12 1
TIIE OMAHA SUNDAY BTTR: APTJTL 25, 1909.
SSBB
No. 14
iBcreased Cost
Operation
i
off
Everyone knows that during the last 15 years the cost of
living has greatly 'increased. A street railway experiences the
: same effect as an individual in its expenses, due to the advanced
prices of necessities. A corporation does not consume
groceries and clothing, it is true, but its employes do, and a
street railway uses great quantities of steel, iron, timber, copper
and coal. - ,
Since 1902 the Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway
Company has been practically rebuilt, and equipped with.a new
central , power station, new general repair and car shops, new car
houses, new and larger cars, new and heavier rails and roadway,
and 'new electrical distributing systems. The first electric
lines of tne early '90s have disappeared. Besides this many
miles of new lines and extensions have been constructed.
All of the work has been done with first class materials,
purchased at the high prices of the period, and with labor con
stantly, and justly demanding higher wages and receiving
them.
The higher costs of labor, ma
terials and supplies are reflected not
only in the expense of new con
struction and reconstruction, but in
' the annual outlays for operation and
maintenance. Operation includes
the wages paid the permanent force
of 1,000 men, the coal burned and
the depreciation always in progress
over the entire system. Maintenance
means the repairs made to keep the
property at operating efficiency.
To give the reader a very con
servative idea of the advance in the
cost during the last 15 years of some
of the principal materials and sup
plies used in street railway operation,
the following table is presented:
COMMODITY
Steel girder rails, (per ton),
Cedar poles, (each),
Oak ties, (each), - -Iron
poles, (each), - - -Copper,
(per pound) -
wage account. In 1908 this Company paid out nearly three
quarters of a million dollars in wages and salaries. Of this
amount $429,560 was paid to mortormen and conductors,
representing an increase of 8i per cent in this item over the
year before. .
The following table shows how the maximum hourly
wages paid trainmen has more than doubled within 35 years.
It shows a progressive increase and it is signifcant that three
out of six advances have been made within the last half dozen
years: ,
t
1902 - 22 cents rer hour
1875 - 12 1-2 cents per hour
1880 - 14 2-7 cents per hour
1890 - 20 cents per hour
. L: t I I rfm r i - , ' ,ftr, 11.13 I s
FV bsJ.ULi I i"C- . :f mf U U jscf ha
Interior View of a Modern Car Built in the Company's Shops.
1895
$3&00
4.00
.55
14.00
1909
$42.00
6.00
.70
18.00
.15
1.85
1.90
Inc.
50
27i
28i
25
234
31
.12i
Labor on construction, (avera p da0, 1.50
Steam coal, (per ton) - - 1.45
These prices no not truly represent the average increase
in copper, which fluctuates greatly. The general tendency
during the last ten years has been much higher and in 1907 the
price rose to 26 cents.
It must be apparent to every one that it costs more to
maintain the track and roadway of today than it did to main
tain the early track and roadway, and also that it costs more to
maintain the heavy modern cars in operation today, with their
airbrakes, hot water heating plants and other accessories, than
it did to maintain the small sigle truck cars in use when elec
tric operation was commenced.
The heaviest single item of street railway operation is the
1906 - 25 cents per hour
1807 - 26 cents per hour
The maximum wage has been used in this table because
'the loss of early records has made it impossible to compute the
average wage paid trainmen prior to 1890. In the days of
horse car operation, drivers began at a daily wage of $1.25 and
gradually worked up to $1.75, and later $2. They worked
from 14 to 16 hours a dav, but in
Cxfo&f:, J cal ruin tin or their hmirlv wncre in order
ie j 1
to make a uniform basis of compari
son 14 hours a day has been used.
From trie time of electrification
until 1 9 02 , a flat hourly wage of 20
cents was paid and the hours per day
reduced to an average of 10 for each
man, this being the rule today.
Since J875 there have been no
reductions in the pay of trainmen.
The Horse Railway started paying
$2 a day, but it was found necessary
to reduce this scale materially in the
early 70s. By 1875 the rate had ad
vanced to $1.75, maximum.'
Following the panic of 1893
many street railways in the United
States, reduced wages of trainmen during the hard times. The
Omaha Street Railway Company did not.
January 1, 1902, the company put in effect a graduated
scale of wages as follows: First year, 20 cents; second year, 21
cents; third year and thereafter, 22 cents.
May 1, 1906, another advance in wages was paid comprised
in the following scale: First year,' 20 cents; second year, 21 cents;
third year, 22 cents; fourth, fifth and sixth years, 23 cents;''
seventh, eighth, ninth -and tenth years, 24 cents; thereafter,
25 cents.
May 1, 1907, the present scale with a minimum of 21 cents
and a maximum of 26 cents, fully described in the last article,
went in force. Under it all trainmen on the system earn an av
erage of 23i cents an hour.
G. W. WATTLES, President.
Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway Company.
(The Article Neat Sunday will show the Increased 2ran4portation Power of the Nickel.)