OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF TRANSPORTATION OF THE STATE OF NEBRASKA, LINCOLN, December 1, 1895. HON. SILAS A. HOLCOMB, Governor of the State of Nebraska, DEAR SIR: We herewith submit the annual report of the Board of Transportation for the year ending June 30th, 1895. The extreme and unprecedented dry weather prevailing not only in this section but also in the surrounding states during the summer of 1894, whereby the yield of farm products was reduced to a minimum, caused a corresponding decrease in the railroad business. in this state. Very little grain has been shipped out during the past year, and no more products brought in than were absolutely necessary to supply the urgent needs of the people. A glance at the reports of the different railroads doing business in this state shows a large falling off of their receipts during this period, and that in order to meet this decrease the railroads have reduced their operating expenses to as low a figure as is consistent with safety in carrying on their operations. The decrease in the number of employees alone has been very great; for instance, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy system their entire line, containing something like eight thousand miles of road, shows eight thousand less employees on June 30, 1895, than on June 30, 1894; and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company had employed on its entire system of four thousand four hundred ninety miles, in 1893, thirteen thousand five hundred thirty-four men, while for the year ending June 30, 1895, with the same mileage, they employed but nine thousand eight hundred seventy-seven men. Nebraska, of course, received its portion of employes discharged. There has been no increase in the equipment of the roads; in fact, the equipment being hardly kept up in the number of cars to what it was in 1894. |