Excerpt from Railroad Operations: How to Know Them; From a Study of the Accounts and Statistics Mr. William Mahl, comptroller of the Southern Pacific system, has tritely described statistics as the method of disciplining a property. This applies with equal force whether from the standpoint of the manager, the investor, or the public. In this contribution to the general subject, the effort has been to work out some of the principles on which railway statistics rest, show how they should be used for practical results, and point out fallacies to be avoided. Exact figures, because of the special condition which are necessary to explain them, have been carefully avoided. It is hoped it may prove useful to managers, investors, students, and railway experts. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.