The San Francisco call., 1896-03-19
DEEMED BLOTS
Relics Of the Past Seen on Mar.
.ket, Montgomery and San.
some Streets.
A CALL FOR THEIR REMOVAL.
Why the "To Lets" Adorn the Win.
dows-Bituminized Pave.
ments Wanted.


awaken some morning and fail to see those
ghosts of past age-the bobtail horse
car-wandering across their vision they
would feel that they were indeed in the
latter part of the nineteenth century. But
no such awakening comes to them, at
least not yet.
Electric-cars thread the modernly paved
suburban thoroughfares reaching out into
the country, but through the thickest and
richest portion of the City amble the
single-horse affa irs that were longing for
a well-earned rest twenty years ago. The
inhabitants of Market, Montgomery and
Sansome streets are asking themselves
why they should be left out of the march of
progress while the newer north, west and
south, and even the east. have been pro-
vided for. But the question is old-almost
as old as bobtail-car-and has been await
ing an answer for, 10, these many years.
Market street has been taken better
care of than the other two streets, but
that great thoroughfare also needs re-
pairs.
At intervals during the day dilapi-
dated affair drawn by single horse
trundles wearily out of Fourth street,
and another of like character escapes
out of Sixth, into Market. They are relics
of the '7Gs crawling into the '9Os. The
cable-trains go changing by. hurrying away
from the uncanny visitants, and even the
trucks and other vehicles give them
wide berth. But the modern Market
street is too fast for these Rip Van Wrinkles
Of twenty years of sleep and they dip out
of the whirling current into Montgomery
and Sansome streets. Then they trundle
sleepily along until they disappear around
the blocks where there are SO many signs
of ''to let' in the distance.
"lf Mr.. Vining could only be made to
see,'' said prominent Market-street mer-
chant yesterday, that anything but
dead car service on Montgomery street
would recompense his company, the people
of that thoroughfare would not be left out
altogether and we would not be visited
by those old bobtail eyesores travelling
along from Sixth to Sansome.
Between those two streets on Market
is the liveliest part of the City. 1t is
crowded all the time with every descrip-
ton of vehicle. The cable cars running
thickly on their double tracks take up the
most of the street and those miserable
horse affairs most of the rest of the road
wav. The horsecars do not run often
enough to be 50 great nuisance, but the
rails are. Those side-street horsecar sys-
TENS could all transfer to Market and
otherwise keep out OF it altogether. Market
street has grown out of the bobtail age and
very soon the electrician, with the under
ground wires, will roll there"
Mr. Dohrmann, president of the Mer-
chants Association, stated yesterday that
he was trying to see his way through the
>Kearny- street transfer proposition and
could not take up any other question Just
yet.
"After we have got Kearny street into
the great Market-street system, we may
take up Montgomery street. 1t certainly
needs a service, for it has none now. Good
streetcars bring business, as every business
person knows"
"We might do without the cars" said
member OF big real estate
firm, '.but we must have Montgomery
street btuminized. l say We might do
without the cars, because We have been
doing without them for a long time. Nobody
rides here in them. They just roll along
to hold the franchise down. Here are
three big hotels always crowded, and I'll
venture not landlord ever directs his
guests into q Montgomery-street car. 1t
would be an insult. They take the cross
street cables. or go to Kearny street. 1t
would not be so if we had car service
here. But car or no car, we want these
old cobDle-stones dug out and smooth
pavement put down."
Montgomery street must have a mod
ern car service, SAID Henry L. SOnntag,
the real estate man, Yesterday.
'It is business proposition that brings
business in turn. A locality must progress
or die. The Mills building was renewed
life to that locality. Why are there SO
many houses and offices to let around
the lower end of Montgomery? Because
no improvements have struck the place
for wears. Pavements were not changed
or renewed and horse cars literally went
from bad to worse. Other streets got
themselv ready for the coming business,
but Montgomery street simply let it go.
1t went slowly but surely.
FIFTY years ago the center OF the city's
activity was at about Montgomery and
Washington streets. In twentv-tive years
it haa receded to California and in twenty
five more it got to Market. One more
quarter of a century il will be at Seventh,
moving westward. However, there is
enough left for Montgomery, if her people
will only hold what they have. The street
car carries weight--no desire to make a
pun and nobody knows that so well as
the merchant and the business man gener-
ally.
wherever there is a good modern street
car service there is life and business. Let
bitumen pavement and an electric road
be laid down in Montgomery street and
the ito let's will blow Off the windows and
peoDle will come back to trade with us.