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Show GOVERNMENT MAY OWN RAILWAY MAIL CARS WASHINGTON. Dec. S. Practical trial of government ownership of railway mall cars Is proposed in a bill approved today by the house poslofficcs and postroads committee. The measure would appropriate appropri-ate 510,000 to be used by the pontmastor general In buying and oporatlng a number of cms as nn experiment. Tho average construction cost, reports before tho committee show. Is about Sll,-000 Sll,-000 for sixty-foot stool cars. The aver-ago aver-ago cost to the government for leasing mall cars, all of which are now owned by tho railroads, ia approximately 5(3000 a car a year. Tho railroads receive compensation com-pensation for carrying the mall on nn avorago of $10,637.fl7 a car nnnunllv, which makes the mutual cost to tho government gov-ernment about $1(5,000 a car. Tho aver-ago aver-ago llfo of a steel car, it Is estimated. Is i about fifteen yoars, and the maintenance cost a car anywhere from 51700 to $3000 a year, according to age. |