REPORT AND TESTIMONY SPECIAL COMMITTEE ASSEMBLY TO Investigate the Desirability of Municipal Ownership the Various Cities of the State. TRANSMITTED TO THE LEGISLATURE FEBRUARY 11, 1896. VOLUME II. WYNKOOP HALLENBECK CRAWFORD CO., STATE PRINTERS, ALBANY AND NEW YORK. 1 Q. Do you transfer with any other company? A. Yes, sir; with the Third Avenue Cable Company, with Grand Street line, and Grand Street and Battery and Cortlandt Street line, and Canal Street and Battery. Q. You take transfers from their trains and they from yours? A. Yes, sir; that has been in existence since a year ago the 1st of May. Q. Is that adjusted by the tickets taken up? A. Yes, sir; we exchange the tickets that have been collected, and wherever there is excess of tickets the parties turning in the excess get remuneration for them at one-half rates. Q. You have no reports of the delivery of those tickets; that is, you do not settle on such reports? A. We settle every month; simply a statement made. Q. That is based on the tickets taken up? A. Yes, sir. Q. And not on those put out? A. No, sir; the tickets are put out every day; they do all the collecting and they bring the tickets to our office. Q. Are there any other lines with whom you have transfer arrangements? A. No, sir. Q. About what are the gross receipts of your lines? A. Last year they were about $720,000. Q. Have you ever figured out what percentage of the gross receipts is consumed in operating expenses? A. Yes, sir; we do that every year in making our State report. Q. About what is it? A. Last year it was about 75 per cent., excluding taxes, and about 78 per cent. and a fraction including taxes. Q. That included all fixed charges, save the interest account, if any? A. Yes, sir. Q. Has your company ever had in contemplation the subject of electrifying these lines? A. We have been waiting for a year or two until something developed we considered nearly perfect, and we are expecting to find that before long, and we expect to adopt it; so many are experimenting we thought we would not; we are not very anxious to change our power. 7 Q. Do you think it is cheaper to operate the road by electricity? A. I do not know that we have figured on that as yet; our favorite plan is this underground electricity; if it works all right in the winter we will probably adopt it. Q. That is, carrying the trolley wire underground? A. Yes, sir. Q. Has your road paid a dividend every year; that is, for some years? A. For the past year we have; the previous year, I think, we passed three of our quarterly dividends; we paid a very small dividend that year; during the depression of business our receipts fell off largely. Q. For what amount is your company capitalized? A. One million two hundred thousand dollars. Q. How long has it remained at that? A. It has always been that. Q. That was originally the capital stock? A. Yes, sir. Q. And has it a bonded indebtedness? A. Yes, sir. Q. Of what amount? A. Nine hundred thousand dollars. Q. One million one hundred thousand? A. Yes, sir. Q. When were those issued? A. In 1884; at that time it was $1,200,000; there has been $100,000 of them paid off. Q. Bearing what rate per cent.? A. Originally it was 6 per cent.; it has been reduced to 5 per cent., so it stands now 5 per cent. Q. That was put out in 1884? A. Yes, sir. Q. How was that debt created, do you know? A. It was the dividend of the accumulated surplus of the earnings of the previous years up to that time; it was made a dividend to the stockholders of record as accumulated surplus. Q. If you had a surplus why not divide the surplus? A. I do not know what the reasons were; I should assume that they preferred to keep a portion of it and not pay it all out; I do not know what the reasons were, as I had nothing to do with it. Q. These certificates were put out by the company to the stockholders? A. Yes, sir. A Q. In other words, it was a dividend declared in certificates of indebtedness? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did the company actually have the money with which to pay that dividend at that time? A. No, sir; I think not; I do not know but I used the word surplus in error, for it should be used as assets. Q. That is, the surplus was put into betterments instead of declaring dividends? A. Yes, sir. Q. Were the bonds held by the stockholders also? A. Not entirely so. Q. To some extent? A. I could not say as to that; they were not issued to the stockholders; anyone had a chance to buy them. Q. In the issuing of this $1,200,000 of certificates of indebtedness each person who had a dollar of stock was entitled to a dollar of certificates? A. Yes, sir. Q. How did it happen they paid off $100,000 of it? A. They had the money to do it, and I guess they were not getting very much for the money they had, and I think they thought by retiring $100,000 they would save 6 per cent. on that. Q. Was that drawn pro rata? A. They cast lots, I think. Q. And the fellow that drew the lot had to give up the certificate and take his money? A. I guess that is it. Q. Is there any other indebtedness of the company? A. No, sir; nothing. Q. And your road stands charged then with $3,200,000? A. Yes, sir; that is correct. Q. And you have got about 20 miles of single track? A. The figures I gave you represented a single track; 20 miles. Q. Twenty miles of single track? A. Yes, sir. Q. So your road stands charged with $160,000 per mile? A. That is, if you count the whole thing. Q. Single track? A. Yes, sir. Q. That includes equipment? A. There is real estate, of course. Q. Yes; I know; your stables and car-houses and the like? A. Yes, sir. |