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AVERAGE CONSTRUCTION COST PER MILE OF LINE, DISTRIBUTED TO ACCOUNTS, OF SIX TYPICAL CHINESE GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS-Continued.

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It will be noted that the information with regard to investment assets is shown for different years. That for the year 1916 has been taken from the annual reports of the several lines. For the PekingSuiyuan line the figures have been taken from the 1915 annual report. The data for the other lines have been taken from the Ministry of Communications consolidated report for the year 1915. This latter information has been, to a considerable extent, approximated. The second of the preceding tables is an analysis of the general balance sheets of the railways for which the writer was able to obtain annual reports. These are all for the year ended December 31, 1916, except the Peking-Suiyuan, which is for the year 1915. It is interesting to note that, when consideration is given to the accumulated surplus, the Chinese Government actually owns approximately onethird of the actual equity in the investment assets of these railways and that this equity is steadily growing from year to year.

CONSTRUCTION COSTS.

The figures shown above as investment assets really represent the aggregate capital cost of the property, but the last of the above tables shows the average construction cost per mile of line (distributed to accounts) of lines that have been selected as typical, so as to enable comparisons to be made. These figures were furnished by Mr. George A. Kyle, chief engineer of the Siems-Carey projects, and were prepared for his guidance in making estimates of costs of the rail ays that this concern contemplates building for the Ministry of Communi

cations.

Of the lines selected, the Peking-Mukden is the oldest, was built in sections, has always been a very profitable line, and runs through country that was easy, or only moderately rough, for railway building, with only two bridges of any considerable size. The Peking-Kalgan section, the first 125 miles of the present Peking-Suiyuan Railway, was built entirely by Chinese engineers. The point, about 25 miles over the West Hills, where the line passes under the Great Wall,

is in a rough, broken mountain country, and a 3 per cent grade has been used for the east slope. The Tientsin-Pukow is the BritishGerman-built line, running through a somewhat more difficult country than the Peking-Mukden and with more expensive bridge construction. The Peking-Hankow is the Franco-Belgian-built line, and probably represents a very fair average of all the railways in China; it is rather interesting that in all respects the figures for this line are near the average for all the lines. The bridge on this line crossing the Yellow River is the longest bridge that has been built on any of the lines. The fifth line selected, the Shanghai-Nanking, runs through a densely settled country; the high cost of this line has been much criticized by the Chinese, but it is very substantially built, with rockballasted track and somewhat ornate stations. The sixth and last line selected is the Shanghai-Hangchow-Ningpo, which was largely built by Chinese engineers; it was finally taken over and is now operated in connection with the Shanghai-Nanking. This line also runs through a densely populated country, and the conditions are quite comparable to those on the Shanghai-Nanking. This line was built at a lower cost per mile than any other line, but it is not so substantially built as the Shanghai-Nanking and the stations are more simple in design.

It is not the purpose of this report to discuss the merits of the difference-in-cost controversy, but it is regarded as pertinent to refer at this point to photographs of some of the stations, as illustrating the different features of construction. Figure 3, facing this page. shows the station at Tsinanfu on the German section of the TientsinPukow line. Figure 4 shows the Shantung Railway station, about 1,000 feet from the first station on an air line but more than half a mile by road. Both, as shown by the illustrations, are very substantial and ornate buildings. Figure 5 shows the Peking-Mukden station at Tientsin, handling satisfactorily one of the largest volumes of passenger travel in China. Figure 6 shows the Chinese post office at Tientsin, a substantial and well-built structure, but not so ornate as the stations at Tsinanfu. Figure 7, facing page 64, shows a way station that is typical of those on the German section of the TientsinPukow line and on the Shantung Railway, while figure 8 shows one of the neat and well-arranged way stations on the Peking-Kalgan line. Figure 9 shows the crossover bridge between "loops" at Tsinanfu, and figure 10 shows the crossover bridge at Tongshan, an equally important station on the Peking-Mukden Railway.

One item of construction expense in China that has caused much comment in the past has been the removal of graves. Figure 11 shows one of these graveyards, which, it will be noted, is located in the middle of a cultivated area. This is a typical illustration, and these small graveyards occur all over China, literally by the thousands. It is probable that the growing sentiment in favor of railways and the Government regulations for building new lines will greatly simplify this

trouble in the future.

OPERATING REVENUES.

The following table shows the operating results for the same group of railways included in the first table on page 53. This covers operat

Special Agents Series No. 180.

FIG. 3.-TSINANFU STATION ON THE GERMAN SECTION OF THE TIENTSINPUKOW RAILWAY.

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FIG. 4.-TSINANFU STATION ON THE SHANTUNG RAILWAY.

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FIG. 5. TIENTSIN STATION OF THE PEKING-MUKDEN RAILWAY.

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ing expenses and net results for operating only and is not intended to include any other figures:

OPERATING RESULTS OF CHINESE GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS FOR YEARS ENDED DEC. 31, 1915 AND 1916.

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a A part of the Kalgan-Suiyuan section was under construction during the year 1915.
b Figures for 1915 not available.

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INTEREST CHARGES AND TAXES.

The last three columns of the first table on page 53 on funded debt and surplus or deficit of net income.

show interest These figures

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