ILLINOIS CENTRAL SYSTEM is the principal north and-south railroad of the United States. It was incorporated in 1851 to build lines between Cairo and East Dubuque and between Centralia and Chicago, in Illinois. Construction was completed in 1856. Additional lines were subsequently built or acquired in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mis sissippi, Alabama and Georgia. The system, including the owned but separately operated Central of Georgia Railway, consisted in of 8,783 m. of line. Four-fifths of the railroad's operating revenue is derived from freight traffic, the principal commodities being coal, petroleum, lumber, livestock, packinghouse products, fruits and vegetables, grains, cotton, automobiles and miscel laneous manufactured products. Through passenger trains are operated between Chicago and St. Louis and Memphis, New Or leans, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Birmingham, Savannah and the Florida resorts, and between Chicago and Omaha, Sioux City and Sioux Falls. A subsidiary, the Ocean Steamship Company of Savannah, operates a fleet of steamships between Savannah and New York and Boston. The total investment in property on Dec. was $838,252,000. (L. A. D.)