Proceedings of the ... annual meeting of the stockholders of the Atlantic & North Carolina R.R. Co. |
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PRESIDENT'S REPORT. New Bern, N. C, Sept. 27th, 1900. To the Stockholders of the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Go. Gentlemen:—We beg- to submit for your consideration this, the 46th Annual Report of your Company. When we assumed control of your property on the 28th day of September, 1899, just one year ago to-morrow, we were under the impression, judging- from the amount of traffic there was passing over its line and the dividends it was paying from what was sup-posed to be its surplus earnings, that its road-bed, bridges, ware-houses, etc., while not in first-class order, were in such condition as to render.the travel and traffic over its track at least safe and to afford protection from the weather for both goods and Wdres offered it for transportation. But deeming it the part of wisdom to ascertain its real state, it was determed to have it thoroughly examined from one terminus to the other. To that end an engineer was. -._ '^ed to inspect it. . '~9*' A few da3Ts after his report was submitted, wishing- to verify the same on the of October, in companj' with the Road Waster we began an 'examination of it in detail, and found that the report, while showing the Road in poor physical condition had dealt principally in generalities, and failed, therefore, to furnish much information that was necessary to a correct understanding of the condition of the property. Beginning at Goldsboro we found the warehouse at that point in very fair order, but needing repairs, and the raising- of its floor and platforms necessary for the convenient and expeditious handling of freights. We also found it entirely too small for the present needs of the Road, and that the business of the place demanded the con-struction of another, which is now being- built of brick. Its dimen-sions are 60 ft. wide by 200 ft. long, inside measurement, and 18 ft. pitch. It is being built by day labor under our own foreman, and its estimated cost is about $6,500. It will supply a long needed want, and the wisdom of its construction, will, ,we think, be demon-strated by increased receipts during the coming year. At "Spring Bank," a point about five miles from Goldsboro, to which a large quantity of guano and general farmer's supplies are shipped, and which is becoming quite a shipping point for truck and other produce, we found no facilities whatever. A short siding has since been put in, and a shed and platform are needed. At Beston, four miles further on, one of the old original station a point to which 800 to 1,000 tons of guano, besides other supplii are shipped, and from which, in addition to other produces, a coi siderable quantity of cotton is shipped, your Company never has an does ii' it now own a single plank or shingle in the way of warehousi or other building* The goods, as at Spring Bank, have to remai in the car-, sometimes as long as two to three weeks, until it sui the convenience of the consignees. to haul them to their homes, ar not infrequently;there are as many as eight to ten cars on the sidir at the same timft. Comment upon such methods is unnecessary. is the old story of "stopping the spicket and leaking at the bung. Warehouse facilities are badly needed at this place and will 1 supplied at the earliest moment that your Company is in a positk to build them. At La Grange, we found the passenger depot totally inadequat with but one room for both races, and too near the track. We ha\ added a room for blacks, thereby giving separate accommodatio'. to the races, and moved the building six feet further from the trac. making a platform about ten feet in width. We found the warehous' in bad order, and needing extensive repairs, which, up to this tim by re -1 i of the more pressing- want of our attention elsewhere, \ have been unable to make. We have, however, tried to relieve tl situation by the erection of a temporary platform for the more, co venient loading of cotton, etc., and have also put in a short sidir near the tobacco warehouse, for the convenience of tobacco dealer The business at LaGrange has increased to such an extent th it demands, and 3'our Company will be justified in providing larg and more convenient facilities for its transaction. At Fulling Creek, we found a comparatively new passeng depot, one room of which had been converted into a warehouse. Al a small platform and a small one room shanty which seemed to 1 used for the storage of cotton seed. This is another point, with a siding capable of holding fifte< cars, to which large quantities of guano and other supplies a shipped and from which your Road transports a considerable qua tity of cotton and other products, truck, etc., and at which the ca are used as warehouses until the consignees see fit to haul the goods to their homes. The business at this place justifies good warehouse and platfor facilities, and they should be built as early as practicable. The passenger depot is dangerously near the track and will 1 moved baok to a safe distance. L/ 3 At Kinston, we found a good passenger depot built a few years since, but located too near the track. We had it moved back to a safe distance so as to give a large and commodious platform reaching to the side-walk of Caswell street, and thereby adding greatly to the convenience of the traveling- public. We found the cotton ware-house rotten and the adjoining platform in fair condition only. We also found the brick warehouse in bad order and greatlj' in need of repairs. We further found that the business at this point had grown to proportions far beyond the Road's facilities for handling it. In view of this fact we have torn down the dilapidated house and plat-form above referred to, and are constructing a brick warehouse upon their sites 220 ft. long b3' 40 ft. wide and 18 ft. from floor to joist. This house will give ample accommodation for years to come, and not only add to the convenience of shippers, but to the receipts of the Company also. It will be roofed with galvanized iron. We think the brick warehouse, now used for freight, after being repaired, should be converted into a passenger depot, telegraph office, etc. and a part of it might still be used for storage. The present pas-senger depot we think should be discontinued, and the building re-moved to one of the smaller stations, of which there are several, without an3' depot facilities whatever. Upon examination of the site of the brick warehouse, we found that the wooden structure added to the original building extended across the side-walk, thereby forcing pedestrians to walk in the roadway of the street. We suggest, that as soon as the new warehouse is completed, the part of the building occup3-ing the sidewalk be removed and the street no longer obstruct-ed. We also found, for reasons unknown to us, that the Atlantic Coast Line had been permitted to cross your Road and lay its tracks to the timber mills located on Neuse River and thereby to obtain the virtual control of their shipments. As these mills were erected be-fore the A. C. L. came to Kinston, they were essential^' within the territory of your Road, and it seems to us, in the absence of any good reason to -the contrary, that 3*our track should have reached them long before the Coast Line came, and their traffic thereby largely secured to your Road. At this point is located the large and prosperous timber plant of Messrs. Hines & Bro. and many other large and growing industries, all of which contribute in a greater or less degree to the revenue of 3'our Road. At Caswell, a station about four miles east of Kinston, a poiut to which some guano and other supplies are shipped, and at which there is quite a little passenger traffic, the only depot and warehouse accommodations that we found was a small shanty house, with the entire roof rotten, and several places fallen in. We had the roof made new, and it is now, as far as its capacity goes, of service to 1^ the Company. With better accommodations for both freight and passengers, quite a little traffic could be built up at this place. At Dover, just five miles east of Caswell, one of the original stations of the road, and the point at which is located the extensive and well managed plant of the Goldsboro Lumber Company, we found a comparatively new passenger and freig-ht depot combined, built during the administration of Mr. Robert Hancock, but entirely inadequate for the present traffic, both passenger and freight. Being only about four feet from the track, we have had it moved back six feet, so as to give a platform of ten feet in width, and thereby add to the safety of the people who use it. The roof of the warehouse proper which then was, and now is in use, we found rotten and a portion of it gone, rendering it impossible to protect its contents from , the weather. We have had it repaired, a new roof put on it, and while it is too small we are using it, and shall continue to do so, until we can provide better accommodations. At Core Creek, the next station, and about seven miles east of Dover, we found the warehouse while virtually new, badly construct-ed, and not suitable for either freight or passenger accommodations. There is considerable business done at this place, which if property fostered can be increased to the advantage of the Road. It is the junction point for passengers going to and returning from Trenton, the county seat of Jones county, and should have better traffic facil-ities. At the next station, Tuscarora, about eleven miles from New- Bern, and one of the original stations, the only facilities we found were a dilapidated platform and shed, the shed being- propped to keep it from falling. We have replaced the shed with a neat pas-senger and freight depot, with two waiting rooms, one for each race, and a warehouse room. The dimensions of the waiting rooms are 12 x IS feet and that of warehouse 25 x 40 feet, roof of galvanized iron. We think the Road will find its receipts at this place in-creased during- the coming year. At Clark's, three miles east of Tuscarora, we found only a very small platform and shed. At this point there is a small saw-mill, and recently there has been located there the large brick plant of Messrs. Abbott & Jones, and within a few hundred yards the exten-sive brick plant of the Messrs. Hyman, while both east and west of it and but a short distance therefrom is a log siding from both of which large quantities of logs are shipped. The interests of the Road as well as that of its patrons demand that both passenger and warehouse accommodations should be provided at this point. 5 At New Bern, the chief station and headquarters of the Road, with the exception of the passenger depot and the small office build-ing-, we found the entire property in a most dilapidated state. The roof of the round house in which the engines are kept was, and still is, rotten and worthless, and afforded poor protection from the rain. The ends of several of the trusses which support it were also rotten. "We have had the trusses repaired and the roof patched, hoping- that it could be made serviceable until the coming year, but so rotten is the tin that it is again full of holes and leaking. The tinner reports it dangerous for a man to walk on it and that to attempt to repair it will simply be a waste of mone3'. An entirely new roof is necessary. The roof of the car shelter is also rotten, and will have to be made almost entirely new. The roofs of the machine shops and foundry are covered with slate and the buildings were originally finished with a parapet wall. In order to prevent leaking which was thought to be due to that fact, the parapet wall was, some years ago, taken down, and the roofs extended so as to cover the space which it occupied. When this ex-tension was covered, instead of using slate, the material with which the other portions of the roofs were covered, paper roofing was sub-stituted. The result has been that those parts of the roofs so covered have for several years past leaked like riddles, causing the ends of several of the trusses to rot, and compelling their renewal on more than one occasion. We have had the wood work of these roofs re-paired, and the rotten paper torn off and replaced with slate. The roofs are now in good condition and will remain so for many years to come. The machinery in the shops, with the exception of one or two pieces, we found worn out and worthless. Most of it having been in constant use for the last forty years, work of inferior quality only could be done with it, while its cost to the Road was necessarily greatly in excess of what it should be. With the exception of the one or two pieces above referred to, this machinery has been taken out, and replaced at a cost of $5,772.00, with modern and up to date appliances, rendering the work now done first class and the cost of it, by reason of the expedition with which it can be turned out, very materially less. The boiler in the engine room we found .worn out and capable of carrying but thirty pounds of steam with safety. That has been taken out and replaced by a new and modern boiler of eighty horse power. The carpenter shop, a wooden structure, we found, with the exception of the trusses which support the roof, rotten, from its top to its sills. So rotten is its roof and weather-boarding that in dry weather the sparks from passing engines frequently set it on fire, 6 which has rendered necessary the improvising of a fire department of ladders and water buckets to protect it. It is a veritable fire trap, and as there are at all times two or more cars in it undergoing re-pairs, its destruction bj' either fire or storm would entail a heavy loss upon the Compai^'. It is furthermore too small and totally in-adequate for the work required, and should be replaced b3' a new and more commodious building. The brickwarehouse at pier 1 on Neuse River, the only ware-house at this place, we also found in bad repair. The transom lights w.ere broken out and partially replaced with boards to keep out the rain. The roof of the main building had a hole in it eight or ten feet long and at some parts of it eight to ten inches wide. This building was also originally constructed with a parapet wall, and when the parapet was removed, the roof was extended as in the case of the roofs of the machine shops and foundry and in like man-ner covered with paper, and with the same results. We have had the transom lights replaced and the parts of the roof covered with paper recovered with slate, so as to make the material of the roof uniform. It is now in good condition and will remain so for a long time to come. The roo'f of the shed leading to the end of the pier and used for storage of guano and other merchandise we found not only rotten, but leaking so badly that whenever it rained the goods stored therein had to be covered to protect them. The underpinning of this shed was in such a deca}'ed condition that shortly after we assumed con-trol' of the property, it gave way, and it was with great difficulty that the precipitation of 3,500 sacks of guano into the river was pre-vented. We managed, however, to get it out, and for want of ware-house facilities here, were compelled to haul most of it to Morehead City, and store it there, entailing upon the Company the expense of hauling it seventy-two miles and handling it three times. The roof on this shed and the sub-structure that had given way we replaced at once, and have done such other work to it as was necessary to render it safe, but the whole structure