The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-07-13
CHURCH-STREET OUTRAGE
Suit to Compel Forfeiture of a
Stolen Railroad Fran
ChiSe.
SHORT HISTORY OF THE THEFT
An Apt Illustration Showing How
the Market-Street Company
Controls the Solid Eight.

Suit will be begun in the civil courts to-
day by A. P. Van Duzer, attorney for the
Church street Improvement Club, against
the Market-street Railway, to compel that
company to withdraw its tracks from
Church street and to pay damages for the
theft of a right of way over two blocks of
that thoroughfare.
The suit grows out of circumstances at
tending what is known about the City
Hall and in the Mission as "the Church
street outrage"
A. R. Gunnison, chairman of the excu-
tive committee of the Church-street I'm
provement Club, told yesterday in an
interview the plain story of the treatment
accorded the people OF that part of the Mis-
sion by the Market-street Railway Com
pany.
'This club" he said, "was organized as
long ago as six years, with almost the sole
purpose of securing cable road across the
length of Church street.
'"The members started their work ener-
getically and before long had interested
more than one railroad company, and two
of them-the Market-street Company and
the Omnibus Company-applied for fran
chises.
"The Market street Company of course
secured it, giving its solemn promise to
complete the road within two years. The
company told the club that they must be
given rights of way on Church street from
Fourteenth to Sixteenth, which was their
private property. The club went to work
and raised $4,000 from the residents along
the south end of Church street. To this
a. Al &. I'll IL
right of way was purchased.
"Remembe said Mr.. Gunnison, ''that
the club had the temporary written agree
ment to carry out its part of the obligation
and complete the work within two years,
and felt so entirely secure in it that they
paid for and presented this right OF way to
the company without any thought of the
deception and confidence game which the
big company was playing upon them with
cool generalization.
"What the company did was to lay one
block with rails which the citizens watched
going into place with great satisfaction.
That was the work of a few days, and there
they stopped-and three years passed
away with never another move being made
toward carrying out their obligations. The
club saw the franchise lapse and knew that
the company had never intended to build
the road but had simply been foxy enough
to keep rival company out of the territory.
"But the time came when the company
thought it good business proposition to
really build their road over portion of
Church street, and one night in March
last, as is very well remembered no doubt,
went out in the night time with q big gang
Of laborers and stole these Identical two
blocks which our confiding people had
bought for them. They built a road, COM
mencing at Sixteenth street and extending
over two blocks, leaving all of Church
street south of Sixteenth without road.
ga great row was made about this and
it was proposed to call out the police and
tear up the rails, when, 10! che company,
to the amazement of everybody, sent
meek communication to the Board OF
Supervisors saying that they intended to
take them up themselves and would then
apply regularly for 4 franchise over these
two blocks They knew with whom they
had to deal.
"They did all this, and despite every
protest the board granted them what they
asked. The suit to be entered is to secure
the forfeiture of this pretended franchise
for it was all uniawfully done, according to
the methods so clearly set forth by THE
CALI-granted them by the Solid Eight OF
the Board of Supervisors"
These are the men who granted this
franchise; they compose the league of
railroad agents known as the Solid Eight:
JOSEPH KING, First Ward.
PETER III. SCULLY, Second Ward.
e. f. BENJAMIN, Third Ward.
ALPHONSE HIRSCH, Fourth Ward,
f. &. HUGHE Sixth Ward.
CHRIS BUNKER, seventh Ward.
A. w. MORGENSTERN, Eighth Ward.
EDWARD L. WAGNER, Twelfth
Ward.
II or MANY wears the Government has