Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-04-22
THE LIFTED" RAILROAD.
The Eagle Rock bunny Line-Ths
Facts Ina the Case.

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Facts tm the Case.
Ed IToRs HRRALD-As there has beer
much said about this line, and as W.
have never seen communication con
cerning it that was not free of errors, we
ask you as great favor to publish the facts
in the case, as known to the inhabitants
Of our valley. One year ago last July,
at the beginning of the boom, Ralph
Rogers made land purchases here to the
amount of nearly $100, 600, paying as the
first payment, about $4,000. Then he
made proposition to build and operate
a dummy line between here and Los
Angeles, via Garvanza, if too, the resi-
dents and property owners of Eagle
Rock, would subscribe the sum of
$l5 900, said sum to not be payable until
| after the completion and operation of
said road. A meeting was held at our
schoolhouse and all signi6ed their will
lingness to assist. A contract was drawn
up, and I. W. Parker and E. D. Goode
were selected to circulate it for SUBJ
scriptions. After about three weeks
work the necessary amount was sub
scribed. Many of the residents of your
city who owned land here subscribed
literally; among them, G. E. Day,
A. M. Hough, John Schumacher and Nc
Koan & Strong. Work was first commenc-
ed between DAILY street and Sycamore
Grove, and about quarter of mile of it
finished. The gang then quit at that
end and commenced working from Gar
vanza this way. Rogers said that he
bad found some trouble in securing the
right-of-way near Sycamore Grove, and
would finish this end while the obstacle
were being removed. AS soon as the
branch from Garvanza here was fin
ished he claimed that he was short of
funds, and asked that we pay him part
of the subsidy to assist in finishing the
road to Los Angeles, and to purchase
dummy. In this way he collected So 900,
or near that amount, all acting in good
faith because he had made so many pur-
chases here. Then q snide dummy
was put on and run between
here and Garvanza for the pc.
riod of ten days, he charging 80 cents
for the round trip, when our contract
called for thirty-cent trip between here
and Los Angeles.
After the operation of the dummy for
ten days he notified the subscribers that
he had finished the road, and demanded
his pay. As we cared about as little for
road from here to Garvanza as we
would for one running the same distance
toward the moon, we refused to pay him,
when operations stopped, and we have
seen no dummy since.
1t made us smile to read, in last Mon
days Tribune, that our only way of get
ting in and out of the city had been re-
moved, when we had never been to the
city by rail. After our refusal
to pay, Rogers threatened to remove the
track, and ended all his talk by
transferring the road and all its
interests to the Cole syndicate, who,
Rogers said, had agreed to operate it ac-
cording to contract, and further stated
that in case the road was removed, Cole
was TO pay back all sums which had been
received on the subsidy.
The controlling interest in the whole
line has recently been transferred to John
Cross, who hired one Peter Backman to
steal in on us Saturday night and Sunday
with large force of men and remove the
whole line. As Backman owns property
here (or claims it, at least), and was con-
sidered friend to the valley, his neigh
bor will long remember what he thinks
is a very smooth piece of work,
and for which the amount re-
ceived from Cross for the same would
not remunerate q conscientious man.
Perhaps Mr.. Cross and his Backman
will not think moving railroads on
Sunday is so very funny after all, before
the law is through with the case. We
only ask justice and no pains will be
spared to receive if.
A DUMMY EAGLE ROCKER.
Eagle Rock Valley. April 20, 1889.