Carload Shipments from a Manufacturing Plant

Two separate fiscal years are compared on the chart. The right-hand scale shows monthly averages of the number of carloads shipped per day of factory operation. The double-line curves for daily averages and the dotted-line curves for progressive averages are read from the right-hand scale. The heavy solid-line curves are read from the left-hand scale and show cumulatively the total number of carloads shipped since the beginning of each fiscal year

1912, until the end of the period under consideration the fund available for loans was $500, of which $30 (reserved for a special purpose) could not be used for the loans for which these curves were plotted. Note that in January, 1912, the amount outstanding exceeded the funds formerly available for loans, and thus required an increase in the capital of the loan fund. Though the lettering of this chart is not as clear as it should be, the chart is nevertheless an excellent presentation of facts and a good demonstration of the utility of cumulative curves.

GRAPHIC METHODS

Fig. 137 shows in detail for the same loan department the operations which are summarized in Fig. 136. In Fig. 137 the heavy line shows the actual amount of money loaned each month, while the dotted line shows the amount of money paid back each month. The data for these two curves were later added month by month on a cumulative basis and plotted into the two curves, "Loaned" and

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