The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-03-25
A NEW RAILROAD THITHER WOULD
TRAVERSE A VERITABLE
Ell DORADO.
HERE'S A SANTA CRUZ IDEA
CAPITAL Is INVITED CALMLY re
CONSIDER It's OBVIOUS
ADVANTAGES.

| In common with the people OF this great
commonwealth of California l have been
pleased with the new departure you have
made in the makeup of the Morning CALL
by giving precedence and prominence to
/ Pacific Coast news in that paper. AS a
| journalist you are showing your apprecia-
ton of the fact that California has the
capacities of an empire in herself, and that
| San Francisco ought to be a metropolis,
not a mere monopolist, absorbing the
profits of the country instead OF expanding
| its resources.
We the people are glad to note that you
| have discovered that Humboldt is within
the confines of California land incidentally
within the limits of the CALLS circulation) !;
that Benicia is yet on the map, and that
even south California does not receive
| the cold shoulder from the CALL.
We observe that you have been able to
| find several valleys in which a competing
railroad might be run-on paper at least
| with profit to the investors and advantage
to the community, but 1 am surprised that
the CALL has not cast its editorial eye along
| the coast of California when looking for an
outlet for San Francisco or for opportuni-
| ties for investment.
| The newspapers have not spared space in
dilating upon the profits of competing
the chambers of commerce have echoed
with eloquence inspired by the tremend-
Gus advantages of competition.
Let me inquire, what is the matter with
building railroad along a route free from
| the competition or rival lines?
If parallel roads will pay, and no one
| doubts that, why would it not pay to con-
| struct a line through fertile territory
| where its entire traffic would be tributary ?
| These are pertinent questions at this time
| of railroad revival in California.
The region lying northwest from this
| city, skirting the ocean shore, appears to
| be veritable terra incognita to the aver
age Californian.
The Southern Pacific line running via
| Menlo Park to San Jose, southwark to Pa
jaro Valley and beyond is called the coast
division, and the mountain range dividing
| the San Joaquin from the Santa Clara Val
| ley is mapped as the coast range, and
| these geographic misnomers have uncon-
| sclously caused great misapprehension re-
! garding the topography and the extent of
territory lying along the shore of the Pa
citic Ocean. The fact is, that the Santa
Cruz range OF mountains hide from the
view of the valley traveller a tract from
! twenty to forty miles in width, which con-
| tains more resources and more productive
possibilities OF development than any area
of equal extent in the State at this time.
A railroad running from San Francisco
to Halfmoon Bay and thence down the
| shore to Santa Cruz would expose more
natural wealth and develop more traffic
! than the most sanguine promoter of the
/ valley road Is calculating upon for any
| seventy-f1ve miles in length on that route.
From the crest of the Santa Cruz Noun
tains to within few miles of the sea shore
extends virgin forest of timber, covering
| 10000 acres, the largest and finest body of
| timber contiguous to great city that re-
mains on the globe to-day.
Only those who have some knowledge of
the output of the Aptos and Boulder Creek
! canyons can have any conception of the
vast tonnage this can give to 4 railroad and
OF the stimulus to industry it would be to
open up this belt of timber which at the
present time is as inaccessible as if it lay
in Alaska.
Not only is this region rich in redwood,
but 1t contains more tanbark oak than is
standing elsewhere in the State. The tan
nerles located in this city and in San Ma
teo County have exhausted the tanbark
that is accessible by teams, but there are
millions of cords entombed in this tract
every pound of which would contribute
| tonnage to a railway.
Another feature of this forest, often over
| looked in computing its resources, is the
variety of timber it contains. There are
nearly seventy species of forest growth
found between the Santa Cruz summit and
the shore, at elevations reaching from the
feet
| Such variety of timber growth is found no.
where else on the Pacific Coast, and it sug-
| gests an adaptability of soil and climate for
other productions equally varied in re-
quirements of culture.
| This vast timber tonnage which for ten
years would run railroad lies visibly
above the ground waiting the saw and the
| locomotive. But this section does not have
its wealth all displayed on its person, so to
| speak. Its canyons are ribbed with gran
lite, limestone and that peculiar California
mineral production, which combines the
qualities of cement and concrete, called
| bituminous rock.
| The limeworks, in operation for forty
years in the vicinity of this place, Weld
| what is conceded to be the best lime on
the coast, and furnish now tonnage of
about 5000 carloads per annum.
| But there are richer treasures in this line
to the northward. Limitless deposits of
limestone, said by experts to be superior
In quality to the present available product
and only requiring facilities for transporta-
ton to make their output available for con-
| sumption.
| The bituminous rock business has de-
veloped from nothing to daily output
reaching thirty carloads within ten wears
| Is yet In its infancy, and the deposits
that would be accessible for shipment over
| coast road are as hmitless as the salt in
| the ocean itself
1nls rock is now hauled by teams from
seven 70 nine miles, over outrageously bad
roads, but every pound of It conid he
loaded on the cars of a coast road by gray
lty tramways extending to the quarries
The timber, the tanbark, the lime and
the bltumlnous rock are crude staples, all
awaiting transportation in enormous in
calculable quantities from this territory.
but they do not comprise all the resources
| tributary to railroad
The milk, butter, vegetables and small
fruits to supply San Francisco would main
~ De drawn from this region when once
communication by rail Was established
with the metropolis. What the develop
ment OF this business would be in country
where four crops a year can be grown and
where grass remains green without irriga-
Ilon LOT nine months in the year cannot be
estimated. Within a short time the ia
NOUS truck farms of New Jersey would be
surpassed under such favoring conditions
OF climate and rapid transit to market
Il wxvN& J..