The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-03-17

long time between the Mayor and Presi-
dent NJ. a. Samuels of the K. of p. Gene
terry Association, which resulted finally in
an agreement to disagree.
For the part of the cemetery directly
affected, Jnat lying at the intersection of
CT EN- ent street and Thirty third avenue,
belongs by right given them by the City
Council, to the Knights of Pythias Gem
etery Association.
The franchise given the Peoples Rail-
road Company permits the occupancy OF
Clement street and Thirty-third avenue.
But the trouble is there is no way of get
ting from Clement street into Thirty-third
avenue although theoretically they inter-
sect.
But the cemetery has absorbed the
width of both of these streets, Clement
street on the south and Thirty-third
avenue ON the east, and where they should
cross each other there is the corner OF the
cemetery pushing its shoulder to prevent
even an intersection. There is no way for
the railroad to get from Thirty-third
avenue round into Clement street, there
fore, except by cutting throughthe corner
OF the cemetery which extends into the
street or else by rounding off through
private property.
This was the problem that confronted
the Peoples Railroad in its great desire to
get into town. Mayor Sutro first opened
negotiations with the owner of the private
property that ran into the corner where
the streets came together, but the owner
thought he saw one of those opportunities
that come to few men only few times
III their lives and he set his price for the
strip at $500.
Mayor Sutro owns few of the sand
dunes himself away out there, and he
knows their value per square foot better
perhaps than any other man in town, not
L I
few things in his deep, cultural voice,
which need not be repeated here, and then
turned his broad back upon the man and
went straightWay to his Office and sent out
orders to his engineer to plant tripod on
the corner of the cemetery that had thrust
itself in the path of the Peoples Railway
and try to imagine how it would look with
some steel rails describing a 80 degree
curve.
He expected to hear from this very
shortly and he did. President NJ A. Sam
uels of the Knights of Pythias Cemetery
Association called upon him next day.
Mr.. Sutro said he was delighted to see him
and was sure that they could come to a
perfect understanding in a few minutes.
No, there was no need of hiring lawyers;
they two would talk IL over between them
selves.
They did talk it over, and when they
parted both thought they had arrived at
l.
ton was that the road should be allowed
to go through the corner of the cemetery.
but that the railroad should pay for re-
moving some twelve bodies buried in the
lots that would be traversed, and should
re-establlsh the outer wooden fence and an
iron fence which surrounded the K of 2.
subdivision of the cemeteries within the
Enclosure. This, says Mr.. Samuels, was
originally agreed to by Mr.. Sutro, and he
set his men to work.
1t was understood by Mr. SamueIs that
the cost OF moving the bodies would be
$3.50, and that Mr.. Sutro agreed to the
figure. Afterward the railroad company
offered to do the work of removing the
bodies or would pay $3.50. This, after
some further talk, the association finally
agreed to.
Again negotiations were reopened SAYS
Samuels, and Mayor Sutro offered to pay
50 for the removal of each of the bodies
This, Samuels says, was less than the usual
cost OF the work and he refused. Then he
says Mayor Sutro became angry and
charged him with trying TO blackmail him,
and declared that he would go ahead and
run the road through without asking any
body's leave The men, as stated, entered
the Enclosure yesterday and were we'll on
toward finishing their job when the notice
of temporary injunction was served on
them yesterday afternoon, and they took
the Saturday afternoon half holiday.
Both parties are now thoroughly angry,
and it is more than likely that legal bat
tie will run considerable length.
Samuels declares that the railroad men
have torn down the fences and that the
road actually runs over a number of graves,
considerable filling in having been done
over them, and no attempt made to carry
out the original arrangement to remove
the bodies. He says that the tracks run
close up to the tombstones of other graves