a 
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 124 
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 imsurance records in the cotton-pro- 
ducing States shows that the average insurance rate 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. 
Total | Average 
. : Cost per | Average 
capacity | capacit Total : 
State. Number. ad AG, a are Gost bale insurance 
bales. bales. capacity.) rate. 
_— | | |S | | 
Sigil at a lee eee 64 | 164,700 2,573 | $461,698 $2. 80 $0. 122 
emb@aroline®. Si. - 400. -/.s026.05-.-2 2 73 | 109,950 1,506 | 301,900 2.76 313 
