The San Francisco call., 1896-02-11
EVIDENTLY NOT WANTED.
The Electric Railroad Express
Will Shortly Quit the
Business.
The People Have Not Met the Ven
ture in the Manner 1t Was
Hoped They Would.
OAKLAND OFFICE SAN Francisco CALL, !
Q0Q RrOodrrau Enh 10


908 Broadway. Feb. 10. !
Some surprise has been caused in COM
mercial circles by the report that the Hay
wards electric road would soon go out of
the express business. For over a year the
company has been doing about all the
business letween Haywards, San Lean
dro, Oakland and San Francisco. They
commenced by buying out all the smaller
companies and by inaQgurating regular
electric express service. The loaded
wagons were placed on electric-cars, and
during the quiet portions of the day they
were attached to the regular passenger.
cars and hauled along the road.
The first opposition that the express
service met with was from the Railroad
Commissioners, who claimed that as the
road was doing railroad freight business
it came under the same tariff regulations
as other railroads. The matter has not
yet been satisfactorily settled, but the
commission did not dictate rates. For q
time the electric express was very popular,
but it was a costly service, and there was
not such volume of business as was ex-
pected.
Andrew L. Stone. secretary of the road,
was asked about the matter tonight and
1--WE went into the express service" he
said, ''as part of our plan to build up the
territory along the road. We bought out
several expressmen, and they were glad to
sell, because we employed as many of the
eXpressmen as we needed in our new
service. We thought that first-class
express service would be boon, and would
be welcomed by everybody along the route.
We reduced rates about one-half of what
was being charged, and intended to do all
that we could to make it benefit to every
body. We knew that by building up the
territory we we're benefiting ourselves, but
we were, at the same time, benefting a
thousand others, so that our effort was
certainly not selfish one.
I'VE have met with much opposition in
everything that we have undertaken, but
/ cannot see that it has any Justification.
We have never refrained from giving rights
of way across our property, we have never
tried to get out of our share of road work,
and have, I think, acted souarely. We
undertook this express business because
we thought 1t would be acceptable. We
find that it has not Eeen, and that there
is not a sufficient volume of business to
Justify us in continuing. 1t is not large
venture, and for its sake alone we would
not have been justified in taking it up,
but it is all part of plan for developing
territory and improving it by bringing it
nearer to Oakland and San Francisco.
The opposition TO the road is not easy TO
explain. Before it was built my family
offered bonus of $4,000 to parties who
proposed to build it. They did not see
anything profitable in it. and at last we
decided to take the initiative ourselves.
When first built everything was COM
mendable, but latterly we have met with
encouragement on every hand.
"IG is very evident that the people along
the road do not look upon our express
business in the same light in which we
undertook it, and therefore 1t is not ad-
yisable for US to carry it on"