The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-15
Merchants Get No Satisfaction
Whatever From Mr..
Vining.
STREET RAILWAY ODDITIES.
How the Transfer Methods Operate
In Favor of the Southern
Pacific.

district. the Western Addition and Rich
mond for such an improvement of the
transfer system of the company as would
give passengers of the Mission and Sacra-
mento streets lines an opportunity to ride
along Kearny street upon the payment of
| only one fare. The requests have all been
unheeded.
The system in vogue will allow a pas
senger to ride all the way from Golden
Gate Park to South San Francisco via
| either Sacramento or one of the Marke t.
street lines, and around by way of Third
and Kentucky streets and Railroad ave-
nue. on the electric system for the payment
of. only cents. In fact, he can get on
car of almost any street railway line in the
| City, ana ultimately transfer to the Third
street line, and continue on to the Potrero
and South San Francisco for only nickel,
the California street system and the Union
street and Montgomery avenue line being
about the only exceptions.
Why?
The answer is easy: The Southern Pa
citic depot is at Third and Townsend streets,
and the Market-stree Railway Com pany Is
running it's business for the benefit of the
| Southern Pacific Railroad Company.
There would probably be no great obiec-
|
Kearny street, by this peculiar arrange
ment, important retail thoroughfare as it
| is, finds itself particularly Disseminated
| against
Surprising, for instance, resident of the
| Mission district wants to do some shopping
on Kearny street. He or she can ride as
| far as Third street, but there he or she
must pay another nickel or walk the few
blocks remaining. So also with the resi-
dents of the western portion of the city.
| People must pay an additional cents if
tney desire to ride few blocks on Kearny
street, after leaving any OF the east and
west lines.
| the Potrero and South San Francisco, and
| those of the South Side contiguous to
| Third street it is different. Those living
| southwark from the Southern Pacific depot
are graciously given transfers to the con-
tinuation of the Third-street line, and
those living at North Beach find the
Kearny- street line at their very doors.
Now supposing a resident of Pacific ave-
nue. wants to go all the way to the South
ern Pacific depot. All he has to do is to
board the cars of the Sutter-street line,
transfer to the Mission-street cars and
again transfer to the Third-street cars,
going depotward. The best he can do
with Kearny street IS to transfer to Suffer
street from Polk street, and get Off the
cars at one particular point on Kearny
street, that is all. He cannot transfer to
the Kearny-street line.
A passenger on the Sacramento, Clay
or jackson street lines can go to the
Southern Pacific depot by transferring to
Powell street, thence to Market street and
thence to Third street, but he is barred
from Kearny street. The Howard-street
line transfers to the Post and Fourth street
lines. BY the horsecars of the Fourth
street line he can get ride for the full
length of Montgomery street, but Kearny
street is barred again.
] Doubtless man does not mind walking
few blocks, but with a lady it is other
wise, and TO the Kearnystreet merchants
lit makes whole lot of difference" to use
a colloquialism. 1t affects their pockets
Hence the constant complaining.
The merchants of Kearny street did not
expect this treatment, they say when they
petitioned the Board of Supervisors to
allow the Market-street combine to run it's
trolley wires along that street. They
thought they were working in their own
business interests, and little supposed at
the time that it would result so contrarily.
So they have gone to Superintendent Vim
ing and begged and pleaded and argued
and threatened, but all to no avail. The
best satisfaction they have received for
several months was Mr.. Winnings polite as
surance that 1.-The matter is under advise
ment." 1t has never progressed further
than that. Mr.. Vining is master of the
situation.
He gave the same answer to reporter
of THE CALL yesterday, and said that he
had not been able to hold out any better
prospects to the large number of Kearny-
street merchants who had called upon him
from time to time. The following question
and answer interview then took place:
How is it, Mr.. Vining, that your company
transfers from the Mission and Market streets
lines 10 the Third-street cars going toward the
Southern Pacific depot but you do not transfer
from the same lines to the cars on Kearny
street?
do so. Our transfer system as it is at present
lis susceptible of @ great many abuses, and we
don't want to open up any more loopnoles tor
people to get in on us and still more abuse our
transfer privileges.
How could they take any illegitimate advan.
tage of you by being transferred to the Kearny-
street line?
Oh, they might ride around in a regular loop,
as they do in great many instances now on
other portions of our street railway system. !
have had men show me how, by our present
transfer arrangements, they could keep riding
around and around the City for hours, and all
for one nickel.
in the case OF Kearny street, because you do
not transfer from Kearny street to any of the
lines crossing it. ALI you transfer to from that
: line. is the Broadway line going to the
senger describing any loop by riding around
Kearny and Broadway and back to Mission
street, because at the ferries he would have to
pay another nickel to get on to the Mission
Street cars there. Is this not a fact?
Yes but then one never can tell where q loop
hole may be found through which a passenger
can slip and take illegitimate advantage of us.
OF course, am quite willing that passenger
shall ride as far as he wants to in one conJinu-
Gus direction upon payment of the cents
fare, but we don't want people to ride all over,
around and around the City on that amount.
We could not stand it. No street-railway bust
ness could be run on such q basis.
But how is 1t you not so particular when
it comes to transferring to the Third-street cars
SO that passengers can reach the Southern
Pacific depot by the payment OF only one fare?
Oh, well, that's to our own interests. We
| are working in our own interests, you must
suppose.
Very true, granting all that But did you
not get the franchise on Kearny street in con-
sideration of the benefit that line was to give
to the property-owners along that street and
their tenants, the merchants engaged in bust
ness there and dependent upon such patronage
as comes to their doors?
Well, as l say, we shall not make any
| changes Just at present. We are going over
the entire system of transfers as soon as we can
get around to it, and then we will endeayor
| to correct a great many abuses that now OBJ
tain. These abuses simply teach people to be
dishonest and have bad effect upon the pub
| q nieup