Our Railroads

Tiie editor of the CouBlBB is Indebted to Hon. Win. MePherson, Jr., of Howeli, Commissioner of Railroads of the State, for the 14th annual report of the Couimissioner, for the year 1886. From this report we glean the following figures: MICHIGAN CKNTKAL. These figures are from the report filed with the Couimlssioiier March 15, 1886, at Uut time there were 1,624 stockuolders, only 29 of whom were in Michigan, wltli au atnount of full paid stock held iu this State of #169,700. The total income was $10,707,394.75; and total expenses $8,014,603.48, leaTlng a net income of $2,692,79127. The total bonded debt of the rond was $15,976,000, and the unbonded bebt $1,907,539.77. The nu.nber of shares issuedj were 187,382.04, of $100 eiich. There had been paid in $69,382.77 per mile of road owned by the conipany, or a total of $18,738,204. The Central owns and leases seven brancli roads, on whtch there ure 342 bridges, aggregating 34,839 feet in length, to which should be added seven draw bridges. It alao bal 396 locomotives, 11,997 cars of all kind?, with an estimated valuelof over $4,013,425. There wcre -.2,340,243 passengers carried during the year, of which 102,134 were through passengers, the average distance traveled by each passenger being 66.48 miles, and the average amount received from each passenger $1.35. There were 5,236,276 tons of freight carried, on a total mileage of 1,232,477,534 Tlio average amount received for each ton haul, $1.32. There are 7,312 miles of telegraph wire along the roadside, only 1,089 miles of which are owned by the company. TOLEDO, ANS ABBOR & M. This report was filed April 14, 1886. The number of stockholders at that time 56, but 3 of whom were from Michigan, represeiiting but $400 worth of stock. Net incouie of the road $70,251 95. The shares issued were 27,000 at $100 each averaging $27,000 per mlle. Total debt of road $2,403,790.46, or $24,037.90 per mile. Total amount of stock and debt per mile of road $51,037.90. Total earnlngs per mile $1.39.S. Total length of road at tliat time 100 miles, the terminus being South Lyon, the extensión from Hamburg through Howell and Owoso to Mt Pleasant beintf since added. _There were 15 bridges and trestles on the road agfjregating 2,384 feet. They then had 13 engines and 219 ears, all valued at $116,418. There was a total inileage of 215,3CG, with a total of 82,168 passengere carried, an average amount of 67.64 cents received from each; aveiage rate of fare per mile 02.S0 cents. The road carried 864,964 tons of freight, with an average of 47.86 cents for each ton hauled. There was 100 miles of telegrapli wire owned by the cocupany. During the present year 11 of these figures will be more than doubled. Mr. J. Goodwin Price, of Toledo, vislted the K. T. Commaudery last eveuing, and gave an invitatiou to atteud the reception to the Grand Commandery of Ohio tendered by the Toledo Knights on the 26th inst. The Templar work will be exeinplifietl in the afternoou and the reoepdon in the eveniug will be enllvened by ¦ drill of the Toledo Greys, one of the crack companies of the state. The pro ceeds are to go towurds clearing off a inortgage of $4,700 on the home of Gen. P. S. Slevin, who for years has been donr i grana work iuiiod the poor children and the friendless of Toledo in way of preaching and industrial home work. The inortgage is held by Mr. J. Austin Scott of this city, who generously offers to throw off $1,500 if it is paid now. The General had calculated to meet the mortgage at bil death by Ml life insiirance, but the company recently failed and left him with a poor prospect ahead, but the Knights hearing of the distress of thls noble worker come to his relief, and adopt thls plan of securing enough to clear it off. The Toledo road offers a rate of one dollar for the round trip, and quite a nuinber will probably go Irom this place. Of Dr. Ramny'l lecture at Lapeer on the 17th of December, the Lapeer Deruocrat has the following : It Is not sufficient to Bfiy that those who were present were tortunnte, or that the kctiirer was "in good port," or that t was an instructive tffort. But to say that it was a lecture of superior ment ; logically conceived and splendidly delivered ; full of lipe ïeflection and recent research; Instructive and increasingly interestlng trom lntroduction to peroration.is siuiply to say what is truc. CoinprclitiiMve as known f[mce and its belongings, the abstruse immenfity of the universe were pat injsuch orderly and inU-lligible array as to le brought within the vivid apprehenslon of both young and old. Bnme of the leailing people of our city afflrm it to have been one of the lincot leotures they ever heard. Lapeer and viclnity may well thank the Y. P. A. for bringing to tliis public Midi a oourte f entertalnment!