needs repairing and many new piles should be driven. The roof of the wharf used for loading and unloading steamers and other craft we found rotten and worthless. We have endeavered, however, to get along with it as best we could, being compelled to turn our attention to more needed repairs elsewhere. But it has now reached such a state that work upon it cannot much longer be de-layed, and it will have to be replaced with a new roof. Many new piles also will have to be driven to render the wharf secure. We found the paint shop abandoned as a paint shop, (the paint-ing being done in the carpenter shop) and converted into a veritable 7 junk shop, where every conceivable small article connected with a railroad was piled in indiscriminate and chaotic confusion. The roof and sills and about two feet of the lower ends of the studding were rotten, and the floor gone. The rest of the frame being good, and having no store room to take its place, we deemed it to the in-terest of the Company to repair it. We accordingly cut off the rotten ends of the studs, put new sills under it, and moved it about 60 feet to the east side of the yard, where it is of great usefulness for storage of such articles as will not be materially damaged by exposure. The frame is worth a new roof and sidings, and should be repaired. Upon its former site we have built a brick paint shop, 44 x 90 ft., which will shortly be ready for use, and will enable the Company to have its cars properly painted, and otherwise cared for. We found no place for the storage of oils, the round house being used for that purpose, where twenty to fifty barrels were usually kept between the engine tracks. To supply this need we have built of brick a neat and commodious oil room, adjoining the store room, where the oils are kept under lock and under the supervision of the store keeper. The turn table, constructed forty years ago for the use of twenty-eight to thirty ton engines, but having in recent years been used to turn engines of double that weight, we found badly broken and strapped up with truss rods, etc. Shortly after we took control of your property it gave way entirely while turning an engine, but for-tunately did not throw- it into the pit. We have replaced it with a table built of bridge steel, with a capacity of 110 tons, and apprehend no further difficult}' on that score. We were without the use of a table for several months. For the last six months we have been en-deavoring to clean up the premises. During that time we have dug up not less than thirty to forty tons of cast iron, and gathered together a large amount of other kinds of iron.' The cast iron we are using in the foundry and such portions of the other as we cannot use, we shall sell. We have hauled out of the yard a sufficient amount of debris to build a track leading to the Neuse River warehouse three feet high, ten to twelve feet wide, and one or two hundred feet in length, and there is still a large quantity of it to be removed. The house in which the rod and bar iron is kept, is rotten and should be torn down, and a new one built. The warehouse facilities at this point being totally inadequate for the business of the road, we have constructed a warehouse on Neuse River, principally for the storage of guano, 60 ft. wide by 210 ft. long, and expect it to prove not only a great convenience, but, in storage receipts a source of revenue to the Company. We have also constructed on Trent River a warehouse seventy feet wide by two hundred and fort}7 feet long, on the property purchased from Mr. J. H. Hackburn for the sum of $10,000. This property is worth greatly more to your Compan}' than was paid for it, being- absolutely indis-pensable to the convenient and profitable conduct of its business at this place. Your passenger depot being cramped in its accommoda-tions and inconveniently located, should be removed to this property where ample room can be had and proper conveniences furnished the traveling public. This warehouse will be used principally for local business, and will, it is thought, by reason of the great convenieace it will afford shippers, add materially to the receipts of the Company at this place. The second floor of the south end of this warehouse is being fitted for offices, for the use of the Company, the present offices being too small for the work, and too far from the business center of the city. The house on Neuse River is in use, and we hope to begin using the one on Trent River sometime in October. The cost of these two houses when completed will be about $19,000. In conjunction with the authorities of the Atlantic Coast Line, we have built a belt line connecting the two roads at this place, thereby supplying a long needed want and greatly facilitating the handling of the interchangeable traffic of the two lines. At James City we found a small platform and shed, but the traffic, both passenger and freight, of no moment. On the James City land, however, and only a short distance away, are located the ex-tensive saw mills of the Blades Lumber Co. and of Munger & Bennett, which, in the shipment of lumber and hauling of logs, contribute largel}' to the receipts of your property. Had proper transportation facilities been afforded them, when their mills were first construct-ed several years ago, a large proportion of the out-put of the Blades Lumber Co. would probably have gone over your road, but in their absence, their shipments were bv' water exclusively. During the administration of President Patrick, a spur was laid to their mills and since then your road has derived a very satisfactory revenue from their business. At Vinson's, a few miles further on, we found no accommodations, but from representations and our knowledge of the farming interests of the locality, felt that shipping facilities should be afforded at that point. We accordingly put in a short siding and erected a platform and shed of dimensions about 20 x 40. The result has full}' justified the outlay. Quite a little business has been started and the pros-pect is that it will be increased during the coming year. At Thurman, only a mile or two distant, we found a siding and shed. The business at this_ point is growing, and by proper atten-tion and encouragement can, in time, be made valuable. At Riverdale, the only facilities we found, were a diminutive platform and a shanty room upon it about as large as a good sized chicken coop. At this place is located a brick plant, and near by, the saw mill of Messrs. Lokey & Cannon, whose output, which is valuable, for the want of proper shipping- accommodations at the time of the erection of their plant, was diverted from your road to the river, about half a mile distant, and is now transported by water. Its natural outlet is over the line of your road, and as we have given them a switch in order to enable them to ship their slabs, we hope in time, to have them ship some of their lumber by us also. This place needs and should have better accommodations. At Croatan we found no shipping facilities whatever—only a fine well of the best water on the road, over which once stood a water tank, but which, had, 3'ears ago been removed and the water station discontinued. At this point—one of the largest logging depots on your line, and the receiving and distributing center for the supplies and products of the adjacent farms, we have erected a modern depot with separate waiting rooms for both races, and a ware-room about 25x40, feeling assured that the local business will be increased there-by. We also found that the water tank referred to, as having been removed, is much needed, and have taken steps to have it rebuilt. At Havelock, a station at which there is considerable passenger traffic, and some freight, we found very poor and inadequate accom-modations. We have been enabled, however, to get along with them, and shall continue to do so until the surplus in 3'our treasury is greater than it is now, and the wants of stations with no accommo-dations whatever are attended to. At the same time, we think better facilities would materially increase the business at that point. At Newport, we found the depot buildings comparatively new, in apparent good order, and ample for the business of the place. The water tank was leaky and in bad order, and will continue so, the staves having been warped and twisted by the sun, by reason of the neglect of the various station hands who have had charge of it, to keep it filled with water. As soon as a tank can be put up at Croatan it will be discontinued as a water station. The well is of little value and often a source of trouble, affording in dry weather a very limited supply. At Wildwood we found the warehouse, the only building there, in fair order, but entirely too small to afford the accommodations required at that place. Better facilities should be given. At Morehead City we found the platform at the up town station rotten, and the passenger and freight depot, while in fairly good condition, entirely too small and out of all proportion to the business. 10 We have recently rebuilt the platform, and hope to build a depot suitable to the wants of the town at an early day. The fish depot, the joint property of the Southern Express Company and 3'our Road, we found to be nothing- more than a dilapidated and unsightly shan-ty, standing in the street, an eyesore to every passer by, a disgrace to the corporations owning it and a mortifying annoyance to the citizens of Morehead. It should be torn down and replaced by a better and more convenient building. The large platform in front of the Atlantic Hotel we found rotten and dangerous. It has been replaced by a new one 200 feet long, and covered by a shed supported by a single row of posts, and lighted at night by gas furnished by the owners of the hotel. It is a great convenience to the traveling public, and presents a hand-some appearance. Your Road, from this point to Pier 1, its ocean terminus, runs upon a narrow tongue of made land, which has, on several occasions, been badly damaged and portions of it destroyed by the storms that are prevolent on our coast. It has, time and again, been rip-rapped with old ties and piles, and bulkheaded with stone, old bricks and shells, but being simply thrown upon the sand and allowed to settle themselves they have proved but little protection to the bank which is always more or less damaged by every storm of any violence. Your Road is not now able to build it, but we hope the time is not very far in the future when it will be able to construct a sea wall along the bank capable of resisting every storm. This is the only solution of the trouble, and had it been so constructed when the Road was originally built, the money that has been expended to repair the damage of the storms, would long since have paid its cost. At Pier 1, we found the warehouse, built upon iron piles, in fairly good order and one of the best on your Road. The long plat-form leading from the warehouse to the land is built upon pine piles, and greatly in need of repairs, some of which have since been made. Being unable to make satisfactory arrangements for a water supply at Morehead City, and the well in use being unreliable, and the tank virtually of no value and comparatively useless by reason of the neglect of those in charge of it to keep it filled with water, we have bored a well at Pier 1, between 200 and 300 feet deep and cased it to a depth of 167 feet with 6 inch iron pipe. The water obtained is of good quality and the supply inexhaustable. We have built a foun-dation for a 30,000 gallon tank and small gasoline engine, which we have purchased for use at this well and will soon have them in posi-tion. From this tank, by means of a pipe laid to the end of the pier, we propose to supply all vessels calling at our warehouse for water and for which we are informed that one cent per gallon is now paid 11 in the harbor. This should prove a source of revenue sufficient to meet all expenses incident to supplying- your engines with water and in time repay the cost of sinking- the well and price of tank and en-gine. The rails upon your road we found good; the road-bed we found uneven, rough and in bad order, and much of the timber in it rotten, so rotten, that in many places it was only necessary to kick the spikes with your foot in order to loosen them sufficiently to pull them out with your fingers, and in more than a thousand ties, by actual count, we found that a spike had never been driven. Comment is unnecessary. To its air line straightness alone is its freedom from accident due. The ditches had the appearance of not having been cleaned out in years. For miles they were filled with water without an outlet, and a great portion of your road-bed was badly sobbed. The right of way was grown up with bushes and trees of a size that demonstrated the fact that it also had been neglected for years past. In a great measure we have remedied these troubles. Of your motive power, we found eight engines out of a total of twelve, good—the others old and of little value. Two of them, the No. 1 and 2 were the first engines purchased by your company more than forty years ago; the other two, the 8 and 9, were purchased from the Federal Government thirt3- -five years ago. We found such rolling stock as you had in fairly good order, but some of your cars old and out of date, and not enough of them to do the work. Neither did you have engines enough by three to perform the service required of them. We have been thus particular in outlining the state of 3'our road, for the reason, that after thoroughly examining it, we found it in such a dilapidated and worn out condition, that we were unwilling to assume its management unless the Board of Internal Improvement would, with an expert of their own selection, go over it and thoroughly examine into its condition for themselves, which at our request they did, and we here state, without fear of contradiction, that every member of that board who took part in that examination, will bear us out as to the correctness of the statements herein made. We have also been thus particular in laying the condition of your road when we assumed control of it, before you, for the reason, that when dur-ing the session of the last Legislature an offer was made by Mr. Edwards to purchase it, and the statement was made that it was run down to a point that made it dangerous for travel, and that the machinery in your shops and most of your motive power were worn out and worthless, your President was a member of that body, and believing from the information furnished him that the statement was not warranted by the facts, denied it before a Committee of the Sen-ate. His personal examination made thereafter and the examina- 12 tion made by the Board of Internal Improvement, at which some of us were present, have shown us his error and demonstrated the fact that the statement was true. We furthermore wished you to know the condition of your property at the time we assumed control of it, in order that you might be able to judge for yourselves as to whether it had improved or deteriorated under our management. For infor-mation more in detail as to the condition of your roadway, ditches, bridges, culverts, water stations, shops, and foundry work, wood and timber supplj', etc., etc., etc., you are respectfully referred to the reports of the Road Master and Master Machanic herewith sub-mitted. Finding no record of the various pieces of Real Estate owned by your Company, except an occasional deed in the hands of the Treas-urer for a piece here and a piece there, and deeming it of essential importance that 3'our Company should have some evidence of title to its holdings other than that of mere possession, we decided to have every piece of your real estate surveyed and platted, and a copy of the plat entered in a book to be obtained for that purpose, and also to have the deeds for each piece of property copied in said book, on the page next to the plat of the same. By this means your Company would at all times have within easy and convenient reach not only a record of its titles to its property, but full and complete evidence of its possession. We also decided to have the lines of your right of way surveyed and re-established and platted in the same book, and thereby end the controversies constantly arising with parties claim-ing the right to use and build thereon. With this end in view we employed a surveyor and instructed him to survey and plat your property at New Bern. As the work proceeded, we found, much to our surprise, that for some of it your Company had no deeds in its possession, and that none had ever been placed upon record. Under these circumstances, we were compelled to rely upon the old and ori-ginally known lines of adjacent property which developed the fact that new lines had been established by parties unknown to us, fen-ces erected upon them, encroaching upon your property and em-bracing as a part of said adjacent property portions of the most val-uable lots undoubtedly owned by your Company. We also found a party holding a deed for a lot in the centre of your 3'ard and covered by your tracks, while your Company held a deed for the adjoining lot upon which was located his residence. This difficulty will be adjusted by an exchange of deeds. But how your Company, in the absence of all documentary evidence of title, is to recover possession of that portion of its property embraced in and covered for the last twenty-five years by the arbitrary lines of the adjoining lots, is, to us, not so clear. 