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RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS OF KENTUCKY.

HENRY D. MCHENRY, August 2, 1878, Chairman.

LUCIUS DESHA, August 2, 1878.

W. H. PETTUS, August 2, 1878.

L. D. HOLLOWAY, August 2, 1878, Secretary.

J. FLETCHER JOHNSTON, September 1, 1880, Chairman.

C. H. ROCHESTER, September 1, 1880.

C. E. KINCAID, September 1, 1880.

LANSING BURROWS, September 1, 1880, Secretary.

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C. C. McCHORD, May 24, 1892, Chairman. (Resigned.)

UREY WOODSON, May 24, 1892.

CHARLES B. POYNTZ, May 24, 1892.

JAMES N. SAUNDERS. (Appointed to fill unexpired term of C. C. McChord,

resigned.)

D. C. HARDIN, May 24, 1892, Secretary.

JOHN C. WOOD, December 10, 1895, Chairman.
H. S. IRWIN, December 10, 1895.

J. F. DEMPSEY, December 10, 1895.

S. D. BROWN, December 10, 1895, Secretary.

C. C. McCHORD, December 12, 1899, Chairman.

JOHN C. WOOD, December 12, 1899.

J. F. DEMPSEY, December 12, 1899.

MURRAY R. HUBBARD, February, 1900, Secretary.

C. C. McCHORD, December 8, 1903, Chairman.

MCD. FERGUSON, December 8, 1903.

A. T. SILER, December 8, 1903.

MOSES R. GLENN, December 8, 1903, Secretary.

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For your information, we submit herewith the twenty-fifth annual report of the Railroad Commission, embracing all work from December 1, 1903, to December 1, 1904.

MILEAGE.

The total mileage of all railroads in Kentucky being operated at the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 1903, as shown by our last annual report, was 3,189 miles. The total mileage at the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 1904, was 3,270 miles; this includes the total mileage of all steam and interurban railroad companies doing business in the State. There is now under construction a number of extensions and branch lines entering the coal fields, especially in eastern Kentucky, and we hope to be able in our next annual report to show an additional increase in mileage. A number of new railroads have filed articles of incorporation with this Board and with the Secretary of State, and we confidently hope to see considerable activity in railroad construction during the next year.

EARNINGS.

There has been a very considerable increase in the amount of gross earnings of the railroads in Kentucky during the past year. Last year the total gross receipts of all railroads making reports of operation were $30,208,313. The total

gross receipts for the past year were $33,047,652. The total net receipts for the year 1903 were $9,924,046. The total net for the..year 1904 were $9,647,340. The average gross receipts per mile for the year 1904 were $10,104. The average net receipts per mile were $2,946.

ACCIDENTS.

There has been an alarming increase in the number of accidents upon railroads throughout the country. The total number of employes, passengers and other persons killed and injured on all the railroads in Kentucky in 1903 were 1,473; of this number there were employes killed, 51; employes injured, 1,222; passengers and others killed, 99; passengers and others injured, 191. The total casualties in the United States for the year ended June 30, 1903, was 86,393, of which 9,840 were killed and 76,553 injured. The increase in the number of deaths of passengers in train accidents in 1904, compared with 1903, was 6412 per cent. For the year 1904, the total casualties in Kentucky were 1,732, of this large number the total accidents to employes of the railroads injured was 1,286; total employes killed, 76; total passengers and other persons killed, 126; total passengers and other persons injured, 244.

It is to be deplored that in the contest for business many of the railroads of the country lose sight of the safety which their employes and passengers are entitled to have thrown around them. In this age of invention and modern improvement in the construction and operation of railroads, there can be no excuse for their failure to attach and use ever safety device that has been tested and found to be instrumental in minimizing accidents in the operation of trains. The recommendation is being made everywhere to the State Legislatures and to Congress that all railroads be required to use the block signal system upon the various lines of railroads. There are a number of other safety devices which have proven all that is claimed for them and which the railroads should be required to adopt. It will not do to say that these devices are expensive, for the life of one human being, whether he be passenger or employe, is more valuable than the sum total of the cost of erecting and maintaining these

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