Estimates of this nature were not accurate, and it was unreasonable to suppose that they should be accurate. Judah in 1862 put the probable gross receipts of the Central Pacific on the first 160 miles out of Sacramento at $4,654,240, or $29,089 per mile. Mr. Montague, who succeeded him, estimated the annual receipts as far as Dutch Flat at $27,209 per mile and for the whole road, as far as Nevada Territory, he named the figures of $5,456,050, or $34,100 per mile. These were very optimistic figures. As a matter of fact, the earnings of the Central Pacific never much exceeded $14,000 a mile, and during the early period, up to 1870, were as often below $10,000 a mile as they were above it. If it had not been for an operating ratio which in 1866 and 1867 touched the extraordinary figure of 23 per cent, and which did not reach 50 per cent until 1877, the owners of this road could scarcely have kept it out of receivers’ hands, so great was the miscalculation. Organization of Company We may assume, then, that Huntington and his friends went into the Central Pacific project as a speculation from which they hoped to retire with a profit derived largely from construction paid for out of government funds. Adopting this assumption, the next steps in advancing the enterprise may be briefly described. The meetings in Sacramento which have been mentioned took place in the winter of 1860-61. No progress in surveys could be made at that time, while the Sierra passes were covered with snow. In April, however, a meeting of subscribers to the stock of the Central Pacific Railroad was held in Sacramento, and on the 28th of June, 1861, a company was organized under the general law of the state, to be known as the Central Pacific Railroad of California. The capital of this corporation was set at $8,500,000, divided into shares of $100 each. The railroad contemplated was to run from Sacramento to the eastern boundary of California, over an estimated distance of 115 miles. Huntington, Hopkins, Stanford, and Crocker subscribed to 150 shares each, as did James Bailey and Theodore Judah. Charles Marsh took 50 shares, and other parties varying, but lesser amounts, to a total of 1,245 shares, or more than the $1,000 per mile required by the law. Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, James Bailey, Theodore D. Judah, L. A. Booth, C. P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, D. W. Strong, and Charles Marsh were the first directors. Instrumental Survey Made