13 We regret to say that further investigation has demonstrated the fact that New Bern is not the only place in which you own property for which you have no deeds in your possession and for which no record of any can be found. We recommend that this matter be thoroughly investigated, and that your titles to all your property be re-established and perfected at the earliest moment. An examination of the methods employed in keeping the accounts of your Company, has demonstrated the fact that your system of book-keeping is faulty, cumbersome, and not adapted to Railroad business, and in the absence of absolute accuracy of distribution in the accounts rendered by the heads of the various departments is unreliable and misleading. The system embraces four books, a general register of earnings, a general register of disbursements, and a ledger in which are kept the accounts of the agents and our connections, and a cash book, which is kept as a check upon the account of the Treasurer. There are no individual accounts with the various departments, no individual acccounts of disbursements, no individual accounts of distribution, and no indices to any of the books except the general ledger, in which, as I have stated above, are entered the accounts of the agents and our connections only. If it is desired to ascertain the price of an article or the date of its purchase, the only way in which it can be done is by examining the various pages of the General Register, item by item until the entry of its cost is found, and if its purchase was by partial payments, the various payments have to be searched for, and picked out from the hundreds of items upon the Register and made up into a separate account. The time lost and the labor wasted upon a system like this are frequently of more value than the article whose value is sought. No business man of the present day would tolerate it. Such a sys-tem might have met the wants of a Cross-Roads Grocery store fifty years ago, when time was not of the essence of the contract, and accuracy not a factor in accounts, but in this day of rapid movement and lightening-like calculation it is out of date, and obsolete, and should be replaced by more modern methods. It is with regret that we inform you that on the 12th of the present month, by reason of the breaking of an axle of a greatly overloaded car, your Road met with the only accident of any moment that has occurred during our administration. Owing to the fortunately low rate of speed at which the train was running there was no loss of life, but the wreck of two old freight cars was complete. One pas-senger car was damaged, but to a slight extent only. The cost of the wreck is estimated at $500.00. All circumstances connected with the occurrence are being thoroughly investigated and the respon-sibility will be placed where it belongs. , 14 When on the 28th day of September last we assumed control of your property, we found in your treasury a credit balance of $14,060.05. On June 30th, the end of the fiscal year just closed, the balance was $'654.45, while on the 21st of the present month the balance on hand, as per report of the Finance Committee, was $14,364.31. For a more detailed statement of moneys received and disbursed and on hand, together with the amounts due by our con-nections, 3'ou are referred to the reports of the Finance Committee, of the Treasurer, and of the Auditor, which are herewith respectfully submitted. In order to supply the immediately pressing- and more impera-tive needs of the Road, we have purchased since the first day of October last the following' articles and supplies, to- wit: 2 Pittsburg Locomotives, 17 inch cylinders, at a cost of $8,750 and $8,800, respectively $ 17,550.00 1 Pittsburg Locomotive, 18 inch cylinder at a cost of . . . . 9,920.00 1 Pullman Parlor Car "" " " 4,216.18 2 First Class Passenger Cars "" " " 7,248.00 2 Second Class Passenger Cars "" " " 4,540.00 2 Combinations, Pass., Mail & Baggage Cars " " 4,382.00 10 Box and 10 Flat Cars 8,000.00 10 Box Cars 2,080.00 1 Box " 443.00 1 Flat " ., 267.00 1 Turn table and putting in same 2,035.42 Machinery for shops 5,772.22 Boiler for Engine Room, and putting in same 900.00 60 Pairs New wheels and axles for 15 new flat cars 1,604.27 40 " " " " " " 10 new log cars 1,000.00 60,000 lbs. wrought iron 1,350.00 52 Automatic Couplers 553.00 30 Barrels Oil and Grease 420.44 143,000 Ft. Lumber at $14 1,999.00 Bolts, Castings, etc 370.85 4,272 lbs. new brass for cars 704.88 Paints 358.52 New Rails 9,987.00 Real Estate on Trent River 10,000.00 From this am't is to be deducted am't due upon Real Estate $2,000.00 Am't due upon Engine 17 2,845.00 Am't due upon Passenger Cars 1.860.00 r 6,705.00 Leaving a total of Cash paid out $88,897.78 15 This amount, however does not represent the sum total which has been expended for improvements and the further sum of about $3,000 due upon open account, which aggregate something over one hundred thousand dollars. For a fuller statement thereof you are referred to the report of the Auditor. These items constituting the greater and most prominent portion of our expenditures, we have laid them and their cost before you in order that you might see for what the receipts of the Road have been used, and from the very nature and quantity of the articles purchased judge for yourselves of the straits in which we found it. When we took charge of it there was little surplus material of any kind on hand; no rails, no engine tires, a few sets only of car wheels and axles, scarcely any castings, and no timber worth speaking of for the repairing of cars or for any other purpose. In fact, there was comparatively nothing. It had been stripped and denuded. Its poverty was pitiable. Everything was conducted upon the hand to mouth plan. If an hundred feet of plank was needed, a man was sent to the mill to buy it, and often times to purchase a smaller quantity. The fact is, your Road was as bare of tools, supplies, and material absolutely necessary for its operation and maintenance as it was bankrupt in purse, notwithstanding the fact that for the past eight or ten years it had been paying an annual dividend of two per cent. It is not our purpose to indulge in criticism, but in justifica-tion of the course we have pursued in its management, we feel con-strained to say that we think it well that some attention has been paid to its rehabilitation, and that for the present, at least, the pay-ment of a dividend should not be considered. As you will perceive from the Auditor's report the earnings of the Road for the present fiscal year have been $218,165.96, the highest amount it has ever realized, and an increase in excess of the earnings of last year of 330,603.73. _ A comparison of the earnings and operat-ing expenses of the past year with those of the preceding four years is not unfavorable, and shows that, notwithstanding the large total of expenditures, the Road has been economically and successfully managed and earned a handsome surplus. By some not familiar with its condition and who have not taken the trouble or cared to imform themselves of its needs, the expendi-tures have been criticized as excessive, but the great amount of sup-plies and material, and the employment of the large extra force re-quired to put the Road in the physical condition necessary to conduct the traffic which we were satisfied could be obtained for it, if pro-perly equipped to handle it, made their incurrence a necessity, and in the result we have not been disappointed. We have added Sunday trains to your system and inaugurated 16 a double daily mail along- 3'our line which have proved greatly bene-ficial to our local interests and added not only to the comfort and pleasure of your patrons but contributed in no small degree to the receipts of 3 7our treasury. We have established a system of Satur-day night and Sunday tickets at reduced rates which has been heartily approved b}' the general public and large^ increased the travel upon your line. From a close study of conditions now existing we are satisfied that double daily freight trains, running the entire length of j'our line should be added to your system. The increased traffic which we feel assured would result therefrom would become an im-portant factor in the receipts of 3-our treasury, and if the equipment of the road was sufficient we would sugg-est that they be put on at once. Unfortunately, however, the motive power of the road is barely sufficient to meet its present needs, while to carry out our views, would require at least two additional engines, which, just at this time the road is not in a position to purchase. It is hoped, however, that during the nest few months it will be, and then it is believed the period of its greatest prosperity will begin. An examination of its statements for the last few years shows a steady increase of earn-ings, and we are satisfied that during the next five or six years with a management characterized by an active, economic and intelli-gent energy it can be put upon a permanently paying- basis and its earnings doubled. The conditions necessary to bring about these re-sults exist, and need only to be developed. The business is within your reach, and it will be your own fault if you fail to foster it. But in order to bring- about results so greatly to be desired, you must equip and put 3 -our road in thorough order and repair. In its present condition, notwithstanding the outlay of the year just passed, as large as some, not familiar with its impoverished condition, may think it, its energies were taxed to the utmost to handle the business secured for it, and should the increase during the coming- year equal that of the year just gone the purchase of more exuipment and addi-tional engines would be a necessity. At a meeting of your Board of Directors shortly after taking charge of your propert}', for the purpose of more speedily rehabilita-ting your road and better fitting it for both traffic and travel, we were given a credit of $50,000. Of this sum, in furtherance of the object for which it was granted, we have borrowed and expended, giving notes of the Company therefor, the sum of $45,000—but such were the necessities of the road for motive power, new equipment, new and increased traffic accommodations, and repairs generally, that when on the 1st of July last your semi-annual interest fell due, we were compelled to borrow $10,000 to meet it, making the total amount borrowed and still due $55,000. The repayment of this sum 17 however gives us no concern. The small balance of $6,705.00 yet due on motive power, equipment, and real estate we will liquidate in November, and we will then rapidly pay off the sums we have bor-rowed. The great bane of your road has been the frequent change of its administration and the custom which has largely governed the ap-pointment of its employees. By reason of this constant change one policj' of administration has succeeded the other at such short inter-vals as to render any plan of continuously practical operation im-possible. Influence and not fitness has been the controlling force in the appointment of your officers and too frequently in that of your operatives. The result has been a want of system, an almost total absence of discipline, causing carelessness as to obedience to orders, amounting in some instances virtually to insubornation and their wilful violation, inattention to duty, apparent indifference to the interest of the Company and an inefficiency which has rendered the cost of operating your road greatly in excess of what it would other-wise have been. The remedy is patent. The controlling head of your management, regardless of the in-dividual, should be a man of first class business capacity and ag-gressive energy; of broad and liberal views as to the wants and needs of the traveling and commercial public; familiar with the im-proved methods and appliances in use at the present day, and have some knowledge of the system upon which the business of modern railroading is conducted. He should have the exclusive appointment and dismissal of his employees, and be held to a strict accountability for the success or failure of his administration. If the business in-terest of the road is to be paramount, as it should be, all other con-siderations should be disregarded, and his tenure of office should depend upon his ability and success as a manager. Should these suggestions find favor with you, and your road be put in first class condition, there is not the slightest reason why, in the near future, it should not become a source of permanent and re-munerative revenue to its stockholders. But in first class order it must be put, otherwise these results cannot be obtained. There has been in the near past some discussion as to the ad-visability, on your part, of permanently disposing of your property and a proposition involving its lease, and another, the purchase of the interest of the State therein, has been submitted, which when the terms of said propositions are considered, were, in our opinion, wisely declined. The conditions affecting your road are peculiar to itself, and worthy of your thoughtful consideration. The ports of Morehead City and New Bern, one its ocean termi- 18 nus, the other its chief shipping- point, are the only ports on the At-lantic Seaboard, south of Norfolk whose business and shipping' are not dominated, and to a greater or less degree, controlled by one or more of the great railway systems traversing the Southern States. This fact alone gives your road a value and a power as a competitor, of which few, who have not familiarized themselves with the situa-tion, have any idea. With its water connections with