The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-06-07
TWO RICHMONjS AFIELD
The Geary-Street Railway Cues
ton Divides the District
Clubs.
A Big Meeting of the Point Lobos
Improve mt Club Will Be
Held Tuesday.

Heretofore Richmond district has been
united in the spirit of improvement, and
working in unity the people of that local
ity have been the most progressive in the
City. But the question of the Geary-street
railroad franchise has brought about
division.
The Richmond Property-owners' Pro-
tective Association is inclined to favor the
extension of the railroad franchise, which
expires in seven years, while the Point
Lobos Improvement Club Is dead set
against the proposition. Attorney Charles
Hubos of the association holds that mas
much as the Geary-street line is in
measure local concern the Richmond
people should be the last to refuse them
their fifty years franchise.
"The Geary-street line has always done
the fair thing by u.s." said Mr.. Hubbs yes
terday. 1.-THE carhouse is in the district,
and that will always insure late trips from
the water front west. And besides this
most all of the employees of the line live in
the district. The company desires, un-
derstand, to change the cable for the troll
ley, and do not feel safe in mourning that
extra expense with the franchise soon TO
expire"
President George F. Fletcher of the
Point Lobos improvement Club differs
with his neighbor, and so there are two
Richmonds in the field.
1--WE are opposed to any tinkerinR with
that franchise first and all the time" said
he. why is the Geary-street railway TAX
ing time by the forelock and looking so
closely after future privileges2 There is
somebody in the woodpile. Richmond is
fast building up and the addition of a
resident to the locality tapped by that line
means not less than So a month added 70
the receipts of the company, and if that
resident has a family it means as many
more nickels poured into the already fat
railroad sack. it also means that the
franchise is all the time getting more val
liable and the net earnings of that corpo-
ration are swelling larger and larger.
When the time comes for the renewal
of that franchise seven years hence the
people of San Francisco may feel that the
privilege of operating railway into Rich
mond may be worth something and de-
mand little rent for the use OF one of the
principal streets.
1.-THE Point Lobos improvement Club
will have q big meeting at Crosthwaite's
Hall, on Fifth avenue, near Point Lobos
road, next Tuesday evening, when this
question will be discussed in full. | have.
procured lot of street railroad statistics,
which l will give to the club, proving that
in all the places where the lines have been
forced to put on a ~ and Scent fare the
companies have made more money in
stead of going into bankruptcy.
"Look at this instance: In Berlin the
streetcar lines came down to yearly COM
mutation system and gave the passenger
the privilege of riding over the city as
many times each day of the 365 as he
wished and charged him just 81 so. at
the end of the first year the com pany de-
clared dividend to its stockholders of IL
per cent.
"All the way through these reports you
can find the same favorable condition of
affairs where fares have come down. The
railroad companies are not fearful of
losing money by a change, for their man
three persons would ride then where only
one gets on the cars now.
''They would simply have to build more
cars and employ more men, and they
don't want to do either. With their mill
lions of dollars of yearly net earnings they
are doing well enough, and they are will
ing to let we'll enough alone.
"But the time has come to lower the
fares IN San Francisco. Other cities have
done so and we will do it also. Some of the
improvement clubs are afraid if the rail-
roads are crowded, away will go the trans
fers. Well, are they not going now2 The
Geary-street line used to transfer north
and south as well as east at the Market
street terminus. Now it only transfers to
the ferry. The time is coming when
transfer ticket will be thing of the past.
"Other things which Richmond must
have are hydrants and irealarm boxes.
A new fire engine is well enough, but we
want the other two articles right away,
and if we get them we will await in
patience the m achine."