It will be seen that the year just closed left a balance of $2,350,134 over and above all fixed charges, and out of this sum a 4 p.c. dividend was paid; the latter required $2,376,000, and it was therefore necessary to take $25,866 from previous surpluses. As we have previously remarked, this was the fiscal result of a bad year, when the company had just increased its capital and was saddled with new and unremunerative mileage, and it is therefore superfluous to state that the position of the Louisville and Nashville is eminently satisfactory. The company is in a prosperous and sound condition which will continue to improve as time goes on. Subjoined comparative balance sheets further illustrate its strength. The most noteworthy fact in connection with the statement of assets and liabilities for 1891-1892 is the reduction of the company's floating debt, connected with the issue of new capital. Its current assets now exceed its current liabilities by more than four million dollars, whereas a year ago the difference amounted to but one million. 1 Less bonds pledged. 2 Advances, etc. 3 The bonds deposited in trust have been deducted here. 4 Includes dividends and "due sundry persons." Among the numerous subsidiary companies there are only two with regard to which it is necessary to give details - the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis RR. and the Georgia RR. The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis, which on Map 5 is treated as part and parcel of the L. and N., operates 810 miles of road running from Hickman on the Mississippi to Atlanta, via Nashville and Chattanooga, with several branches extending into the mining district of Tennessee. The capital of the company consists of $10,000,000 common stock and $14,130,000 bonds. Of the stock the L. and N. owns $5,077,500 and the interest on these shares received by the L.and N. figures among its revenue from investments. I avail myself of the kind permission of the proprietors of the Chronicle to quote the following from their Investor's Supplement: The Central Georgia RR., which figures on Map 5 as part of the Richmond Terminal system, runs from Atlanta to Augusta with a branch to Macon, and since 1881 has been leased to Mr. W. M. Wadley in the interest of the Central RR. and Banking Co. of Georgia and the Louisville and Nashville, each of which pays an annual rental of $300,000. The company has a very small capital, only $4,200,000 shares and $2,500,000 bonds being issued, and has an interest in a bank. The dividends paid since 1880 range between 9 and 11 p. c. In 1890-91 the L. and N. made a small profit over the lease, but the operation of this property usually results in loss; in 1891-92 the deficiency was abnormally high, viz, $124,695. CHAPTER LIII. THE NORFOLK AND WESTERN. In 1851 the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad Company obtained a charter for the construction of a railway which was to connect Norfolk, Va., with Petersburg, some 20 miles South of Richmond, Va. This line was amalgamated with the South Side RR.-chartered in 1846 and completed in 1854-and with the Virginia and Tennessee, opened in 1857. All these roads were controlled by the State of Virginia, which owned a considerable proportion of their bonds and shares, but after a while they were consolidated into the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio RR. This corporation defaulted on its interest in 1875, with the result that it was placed in the hands of a receiver and sold in 1880 to Mr. C. H. Clark. In May, 1881, that gentleman organised the Norfolk and Western Railroad, to which his property was transferred, the company starting with a capital of $18,000,000 in shares and $11,000,000 in bonds, the majority of which were held by its founder. Since 1881 the system has been considerably extended, especially in the last three years, during which time it was elevated from the position of a local line to that of one of the most important and flourishing railroads of the South. The N. and W. system consists of the following lines, all of which are shown on Map 5: Total mileage in operation, Jan. 1st, 1892. 1,120-39 To these lines must be added the following, operated under lease since March, 1892:: Lynchburg and Durham Railroad: Lynchburg to Durham . . The Roanoke and Southern Railway: Roanoke to Winston-Salem Total operated, August, 1892. 115 miles. 121.3 29 . 1,456.69 The Ohio extension, which was opened for traffic in October, 1892, and the Washington extension, which is rapidly approaching completion, will have an approximate length of 250 miles, increasing the total length of the system to some 1,700 miles. 42 miles are double-tracked, and there are 332 miles of sidings. Norfolk is the Easternmost, and at the same time the principal terminus of the system. Situated near the point where the James River and the waters of Chesapeake Bay meet the Atlantic Ocean, and connected with the interior by the Norfolk and Western RR., the Atlantic Coast Line and the Seaboard Air Line (see Map 5) this town has in recent years grown at a pace commensurate to the rapid development of the mining and farming regions of Virginia, Carolina and Tennessee, and consequently has overshadowed |