Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1877.djvu/28

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XXVI
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

Stock of the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad Company to the amount of $4,478,500 has been subscribed, of which $1,791,400 has been paid. The receipts for the year ending 30th June, 1877, from transportation of passengers, were $86,033.11; of freight, $205,898.36; from express, $2,784.71; and from miscellaneous sources, $5,831.21; total, $300,546.39. The expenses of the road and fixtures during said year were $285,366.64, leaving net earnings, $15,179.75. The bonded indebtedness of the company is $3,256,320, of which $1,628,320 is due to the United States. The floating debt is $69,955.29.

Stock of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, of California, to the amount of $38,122,000 has been subscribed, of which $36,763,900 has been paid. The amount received for transportation of passengers for the year ending 30th June, 1877, was $1,646,693.49; of freight, $1,883,900.46; total, $3,530,593.95. The expenses of the road and fixtures for said year, were $1,724,174.41, leaving net earnings $1,806,419.54. The bonded indebtedness of the company is $29,300,000. The construction of additional portions of this road has steadily progressed since the date of the company's last annual report. There have been constructed and brought into operation during the year ending 30th June, 1877, 253.78 miles. This whole distance has been laid with steel rails, weighing not less than 50 pounds per linear yard. The company now has in operation 711.95 miles of road. On the 25th of January last, your predecessor accepted 20 miles of this road, beginning at Goshen and running in a westerly direction; on the 21st February last, he accepted another section of 20 miles, beginning at a point in the N. E. ¼ of section 2, T. 19 S., R. 20 E., Mount Diablo base and meridian, and running in a southwesterly direction; and on the 2d March, he accepted 78.59 miles, beginning at a point in the N. W. ¼ of section 3, T. 2 N., R. 15 W., San Bernardino base and meridian, and running northerly.

The Northern Pacific Railroad Company was reorganized on the 29th of September, 1875, under a plan which had been adopted by the holders of the company's bonds, and under which the company's mortgage was foreclosed. On the 12th of August preceding, all the company's property and franchises were sold under a decree of the United States district court for the southern district of New York, and purchased by a committee of the bondholders for the account of all the holders of the company's bonds and stock, pursuant to the provisions of said plan. This plan of reorganization, approved and confirmed by the said district court, provided for the conversion of the outstanding bonds of the company into “preferred stock,” and its stock into “common stock.” Up to June 30, 1877, there had been issued of preferred stock to bondholders who had surrendered their bonds for conversion, and also in settlement of claims and salaries, the amount of $36,609,245.95. Of common stock, there had been issued, to the same date, 139,453 shares, of $100 each. The company is operating 450 miles of its road from Duluth, at the west end of Lake Superior, to Bismarck; 105 miles from Kalama to Tacoma, Washington Territory; and 17 miles from Tacoma toward Wilkeson, 31 miles from Tacoma, to which point