The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-12-04
OWNERSHIP OF THE
"BRICK HOLE"
Development of Crookedness
- in a Street Sweepng
49,. COntrac~
PRIVATE IMPROVEMENT AT
-: :. PUBLIC EXPENSE.
Land .Transf arred- for Ten Dollars
- Now Est m ated to Be Worth
" -; Flfty-FIve Hundred.
speclaI. Dispatch 70 TIE CALL

=: =. -. spec!ai Dispatch 10 THE CALL
:: san. JOSE, Dc. :3.-Who, owns the
:.'bzics:holc''?- This l. a mystery that has
a fascinating inte.e,t or The vast ma ioritv
OF the people OF San Jose. Some few p-o-
TESS 0 have s0yed the puzz ing question,
but when asked 30 give their explanation
. they: simply remark, Go zee Johnnie
Nc Kerr e. = 49,.
: AS every body. in Santa Clara County
knoHs, rhis. iudividu al IS the2ighl bower
" 81 j. m,Rea, and is ever active in carrying
our: the plans of his master. He is the
!. same braggart who made the false and
malicious boast that it was the work OF
lie :"gang" that forced the RucKer Bros
10 retire from ;Ae<furni!ure business.
This "brick hole" fhe ownership of
which eahnoI. befound in the County Re-
corder's office, or anywhere else, Is
brought into significant. prominence in
con necljoh with the street-swee ping con-
tract hich*e1pired to-day, but winch is
- not likely 10, be:rene@ed until the first OF
the year. 49,.
After specifying the streets to be swept.
Pc the price 10 be. tald, ETC., the contract has
this pr0yislon:
: The sweepiEgs sfiall he removed from the
tEeet sim ulta9eous Wv h their accumulation
by .tne street-swfeptng MACHINES and be de-
PosI.ed. upon me Lot comm only known as the
:'bIick hola,'i. 81 the southwest corner of Sew
. euth and .keyes streets in this city; provided
howe yer, t+2aE no gar bsse. offal. ecaying or
:QeGqmposfug enl Elal or Tegetab e mauer OF
any kind Tlrstever shall be: deposited upon
eslG lot, bat \ sucp.meI shall be carefully
separated from The SweepIngs aud: be removed
" cQLsl%fs q the:city llEl1ts without delay By the
parry OF lhe -Erst part 10. such 7. ace under mis-
ooTtrol wheEe no i q1sa nee. viii be created.
BE Hprick hole" is. located near the
southern boundarF Of the. city. Years
agoIt had been. created by the ciay hay
!. ing teen. dug o. / OF IL tora great depth for
bIlc kNakIng. Water .bad ~seepeG INTO il;
'e,n d II sjon beca me; SO offensive from the
emahatlons 5: that. arose, from the ssagnant
=: pool that q. suit was at one time insti-
tuted to have it declared "a nuisance. As
81 described by: q Dum bar OF citizsns it was
= an: lntifc ZION to the man =who~owned It
j., and had: to pay. IL xes on IT, According TO
:. The .records.1t was the properly Of Irving
:. G: Lewiso of Oaklann on. July Is 1894.
!: On this day, a deed of, the: property,
= which extends. a.ofig. thu: east side of
.Seyenth strset; south ire IN Keyes, for
distance 81: $50 feet was m ade % ut TO Will
:. liam W. Lowe; a. son Of james r. Lowe.
The day after a mort gage was executed
- by Lowe to Lewis Ior $3.50, ihe:same being
:: toseeure the. payment Of part of the pur-
chase money. for the. property. In the
= deed the consideration for the. half blocK
6fhnd was named as so. AT that time
the value Of this 'land.js SAID to have been
: between 5000 a nd $500
William W: Lowe at this time was
: employed in the County Rec riders office,
and had considerable means. He1nformed
several Of. his fellow. clerks that. the
property was. n OF his. bat had been bought
" by a syndicate. Who composed; this
syndicate ne d-not say. It was pointed
Quite him that ifthe mortgage was fore.
closed he would be. liable for any.
deficiency iud gu1ept: Acting on this hint
he transferred the property shortly after
the deed in his name: had been recorded.
: So say the deputy recorders who at the
p: time were his fellow clerks. No record of
this transfer is: on the. Recorders books.
When asked TO whom Lowe had trans
feTTed, the pro perry, the clerks in the
Recorders office: simply answered: Go
see johnnie MCKENZIE - -
Lowe died about Two years ago, leaving
the bulk OF his property to: his father
" who was also the lad miulstrator OF the
estate. On the books Of both the City
Assessor: and County Assessor the brick
hole" is still assessed: to William w.
lowe, and James:R. Lowe has been paw
ing the taxes on i up 10 the:pte sent time.
When James r. Lowe was asked about
the matter. he. declared that the "bricK
.hole" was not inthe estate Of his deceased
son, as his son: had. sold that property
before his death. He also stated tbat:he
taxes on The 1brick hole, )" and il he had
= been he would make &C rim for the return
of the money so paid, He did not know
he said, to whom his SON hal sold tie
land In question. 49,;
The contract for street-swceping which
expired to-day; was entered into three
years ago 1t wa. let TO l.. HEWLETT, who
sUb-letlt to \ ash &McReynol DIS, who have
been doing .theaetuai work On the part
OF the city theeon1ract was signed by Paul
7. Austin, who was at thattime the Mayor
CT the city of San Jose, and who is now a
mem Der of the Board of Supervisors of
Santa Clara County. At a meeting Of the
Council on w ednesday night Council
man Noting was asked what he knew
about the brick hole" but rs only
answer was: Go see Johnnie Mckenzie"
:: visit was paid to the 'brick hole" but
instead OF the yawning excavation that
existed three years ago, the tract was
found to be almos: filled up. The water
had disappeared under the innumerable
loads of sweepings, and large portion of
the block was beautifully graded. From
one of the neighbors it was learned that
Johnny Mckenzie had superintended The
work OF hIling ard grading.
1t was the. opinion of this neighbor
based on conversations with Mckenzie
that the latter was the owner of the tr ct
To round out this tale of the mysterious
ownership of the 'brick hole " it should
be stated that the former excavation.
which has now been nearly filed UP un.
der the conditions of the contract entered
into between ex-Mayor Austin and Nash
and McReynolds, is worth about $40
front loot, or $500.