| Annual Report of the Wilmington & Weldon RR |
| as of October 1, 1863, |
| President's Report |
| |
| Report of the President and Directors |
| |
| To the Stockholders of the Wilmington & Weldon Rail Road
Company |
| |
| Gentlemen, |
| I have the honor to submit
the 28th annual report of the President and Directors of this Company.
It is gratifying to the Board, in stating the condition of the Company
and the management of its affairs for the twelve months ending the 30th
of September, 1863, to be able to present results so favorable |
| The receipts have been -- |
| From Passengers |
$856,679.54 |
| " Freight |
480,449.52 |
| " Mail transportation
and other sources |
65,702.54 |
| Total |
$1,402,831.60 |
| The Expenditures -- |
|
| Transportation and Road repairs Departments, including other
charges incident to the working of the Road |
593,178.93 |
| Leaving for nett earnings |
$809,652.67 |
|
|
The tabular statements and the accounts of the treasurer,
herewith submitted, and to which you are referred, will exhibit more
in detail the sources of revenue, and more fully the several
departments to which the disbursements have been applied, as also
the financial condition of the Company. |
|
In the last annual report we premised that the receipts
in the months of October and November would be light in consequence
of the prevalence of yellow fever. The result has shown this to be
true, and but for this cause the summing up would have been larger. |
|
The several raids of the enemy on your road, on the 16th
of December, and on the 5th and 20th of July, have also diminished
our receipts by the interruption to through transportation, and have
also swelled our expenditures by an amount equal to the cost of
repairing damages. |
|
The destruction alluded to comprises the Ware house and
Water Station and three Cars at Dudley's, -- trestle work at Goshen,
and Bridge over Neuse River, in December; -- at Warsaw, the
Warehouse, one Passenger Car, six bales of Cotton and the tearing up
of the track; -- at Rocky Mount, Warehouses and Passenger House,
Bridge over Tar river, one Locomotive and three Cars; -- at
Tarboro', Ware and Passenger houses and two Cars. |
|
By the erection of temporary but strong and safe bridges,
(which will have to be replaced after the war by superior
structures,) and the reconstruction of the trestle work, through
transportation was resumed within the shortest space of time
possible, and credit is due to the Superintendent of the road, and
those in charge under him, for the energy displayed and the
expedition realized. |
|
During the year, the Warehouse at Dudley's has been
rebuilt, -- also Warehouses at Leesburg, Mount Olive and Whitaker's,
and a Passenger House at Wilson have been erected, and are all in a
state of completion, or nearly so. Materials have also been
collected and the work commenced to replace the Warehouse at Warsaw,
and a contract for the necessary buildings at Tarboro' has been
made, and the work is in progress. Other Ware and Passenger houses
directed to be constructed by a resolution of your last annual
meeting, should be commenced at the earliest practicable moment. It
has been found difficult to push these works forward more rapidly,
for want of workmen and materials We deem it important that all work
which will substantially improve your property, or give facilities
to our customers in the transactions of their business, should be
executed as rapidly as the means of the company will justify. |
|
We have purchased, on favorable terms, the right to a
quarry, and entered into a contract for quarrying, stone for the
purpose of building culverts and the abutments and piers of bridges
of that material, at those points where they have not been so
constructed, and it is practicable to do so. |
|
We have also secured the use of several tracts of
timbered land, and employed a force to supply wood, cross-ties and
timber, which force will have to be enlarged the present year, in
order that a plentiful supply of these indispensable articles may be
rendered more certain, as we have realized difficulties in procuring
them, notwithstanding adequate prices have been offered. |
|
The report of the Engineer and Superintendent, which is
herewith submitted, presents the condition of the roadway, machinery
&c. By reference, it will be seen that three Locomotives have
been purchased, which with the improvements made to those previously
owned, places us in a decidedly better condition in this department
than we were at the commencement of the year. |
|
Our stock of coaches and cars is not adequate to our
wants, nor is their condition as desired, on account of the constant
and heavy service performed. Yet by repairs of the old, as
demanded, and the addition of new cars from time to time, we
shall be able to meet the demands for transportation. |
|
The laying down of 500 tons of comparatively new rails,
with the quantity repaired at our furnaces, has maintained our track
in safe working order, but we need a considerable addition of new
iron, to substitute for laminated rails, to continue its security
and prepare us for the work ahead. This supply must be obtained by
