Remembering, then, these secondary as well as the primary aspects of the
express business, the students of the 1890 Census on Express Companies
would have learned the following facts:
Number of companies 18
Total mileage operated 174,535
Total on Railroads 160,122
Total on Water Lines 10,822
Total on Stage Lines 3,055
Value of Equipment and Fixtures $5,074,045
Expenditures $45,783,123
Receipts Not reported
Number of employees 45,718
Number of Money Orders Issued 4,598,567
Number of packages carried by Express 115,377,112
Paid to Railroads, Steamboats, and
Stage Lines for transportation $19,561,182
Of the total mileage operated, as shown below, 92.7% was operated by the
five leading companies listed above and the Pacific Express Company. The
latter, organized in 1879, was owned and directed by the Gould group of
railroads (the Union Pacific, Missouri Pacific and Wabash Lines); its
business was taken over in 1911 by the Wells-Fargo Company.
Total mileage operated 174,535
Adams Express Company 24,919
American Express Company 43,126
Pacific Express Company 21,332
Southern Express Company 21,714
United States Express Company 21,479
Wells-Fargo Express Company 29,098
These six companies also carried 92% of the parcels carried by express,
as follows:
Total number of packages 115,377,112
Adams Express Company 26,456,382
American Express Company 23,871,251
Pacific Express Company 7,552,622
Southern Express Company 7,552,622
United States Express Company 17,039,844
Wells-Fargo Express Company 22,658,384
The unquestioning devotion of the American public of 1890 to the
principles of private enterprise is attested by the fact that there was
no further census, and hence no further reliable information about the
express companies, until 1907. It is true that the express companies
were included in a Census Report on Transportation in 1894, but this
survey could hardly be considered comprehensive.