Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-03-20
opENING OF FIR Z
An Enthusiastic, ~ Not "A Harmo-
uIous Gathering.

nIous Gathering.
Pursuant to adjournment a large mum
Der of property owners along the line Of
First street assembled in the CONNER
cial chamber last evening to hear the re-
port Of the committee on the opening of
that thoroughfare, and to take such
further action in the matter as might be
deemed best.
The committee, aided by the City Sur
veyor, Mr.. Fred. Eaton, presented a
report looking in the main to the aban-
donment of the present line and the
making of a "corkscrew" road up the
hill so as to make good traffic grade
out to the Western limits of the city.
A very good grade could be obtained in
that way, provided every owner of
property along the new line could be got
to agree TO three things:
First-The grade al which the street
should go round the contour of the hll.
Seeond-What the cost of the grade
ought to be, and,
Third-And most Of all, what should
be paid each one for the property
condemned for the street; and also
what others along its line, but not inn
mediately upon the new street should
pay towards the improvement.
These are likely to prove interests
hard to reconcile.
Upon the presentation of this report
and the explanation of the plan by the
city surveyor, the committee increased
by the addition of Messrs. Louis Mes
mer and Frank Schrier, was granted fur
ther time to got additional Information
on the point.
The rest of the time of the meeting
was taken up in desultory discussion
of the subject, as to high and low
grades, tunnel, or the "crockscrew"
route.
There were several motions intro
duced attempting to commit the meeting
to one plan or other, but they all failed
of getting a majority vote. An attempt
was made to get the street taken up in
sections of block or two at q time, but
these attempts all proved abortive. The
discussion at times wandered outside of
the matter Immediately before the meet
ing, and the grades of all the cross
streets were taken up, with more than one
glance looking to changing these so as
to make traffic street of First. The
whole top of the hills was threatened
by some of the speakers, who wanted
the whole contour made dead level of.
The final outcome of the meeting was
to lay the whole matter on the table
pending the report of the committee
next Friday evening, at 1880. to which
time the meeting was adjourned.
The clashing interests hinge on the
question of filling up the depressions
and cutting down the crests of the hills;
and between making steep grade use
full mainly for pedestrians, or of getting
at once practicable traffic street leading
from the pestoffice to the western limits
of the city and thence to the Cahuenga
Pass. These interests will be hard to
reconcile. Two of them-the property
in the heart of the city and that far out,
which will both be benefited by making
First traffic street-want low grade
with deep cuts through the hills. The
third interest representing the interme-
diate property resist this attempt to de-
prive them Of their view and at the
same time compel them to cut down
their lots at enormous expense, particu-
larly in such cases as where fine houses
are built on these lots.
With these facts in view it will not
seem strange that there is lack of har
mony in the meetings. The inside and
outside people want grade Of not more
than in l6. Some OF the intermediate
people would not object to grade of
in 10, or even less, SO as to get street
of some kind