The indebtedness of the Baltimore & Ohio Telegraph Company

REPORT OF THE BALTIMORE AND OHIO TELEGRAPH CO.

The indebtedness of the Baltimore and Ohio Telegraph Co. from April 1, 1877, to date, connected with the acquisition and extension of the commercial system, amounts to $3,872,693. This sum does not, of course, include the value of the telegraph lines on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and branches, and is almost exclusive of the value of the district companies in the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, St. Louis and other points. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co. has received the bonds and stock of the Baltimore and Ohio Telegraph Co. for its advances, and arrangements have also been made for the further extension of its commercial telegraph system. The Baltimore and Ohio Telegraph Co. is thus securely established on an independent and permanent basis. It has made a desirable contract witli the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company, for the use of the wires on its system not needed for railroad purposes, and including that system it owns and controls 7,535 miles of poles and 54,912 miles of wire, covering all the leading cities. The policy has been to reach centres of large population, and thus, in the cities of 5,000 or over, it has, through 114 offices, reached an aggregate population of eight millions. The whole number of the company 8 offices is 1,143. These are at points at which it is believed over 75 per cent, of the entire telegraph business of the country is transacted. The steady and constantly increasing growth of the business of the Baltimore and Ohio Telegraph Co., through its first-class service and the low tariffs established, indicates the appreciation by the public of its value as a competitor to the Western Union Telegraph Co., which has at all times evinced its determined hostility and antagonism. As all the leading cities have now been connected by a complete and perfect system, the Telegraph company will be enabled to effect material reductions in its operating expenses, and the board feel confidence in expressing the belief that the enterprise, which they have thus so successfully fostered and developed, will, aside from public considerations and its business value to this company, prove a most remunerative investment.