OCR Text |
Show Ho Track or Train But Railroad Pays Regular Dividends ADRIAN, MICH. Although it hasn't operated a train or collected a fare for nearly a century, the Erie and Kalamazoo railroad again is making its semi-annual payment to stockholders. Now forgotten by all except historians his-torians and its fourth and fifth generation gen-eration stockholders, the Erie and Kalamazoo ranked as the oldest railroad west of Schenectady, N. Y. Although the railroad has long been inoperative, it derives a regular regu-lar income from lease of its original right-of-way to the New York Central Cen-tral railroad. The present dividend amounts to $9,000 after deductions for taxes and expenses. Last year the E. and K. paid $19,500 in dividends. divi-dends. Incorporated by the Michigan territorial ter-ritorial legislature on April 22, 1833, the E. and K. was capitalized for $1,000,000 but only $300,000 in stock was issued. It originally was authorized to operate between Lake Erie and "the navigable waters of the Kalamazoo river," but It was destined to run only between Port Lawrence (now Toledo, Ohio, but then part of Michigan) and Adrian, a distance of 35 miles. By 1836 track had been laid from Port Lawrence to Adrian and the first horse-drawn train clattered over the wooden rails in October. |