all eastern points, which, with a very feasible and easily effected change of condition, [could be made more direct than at present, it is, as a State road, as far inland as Goldsboro, and would be to any other inland point to which it might be extended, the key to the railroad situation of North Carolina, but deprived of the protecting power incident to the ownership of a portion of its stock by the State, it would be absolutely at the mercy of the two great systems with which it connects, and powerless, under any circumstances, to assert its independence or to demand its rights. Tapped at its most vital points, Goldsboro, Kinston and New Bern by rich and greatly more powerful lines, its profitable owner-ship by a private corporation except by the friendly sufferance of these lines, would be an impossibility, and, therefore, if at any time the State should, in an evil moment for the people of the section which it traverses, see fit to part with its ownership, it matters not to whom it goes, or what the nature of the stipulations providing against its acquisition by connecting lines may be, they have it in their power, by means well understood by those cognizant of the tac-tics of hostile and rival roads, to destroy its business, drive it into bankruptcy, and force it to a sale, at which, if they so desired, they could, easily possess themselves of it. And of this fact no one is better aware than themselves. There is no sentiment existing be-tween corporations, none in their composition, and railroad corpora-tions are not an exception to the rule. The survival of the fittest is the doctrine of their existence, and interest alone is, necessarily, the controlling inspiration of their action. And, therefore, if the State should sell its stock to a private syndicate or corporation, and it became as it then would, and, in fact, as it already is, the interest of the corporations referred to to own and merge it into their systems, no power, known to the law, could prevent it. How easy to create a mortgage debt! How easy to foreclose the mortgage! How easy to purchase at a creditor's sale! And in a thousand other ways, how easy to obtain possession of a property whose business, and value dependent thereon, we have it in our power to crush and destroy. The result of such ownership and merging, would, in higher tariffs, increased rates and arbitrary rulings, be quickly felt by every ship-per and resident, over and along its entire line. L 19 Your road is the main artery of the commercial and industrial life of the section through which it runs. It is the great controlling-force, which by reason of its facilities for transportion at its water terminals, over which, if at any time, it should become necessary, it has the power to exercise an independent control, has prevented the imposition of excessive rates upon the people in its territory and enabled them, in the enjoyment of fair and just competition, to reap the fruits and benefits of their labor and toil. But this mighty force which has built up this section and brought prosperity and comfort to many of its people, is but a reflex. With the fostering- arm of the State withdrawn by the sale of its stock, the road would not only be unable to aid our people, but powerless to protect itself. Corpora-tions can fight and destroy each other, but they cannot destroy the State, nor for any length of time can they successfully fight it. Continued ownership of its stock by the State means continued pros-perity to this section. Its sale means the reverse. You might lease your road and it still could subserve the interests of our people, but sell it, never—for in that hour in which the State parts with the ownership of its stock to the possession of another, begins the forg-ing of the fetters with which to shackle the energies of our people. There is another circumstance connected with your road, of which those who advocate the sale of the State's interest therein are seemingly oblivious, or having considered it, and having-, in one way or another, been impressed with the idea that their individual interest would be more remuneratively subserved by reason of a change of ownership, the fact that it does exist, may, perhaps, be the reason of their solicitous advocacy. It should receive your most earnest thought, as it has already received the careful consideration of those parties, who, although, standing in the back ground, would in the end, in the event of its sale, be found to be the real purchasers, while the man or men to whom the sale was ostensibly made, would probably develop into men of straw. The circumstance is to be found in the fact that your road has a large and profitable business, the result of forty years of labor and struggle, and the growth of population and enterprise throughout this section. Along its line where forty years ago slum-bered the giants of the forest, the waving grain and the snowy cotton now gladden the eye of the husbandman, reward his toil, fill your cars with the products of the soil and add to the revenues of your treasury. The lonely and solitary station houses are now floursh-ing communities. Hamlets have sprung into villages, and villages have grown into small but enterprising cities. From one end of your road to the other numerous and profitable industries of almost every description have been established—ice factories, oil mills, cotton 20 mills, knitting- mills, furniture factories, iron founderies, guano and other fertilizer plants, canning factories, brick plants, logging plants, lumber mills, the output of some of which is simply enormous, and other industries, the entire product of some of which, and greater or less portions of that of the others, pass over your road. In additin to the above, the products of the lish, oyster and clam industries of Morehead City, each in itself of large proportions, pass over your road, while a large portion of the products of the fish and oyster in-dustries of New Bern do likewise. And in addition to all this, a goodly proportion of the yield of the most productive truck belt in the South, is tributary to its line. And more, by the possession of your ocean terminus at Morehead City, you have at 3'our command the land locked harbor of Beaufort, which with a reasonable expenditure, easily obtainable from the Government, can speedily be made inferior to none on the Southern coast, and a depth of water secured sufficient to enable the largest sea-going steamers, as well as other craft to lie at your piers. The building by the Government of a harbor of refuge at Cape Lookout, twelve to fifteen miles distant, now a certainly, upon whose friendly anchorage hundreds of vessels, caught in stress of weather, will seek shelter from the storms which spend their fury on our shores, will necessarily make your port, to a greater degree than ever before, known to the shipping of the world; and by the estab-lishing of a coaling station thereat, not only will you divert a part of the enormous coal traffic now centering at Newport News and Lambert's Point in the harbor of Norfolk, but add a tonage to your business equal to that of our present traffic, and eventually create for yourselves relations with the outer world which will make your earnings many times their present value, and give to your road a position and an importance in the consideration of the great systems of the State, which it has heretofore never possessed. Will you grasp the opportunities which beseechingly hold out their hands to you and imploringly beg you to avail yourselves of the advantages which Nature herself has thrown at your feet, or will you, as in the past, spurn and ignore them? As I have said before, it has taken forty years to build up this business; the citizens of the counties which hold their original stock, and some others who originally invested their money in theenterprie and paid par for their stock, have during the lapse of the long period from 1854 to 1900 patiently waited for its development, relying upon the State, the controlling stockholder, to protect their interests, and by remaining a party to the contract, to see that their investments were never sacrificed. And now at the turning point of its existenc, with a yearly and pheno'minal increase of its business, for the State 21 to sell its stock, would not only be an act of bad faith toward the minority stockholders, but suicidal to itself. Look at the earnings of your road for the last five years: For the year 1896 $140,656.53. " " 1897 149,435.56. " " 1898 174,507.87. " " 1899 187,562.20. " " " 1900 218,165.96, Nearly $78,000 more in 1900 than they were in 1896, or an in-" crease of more than 50 per cent. Point me to any of the great sys-tems which during the same period show a greater per certtage of increase. Where is there a property which holds out greater promise for the future than this? Why, therefore, part with its ownership? Had the policy of extension and of building branches urged long years ago by those who knew the value of feeders and extended ter-ritory, and who foresaw and predicted the present situation, been adopted, there would long since have been a branch through the ter-ritory from New Bern to Jacksonville, now occupied by the Wilming-ton and New Bern road, and the products of that rich section, in-creased ten-fold above what they are to-day, would have passed over your tracks. Another would have gone from Kinston to Greenville, and further on; another would have reached to Snow Hill and thence as circumstances might have directed. Another perhaps, ere this, might have crossed the Neuse and reached out its arms into the rich fields of Pamlico. The products of these teeming territories would have taxed 3'our resources to transport them, pouring into your lap a constant stream of wealth, and the competitor who with power suffi-cient to take it all, now knocking at your door, and with a spirit of generosity, demands but a share of that which should have been yours alone, would have gone in other directions, and your main stem might, perhaps, have reached far into the interior of the State, and given you an unbroken and profitable connection with the mar-kets of the great west. But instead of the possibilities which I have pictured, and which were once so easily ours, what are the conditions that surround us? The rival to whom I have alluded, alive to advantages to which we, in slothful slumber, have closed our eyes, has seized the opportunities upon which we have turned our backs, and over routes which, for years, have held out their hands and besought us to occupy them, entered our very domicile and crossed our tracks at our every vital point, and to-day instead of occupying the territory which was right-fully ours and being as we could have been, one of the great and ex-panding systems, we find ourselves without a single inch of exten-sion, without a single branch or feeder, without a single artery 22 through which the commerce of adjacent territory can be drawn, the same petty local line, with no additions to its track but sidings ren-dered necessary by the development of its old original territory only, that we were, the first day of our incorporation, nearly fifty years ago, with the iron ribbed lines of more enterprising corporations, like the crushing and mangling folds of a mighty serpent, thrown around us, and dependent for our existence and freedom from absorp-tion by our neighbors upon the protecting power of the State alone. Are we satisfied with such a destiny? If we are, we have only to continue the policy which has thus far guided our councils. If we are not, let us listen to the propositions which will be made us to-day and shape our future accordingly. Respectfully submitted, JAMES A. BRYAN, President. Atlantic (fe North Carolina R. E. Co. Statement of Earnings for every four Years from 1881. From 1881 to 1884 inclusive $251,631.37 " 1885 to 1888 " 542,420.27 " 1SS9 to 1892 " 589,001.94 " 1893 to 1896 " 589,161.46 " 1897 to 1900 " 729,671.62 Total Earnings $2,701,886.66 Comparative Statement of Earnings for Months of July, August, Septem-ber, October and November for the years 1898, 1899 and 1900. 1898. 1899. 1900. July $17,040.65 $17,837.77 $19,975.74 August 15,416.72 15,533.64 18,954.36 September 17,385.20 16,661.86 19,349.10 October 15,520.26 18,954.80 22,155.26 November 15,029.68 17,898.54 21,323.40 Total Earnings $80,392.51 $86,886.61 $101,757.86 Statement of Earnings (Gross and Net) for Years 1897 to 1900 Inclusive. Gross Earnings. Net Earnings. For the Year of 1897 $149,435.56 $64,089.99 " 1S98 174,507.87 80,316.97 1899 187.562.23 79,040.30 "1900 218,165.96 89,268.38 $729,671.62 $312,715.64 Statement of Earnings (Gross and Net; from October 1st, 1899 to Novem-ber 30th, 1900, Inclusive. Gross Earnings. Net Earnings. From Oct. 1, 1899, to Nov. 30, 1900, (14 months) $269,890.55 $111,288.53 Gross Earnings. Net Earnings. From July 1, to Nov. 30, 1900, inclu-sive, (5 months) $101,757.86 $39,971.06 Statement of Gross Receipts for Three Years Ending December 31st, 1900. 1898. 1899. 1900. For the month of January . . .$13,328.89 $18,960.22 $21,760.87 " " " " February ... 17,031.51 14,213.26 18,489.06 " " " "March 20.195.45 17,803.43 24,133.30 ' " " "April 16.356.16 23,616.45 25,486.83 '' " " "May 14,307.20 16,111.62 19,670.89 " " " "June 12,028.02 15,725.80 17.397.98 " " " "July 17,089.52 19,775.75 23,804.46 " " " "August 18,886.89 21.164.33 21,064.59 " " " "September.. 16.929.49 19.799.40 33,983.52 " " " " October 18,385.93 20,846.20 28,991.18 " " " " November... 16,617.30 25,367.25 28.696.05 " " " " December... 27,193.46 22.984.26 23,110.00 $208,349.82 $241,377.97 $286,588. Gross Receipts for fifteen months ending- Dec. 31, 1900. . . .$355,786.44 " " " previous fifteen months 287,272.85 Increase $ 68,513.59 Bills Payable, Total amount notes negotiated 1900 $55,000.00 Of which notes paid 16,000.00 $39,000.00 Material and Labor, Amount due for material on hand and used in construction of & labor on new buildings 5,198.36 $44,198.36 Due by Company's Agents $8,477.55 Balance due to connecting Companies 2,910.56 5,566.99 Amount of floating debt , . $ 38,631.37 Amount of bonded debt 325,000.00 Memorandum of Extraordinary Disbursements From Oct. 1st, 1899 to Nov. 30th, 1900. Real Estate and Warehouse at New Bern $ 28 266 73 Three Pittsburg Company's Locomotives 27 470 00 First-class coaches, combination cars & parlor car Vance 20 189 46 Box Car and Flat Cars 10 790 00 One Turntable 2 035 42 Machinery and Tools for Shops 5 772 22 Boiler for Engine Room, and placing- same 900 00 Car wheels for log and other cars 2 673 85 Fifty-two Automatic Couplers 553 00 Paints for Buildings 551 72 New Rails 9 287 00 New Pump for Water Station 502 50 Warehouses, Platforms and Station Buildings 8 045 50 New Shops Building, and Paint House at New Bern. ... 8 070 00 125 107 40 Interest Annual MntnmnnE on Bonds payable Jan. & July, $ 19 500 00 «
Object Description
Description
Title | Proceedings of the... annual meeting of the stockholders of the Atlantic & North Carolina R.R. Co. |
Other Title | Annual meeting of the stockholders of the Atlantic and North-Carolina Railroad Company. |
Creator | Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Company. |
Contributor | Williams, William J. |
Date | 1900 |
Subjects |
Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Company Railroads--North Carolina Transportation |
Place | North Carolina, United States |
Time Period |
(1876-1900) Gilded Age (1900-1929) North Carolina's industrial revolution and World War One |
Description | Imprint varies; |
Publisher | New Bern, N.C. :William J. Williams, printer,1855-1904. |