the assistance of the Government, and we entertain the belief that
the importance of our road, as a principal thoroughfare for the
transit of troops and supplies, will so commend it as to cause such
aid to be extended as the Government may be able to command. |
|
There are other needed articles which cannot be procured
at home -- a limited supply of which, in part, has been obtained by
importation. To pay for these we have sent forward small lots of
cotton as we could obtain ship room, and it is desirable to enlarge
our operations in that line. The difficulty is in making shipments
as owners are less disposed to accommodate, in consequence of the
Government claiming the use of a specified tonnage of each vessel,
for transportation on its own account. An effort has been made to
obtain the consent of the department in charge, to allow us a small
portion of its space for the purpose referred to, and it is believed
continued representations will secure that object. -- These
adventures incur the possibilities of loss, and it has been our
misfortune to suffer in two instances -- one to the extent of $2,901
and the other, if a total loss, $2,697.55. |
|
The indebtedness of the company on the 30th Sept. was, |
| Foreign |
$587,555.56 |
| Domestic |
178,761.01 |
| Total |
$799,316.57 |
|
|
Showing an increase during the year of $15,920.64. |
|
The assets of the company have increased during the same
period $406,140.67, making our condition better by $390,220.03 than
at our last exhibit. A small part of the foreign debt is past due,
and with accumulated interest on the whole, the amount so due is
$83,000. No remittances have been made in consequence of the
extraordinary high rates of exchange. To provide for this, however,
investments have been made in Confederate States Bonds to the amount
of $201,000, and in Cotton to the amount of $76,979.37, which has
largely appreciated in value since its purchase. |
|
A correspondence has been held with our bondholders in
London, setting forth the provisions being made for their security,
to which they reply expressing their gratification, and their
confidence that when peace shall be restored, the former promptitude
of the company, in meeting its engagements, will be resumed. |
|
Since the 1st of October, sixty-six Cotton Bonds valued
at $99,000 have been purchased and added to the sinking fund, and a
liberal addition should continue to be made, so that at the close of
the war we may have the means not only of cancelling our
obligations, but of placing the road in proper efficiency. |
|
During the last fiscal year, three dividends have been
declared: -- in November 11 per cent, in April 10, and in July 10
per cent, amounting in the aggregate to $448,867.50. -- The dividend
recently declared will be exhibited in the present year's
operations. This statement, if made at a period when the currency
was in a sound condition, would evidence a high degree of
prosperity, and even now may be considered flattering, but in view
of the appreciation of the value of all property, is not really
better than those of former years. |
|
The prospects for the present year are that we shall do a
large business, unless some unforeseen or unavoidable contingency
shall intervene. The year has opened auspiciously -- the receipts
thus far equaling our expectations, and if the road can be preserved
intact from the depredations of the enemy, satisfactory results will
be achieved. -- We may expect the disbursements to be augmented --
to what extent it is useless to estimate, as prices continue to rule
higher and higher, and unless Congress shall enact a law that will
better the currency, there is no calculating at what point they will
culminate. |
|
In the category of expenditures this year will have to be
estimated our Confederate tax, an item of considerable amount, and
one which heretofore has not entered into our calculations. |
|
The resolution of your last annual meeting directing
"That the several annual reports of the company, together with a
concise memoir of the same, be prepared and printed," has not yet
been complied with. Several causes have rendered it impracticable to
carry this resolution into effect, chiefly, that so far we have been
unable to procure the "Memoir," without which we consider the work
would be sadly deficient. |
|
During the year past, death has again visited our body
and taken from it our lamented friend, Edward P. Hall. To this
institution, this event was indeed a serious loss -- his tie and his
valuable counsel were always at command, and no man could be more
devoted to its interests than was he. His long term of service is an
evidence that he had the full confidence of the stockholders of the
company. |
|
The vacancy in the directory thus occasioned was filled
by the Board, by the lection of Walker Meares, Esq. |
|
The officers and employees of the company have discharged
the duties assigned them during the year with commendable zeal and
ability, and we take pleasure in bringing this fact to the attention
of the stockholders. |
|
Respectfully submitted |
|
S. D. Wallace, President |
|