The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-07-13
A JOKER IN THE spur
Grabbing the Ocean
Boulevard to Garry
Loan to the Park.
THE RAILS MUST COME UP.
Why the Southern Pacific Is
So Obliging to the Park
Commissioners.
A PRIVILEGE LONG EXPIRED
Steam Tracks Maintained Without
Authority Calculated to Spoil
Famous Drive.


received from a complaisant Board of SUI
pervisors the privilege to lay its tracks on
the Ocean boulevard.
The privilege was obtained-despite the
protests of Adolph Sutro and others-on
the plea that it was necessary for the
Southern Pacific to operate a steam road
into the Midwinter Fair grounds.
Now the privilege has expired long since,
but still the tracks of the Southern Pacific
obstruct the Ocean boulevard. In Septem-
Der, 1894, by the terms of the temporary
franchise granted, the Southern Pacific
should have removed its tracks from
Golden Gate Park and from the Ocean
boulevard. Then plea of convenience to
the Park Commissioners was entered, and
when Mayor Ellert had abo ut made up his
mind to tear up the tracks by main force
the pleaders for the Southern Pacific went
before the Board of Supervisors again and
secured from the board forty days extern
sion of time.
This extension of time was granted solely
to enable the Southern Pacific to enter
upon its philanthropic work OF hauling
loan and stTeet-sweepings to Golden Gate
Park at a sacrifice of time, money and con-
venience to itself, as was loudly pro-
claimed.
Well, the park needed the street-sweep-
ings and the loan. No one looked into
the question very deeply at that time and
no one objected to the extension of time.
1t was granted in the name of the park
the peoples playground.
But by and by that forty days expired.
1t expired last December, to be exact. And
still those tracks obstruct what is destined
to be one OF the City's most famous drive
ways, the Ocean boulevard. And the
plea is still the park. The great philan-
thropic Southern Pacific is still carrying
street-sweepings and loan into Golden
Gate Park over these Midwinter Fair spur
tracks "at a loss"
By the way, how great is this loss? A
little calculating ought to fix it, nearly, if
not exactly. The Southern Pacific is paid
by the Merchants Association S. a car
load for hauling the street-sweepings from
Fourth and Townsend streets to the site of
the Midwinter Fair. True, the route is
rather a roundabout one, the train going
first to Baden and there turning about
northWard, past Lake MERGED and via the
Ocean boulevard to II street.
Now the Park Commissioners and
others who have been pointing out the
generosity OF the Southern Pacific in haul
ing a car of street-sweepings over thai long
distance for the paltry sum of $5 have en-
phasiZed what a roundabout route the
sweepings have to travel in order to reach
the park-at s. a carload. But, really,
there is not so much loss in this circuitous
route when you come to look into it as one
might imagine.
This route leads past both pumping sta
tons of the Spring Valley Water Com
pany, located on the old Rancho Laguna
de la MERGED. And it is profitable part OF
the Southern Pacihcs business in this neck
of the woods to carry coal and other freight
to both these pumping stations. And,
from the main track at Baden there has
been for years a branch road running to
the northernmost of these two pumping
stations.
And now, when this philanthropic cor
poration carries the street-sweepings to
Golden Gate Park at So a carload, these
same cars, by way OF avoiding any I'M
necessary expense in the charitable work,
are made TO traverse the route behind
regular freight train to the pumping sta
tons. Then, from the pun ping stations
at Lakeville, northward lover the tracks
laid only and especially for the Midwinter
Fair to the Ocean Beach House, over the
lands of the Spring Valley Company, and
from that point still northward to H street
along the Ocean boulevard, is q distance of
perhaps four miles, more or less.
Hauling five cars of street-sweepings a
day distance of four miles for So a car
thropic piece OF work. Indeed there is
even a very fair profit in it for the philan-
thropist
Making the estimate as liberal as pos
sible, credit the Southern Pacific with
hauling these five cars the full distance.
and allow them half day to do it in, all
for So a carload. That means a crew of
three men and coal for five hours. Put
the coal down at S. That is too much for
the haul and the grade, but let it be a lib
eral estimate. Item, engineers pay for
half day, So. Item, tireman's pay for
same, 50. Item, brakeman S pay for same,
81 so. Total, $I2 30.
ANY one who knows what engineers,
aremen and brakemen are paid on the
Southern Pacific road will know how very
liberal is this estimate. But let it stand.
If you subtract the total of it from the
total of five carloads at So a carload you
will see that there is profit. Not an
enormous profit, to be sure. Only SD so
day, 1915 a month, $500 year. More
than some of the employees of the Southern
Pacific receive for their services, and surely
enough to repay, in some measure at least,
the philanthropic efforts of Mr.. Hunting
tons charitable corporation in carrying
street-sweepings to Golden Gate Park-to
the peoples pleasure ground.
SO much for the claim that the Southern
Pacific only continues its spur tracks into
the park for the accommodation of the
Park Commissioners. The road to-day is
operated at a very handsome profit, con-
sidering all things, and for a year past
that spur road has netted even larger
profit. 1t has. been matter of dollars, not
OF charity this continuance of these spur
tracks in the park.
But if the public insist upon it we will
have these spur tracks in the park removed
at once" Park Commissioner Austin has
said.
When first the matter was made public
in THE CALL a few days ago all the officials
interviewed declared their readiness to
have the spur tracks-the three spur tracks,
they were careful to state-removed from
the park grounds. But then, this would
cause big loss to the Merchants Associa-
ton and to the park itself, these same Off
Gals pointed out. 1t would be a shame to
rob the park of the benefit it was deriving
from the street-sweepings as cultivator
Upon these representations THE CALL
held aloof for the time being. 1t was I'M
willing to be means of impoverishing
the park by robbing it of the street-sweep-
ings-a contingency that would surely
happen. it was claimed, in case these three
spur tracks were removed from the park.
But still. it was continually iterated that
if a public demand was made these three
spur tracks would be removed from the
mark