Rights | State Document see http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll22,63754 |
Physical Characteristics | 49 v. ;21 cm. |
Collection | Health Sciences Library. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Type | text |
Language | English |
Format | Annual reports |
Digital Characteristics-A | 1106 KB; 34 p. |
Digital Collection |
Ensuring Democracy through Digital Access, a North Carolina LSTA-funded grant project North Carolina Digital State Documents Collection |
Digital Format | application/pdf |
Related Items | Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Company..Reports of the officers of the A. & N.C.R.R. Co. to the stockholders at their... annual meeting |
Audience | All |
Pres File Name-M | pubs_edp_proceedingsatlanticNCRR1900.pdf |
Pres Local File Path-M | \Preservation_content\StatePubs\pubs_edp\images_master\ |
Full Text | PRESIDENT'S REPORT. New Bern, N. C, Sept. 27th, 1900. To the Stockholders of the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Go. Gentlemen:—We beg- to submit for your consideration this, the 46th Annual Report of your Company. When we assumed control of your property on the 28th day of September, 1899, just one year ago to-morrow, we were under the impression, judging- from the amount of traffic there was passing over its line and the dividends it was paying from what was sup-posed to be its surplus earnings, that its road-bed, bridges, ware-houses, etc., while not in first-class order, were in such condition as to render.the travel and traffic over its track at least safe and to afford protection from the weather for both goods and Wdres offered it for transportation. But deeming it the part of wisdom to ascertain its real state, it was determed to have it thoroughly examined from one terminus to the other. To that end an engineer was. -._ '^ed to inspect it. . '~9*' A few da3Ts after his report was submitted, wishing- to verify the same on the of October, in companj' with the Road Waster we began an 'examination of it in detail, and found that the report, while showing the Road in poor physical condition had dealt principally in generalities, and failed, therefore, to furnish much information that was necessary to a correct understanding of the condition of the property. Beginning at Goldsboro we found the warehouse at that point in very fair order, but needing repairs, and the raising- of its floor and platforms necessary for the convenient and expeditious handling of freights. We also found it entirely too small for the present needs of the Road, and that the business of the place demanded the con-struction of another, which is now being- built of brick. Its dimen-sions are 60 ft. wide by 200 ft. long, inside measurement, and 18 ft. pitch. It is being built by day labor under our own foreman, and its estimated cost is about $6,500. It will supply a long needed want, and the wisdom of its construction, will, ,we think, be demon-strated by increased receipts during the coming year. At "Spring Bank," a point about five miles from Goldsboro, to which a large quantity of guano and general farmer's supplies are shipped, and which is becoming quite a shipping point for truck and other produce, we found no facilities whatever. A short siding has since been put in, and a shed and platform are needed. At Beston, four miles further on, one of the old original station a point to which 800 to 1,000 tons of guano, besides other supplii are shipped, and from which, in addition to other produces, a coi siderable quantity of cotton is shipped, your Company never has an does ii' it now own a single plank or shingle in the way of warehousi or other building* The goods, as at Spring Bank, have to remai in the car-, sometimes as long as two to three weeks, until it sui the convenience of the consignees. to haul them to their homes, ar not infrequently;there are as many as eight to ten cars on the sidir at the same timft. Comment upon such methods is unnecessary. is the old story of "stopping the spicket and leaking at the bung. Warehouse facilities are badly needed at this place and will 1 supplied at the earliest moment that your Company is in a positk to build them. At La Grange, we found the passenger depot totally inadequat with but one room for both races, and too near the track. We ha\ added a room for blacks, thereby giving separate accommodatio'. to the races, and moved the building six feet further from the trac. making a platform about ten feet in width. We found the warehous' in bad order, and needing extensive repairs, which, up to this tim by re -1 i of the more pressing- want of our attention elsewhere, \ have been unable to make. We have, however, tried to relieve tl situation by the erection of a temporary platform for the more, co venient loading of cotton, etc., and have also put in a short sidir near the tobacco warehouse, for the convenience of tobacco dealer The business at LaGrange has increased to such an extent th it demands, and 3'our Company will be justified in providing larg and more convenient facilities for its transaction. At Fulling Creek, we found a comparatively new passeng depot, one room of which had been converted into a warehouse. Al a small platform and a small one room shanty which seemed to 1 used for the storage of cotton seed. This is another point, with a siding capable of holding fifte< cars, to which large quantities of guano and other supplies a shipped and from which your Road transports a considerable qua tity of cotton and other products, truck, etc., and at which the ca are used as warehouses until the consignees see fit to haul the goods to their homes. The business at this place justifies good warehouse and platfor facilities, and they should be built as early as practicable. The passenger depot is dangerously near the track and will 1 moved baok to a safe distance. L/ 3 At Kinston, we found a good passenger depot built a few years since, but located too near the track. We had it moved back to a safe distance so as to give a large and commodious platform reaching to the side-walk of Caswell street, and thereby adding greatly to the convenience of the traveling- public. We found the cotton ware-house rotten and the adjoining platform in fair condition only. We also found the brick warehouse in bad order and greatlj' in need of repairs. We further found that the business at this point had grown to proportions far beyond the Road's facilities for handling it. In view of this fact we have torn down the dilapidated house and plat-form above referred to, and are constructing a brick warehouse upon their sites 220 ft. long b3' 40 ft. wide and 18 ft. from floor to joist. This house will give ample accommodation for years to come, and not only add to the convenience of shippers, but to the receipts of the Company also. It will be roofed with galvanized iron. We think the brick warehouse, now used for freight, after being repaired, should be converted into a passenger depot, telegraph office, etc. and a part of it might still be used for storage. The present pas-senger depot we think should be discontinued, and the building re-moved to one of the smaller stations, of which there are several, without an3' depot facilities whatever. Upon examination of the site of the brick warehouse, we found that the wooden structure added to the original building extended across the side-walk, thereby forcing pedestrians to walk in the roadway of the street. We suggest, that as soon as the new warehouse is completed, the part of the building occup3-ing the sidewalk be removed and the street no longer obstruct-ed. We also found, for reasons unknown to us, that the Atlantic Coast Line had been permitted to cross your Road and lay its tracks to the timber mills located on Neuse River and thereby to obtain the virtual control of their shipments. As these mills were erected be-fore the A. C. L. came to Kinston, they were essential^' within the territory of your Road, and it seems to us, in the absence of any good reason to -the contrary, that 3*our track should have reached them long before the Coast Line came, and their traffic thereby largely secured to your Road. At this point is located the large and prosperous timber plant of Messrs. Hines & Bro. and many other large and growing industries, all of which contribute in a greater or less degree to the revenue of 3'our Road. At Caswell, a station about four miles east of Kinston, a poiut to which some guano and other supplies are shipped, and at which there is quite a little passenger traffic, the only depot and warehouse accommodations that we found was a small shanty house, with the entire roof rotten, and several places fallen in. We had the roof made new, and it is now, as far as its capacity goes, of service to 1^ the Company. With better accommodations for both freight and passengers, quite a little traffic could be built up at this place. At Dover, just five miles east of Caswell, one of the original stations of the road, and the point at which is located the extensive and well managed plant of the Goldsboro Lumber Company, we found a comparatively new passenger and freig-ht depot combined, built during the administration of Mr. Robert Hancock, but entirely inadequate for the present traffic, both passenger and freight. Being only about four feet from the track, we have had it moved back six feet, so as to give a platform of ten feet in width, and thereby add to the safety of the people who use it. The roof of the warehouse proper which then was, and now is in use, we found rotten and a portion of it gone, rendering it impossible to protect its contents from , the weather. We have had it repaired, a new roof put on it, and while it is too small we are using it, and shall continue to do so, until we can provide better accommodations. At Core Creek, the next station, and about seven miles east of Dover, we found the warehouse while virtually new, badly construct-ed, and not suitable for either freight or passenger accommodations. There is considerable business done at this place, which if property fostered can be increased to the advantage of the Road. It is the junction point for passengers going to and returning from Trenton, the county seat of Jones county, and should have better traffic facil-ities. At the next station, Tuscarora, about eleven miles from New- Bern, and one of the original stations, the only facilities we found were a dilapidated platform and shed, the shed being- propped to keep it from falling. We have replaced the shed with a neat pas-senger and freight depot, with two waiting rooms, one for each race, and a warehouse room. The dimensions of the waiting rooms are 12 x IS feet and that of warehouse 25 x 40 feet, roof of galvanized iron. We think the Road will find its receipts at this place in-creased during- the coming year. At Clark's, three miles east of Tuscarora, we found only a very small platform and shed. At this point there is a small saw-mill, and recently there has been located there the large brick plant of Messrs. Abbott & Jones, and within a few hundred yards the exten-sive brick plant of the Messrs. Hyman, while both east and west of it and but a short distance therefrom is a log siding from both of which large quantities of logs are shipped. The interests of the Road as well as that of its patrons demand that both passenger and warehouse accommodations should be provided at this point. 5 At New Bern, the chief station and headquarters of the Road, with the exception of the passenger depot and the small office build-ing-, we found the entire property in a most dilapidated state. The roof of the round house in which the engines are kept was, and still is, rotten and worthless, and afforded poor protection from the rain. The ends of several of the trusses which support it were also rotten. "We have had the trusses repaired and the roof patched, hoping- that it could be made serviceable until the coming year, but so rotten is the tin that it is again full of holes and leaking. The tinner reports it dangerous for a man to walk on it and that to attempt to repair it will simply be a waste of mone3'. An entirely new roof is necessary. The roof of the car shelter is also rotten, and will have to be made almost entirely new. The roofs of the machine shops and foundry are covered with slate and the buildings were originally finished with a parapet wall. In order to prevent leaking which was thought to be due to that fact, the parapet wall was, some years ago, taken down, and the roofs extended so as to cover the space which it occupied. When this ex-tension was covered, instead of using slate, the material with which the other portions of the roofs were covered, paper roofing was sub-stituted. The result has been that those parts of the roofs so covered have for several years past leaked like riddles, causing the ends of several of the trusses to rot, and compelling their renewal on more than one occasion. We have had the wood work of these roofs re-paired, and the rotten paper torn off and replaced with slate. The roofs are now in good condition and will remain so for many years to come. The machinery in the shops, with the exception of one or two pieces, we found worn out and worthless. Most of it having been in constant use for the last forty years, work of inferior quality only could be done with it, while its cost to the Road was necessarily greatly in excess of what it should be. With the exception of the one or two pieces above referred to, this machinery has been taken out, and replaced at a cost of $5,772.00, with modern and up to date appliances, rendering the work now done first class and the cost of it, by reason of the expedition with which it can be turned out, very materially less. The boiler in the engine room we found .worn out and capable of carrying but thirty pounds of steam with safety. That has been taken out and replaced by a new and modern boiler of eighty horse power. The carpenter shop, a wooden structure, we found, with the exception of the trusses which support the roof, rotten, from its top to its sills. So rotten is its roof and weather-boarding that in dry weather the sparks from passing engines frequently set it on fire, 6 which has rendered necessary the improvising of a fire department of ladders and water buckets to protect it. It is a veritable fire trap, and as there are at all times two or more cars in it undergoing re-pairs, its destruction bj' either fire or storm would entail a heavy loss upon the Compai^'. It is furthermore too small and totally in-adequate for the work required, and should be replaced b3' a new and more commodious building. The brickwarehouse at pier 1 on Neuse River, the only ware-house at this place, we also found in bad repair. The transom lights w.ere broken out and partially replaced with boards to keep out the rain. The roof of the main building had a hole in it eight or ten feet long and at some parts of it eight to ten inches wide. This building was also originally constructed with a parapet wall, and when the parapet was removed, the roof was extended as in the case of the roofs of the machine shops and foundry and in like man-ner covered with paper, and with the same results. We have had the transom lights replaced and the parts of the roof covered with paper recovered with slate, so as to make the material of the roof uniform. It is now in good condition and will remain so for a long time to come. The roo'f of the shed leading to the end of the pier and used for storage of guano and other merchandise we found not only rotten, but leaking so badly that whenever it rained the