passing, that the Material Received report is valuable to the purchasing agent only in those cases in which partial shipments of orders are made; the order triplicates are retained by the storekeeper until shipments are completed. Departments which only occasionally order supplies, such as office furniture, stock certificates and other things that are not handled through the store-room, may dispense with use of the Material Received report, checking by the use of the order triplicate, which is signed in acknowledgment of the receipt of material, dated, and returned to the purchasing agent.

It seems hardly necessary to keep a ledger for material and supplies, unless accuracy can not be secured by the use of a well-ordered stock record. The latter, kept by the storekeeper, under the auditor's supervision, or by the auditor's clerks,

may consist, preferably, of sheets punched for filing in a loose. leaf binder. Cards may be used, but if several thousand are used by a stock clerk not especially careful, a card may be put back in the wrong place, and lost sight of. A card or stock record sheet (Fig. 32) should be used for each kind of material kept in stock at the store-room. For example, each size of bolt or screw should have a separate sheet. The name of the article is written at the top of sheet. The leaves may be filed in the manner found most suitable for quick reference. This may be alphabetically, by departments using the material, or by any other method.

In order that the stock clerk may have before him at all, times the danger point or "low stock" mark for each class, of material, a minimum is set by the storekeeper or purchasing

agent. If stock is found to have reached this point, requisition must be immediately made upon the purchasing agent for its replenishment. The figures that are set as minimums will be largely determined by the amount of capital it is desired to have invested in material and supplies, the time taken to secure fresh supplies, and anticipated market conditions.

When "Material Received" reports have been made up, the amounts shown thereon are copied on the stock record sheets, at the lines marked "In ". When the bill has been examined

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 TOTAL

FIG. 32.-Actual size 91′′ wide by 71⁄2′′ high.

and before it is passed on for payment, entry is made at the top of the stock record sheet, of the date received, firm from whom purchase was made, date of bill, amount, freight added, total cost, quantity, and the cost price of each unit. Some roads add an arbitrary five or ten per cent. to cover cost of handling, accounting and waste. This helps out on the inventory, when there may be an actual shortage of material but the accuracy of this method of accounting will be objected to by some. order to save the labor involved in pricing, separately, the various kinds of nuts, screws and bolts used, an average price

In

may be used for a number of sizes of narrow range, though this may be found as objectionable, on the score of inaccuracy, as the extra per cent. mentioned.

Material is disbursed from the storeroom only upon requisitions (Fig. 33), which have been properly filled out, and signed by persons authorized to approve them. The requisition upon the storekeeper states the quantity and material required. The account to be charged should be designated and if this is impossible, description of the use intended should be set forth quite clearly. Columns are left for insertion, by the storekeeper, of the place where sent and car on which forwarded, if requisition. is received from a distance. If thought necessary, space may

be provided for the signature of the person receiving the material. However, as the material is usually delivered when requisition is presented, unless sent out on car on a company way-bill," this additional receipt will not always be used.

The requisitions on the storekeeper are his vouchers for values disbursed, and as such should be carefully handled. They should be periodically examined by the auditor, for the detection of discrepancies and irregularities.

out,"

When material is disbursed upon requisitions, entries are made upon the stock record sheets, at the lines marked of the quantities. The The cost price shown on the stock record sheet is then entered upon the requisition, which is thereafter used in making up the monthly report of disbursements.

It will be noted that the total of the stock record sheets, if posted up to date, constitute at any given period, a so-called perpetual inventory." This, however, is somewhat of a misnomer for the reason that inaccuracies in the records may have developed without the knowledge of the storekeeper or his clerks. Even though all purchases have been entered as received and material disbursed through requisitions just as carefully accounted for in the stock record, leaks may have occurred through theft or waste. When the actual inventory is taken at the end of the year, a glaring discrepancy may be found between the actual count and the figures shown on the stock record. One railroad that takes an inventory at very rare intervals claims to have secured the effect of a perpetual inventory, with the stock record, by having the stock on hand verified when the quantity of a certain kind of material is increased or decreased by receipts or disbursement. Thus, if a half-dozen shovels are sent out on requisition, the floorman or stock clerk notes the number still in stock and compares that with the figure shown in the stock record. This plan is a good check upon active stock, but the periodical inventory embraces everything, and is hard to dispense with.

In order that proper entry for disbursements of material and supplies may be made upon the general books of the company, a recapitulation of the requisitions honored by storekeepers during the month, is made. The total charge to each account is ascertained by grouping the requisitions and totaling them. A journal entry may then be made, crediting the general material and supplies account with the aggregate of the charges to individual accounts.

One or

The secondhand material and scrap should be considered in a discussion of the material and supplies accounts. more ledger accounts are opened and as material is scrapped the estimated junk value is charged to the secondhand material and scrap account, and carried as an asset until sold. If the material has been scrapped to make way for new, the account charged with the new work is usually credited with the value of the old material. If there is found to be an error in the valuation of the material, when sale is effected, the difference may be adjusted through the Profit and Loss ' account if not ap

plicable to the current year's operation.

CHAPTER XV.

SHOP RECORDS.

Considerable difficulty is frequently met with in deciding the kind of records that shall be kept at electric railway shops. Many kinds of statistics may be compiled, and discrimination must be exercised in judging between those that are valuable and others that are not worth the expense entailed in keeping them up.

Ordinary car repairs are a constant factor in the shop routine; construction work and the repair of damages caused by accidents are comparatively unusual.

Cars may be inspected daily, or nightly, by shop- and barnmen and yet minor defects, such as a rattling window sash or a burned out wire, be overlooked. The "defect card," (Fig. 34) when properly filled out by trainmen supplements the work of inspectors. If a car has but recently come into the shops and is required quickly, before inspection has been completed, examination of the defect card will locate any serious trouble. The card is provided with space for inserting the date, car number and time car was used by trainmen reporting. The important items such as brakes, trolley, motors, windows, etc., are listed, with spaces following, for insertion of defect, if any. The motorman and conductor sign the card jointly, as one might notice a defect not apparent to the other. Some railways require trainmen to sign one of these cards each time a car is turned in. This has its advantages, and the claim department may find the "O. K." of the crew as to the car's condition, of assistance in locating responsibility for an accident. On the other hand, it is sometimes contended that too much work is entailed in handling a card for each car every day and that no card should be used unless a defect is apparent.

The usual examination of cars by shop inspectors may be reported to foremen or master mechanics on a blank form which has spaces provided for noting the kind of repairs made to each car, whether lubricated or not, and signature of the inspector. Material that is used in car repairing is drawn out of store