-, thla one alom; bfltng worth the prloe of i ticket fr Ihe wlmle muera. We iindeiKt.iud tbat the membciH of the agsociaiiiMJ. onder wboee no pleet I v. Ramsay ipi ¦:. reu, irere lowell ptoatedwHh tlie woi k tliMl i hej )¦ d i voic of honor in mldition to lioi orarlotn whlcli was chterfnliy ivi n liim. rahjeet wal "Sky W lew." Tho flir ot our Union U not ono ttiftt eau euforoe respect apen the high MM. Even the "riek iniin ot Eiirope, " Turkey, could strike it down witli impunlty. Some of tin' lioiidoit dollars in the U. S. iNM ury ought to be distributed among ilie ship ourpentan of ttia oountr; tor mom mid better miva) vessels. The state news column of the Detroit Joiiinnl la eilited by the bert ability in thecoiumonwealtli uoiv. There is luudly an interior newspapereditor in the Ute but coutributus thereto. Oae of our esteenied city contemporuries even, in iw hü-t s.-uc, lias a Couribu item of two week's previuus ciedited to the Detroit Jeuinal. Sliould a foreigu n;ition like England (erinany or France declare war witli this country, how many of our coast cities would be luid waste before a thinr could be accoinplished for thelr defense ? And still there ure tliwsc in hiirh places to-d'iy who pooh at the idea that we sliall ever nt'td to defend ourselves against a foreign loe. The wise peoyle are the ones who in time of peace prepare for war. We know of nothlng more fitting for this tirat issue of the new year i hui a word of cuiuinendation for that brlght, and constantly growing brigliter, journal, the Detroit Tribune. lts present owuiTa umi managers are newspaper raen ; they know what a real newspaper is and how to make OM They know the real wants of the people and how to cater to them in the right way. The Tribune is growing in popularlty every day and deservedly so, for it stands at Mie head of Michigan journalism to-day, a position, we reurtit to say, it has not ulways held. There is no excuse now for a republican, at least, takin;r my other paper to get the news, but, of course, if he wants to get "au hour at the central station," he will seek elsewhere. If you have not been taking the Tribune give it a trial. The last public speech of Gen. Logan was at a G. A. It. camp-flre at Youngstown, Ohio, and these were among tlie noble words he there uttured: "I am often accused of saving thiugs that policy would dictato should not be sakl, but I don't care as long as I am right. I believe in peiisioiiinj; every soldier now living that went into the service, either for a long or short term, who was wounded in the service or contraeted disease, or has since, through no fault of his own, becoine disabled. I believe in iensioning every soldier that has arrived at the age of 62. Pass that kind of a luw, and justice would be done. Some say it is too niueh. No, it is not. Tliis country can uever pay the debt it owes the gallant men who went out in her defonse at a time when the very life of the nation was assailed." If the Detroit Free Press cannot snarl and fault-tind it is not happy. It is forever seeking to help itself up by tearing others down. There is always something wrong in itseyea. Poor old F. P., dootned to be tlie under dog in the fight from its inception, is lot h;is been a most unhappy one. It looks upon the dark side ot everytliing almost - except, perlias, Attorney-General Garland's Pan-Electric transactions. lts latest vvliiue Is about the soldiere' home and its dedicacation at Grand Rapids, over which lis usual, it is not happy, thinkiug that if it can prejudice the people it niay possibly make a vote or two for the lamentable party it represent. Of course, wlien the F. P. takes snuff a lot of its parrots about the state take snuif also, and here is whatthe Grand RiipidsTelegram-Herald, an independent paper says of tbe secondhand snuft' takers of its own city: ''The puny and pusillaniinous efturts of the sloppy Democrat and the puerile Leader to belittle.lhe dedicación of the soliliers' home and lo cast a slur upon lts management iré so ridlculous as to be diameter ized as idiotie by prominent members o the democratie party, for whom it sough to make capital. It ia an absolute fact - and both these alleged newspapers kuow it - that every citizens of the State o Michigan has been invited to attend tb dedicatlon, and that no person or class o persons have been intentionally slightei: The idiotie attempts of these tuppenny organs to make political capital out o the soldiers' home teil tlat even iu itsowi party."