goods stored therein had to be covered to protect them. The underpinning of this shed was in such a deca}'ed condition that shortly after we assumed con-trol' of the property, it gave way, and it was with great difficulty that the precipitation of 3,500 sacks of guano into the river was pre-vented. We managed, however, to get it out, and for want of ware-house facilities here, were compelled to haul most of it to Morehead City, and store it there, entailing upon the Company the expense of hauling it seventy-two miles and handling it three times. The roof on this shed and the sub-structure that had given way we replaced at once, and have done such other work to it as was necessary to render it safe, but the whole structure needs repairing and many new piles should be driven. The roof of the wharf used for loading and unloading steamers and other craft we found rotten and worthless. We have endeavered, however, to get along with it as best we could, being compelled to turn our attention to more needed repairs elsewhere. But it has now reached such a state that work upon it cannot much longer be de-layed, and it will have to be replaced with a new roof. Many new piles also will have to be driven to render the wharf secure. We found the paint shop abandoned as a paint shop, (the paint-ing being done in the carpenter shop) and converted into a veritable 7 junk shop, where every conceivable small article connected with a railroad was piled in indiscriminate and chaotic confusion. The roof and sills and about two feet of the lower ends of the studding were rotten, and the floor gone. The rest of the frame being good, and having no store room to take its place, we deemed it to the in-terest of the Company to repair it. We accordingly cut off the rotten ends of the studs, put new sills under it, and moved it about 60 feet to the east side of the yard, where it is of great usefulness for storage of such articles as will not be materially damaged by exposure. The frame is worth a new roof and sidings, and should be repaired. Upon its former site we have built a brick paint shop, 44 x 90 ft., which will shortly be ready for use, and will enable the Company to have its cars properly painted, and otherwise cared for. We found no place for the storage of oils, the round house being used for that purpose, where twenty to fifty barrels were usually kept between the engine tracks. To supply this need we have built of brick a neat and commodious oil room, adjoining the store room, where the oils are kept under lock and under the supervision of the store keeper. The turn table, constructed forty years ago for the use of twenty-eight to thirty ton engines, but having in recent years been used to turn engines of double that weight, we found badly broken and strapped up with truss rods, etc. Shortly after we took control of your property it gave way entirely while turning an engine, but for-tunately did not throw- it into the pit. We have replaced it with a table built of bridge steel, with a capacity of 110 tons, and apprehend no further difficult}' on that score. We were without the use of a table for several months. For the last six months we have been en-deavoring to clean up the premises. During that time we have dug up not less than thirty to forty tons of cast iron, and gathered together a large amount of other kinds of iron.' The cast iron we are using in the foundry and such portions of the other as we cannot use, we shall sell. We have hauled out of the yard a sufficient amount of debris to build a track leading to the Neuse River warehouse three feet high, ten to twelve feet wide, and one or two hundred feet in length, and there is still a large quantity of it to be removed. The house in which the rod and bar iron is kept, is rotten and should be torn down, and a new one built. The warehouse facilities at this point being totally inadequate for the business of the road, we have constructed a warehouse on Neuse River, principally for the storage of guano, 60 ft. wide by 210 ft. long, and expect it to prove not only a great convenience, but, in storage receipts a source of revenue to the Company. We have also constructed on Trent River a warehouse seventy feet wide by two hundred and fort}7 feet long, on the property purchased from Mr. J. H. Hackburn for the sum of $10,000. This property is worth greatly more to your Compan}' than was paid for it, being- absolutely indis-pensable to the convenient and profitable conduct of its business at this place. Your passenger depot being cramped in its accommoda-tions and inconveniently located, should be removed to this property where ample room can be had and proper conveniences furnished the traveling public. This warehouse will be used principally for local business, and will, it is thought, by reason of the great convenieace it will afford shippers, add materially to the receipts of the Company at this place. The second floor of the south end of this warehouse is being fitted for offices, for the use of the Company, the present offices being too small for the work, and too far from the business center of the city. The house on Neuse River is in use, and we hope to begin using the one on Trent River sometime in October. The cost of these two houses when completed will be about $19,000. In conjunction with the authorities of the Atlantic Coast Line, we have built a belt line connecting the two roads at this place, thereby supplying a long needed want and greatly facilitating the handling of the interchangeable traffic of the two lines. At James City we found a small platform and shed, but the traffic, both passenger and freight, of no moment. On the James City land, however, and only a short distance away, are located the ex-tensive saw mills of the Blades Lumber Co. and of Munger & Bennett, which, in the shipment of lumber and hauling of logs, contribute largel}' to the receipts of your property. Had proper transportation facilities been afforded them, when their mills were first construct-ed several years ago, a large proportion of the out-put of the Blades Lumber Co. would probably have gone over your road, but in their absence, their shipments were bv' water exclusively. During the administration of President Patrick, a spur was laid to their mills and since then your road has derived a very satisfactory revenue from their business. At Vinson's, a few miles further on, we found no accommodations, but from representations and our knowledge of the farming interests of the locality, felt that shipping facilities should be afforded at that point. We accordingly put in a short siding and erected a platform and shed of dimensions about 20 x 40. The result has full}' justified the outlay. Quite a little business has been started and the pros-pect is that it will be increased during the coming year. At Thurman, only a mile or two distant, we found a siding and shed. The business at this_ point is growing, and by proper atten-tion and encouragement can, in time, be made valuable. At Riverdale, the only facilities we found, were a diminutive platform and a shanty room upon it about as large as a good sized chicken coop. At this place is located a brick plant, and near by, the saw mill of Messrs. Lokey & Cannon, whose output, which is valuable, for the want of proper shipping- accommodations at the time of the erection of their plant, was diverted from your road to the river, about half a mile distant, and is now transported by water. Its natural outlet is over the line of your road, and as we have given them a switch in order to enable them to ship their slabs, we hope in time, to have them ship some of their lumber by us also. This place needs and should have better accommodations. At Croatan we found no shipping facilities whatever—only a fine well of the best water on the road, over which once stood a water tank, but which, had, 3'ears ago been removed and the water station discontinued. At this point—one of the largest logging depots on your line, and the receiving and distributing center for the supplies and products of the adjacent farms, we have erected a modern depot with separate waiting rooms for both races, and a ware-room about 25x40, feeling assured that the local business will be increased there-by. We also found that the water tank referred to, as having been removed, is much needed, and have taken steps to have it rebuilt. At Havelock, a station at which there is considerable passenger traffic, and some freight, we found very poor and inadequate accom-modations. We have been enabled, however, to get along with them, and shall continue to do so until the surplus in 3'our treasury is greater than it is now, and the wants of stations with no accommo-dations whatever are attended to. At the same time, we think better facilities would materially increase the business at that point. At Newport, we found the depot buildings comparatively new, in apparent good order, and ample for the business of the place. The water tank was leaky and in bad order, and will continue so, the staves having been warped and twisted by the sun, by reason of the neglect of the various station hands who have had charge of it, to keep it filled with water. As soon as a tank can be put up at Croatan it will be discontinued as a water station. The well is of little value and often a source of trouble, affording in dry weather a very limited supply. At Wildwood we found the warehouse, the only building there, in fair order, but entirely too small to afford the accommodations required at that place. Better facilities should be given. At Morehead City we found the platform at the up town station rotten, and the passenger and freight depot, while in fairly good condition, entirely too small and out of all proportion to the business. 10 We have recently rebuilt the platform, and hope to build a depot suitable to the wants of the town at an early day. The fish depot, the joint property of the Southern Express Company and 3'our Road, we found to be nothing- more than a dilapidated and unsightly shan-ty, standing in the street, an eyesore to every passer by, a disgrace to the corporations owning it and a mortifying annoyance to the citizens of Morehead. It should be torn down and replaced by a better and more convenient building. The large platform in front of the Atlantic Hotel we found rotten and dangerous. It has been replaced by a new one 200 feet long, and covered by a shed supported by a single row of posts, and lighted at night by gas furnished by the owners of the hotel. It is a great convenience to the traveling public, and presents a hand-some appearance. Your Road, from this point to Pier 1, its ocean terminus, runs upon a narrow tongue of made land, which has, on several occasions, been badly damaged and portions of it destroyed by the storms that are prevolent on our coast. It has, time and again, been rip-rapped with old ties and piles, and bulkheaded with stone, old bricks and shells, but being simply thrown upon the sand and allowed to settle themselves they have proved but little protection to the bank which is always more or less damaged by every storm of any violence. Your Road is not now able to build it, but we hope the time is not very far in the future when it will be able to construct a sea wall along the bank capable of resisting every storm. This is the only solution of the trouble, and had it been so constructed when the Road was originally built, the money that has been expended to repair the damage of the storms, would long since have paid its cost. At Pier 1, we found the warehouse, built upon iron piles, in fairly good order and one of the best on your Road. The long plat-form leading from the warehouse to the land is built upon pine piles, and greatly in need of repairs, some of which have since been made. Being unable to make satisfactory arrangements for a water supply at Morehead City, and the well in use being unreliable, and the tank virtually of no value and comparatively useless by reason of the neglect of those in charge of it to keep it filled with water, we have bored a well at Pier 1, between 200 and 300 feet deep and cased it to a depth of 167 feet with 6 inch iron pipe. The water obtained is of good quality and the supply inexhaustable. We have built a foun-dation for a 30,000 gallon tank and small gasoline engine, which we have purchased for use at this well and will soon have them in posi-tion. From this tank, by means of a pipe laid to the end of the pier, we propose to supply all vessels calling at our warehouse for water and for which we are informed that one cent per gallon is now paid 11 in the harbor. This should prove a source of revenue sufficient to meet all expenses incident to supplying- your engines with water and in time repay the cost of sinking- the well and price of tank and en-gine. The rails upon your road we found good; the road-bed we found uneven, rough and in bad order, and much of the timber in it rotten, so rotten, that in many places it was only necessary to kick the spikes with your foot in order to loosen them sufficiently to pull them out with your fingers, and in more than a thousand ties, by actual count, we found that a spike had never been driven. Comment is unnecessary. To its air line straightness alone is its freedom from accident due. The ditches had the appearance of not having been cleaned out in years. For miles they were filled with water without an outlet, and a great portion of your road-bed was badly sobbed. The right of way was grown up with bushes and trees of a size that demonstrated the fact that it also had been neglected for years past. In a great measure we have remedied these troubles. Of your motive power, we found eight engines out of a total of twelve, good—the others old and of little value. Two of them, the No. 1 and 2 were the first engines purchased by your company more than forty years ago; the other two, the 8 and 9, were purchased from the Federal Government thirt3- -five years ago. We found such rolling stock as you had in fairly good order, but some of your cars old and out of date, and not enough of them to do the work. Neither did you have engines enough by three to perform the service required of them. We have been thus particular in outlining the state of 3'our road, for the reason, that after thoroughly examining it, we found it in such a dilapidated and worn out condition, that we were unwilling to assume its management unless the Board of Internal Improvement would, with an expert of their own selection, go over it and thoroughly examine into its condition for themselves, which at our request they did, and we here state, without fear of contradiction, that every member of that board who took part in that examination, will bear us out as to the correctness of the statements herein made. We have also been thus particular in laying the condition of your road when we assumed control of it, before you, for the reason, that when dur-ing the session of the last Legislature an offer was made by Mr. Edwards to purchase it, and the statement was made that it was run down to a point that made it dangerous for travel, and that the machinery in your shops and most of your motive power were worn out and worthless, your President was a member of that body, and believing from the information furnished him that the statement was not warranted by the facts, denied it before a Committee of the Sen-ate. His personal examination made thereafter and the examina- 12 tion made by the Board of Internal Improvement, at which some of us were present, have shown us his error and demonstrated the fact that the statement was