The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1895-02-10
Fifteen Thousand Dollars for a
Promise.
A BIG BRIDGE WAS TO Be CONSTRUCTED
Cash Was Paid Without a Contract
or Presentation Of Plans Or
Specifications.

| Morrison is chairman. The Grand jury is
now investigating the contract which the
Supervisors made with the Southern
| Pacific Company for the construction OF
bridge across the Sacramento River. 1t
has had the members of the board up as
witnesses, and to-day A. n. Towne, the
vice-president of the railroad company,
| and j. A. Fillmore, its general superinten-
dent, appeared before the body and gave
| evidence as to the agreement.
When the agreement was made, in 1888,
| the provisions were that in consideration
| of $4,000 to be donated by the county OF
| Sacramento and $4,000 by the county of
| Yolo, the railroad would construct COW
cred drawbridge across the river. The
| bridge was to be covered and carriage
way was to be constructed above the rail-
road crossing.
| The proposition was submitted by the
railroad company, and it seems that the
| Supervisors jumped at the opportunity
| presented. The county was pledged to
| donate $4,000. 1t is charged that the
Board of Supervisors, before they had even
seen the plans or specifications, paid over
one-half of the amount for which they had
made the county responsible and that the
carriage way was to have been constructed
and open to travel by the last day of 1895.
| The latter statement is most emphatically
| denied, however. There is no carriage
way and there appears to be no present in
tention on the part of the railroad COM
| pany to make good its side of the contract.
The railroad got its $4,000 and the people
of Sacramento have received nothing in
exchange.
President Towne andNSuperinten-
| dent Fillmore made their statements to the
Grand Jury to-day. They declared the
I; contract was proper one, and that the
railroad would in time fulfill its promises
| Their testimony was in support of the Su-
pervisors.
n Ex-Mayor Steinman declared tonight:
A,The affair is county not city one,
ID therefore have nothing to do with it.
course | am aware of the contract that
entered into between the Supervisors
the railroad company. understand
there is no time limit for the compile
of the carriageway, and that is where
supervisors made their mistake. l am
med that it is the intention of the
1ad com nany to build the carriage
The Board of Supervisors in making
contract did so, l am told, with the adj
of the District Attorney, and there
!, do not think that they can be
arged with any wrongdoing."
J. NJ. Morrison, the chairman of the
IDoard, would not make statement for
publication. He declared that all the evil
dence to support the board would be found
in the official documents, and rested his
side of the case with that.
Another version of the story, which
seems to be the correct one, is this: Some
time in 1893 the railroad company an
nounced its intention of constructing a new
steel bridge across the Sacramento. 1t
proposed that, as the bridge as designed
would cost $145, 900, the county of Sacra-
mento should pay $500 toward the cost
of carriage way above the railroad tracks.
The Supervisors at the time were NJ.
Miller, ]. W. Todd, J. NJ. Morrison, William
Curtis and Thomas Jenkins. They con-
stitute the present board with the ex-
ception of Mr.. Miller, who has been sue
ceeded by John brennan. The old board
considered the proposition for some time.
The railroad, through it's representatives,
declared that if the county did not see it's
way clear to make the appropriation,
they would put the carriage way beside the
rails After several meetings the board
decided to vote $4,000 toward the con-
struction of a carriage way. The PROPOSE
ton came from A. N. Towne, and was
made in behalf, it is said, not of the
Southern Pacific Company, but in the
name of the California Pacific Railroad,
one of the lines absorbed by the Southern
Pacific.
1 Frank D. Ryan, the District Attorney,
was called in for consultation. He de-
| clared, it is said, that while a contract
might be better, the letter from Towne
would be ample to hold the railroad COM
pany, and so the money of the county was
voted to the corporation. Since then, so
far as the county is concerned, there is
no evidence that steps toward the con-
structon of the bridge have been begun.
The railroad got its $4,000 in advance, or
a part of it-for all sorts of ugly rumors
are now afoat that the entire sum did not
go to the railroad and the county got left.
The representatives of the railroad declared
that it would take eighteen months to con-
struct the bridge, but they did not propose
to wait for their money and SO obtained it
something more than year in advance of
the time set for spanning the Sacramento
with new steel bridge.
The leading spirits in the Board of SUI
pervisors at the time the bridge contract
was made were Jenkins, Morrison and
Todd. Theirs was the paramount influence
in the board. 1t is charged here in Sacra-
mento that B. U. Steinman, now the
Mayor, advised the board to act, on the
ground that a driveway free from danger
of trains was needed across the river. The
money was taken by c. j. Ellis and de-
posted in D. o. Mills bank. From there
no trace of it has been disclosed, but very
ugly charges have been brought to the
notice of the Grand Jury. That body is
now anxious to find E. J. Gregory, ex-
Mayor of Sacramento, but it has been
unable to locate him.
1t has been charged that the railroad Sc
cured the defeat of Frank Rhoades and F.
II. Daroux, and that since then they have
insinuated that the railroad did not get all
of the bridge money. Since the examina-
ton has been on before the Grand Jury all
| of the Supervisors have been before that