per cent and that the buildings constructed of 

 wood, corrugated iron, concrete, and stone pay a much higher rate, 

 and the cost of construction is also very high for most of these types. 



Table X. — Comparative cost, storage capacity, insurance rates, and other data concerning 

 cotton-mill warehouses with automatic sprinklers. 



State. 



Number. 



Total 



capacity 



in flat 



bales. 



Average 



capacity 



in flat 



bales. 



Total 

 cost. 



Cost per 



bale 

 capacity. 



Average 



insurance 



rate. 





64 

 73 



164, 700 

 109,950 



2,573 

 1,506 



$461, 698 

 301,900 



$2.80 

 2.76 



SO. 122 





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