true. We furthermore wished you to know the condition of your property at the time we assumed control of it, in order that you might be able to judge for yourselves as to whether it had improved or deteriorated under our management. For infor-mation more in detail as to the condition of your roadway, ditches, bridges, culverts, water stations, shops, and foundry work, wood and timber supplj', etc., etc., etc., you are respectfully referred to the reports of the Road Master and Master Machanic herewith sub-mitted. Finding no record of the various pieces of Real Estate owned by your Company, except an occasional deed in the hands of the Treas-urer for a piece here and a piece there, and deeming it of essential importance that 3'our Company should have some evidence of title to its holdings other than that of mere possession, we decided to have every piece of your real estate surveyed and platted, and a copy of the plat entered in a book to be obtained for that purpose, and also to have the deeds for each piece of property copied in said book, on the page next to the plat of the same. By this means your Company would at all times have within easy and convenient reach not only a record of its titles to its property, but full and complete evidence of its possession. We also decided to have the lines of your right of way surveyed and re-established and platted in the same book, and thereby end the controversies constantly arising with parties claim-ing the right to use and build thereon. With this end in view we employed a surveyor and instructed him to survey and plat your property at New Bern. As the work proceeded, we found, much to our surprise, that for some of it your Company had no deeds in its possession, and that none had ever been placed upon record. Under these circumstances, we were compelled to rely upon the old and ori-ginally known lines of adjacent property which developed the fact that new lines had been established by parties unknown to us, fen-ces erected upon them, encroaching upon your property and em-bracing as a part of said adjacent property portions of the most val-uable lots undoubtedly owned by your Company. We also found a party holding a deed for a lot in the centre of your 3'ard and covered by your tracks, while your Company held a deed for the adjoining lot upon which was located his residence. This difficulty will be adjusted by an exchange of deeds. But how your Company, in the absence of all documentary evidence of title, is to recover possession of that portion of its property embraced in and covered for the last twenty-five years by the arbitrary lines of the adjoining lots, is, to us, not so clear. 13 We regret to say that further investigation has demonstrated the fact that New Bern is not the only place in which you own property for which you have no deeds in your possession and for which no record of any can be found. We recommend that this matter be thoroughly investigated, and that your titles to all your property be re-established and perfected at the earliest moment. An examination of the methods employed in keeping the accounts of your Company, has demonstrated the fact that your system of book-keeping is faulty, cumbersome, and not adapted to Railroad business, and in the absence of absolute accuracy of distribution in the accounts rendered by the heads of the various departments is unreliable and misleading. The system embraces four books, a general register of earnings, a general register of disbursements, and a ledger in which are kept the accounts of the agents and our connections, and a cash book, which is kept as a check upon the account of the Treasurer. There are no individual accounts with the various departments, no individual acccounts of disbursements, no individual accounts of distribution, and no indices to any of the books except the general ledger, in which, as I have stated above, are entered the accounts of the agents and our connections only. If it is desired to ascertain the price of an article or the date of its purchase, the only way in which it can be done is by examining the various pages of the General Register, item by item until the entry of its cost is found, and if its purchase was by partial payments, the various payments have to be searched for, and picked out from the hundreds of items upon the Register and made up into a separate account. The time lost and the labor wasted upon a system like this are frequently of more value than the article whose value is sought. No business man of the present day would tolerate it. Such a sys-tem might have met the wants of a Cross-Roads Grocery store fifty years ago, when time was not of the essence of the contract, and accuracy not a factor in accounts, but in this day of rapid movement and lightening-like calculation it is out of date, and obsolete, and should be replaced by more modern methods. It is with regret that we inform you that on the 12th of the present month, by reason of the breaking of an axle of a greatly overloaded car, your Road met with the only accident of any moment that has occurred during our administration. Owing to the fortunately low rate of speed at which the train was running there was no loss of life, but the wreck of two old freight cars was complete. One pas-senger car was damaged, but to a slight extent only. The cost of the wreck is estimated at $500.00. All circumstances connected with the occurrence are being thoroughly investigated and the respon-sibility will be placed where it belongs. , 14 When on the 28th day of September last we assumed control of your property, we found in your treasury a credit balance of $14,060.05. On June 30th, the end of the fiscal year just closed, the balance was $'654.45, while on the 21st of the present month the balance on hand, as per report of the Finance Committee, was $14,364.31. For a more detailed statement of moneys received and disbursed and on hand, together with the amounts due by our con-nections, 3'ou are referred to the reports of the Finance Committee, of the Treasurer, and of the Auditor, which are herewith respectfully submitted. In order to supply the immediately pressing- and more impera-tive needs of the Road, we have purchased since the first day of October last the following' articles and supplies, to- wit: 2 Pittsburg Locomotives, 17 inch cylinders, at a cost of $8,750 and $8,800, respectively $ 17,550.00 1 Pittsburg Locomotive, 18 inch cylinder at a cost of . . . . 9,920.00 1 Pullman Parlor Car "" " " 4,216.18 2 First Class Passenger Cars "" " " 7,248.00 2 Second Class Passenger Cars "" " " 4,540.00 2 Combinations, Pass., Mail & Baggage Cars " " 4,382.00 10 Box and 10 Flat Cars 8,000.00 10 Box Cars 2,080.00 1 Box " 443.00 1 Flat " ., 267.00 1 Turn table and putting in same 2,035.42 Machinery for shops 5,772.22 Boiler for Engine Room, and putting in same 900.00 60 Pairs New wheels and axles for 15 new flat cars 1,604.27 40 " " " " " " 10 new log cars 1,000.00 60,000 lbs. wrought iron 1,350.00 52 Automatic Couplers 553.00 30 Barrels Oil and Grease 420.44 143,000 Ft. Lumber at $14 1,999.00 Bolts, Castings, etc 370.85 4,272 lbs. new brass for cars 704.88 Paints 358.52 New Rails 9,987.00 Real Estate on Trent River 10,000.00 From this am't is to be deducted am't due upon Real Estate $2,000.00 Am't due upon Engine 17 2,845.00 Am't due upon Passenger Cars 1.860.00 r 6,705.00 Leaving a total of Cash paid out $88,897.78 15 This amount, however does not represent the sum total which has been expended for improvements and the further sum of about $3,000 due upon open account, which aggregate something over one hundred thousand dollars. For a fuller statement thereof you are referred to the report of the Auditor. These items constituting the greater and most prominent portion of our expenditures, we have laid them and their cost before you in order that you might see for what the receipts of the Road have been used, and from the very nature and quantity of the articles purchased judge for yourselves of the straits in which we found it. When we took charge of it there was little surplus material of any kind on hand; no rails, no engine tires, a few sets only of car wheels and axles, scarcely any castings, and no timber worth speaking of for the repairing of cars or for any other purpose. In fact, there was comparatively nothing. It had been stripped and denuded. Its poverty was pitiable. Everything was conducted upon the hand to mouth plan. If an hundred feet of plank was needed, a man was sent to the mill to buy it, and often times to purchase a smaller quantity. The fact is, your Road was as bare of tools, supplies, and material absolutely necessary for its operation and maintenance as it was bankrupt in purse, notwithstanding the fact that for the past eight or ten years it had been paying an annual dividend of two per cent. It is not our purpose to indulge in criticism, but in justifica-tion of the course we have pursued in its management, we feel con-strained to say that we think it well that some attention has been paid to its rehabilitation, and that for the present, at least, the pay-ment of a dividend should not be considered. As you will perceive from the Auditor's report the earnings of the Road for the present fiscal year have been $218,165.96, the highest amount it has ever realized, and an increase in excess of the earnings of last year of 330,603.73. _ A comparison of the earnings and operat-ing expenses of the past year with those of the preceding four years is not unfavorable, and shows that, notwithstanding the large total of expenditures, the Road has been economically and successfully managed and earned a handsome surplus. By some not familiar with its condition and who have not taken the trouble or cared to imform themselves of its needs, the expendi-tures have been criticized as excessive, but the great amount of sup-plies and material, and the employment of the large extra force re-quired to put the Road in the physical condition necessary to conduct the traffic which we were satisfied could be obtained for it, if pro-perly equipped to handle it, made their incurrence a necessity, and in the result we have not been disappointed. We have added Sunday trains to your system and inaugurated 16 a double daily mail along- 3'our line which have proved greatly bene-ficial to our local interests and added not only to the comfort and pleasure of your patrons but contributed in no small degree to the receipts of 3 7our treasury. We have established a system of Satur-day night and Sunday tickets at reduced rates which has been heartily approved b}' the general public and large^ increased the travel upon your line. From a close study of conditions now existing we are satisfied that double daily freight trains, running the entire length of j'our line should be added to your system. The increased traffic which we feel assured would result therefrom would become an im-portant factor in the receipts of 3-our treasury, and if the equipment of the road was sufficient we would sugg-est that they be put on at once. Unfortunately, however, the motive power of the road is barely sufficient to meet its present needs, while to carry out our views, would require at least two additional engines, which, just at this time the road is not in a position to purchase. It is hoped, however, that during the nest few months it will be, and then it is believed the period of its greatest prosperity will begin. An examination of its statements for the last few years shows a steady increase of earn-ings, and we are satisfied that during the next five or six years with a management characterized by an active, economic and intelli-gent energy it can be put upon a permanently paying- basis and its earnings doubled. The conditions necessary to bring about these re-sults exist, and need only to be developed. The business is within your reach, and it will be your own fault if you fail to foster it. But in order to bring- about results so greatly to be desired, you must equip and put 3 -our road in thorough order and repair. In its present condition, notwithstanding the outlay of the year just passed, as large as some, not familiar with its impoverished condition, may think it, its energies were taxed to the utmost to handle the business secured for it, and should the increase during the coming- year equal that of the year just gone the purchase of more exuipment and addi-tional engines would be a necessity. At a meeting of your Board of Directors shortly after taking charge of your propert}', for the purpose of more speedily rehabilita-ting your road and better fitting it for both traffic and travel, we were given a credit of $50,000. Of this sum, in furtherance of the object for which it was granted, we have borrowed and expended, giving notes of the Company therefor, the sum of $45,000—but such were the necessities of the road for motive power, new equipment, new and increased traffic accommodations, and repairs generally, that when on the 1st of July last your semi-annual interest fell due, we were compelled to borrow $10,000 to meet it, making the total amount borrowed and still due $55,000. The repayment of this sum 17 however gives us no concern. The small balance of $6,705.00 yet due on motive power, equipment, and real estate we will liquidate in November, and we will then rapidly pay off the sums we have bor-rowed. The great bane of your road has been the frequent change of its administration and the custom which has largely governed the ap-pointment of its employees. By reason of this constant change one policj' of administration has succeeded the other at such short inter-vals as to render any plan of continuously practical operation im-possible. Influence and not fitness has been the controlling force in the appointment of your officers and too frequently in that of your operatives. The result has been a want of system, an almost total absence of discipline, causing carelessness as to obedience to orders, amounting in some instances virtually to insubornation and their wilful violation, inattention to duty, apparent indifference to the interest of the Company and an inefficiency which has rendered the cost of operating your road greatly in excess of what it would other-wise have been. The remedy is patent. The controlling head of your management, regardless of the in-dividual, should be a man of first class business capacity and ag-gressive energy; of broad and liberal views as to the wants and needs of the traveling and commercial public; familiar with the im-proved methods and appliances in use at the present day, and have some knowledge of the system upon which the business of modern railroading is conducted. He should have the exclusive appointment and dismissal of his employees, and be held to a strict accountability for the success or failure of his administration. If the business in-terest of the road is to be paramount, as it should be, all other con-siderations should be disregarded, and his tenure of office should depend upon his ability and success as a manager. Should these suggestions find favor with you, and your road be put in first class condition, there is not the slightest reason why, in the near future, it should not become a source of permanent and re-munerative revenue to its stockholders. But in first class order it must be put, otherwise these results cannot be obtained. There has been in the near past some discussion as to the ad-visability, on your part, of permanently disposing of your property and a proposition involving its lease, and another, the purchase of the interest of the State therein, has been submitted, which