The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-04-11
IT Makes a Magnificent Offer
to the San Joaquin
Valley Road.
FREE WAY THROUGH TULARE
Seventy Miles of Right of Way as a
Gift, With Other Privi-
leges.

sOaq Jun NdlIey halfway yesterday lana pre-
scented a proposition that is in every way
remarkable for its generosity and its ring
OF business.
Their offer was nothing less than a right
Of way through Tulare County and ample
land for a station in Visalia, provided that
the valley road will run into their busting
little city.
They were: E. c. Farnsworth, Mayor of
Visalia; E. o. Miller, attorney-at-law; Will
liam II. Hammond, County Clerk of
Visalia and Ben NJ. Maddox, editor of the
VisaIia Times.
Mayor Farnsworth was chief spokesman
for the committee. Said he:
We come down as a committee from the
Visans Board of Trade TO make definite
proposition to secure the building OF the rail-
road through Visalis. The proposition IS that
we would secure for them the right OF way
from the Fresno County line through the city
OF Visalia TO the Kern County line, distance
OF SeYenty miles, or one-ffth OF the entire DIS
tance from San Francisco TO Bakersfield. In
addition to that we propose TO give tnem
ample depot grounds IN the city OF Flsana2
and we have subscribed $50, 900 to the capital
stock of the road That is conditioned on the
main line being built through the city OF
Visalia.
Asan argument as to why the road should
be built through Nisalia we call attention 10
the fact that forty-iye years ago, when the
entire San joaquin Valley road was open to
settlement settlers first went to Fisalia because
St was the most fertile portion of the valley,
and it is the oldest town in the San Joaquin
Valley, established in 1850.
When the Southern Pacific Company was
first projected, it started to locate its own
towns as it went down the valley. Knights
Ferry was the capital OF Stanislaus County.
Smelling was the capital OF MERGED County.
MilleTtOn was the capital OF Fresno County.
When the Southern Pacific people ran down to
Modesto in Stanislaus County, they moved the
county seat to Modesto, killing Knights Ferry,
and MERGED was made the capital OF MERGED
County. Fresno was made the capital OF
Fresno County, and Millerton was ruined. Mil.
lerton has not even postofice to-day. They
made the same attempt in Tulare County, but
they did not succeed.
The local capitalists of Visalia built two
roads from Visalia to connect with the Southern
Pacific Railway. Visalia and Goshen road was
built from Goshen, q distance of seven miles,
and the local road was built from Goshen TO
Tulare City, distance OF eleven miles.
We have great many wealthy people in the
city OF Visalia. The population has steadily
increased, and to-day 1t is the largest city in
the San JOaquin Valley with the exception of
Fresno Our streets are paved with asphaltum,
stores are lighted with arc lights, houses with
-incandescent lights. We have a magnificent
water system, and are going to build canneTy
Just as soon as we can get lower freight rates.
There are two ways that this road can go
from Fresno to Bakersfield. One is by way of
Hanford, just east OF Tulare Lake and on down
TO Bakersfield Hanford is q splendid little
Fresno by way Of Nisalla 1t will pass through q
county that is well developed, and could con-
tinue by way of Porterville, the citrus-belt of
Tulare County, locality that is growing very
rapidly and is destined to rival Riverside in
the production OF fruits
In the last five years we have planted about
1000 acres of peaches and prunes, and we now
have in Tulare County about 600 acres of lem
ons and lines and several thousand acres of
oranges. We have now the best produce we
have ever had Our potatoes are especially
fine.
We appreciate the intelligent way the CALL
has been referring to the competing road, and
feel very much satisfied that it has a correct
idea OF the situation in the San Joaquin Valley.
The right OF way is through a highly
productive and thickly settled country,
which of itself will contribute largely to
the support of the valley railroad.
The directors were evidently deeply in
: terested in the generous offer, for it gave
them considerable encouragement and
proved how popular the competing road
g. has grown all along the route. They took
it under advisement, with profuse thanks
to the committee, and assurances of i'm
mediate attention.
Several maps and documents to assist
the railroad engineers in their survey
were presented 10 the directors with a
bundle of documents and pamphlets, the
latter being an official publication of the
Visalia Board of trade on the resources of
competing railroad, approved a month ago.
Regarding the railroad it says:
A competing railroad running north and
south through the eastern portion of the
Southern San Joaquin Valley would traverse q
territory, every acre OF which, practically,
would contribute to the traffic relied upon for
maintenance OF the road; whereas q road west
OF the main line OF the Southern Pacific would
pass through less productive country and
skirt Tulare Lake, shallow body ofwater with
minimum area Of 220 square miles Increased
in seasons OF heavy rainfalD, which will con-
tr1oute no freight. The country south Of the
lake Tor a considerable distance produces little
The grade in the territory between the two
railways IS not apprecisble, the conditions are
= iaVoraole LOT construction, and the river cross
1ngS for bridges are the best.
Ihls territory covers an area of 100000
acres, OF which 3S5 900 are low irrigable lin
Gliding the pasture lands), and OF the remain
ing $4,000 acres 10000 may be supplied from
existing irrigation systems and 5000 acres in
the southern part are susceptible of irrigation
from a proposed system.
In this large body OF land there is not to ex-
coed, in the aggregate, half a township nm
suited for growing grain. The area covered nv
orchards is about 5000 acres, the greater part
of which viii be in bearing this year; in vines
.2200 acres are planted. The acreage of fruit
trees and vines, at the close of the present
planting season, will amount to 5000 acres. In
alfalfa are 1900 acres, IN grain and miscella-
neous. crops zoe, 600 acres, ard the balance
nearly 1900 acres, is devoted to pssturage.
The area of uncultivated land grows less each
year, and no portion of the valley is being de-
veloped more rapidly. Fruitgrowing is des-
tined to be the leading industry, and citrus
and deciduous fruits are being planted at q
rate exceeding 1000 acres annually.
The area viii in favorable year, such as the
present, produce, including the amount re-
quired for local consumption at a conservative
estimate is, 33S carloads of grain, $500 of
green fruit, 1900 OF raisins, 300 of hay, 1900 OF
pasturage products, 800 OF miscellaneous, or a
total of 20,435. Adding 1865 tons of inward
freight to this the grand total would he 81, :
300.
This total, considering ten tons as a. carload,
amounts to an average Of ffty-nine carloads
daily for the year.
To show that the committee represented
a considerable area which plays an i'm
portant part in the economy of California
it was stated that Tulare County covers
$500 square miles, has population of a.
'574, cultivated area of 397 1854 acres and an
assessed valuation of $15, 633, 646.
Regarding the claims of Visalia on the
valley road, the following statements are
made:
Visalia is the most important shipping sta
ton IN the county, although it loses much BUSH
ness because ofnOt being on main line Grain
hay and wood are hauled TO stations on the other
lines from points nearer Nisalia to save the ex-
pense of the short haul The greatest loss of
freight, however, is in the matter of livestock,
for the same reason. This alone is an i'm
fOrfauf itprn Viea1ia huypre and declare