The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-16

about $4,000 apiece. The Union Iron
Works will build three tank-lighters for
the oil ships.
The first electric tramway ever put into
any manufacturing establishment in this
City is in operation at the Western Sugar
Refinery. 1t is the Sprague motor system,
with double wires (return current) over
head. The motors are ~ horsepower,
and the cars can carry load OF from three
to six tons at a speed of five or six miles.
Seven tracks lead up from the dock
through the shed TO the melting-pans, and
the system of switching is said TO be mar
velous. The daily product OF the refinery
during season about 1S5, 900 tons of raw
sugar are brought from the Hawaiian
Islands.
Track-laying along Solano street for the
Sixteenth-street electric system is making
good progress toward Kentucky street. A
large number of teams were engaged yes
terday on the block between Minnesota
and Tennessee streets.
T. W. Edmonds of the United States
Coast and Geodetic Survey makes trips
every morning lately to keep tab on the
self-registering tide-gauge which the coast
survey has put on the water at the Union
Iron Works. This tide-gauge is mar
velous but very simple continuance. By
means of clockwork a sheet of paper run
on rollers is kept steadily moving along
while pencil attached to float, and ris-
ing or falling with the tide, records the
height or the water at any time OF the day
or night on the paper. The tide-gauge was
put there to secure data enough to able
the coast survey to predict the times Of
high and low water six months ahead fol
the annual prediction tables which it pub
fishes, and also to give the photographic
parties an opportunity to work on the bay
in that vicinity and reduce their soundings
to the low-water datum plane of the coast
survey charts.
Potrero residents are deeply interested in
the bright prospects which the Union Iron
Works seems to have of getting the con
tract for one of the two new battleships to
be built by the Navy Department. 1t i:
understood that Irving NJ. Scott, on his
last trip East found reason to believe thai
one of the bids of the Union Iron Work,
would be accepted, He is expected to take
another trip East soon.
An insane man named David D. Shea,
who has been allowed to be at large on
probation, and who has been, ever since
1891, source of annoyance to Catholic
circles and the police, was locked up by
Sergeant Bennett yesterday at the Potrero
station. Father O'Connell of st. Teresa
Church complained that Shea had been
making himself very troublesome. Shea
was formerly blacksmith helper at the
Union Iron WORKS.
Superintendent Vining does not think
it will pay to put back the horsecars on the
old Fifteenth-avenue line from South San
Francisco to the San Bruno road. He will,
however, carefully consider the request OF
the property-owners, and may have a car
or two run out there during the early
mornings and late in the afternoons. The
difficulty in the way of even this is that the
piece of road there is not in good con-
dition, and if used for streetcar purposes,
it would be incumbent upon the Market
street Railway Company to keep it in
repair, which is expensive. Mr.. Vining
fears that the travel by that route would
not be enough to compensate for the
expense.
South San Francisco residents feel that
they are entitled to better postoffice &C
com odatjons than they now enjoy. They
would like sub-station, and about as con-
venient a place as could DE secured for it
would be Dr. Todd's store, corner OF Rail-
road and Fourteenth avenues.
Sass Bros. expect to have the new board
ing-house on Kentucky street completed
soon.
The steamer Colima is on the ways at
Hunters Point to have her propeller re-
paired. It got out of order on her last trip
up the COAST. She will be off in a day or
two.
The next social event of the 20. T."