when the terms of said propositions are considered, were, in our opinion, wisely declined. The conditions affecting your road are peculiar to itself, and worthy of your thoughtful consideration. The ports of Morehead City and New Bern, one its ocean termi- 18 nus, the other its chief shipping- point, are the only ports on the At-lantic Seaboard, south of Norfolk whose business and shipping' are not dominated, and to a greater or less degree, controlled by one or more of the great railway systems traversing the Southern States. This fact alone gives your road a value and a power as a competitor, of which few, who have not familiarized themselves with the situa-tion, have any idea. With its water connections with all eastern points, which, with a very feasible and easily effected change of condition, [could be made more direct than at present, it is, as a State road, as far inland as Goldsboro, and would be to any other inland point to which it might be extended, the key to the railroad situation of North Carolina, but deprived of the protecting power incident to the ownership of a portion of its stock by the State, it would be absolutely at the mercy of the two great systems with which it connects, and powerless, under any circumstances, to assert its independence or to demand its rights. Tapped at its most vital points, Goldsboro, Kinston and New Bern by rich and greatly more powerful lines, its profitable owner-ship by a private corporation except by the friendly sufferance of these lines, would be an impossibility, and, therefore, if at any time the State should, in an evil moment for the people of the section which it traverses, see fit to part with its ownership, it matters not to whom it goes, or what the nature of the stipulations providing against its acquisition by connecting lines may be, they have it in their power, by means well understood by those cognizant of the tac-tics of hostile and rival roads, to destroy its business, drive it into bankruptcy, and force it to a sale, at which, if they so desired, they could, easily possess themselves of it. And of this fact no one is better aware than themselves. There is no sentiment existing be-tween corporations, none in their composition, and railroad corpora-tions are not an exception to the rule. The survival of the fittest is the doctrine of their existence, and interest alone is, necessarily, the controlling inspiration of their action. And, therefore, if the State should sell its stock to a private syndicate or corporation, and it became as it then would, and, in fact, as it already is, the interest of the corporations referred to to own and merge it into their systems, no power, known to the law, could prevent it. How easy to create a mortgage debt! How easy to foreclose the mortgage! How easy to purchase at a creditor's sale! And in a thousand other ways, how easy to obtain possession of a property whose business, and value dependent thereon, we have it in our power to crush and destroy. The result of such ownership and merging, would, in higher tariffs, increased rates and arbitrary rulings, be quickly felt by every ship-per and resident, over and along its entire line. L 19 Your road is the main artery of the commercial and industrial life of the section through which it runs. It is the great controlling-force, which by reason of its facilities for transportion at its water terminals, over which, if at any time, it should become necessary, it has the power to exercise an independent control, has prevented the imposition of excessive rates upon the people in its territory and enabled them, in the enjoyment of fair and just competition, to reap the fruits and benefits of their labor and toil. But this mighty force which has built up this section and brought prosperity and comfort to many of its people, is but a reflex. With the fostering- arm of the State withdrawn by the sale of its stock, the road would not only be unable to aid our people, but powerless to protect itself. Corpora-tions can fight and destroy each other, but they cannot destroy the State, nor for any length of time can they successfully fight it. Continued ownership of its stock by the State means continued pros-perity to this section. Its sale means the reverse. You might lease your road and it still could subserve the interests of our people, but sell it, never—for in that hour in which the State parts with the ownership of its stock to the possession of another, begins the forg-ing of the fetters with which to shackle the energies of our people. There is another circumstance connected with your road, of which those who advocate the sale of the State's interest therein are seemingly oblivious, or having considered it, and having-, in one way or another, been impressed with the idea that their individual interest would be more remuneratively subserved by reason of a change of ownership, the fact that it does exist, may, perhaps, be the reason of their solicitous advocacy. It should receive your most earnest thought, as it has already received the careful consideration of those parties, who, although, standing in the back ground, would in the end, in the event of its sale, be found to be the real purchasers, while the man or men to whom the sale was ostensibly made, would probably develop into men of straw. The circumstance is to be found in the fact that your road has a large and profitable business, the result of forty years of labor and struggle, and the growth of population and enterprise throughout this section. Along its line where forty years ago slum-bered the giants of the forest, the waving grain and the snowy cotton now gladden the eye of the husbandman, reward his toil, fill your cars with the products of the soil and add to the revenues of your treasury. The lonely and solitary station houses are now floursh-ing communities. Hamlets have sprung into villages, and villages have grown into small but enterprising cities. From one end of your road to the other numerous and profitable industries of almost every description have been established—ice factories, oil mills, cotton 20 mills, knitting- mills, furniture factories, iron founderies, guano and other fertilizer plants, canning factories, brick plants, logging plants, lumber mills, the output of some of which is simply enormous, and other industries, the entire product of some of which, and greater or less portions of that of the others, pass over your road. In additin to the above, the products of the lish, oyster and clam industries of Morehead City, each in itself of large proportions, pass over your road, while a large portion of the products of the fish and oyster in-dustries of New Bern do likewise. And in addition to all this, a goodly proportion of the yield of the most productive truck belt in the South, is tributary to its line. And more, by the possession of your ocean terminus at Morehead City, you have at 3'our command the land locked harbor of Beaufort, which with a reasonable expenditure, easily obtainable from the Government, can speedily be made inferior to none on the Southern coast, and a depth of water secured sufficient to enable the largest sea-going steamers, as well as other craft to lie at your piers. The building by the Government of a harbor of refuge at Cape Lookout, twelve to fifteen miles distant, now a certainly, upon whose friendly anchorage hundreds of vessels, caught in stress of weather, will seek shelter from the storms which spend their fury on our shores, will necessarily make your port, to a greater degree than ever before, known to the shipping of the world; and by the estab-lishing of a coaling station thereat, not only will you divert a part of the enormous coal traffic now centering at Newport News and Lambert's Point in the harbor of Norfolk, but add a tonage to your business equal to that of our present traffic, and eventually create for yourselves relations with the outer world which will make your earnings many times their present value, and give to your road a position and an importance in the consideration of the great systems of the State, which it has heretofore never possessed. Will you grasp the opportunities which beseechingly hold out their hands to you and imploringly beg you to avail yourselves of the advantages which Nature herself has thrown at your feet, or will you, as in the past, spurn and ignore them? As I have said before, it has taken forty years to build up this business; the citizens of the counties which hold their original stock, and some others who originally invested their money in theenterprie and paid par for their stock, have during the lapse of the long period from 1854 to 1900 patiently waited for its development, relying upon the State, the controlling stockholder, to protect their interests, and by remaining a party to the contract, to see that their investments were never sacrificed. And now at the turning point of its existenc, with a yearly and pheno'minal increase of its business, for the State 21 to sell its stock, would not only be an act of bad faith toward the minority stockholders, but suicidal to itself. Look at the earnings of your road for the last five years: For the year 1896 $140,656.53. " " 1897 149,435.56. " " 1898 174,507.87. " " 1899 187,562.20. " " " 1900 218,165.96, Nearly $78,000 more in 1900 than they were in 1896, or an in-" crease of more than 50 per cent. Point me to any of the great sys-tems which during the same period show a greater per certtage of increase. Where is there a property which holds out greater promise for the future than this? Why, therefore, part with its ownership? Had the policy of extension and of building branches urged long years ago by those who knew the value of feeders and extended ter-ritory, and who foresaw and predicted the present situation, been adopted, there would long since have been a branch through the ter-ritory from New Bern to Jacksonville, now occupied by the Wilming-ton and New Bern road, and the products of that rich section, in-creased ten-fold above what they are to-day, would have passed over your tracks. Another would have gone from Kinston to Greenville, and further on; another would have reached to Snow Hill and thence as circumstances might have directed. Another perhaps, ere this, might have crossed the Neuse and reached out its arms into the rich fields of Pamlico. The products of these teeming territories would have taxed 3'our resources to transport them, pouring into your lap a constant stream of wealth, and the competitor who with power suffi-cient to take it all, now knocking at your door, and with a spirit of generosity, demands but a share of that which should have been yours alone, would have gone in other directions, and your main stem might, perhaps, have reached far into the interior of the State, and given you an unbroken and profitable connection with the mar-kets of the great west. But instead of the possibilities which I have pictured, and which were once so easily ours, what are the conditions that surround us? The rival to whom I have alluded, alive to advantages to which we, in slothful slumber, have closed our eyes, has seized the opportunities upon which we have turned our backs, and over routes which, for years, have held out their hands and besought us to occupy them, entered our very domicile and crossed our tracks at our every vital point, and to-day instead of occupying the territory which was right-fully ours and being as we could have been, one of the great and ex-panding systems, we find ourselves without a single inch of exten-sion, without a single branch or feeder, without a single artery 22 through which the commerce of adjacent territory can be drawn, the same petty local line, with no additions to its track but sidings ren-dered necessary by the development of its old original territory only, that we were, the first day of our incorporation, nearly fifty years ago, with the iron ribbed lines of more enterprising corporations, like the crushing and mangling folds of a mighty serpent, thrown around us, and dependent for our existence and freedom from absorp-tion by our neighbors upon the protecting power of the State alone. Are we satisfied with such a destiny? If we are, we have only to continue the policy which has thus far guided our councils. If we are not, let us listen to the propositions which will be made us to-day and shape our future accordingly. Respectfully submitted, JAMES A. BRYAN, President. Atlantic (fe North Carolina R. E. Co. Statement of Earnings for every four Years from 1881. From 1881 to 1884 inclusive $251,631.37 " 1885 to 1888 " 542,420.27 " 1SS9 to 1892 " 589,001.94 " 1893 to 1896 " 589,161.46 " 1897 to 1900 " 729,671.62 Total Earnings $2,701,886.66 Comparative Statement of Earnings for Months of July, August, Septem-ber, October and November for the years 1898, 1899 and 1900. 1898. 1899. 1900. July $17,040.65 $17,837.77 $19,975.74 August 15,416.72 15,533.64 18,954.36 September 17,385.20 16,661.86 19,349.10 October 15,520.26 18,954.80 22,155.26 November 15,029.68 17,898.54 21,323.40 Total Earnings $80,392.51 $86,886.61 $101,757.86 Statement of Earnings (Gross and Net) for Years 1897 to 1900 Inclusive. Gross Earnings. Net Earnings. For the Year of 1897 $149,435.56 $64,089.99 " 1S98 174,507.87 80,316.97 1899 187.562.23 79,040.30 "1900 218,165.96 89,268.38 $729,671.62 $312,715.64 Statement of Earnings (Gross and Net; from October 1st, 1899 to Novem-ber 30th, 1900, Inclusive. Gross Earnings. Net Earnings. From Oct. 1, 1899, to Nov. 30, 1900, (14 months) $269,890.55 $111,288.53 Gross Earnings. Net Earnings. From July 1, to Nov. 30, 1900, inclu-sive, (5 months) $101,757.86 $39,971.06 Statement of Gross Receipts for Three Years Ending December 31st, 1900. 1898. 1899. 1900. For the month of January . . .$13,328.89 $18,960.22 $21,760.87 " " " " February ... 17,031.51 14,213.26 18,489.06 " " " "March 20.195.45 17,803.43 24,133.30 ' " " "April 16.356.16 23,616.45 25,486.83 '' " " "May 14,307.20 16,111.62 19,670.89 " " " "June 12,028.02 15,725.80 17.397.98 " " " "July 17,089.52 19,775.75 23,804.46 " " " "August 18,886.89 21.164.33 21,064.59 " " " "September.. 16.929.49 19.799.40 33,983.52 " " " " October 18,385.93 20,846.20 28,991.18 " " " " November... 16,617.30 25,367.25 28.696.05 " " " " December... 27,193.46 22.984.26 23,110.00 $208,349.82 $241,377.97 $286,588. Gross Receipts for fifteen months ending- Dec. 31, 1900. . . .$355,786.44 " " " previous fifteen months 287,272.85 Increase $ 68,513.59 Bills Payable, Total amount notes negotiated 1900 $55,000.00 Of which notes paid 16,000.00 $39,000.00 Material and Labor, Amount due for material on hand and used in construction of & labor on new buildings 5,198.36 $44,198.36 Due by Company's Agents $8,477.55 Balance due to connecting Companies 2,910.56 5,566.99 Amount of floating debt , . $ 38,631.37 Amount of bonded debt 325,000.00 Memorandum of Extraordinary Disbursements From Oct. 1st, 1899 to Nov. 30th, 1900. Real Estate and Warehouse at New Bern $ 28 266 73 Three Pittsburg Company's Locomotives 27 470 00 First-class coaches, combination cars & parlor car Vance 20 189 46 Box Car and Flat Cars 10 790 00 One Turntable 2 035 42 Machinery and Tools for Shops 5 772 22 Boiler for Engine Room, and placing- same 900 00 Car wheels for log and other cars 2 673 85 Fifty-two Automatic Couplers 553 00 Paints for Buildings 551 72 New Rails 9 287 00 New Pump for Water Station 502 50 Warehouses, Platforms and Station Buildings 8 045 50 New Shops Building, and Paint House at New Bern. ... 8 070 00 125 107 40 Interest Annual MntnmnnE on Bonds payable Jan. & July, $ 19 500 00 « |