The San Francisco call., 1896-08-29
OCEAN VIEW R0USED.
Residents Protest Against Supposed Mis-
representation and Corporation Rule.

Residents Protest A gainst Supposed Mis-
representation and Corporation Rule.
Recent published accounts of malaria
and other undesirable things at Ocean
View have caused some of the most prom
inent residents of that suburb to protest
against what they consider misrepresenta-
ton. Among others William N. Cook, A.
Haring and George R. Moore have taken
the matter deeply to heart. In commu-
nication to THE CALL they thus detail
some of their grievances:
Are the people of Ocean View to be taxed for
the purpose o. protecting the property OF g
monopolistic corporation like the Spring VAL
ley Water Company, even if it were true that
the refuse from the dwellings, stables, etc., OF
this portion of the City finds its way into Lake
Merced, which it does not? Is it not fact
that long before the Spring Valley Water Com
pany owned Lake Merced ranch, and at the
time Mahoney wanted to sell the property TO
the City for the City's water supply, that COM
pany denounced the waters of the lake as
unfit for household purposes on account of its
being brackish (mixed with sea water, but di-
rectly after the Spring Valley Company had
taken the property off the hands OF the Hiber-
MIA Bank the water was found to be excellent?
The cattle and dairy ranches OF San Mateo
County in the immediate neighborhood are
the principal source from which Lake Merced
receives its Objectionable drainage.
If any people are to be taxed for the tunnel
which the water company is building, 1t
should be those residing in San Mateo County,
and not the poor inhabitants OF Ocean View.
The lake is too remote to receive any OF the
sewage, and the company Itself did not
think OF communicating environments when 1t
rented the lakes contiguous lands to Bill Hall
for pasturing his thousands of cattle.
Through Islais Creek and into the bay is the
natural drainage outlet for this porto of the
City, when sufficiently populated, and not
into the ocean by way of Lake Merced. 1t is
the duty of the Spring Valley Water Company
to protect its source Of. supply, instead OF its
endeavoring TO tax the people of this section
$40, 900 to $50, 900 for the purpose of con-
structing an outlet upon the company's land.
But this is not all. There is to be run g.
trail sewer of about half mile in length,
the cost of which they wisely do not state, and
without the cross-street sewer-plpes and their
come etion with the dwellings the outlay for
central and main sewers would be thrown
away and benefit only the Spring Valley Water
Company and the contractors. Then the grad
ing and matchmaking, according TO the offer
OF one of the pubiic-spirited friends of the
property owners, would be 20 cents per front
loot, or SIT 30 per lot, making for the whole of
Ocean View the snug sum of $S8, 900, exclu-
sive of the sewerlaying. while the streets
around the Masonic Cemetery were macadam-
ized for 40 cents a front foot.
But would this enormous outlay prevent the
contamination of Lake Merced? Certainly
not. The racetrack, with its great numbe. of
horses and their attendants and the multitude
of people congregating there daily, does more
harm TO the lake waters than the inhabitants
OF Ocean View could do in decades to come.