The morning call., 1893-10-06

simple enough. A private corporation has
destroyed tie use of portion of the bay
of San Francisco for navigable purposes by
placing distractions in it. The Govern
ment should at once order such OBJ
structions taken away. The Government
can act at once in the matter, while we are
delayed by legal technicalities, by new
trials and by appeals TO higher courts. 1t
may be years before we are in position
TO order those piles removed and have a
court back Of us TO make our power felt :;
but the Government could order them out
at once and should do so. At any time it
might want to use portion of this Oak
land harbor, and as it now is it could not
reach it because of the distractions. 1t is
the business of officials at Washington to
see that this harbor is kept free, and they
should attend to 1t at once"
Upon what does the Southern Pacific
base It's claim ?'' Mr.. Davis was asked.
Upon the original grant on which 1t
bases its claim to all the waterfront title" 4"
he replied. This claim is the one in dis
pute, the one now in the courts. On be-
half of the city of Oakland we have laid
claim to the land and also to reasonable
water rights; but even il our demands
are acceded TO in full by the courts we
would not dare to build distractions out
as far and extensivelyas the Southern Pa
cifc has. for view ould at once be told by
the Government to remove them.
81 viewed the two rows of piles to-day"
MI Davis continued. "They are so far out
in the bay that they foIm horizon. a
new horizon for Oakland, one created by a
Southern Pacific marine fence. l can easily
see. landsman though l am, that this wall
of wood will seriously interfere with
schooners and other craft navigating the
bay. Those on this side will. as long as that
fence remains, be unable to make use of
from four to six miles of sea room that they
have been the habit of tacking over. In
addition many square miles of anchorage
ground has been taken away from the yes
sells. / think anybody has right to sail
within this inclosed space. and l wouldn't
be surprised to see heavily laden lumber
yes sci sail down on these piles some night
and smash them as effectually as the men
did the Castro-strset fence"
The attorneys for the city of Oakland
will hold meeting at the Office of Davis &
Hill this evening and consider this latest
move oD the part of the Southern Pacific
and try to devise some means Of immedi-
ately freeing the harbor of distractions.
The question of referring the matter to
Washington will be brought up.
From the deck of a narrow-gauge
steamer one gets good view Of this ma
rlne fence. As far as the eye can reach
it extends southwark from this pier and
he alN4 <ha
corporation lines of Oakland and Ala
media join. AT the end of the pier the
piles are two miles from land and at other
places along the line they are from three
to-three and half miles as the land is in
deDted in places. So that from the train
ing wall to Alameda, between six and ten
square miles of navigable waters have
been so inclosed that a ten-ton schooner
could not enter.
On the north side of the training wall
there is an unbroken line of piles to the
broad-gauge mole, and these are also two
miles from the shore and one mile in
length. so that there also an immense tract
of navigable water is shut in.
Within this latter space two schooners
were anchored last night. They had evil
dently entered before the pile-driving
began, and one pile was left out so as to
allow them egress. After they leave. the
stick will undoubtedly be put in place and
the chain completed.
No piles have been driven across the
mouth of the creek because Southern Pacific
frelghtboats and the Alameda run out
there.
"They might as well have puilt their
pile fence there" said Mr.. Davis. ''for
they claim the creek shores and waters as
we'll as the rest of the property. But the
Government is at work On improvements
there, and they would hardly dare even If
their boats were not running"