The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-09-22
OWNING A STREET
Three Corporations in
Possession.
THE MAYOR CALLS A HALT.
A Business ThOroughfare That
Has No Business.
A ROAR FROM KEARNY STREET.
Representatives of the Railway, Gas
light and Water Companies Called
Upon to Explain.

AS business thOroughfare probably
the less said about Kearny street Just now
the better.
AS a first-class nuisance serial story
might be written.
From Market street to California the
street is as rugged as a country lane, the
costly Belgian blocks being stacked up on
the sidewalks the entire distance, to the
great discomfort and Inconvenience OF
pedestrians. The middle of the road is
almost equally formidable to horses and
their drivers for lack Of the pavement
which is stacked up on the sidewalk
And all this for no apparent reason what
ever, for there is no work going on there,
the broken up condition of the street an
tlelpating by several days the approach of
the alleged improvements in progress fur
ther along
From California street north 10 Wash
ington, four blocks, the highway has been
surrendered into the hands of thee COL
poraiiOns - the Market-street Railway
Company, the Spring Valley Water Com
pany and the San Francisco Gas Company.
Whether or not they are making the
best use Of their period of ownership, it
certainly cannot be said they are not busy.
They have taken complete possession, rem
dered the street wholly impossible and
sh0uldered the other business men out OF
the way.
The street-railway company's trench
for the electric tracks in the center of the
street is supplemented by the trenches of
the water company and the gas company,
while the sidewalks, here more than ever,
are piled high with paving-stOne, bitumen,
iron rails and cement. crossings to the
street not even being reserved.
Surrendered Is not just the word, for
the telephone in the Mayors Office has
strained its voice trying to convey the state
of mind of merchants along the street and
the language iii some of the Mayors mali
received during the past few days would
hardly pass muster in polite society.
So the Mayor went down to Kearny
street yesterday morning to see for him.
self what it was ali about. What he saw
seemed to him sufficient justification for
any variety of expression on the part of
men who pay the rents of Kearny street
Tor the privilege of doing business there,
and he forthwith sent notices to the sev-
eral companies to send their representa-
tives to him 10 show cause. etc.
Iu response to these President joseph
B. Crockett of the gaslight company,
A. 3. kellogg. attorney for the Mar
ket-street Railway Company; Henry II.
Lynch. superintendent of construction of
that company, and Cleveland Forbes,
assistant engineer of the Spring Valley
Water Works. gathered in the Mayors
office at 3 o'clock, and 1t was pointed out
to them how they were directly violating
an ordinance of the ely that must be per-
fectly well known to them.
The ordinance provides that in prose-
cutting any such work as requires the
opening of the streets to the interference
Of traffic no more than one block
shall be disturbed at any one time; that
the block necessarily tn I'D shall be
properly paved before another block
shall be entered upon.
The representatives Of the several COM
panies made their plea of haste TO get the
work through with and the street returned
TO Its previous condition as an excuse, but
the Mayor repeated to them few of the
violent protests that had been registered.
and declared that the street should not be
kept in its impossible condition, and they
promised TO follow the letter of the ordi-
nance for the balance of the work and
Immediately provide board crossings at
the several streets.