Q. You can not tell?--A. No, sir; nobody can tell. Q. Could not your General Manager give us some information on that subject? Mr. CHANDLER. He can tell how much their gross receipts are and what the gross expenditures are, and he can tell whether their whole business is done at a profit or not; but I do not understand that the railroads can subdivide their receipts and expenditures so as to tell whether any particular branch of it actually pays a profit or not. The previous witness undertook to do it, and I noticed, as he went on, _that it was mere guesswork_. Mr. Kirkman says he never has done it. The WITNESS. I want to say, Mr. Loud, that this question of division of cost has been up before railroads and experts for forty years, and here is what the chief engineer of the Pennsylvania says in regard to it. _He estimates that the cost, for instance, of maintenance of track and machinery increases with the square of the velocity._ By the CHAIRMAN: Q. How much do you charge this maintenance of way?--A. What is the wear and tear of machinery and track from the passage of a particular train? _No one can tell nor guess approximately._ In an examination of this question I gave it, probably, the most exhaustive study that I have given any subject in my life, because so much depended on it--I searched all the records of Scotland and England and of the United States to determine, but unavailingly-- By Mr. LOUD: Q. Could you not put a train of five cars on and run it from Chicago to Council Bluffs and give approximately what that train would cost to operate and the approximate cost of wear and tear to your rails?--A. I can determine all those things that are apparent; that is, the cost-- Q. That is all we expect; what is reasonable.--A. _But then there is the question of interest and the wear and tear of machinery and track._ Q. Let us discard the interest. You ought to be able to get at the cost of operation.--A. That train so run has to receive the _constant attention of station men, of track men, the whole length_. If you will give it a moment’s reflection you will see how _utterly impossible it is_ to determine it accurately enough to state here to this commission. Q. Approximately, it ought to be a perfectly easy matter. It seems to be to other railroad men.--A. I do not think there is any railroad man who has given it any more attention than I have and no railroad man understanding the subject _will do more than guess at it_. Q. I will ask you a few questions. If you can answer them I wish you would. How many miles of land-grant railroad have you?--A. My impression is that we have about 600. Q. Out of your total of 5,000 miles?--A. Yes, sir.