The Valuation of Public Service Corporation Property: Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers,; vol. LXXII, June, 1911, ASCE 1190Riggs, Henry Earle
General
The Valuation of Public Service Corporation Property: Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers,; vol. LXXII, June, 1911, ASCE 1190
That some men in an organization such as this, gathered from all over
the United States, should prove to be lacking, and should fail to hold
their place with their fellows, was to have been expected. That the
number of such men should not exceed half a dozen was remarkable. In
fact, almost every such case was found when the first notes were
returned to the office, and in only two or three instances was it
necessary to send a second man to do work which had been once covered.
In several cases men were sent over certain sections which had been
inspected by some one else, with a view of getting an idea of the
personal judgment of the different men, but in such cases the results
were astonishingly close, and created the greatest confidence in the
figures of depreciation which were being received.
Looking back on this work, after the lapse of 10 years, after having
fully reviewed it twice, and examined all records, after having heard
the men engaged on it testify in court, and knowing the record of these
men since the completion of the work, the writer believes himself fully
justified in stating that, no matter what opinion may be held as to the
accuracy, reliability, or value of the result, no charge of
carelessness, neglect, undue haste, or lack of consideration can be
sustained as against the staff.
To strengthen the work further, to eliminate the element of personal
error, to guard against the danger of dulled perceptions due to constant
application to the work, and to forestall, if possible, every point of
objection to methods, a Board of Review was chosen by Appraiser Cooley
to whom were referred:
(_a_) The methods of inventory and valuation, as determined by
the staff;
(_b_) All points on which special discussion or difference of
opinion were noted in the working conferences;
(_c_) Questions as to elements of value in the physical property
which were in themselves not tangible or capable of
inventory; and finally,
(_d_) The results of the whole work.
The members of this board were chosen on account of pre-eminent standing
in the Profession, and on account of experience and prominence in
railway engineering. The board was composed of four men, as follows:
Chairman, Octave Chanute, Past-President, Am. Soc. C. E., former
Consulting Engineer, Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, but at the
time not engaged in active railway work.
George W. Vaughn, M. Am. Soc. C. E., Engineer in charge of Track
Elevation in Chicago.
Charles E. Greene, M. Am. Soc. C. E., Dean of the School of Engineering,
University of Michigan.
Charles Hansel, M. Am. Soc. C. E., former Engineer, Wabash Railroad,
former Chief Engineer, Illinois Railway and Warehouse Commission, and at
that time General Manager of the National Switch and Signal Company.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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