Topeka, Kansas, November 8, 1884
A. A. Robinson,
General Manager.
Dear Sir:
Referring to the statements showing tonnage of all classes of business made by the Auditor covering an average of four months time, these statements do not of course show the great bulk of our eastbound business, namely live stock and grain, both of which are handled largely through stock yards and elevators at Kansas City. Accepting the statements as made up to cover an average of the traffic passing east of our line, the following would be my estimate of the value of this traffic to a line leading from Kansas City to Chicago.
Freight westbound $1,335,237.00
" eastbound 1,030,518.00
Total $2,365,775.00I think it fair to estimate that our company could control the movement of freight as follows-
Westbound (one half) equals $ 667,618.00
Eastbound (three fourths) equals 772,889.00
Total $ 1,440,507.00
Shipments of grain and cattle from the Atchison Company it is safe to estimate pay the lines east of Kansas City not less than $ 1,350,000.00
Per annum, I believe the Atchison Company could control one third of this business or
$ 450,000.00
The earnings between Kansas City and St. Louis and Chicago, based on the auditor's statement of passenger business done under coupon tickets would pay the lines east of Kansas City - $268,588.00, estimating that we could control one half of the westbound business and three fourths of the eastbound business would show earnings east of Kansas City $156,550.00. Quite a portion of the through passenger business is not represented by these statements, namely, such as is done on tickets sold by us, and also by Eastern Roads to Kansas City only, but it is difficult to estimate what this would amount to.
These figures give us an aggregate of the earnings of Kansas City upon freight and passenger traffic interchanged with the Atchison Road of $2,047,657.00.
Not any part of the business of the Southern Kansas Road has been included in any of these statements. I have not the figures to make a safe estimate of the whole business of the Southern Kansas line interchanged with lines east of Kansas City, but is safe to say that upon their shipments of grain and cattle alone the lines east of Kansas City would earn not less than $1,000,000.00 per year. Estimating that one third of this could be controlled by the Southern Kansas Company in the Atchison Company's interest would add $333,333.33, so that if it is your wish to include in this estimate the business of the Southern Kansas I think the safe estimate of the value of such business in conjunction with that of the Atchison Company to a road east of Kansas City would not be less than $2,400,000.00 per annum.
Yours truly,
(signed) J. F. Goddard
Volume 12 pages 23 - 24 Splinters transcribed in altered form for the web by Matt Lee.
This is not a history. | The Splinters - Volume 12 | The Splinters - Volume 14 | The Splinters - Volume 23
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