The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-11-21
SUTRO'S GREAT FIGHT
THE PEOPLES PARTY MAYOR
OF SAN FRANCISCO,
How He Defeated a Street Rail.
way Company.

that the smoke of battle is cleared away
the people of this town see more clearly
than ever the Importance of the victory
they won in the municipal election of a
week ago. The campaign of Adolph Sutro,
the Comstock tunnel millionaire, which re-
suited in his election Tuesday as mayor
of San Francisco, was clean cut fight
against the great Market Street Railway
Company to compel that monopoly to give
a single scent fare from the ferries on
the bay to the Cliff House on the ocean,
a distance Of seven miles. Primarily it
was a fight in Mr.. Sutro's own interest,
but soon after it began it really became a
fight Of one man, single handed, against
the whole power of the great Southern Pa
cific company, which has a controlling in
terest in the Market Street Cable Railway
system.
Mr.. Sutro has carried this fight for
five months with the same vim that he
once fought the whole combination Of
Comstock lodge mine owners when they
opposed his tunnel. Though he is over 70,
he worked night and day. His battle for
the rights of the people reused SO much
public interest that when the Populists
held their city convention he was nomnat-
ed for mayor. The old party leaders ridi-
culed his canvass, but they soon began to
see how great was his strength. Then
they tried every combination against
him, but without result. They played
ton. when the Southern Pacific company
would carry anyone from the ferries to
the cliff. The railroad managers argued
that this concession would cut the ground
from under Sutro, but they counted with
out the people, for their surrender gave
SutrO the final boom that carried him into
the mayoralty.
Sutro is one of the most picturesque
characters in California His cleaning
black eyes, his swarthy face, his snowy
hair and whiskers make him look like an
Arab sheik. He is popularity supposed to
be an American Jew, but he really is a
German, born at AK La Chapelle. He
came to California in the early sos, made
a fortune in trade, and then went to the
Comstock mines in Nevada and planned
his great tunnel. Out of that he cleared
up over $5,000,000 which he invested in San
Francisco property when values were very
low He owns the whole ocean front of
the San Francisco peninsula and over
1900 acres of the suburban lands that lie
between the ocean and the improved dis
tricts. He owns the famous Cliff House
and all the land around it.
SUTRO'S WORTHY AMBITION.
| For several years it has been Mr..
Sutro's ambition to make the Cliff House
the greatest resort on the coast. His own
private home, called Sutro Heights which
overlooks the Cliff House. he made pub
lie park, and for nearly five years has per-
mIttpd npOnip free
five years ago he began work on great
bathing pavilion, which he expected to
make the finest in the world. The build
ing, of iron and glass, is $50 feet long, and
it is magnifcently arranged. Those who
have seen the finest European bathing
places say the world hasn't the equal of
these baths. The baths were opened re-
Gently, hte admission being nominal-25
cents. Fine concerts are given every Sun
day afternoon in the big amphitheater
which will seat 10000.
1t was Mr.. Sutro's plan to have the rail
road company extend it's tracks to the
bath and then charge a single fare to the
beach. For years it has required a tran
fer and two 5-cent fares to reach the
beach. Mr.. Sutro agreed last April, if
the railroad company would make a single
scent fare to the beach, to deed the
Heights, the Cliff House and the greater
part of his vast possessions to the city as
free pleasure ground The railroad COM
pany refused his offer, and insinuated that
he was using them to boom his bath and
his other projects. This reused his wrath
and he swore a mighty oath that he would
fence in the Cliff House and all the other
attractions and never permit any passen-
gers by the railroad free admission to
those places until the railroad company
agreed to carry passengers to the Cliff for
a nickel.
The monopoly laughed at his threat, but
Sutro the next day had an army of men
building high fences around his property,
and the next Sunday the traffic on the
Caif House railroad fell off over so per
cent. The week after it dropped still
lower. The railroad showed no signs of
yielding. So Sutro arose in his anger and
declared he would build a railroad of his
own. After great trouble he secured a
franchise out Point Labos avenue, and he
made all arrangements to build electric
railroad which would be extended down to
the ferry.
This was early last June. Mr. Sutro had
now become SO angry against the South
ern company that he determined to or
ganize great fight against them, not only
here, but in Washington. In a talk at that
time he said that he proposed to go to
Washington this winter and do his utmost
to beat the Reilly funding bill He also
organized an anti-railroad club here which
was the nucleus of the political organza-
ton that elected him mayor He didn't
crossed and property owners in the subur-
ban districts trooped to his office to sub
scribe for shares in his new electric rail-
road, it began to be noised about that
Sutro would make great mayor. He
was the only man, his supporters said,
who would teach the Southern Pacific to
know its place and obey the laws.
HIS NOMINATION WE'LL RECEIVED.
The suggestion of Sutro for mayor was
received with a whoop, and in a few days
a genuine boom was begun. The railroad
managers laughed again and said this was
the milk in the -cocoanut of the professional
phlanthropist They declared ne might be
nominated by the woolly Populists but he
would be showed under election day The
first part of their prediction came true
The Populists met and adopted a platform
the main planks of which were anti-rail-
road, and applied not only to the Reilly
funding bill and excessive freight and pas
senger rates throughout the state hut
mentioned the fight for single fare 10 the
beach. On this platform Sutro was nomin-
ated. He was the only man on their gen
eral municipal ticket who was elected
Sutro carried on his campaign in charac-
teriStc style. He spoke every possible
occa sion and he pervaded the newspapers
Columns of interviews with him were pirat-
ed. He never opened his mouth without
saying something good He was a never
failing source of entertainment to all San
Francscans, who dearly love a fight and
relish nothing more than to see the rail-
road monopoly receive body blows. Sutro
raked up the history of the Southern Pa
cific Company, which he knows from the
inside, ne spent 10 years at Washington.
He showed in a convincing way that the
railroad wanted to get control of the Cliff
House and the ocean beach, in order that