The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-04-20
ME- RCHAnTS WANT
THE C|TY'S AID
Business on Lighted Streets
Has Increased Ten
Per Cent.
The Supervisors Will Be Asked
to Carry on the Good
Work.
At the R quest of the Improvement
Cubs the Merchants Assccia.
tion Will Act.

One of the important questions now
being considered by the various improve
ment clubs is that of providing for the
continued existence of the electric street
lights, the expense of which has been
borne by the merchants doing business on
the streets so improved.
Polk street being the first OF the streets
Illuminated will as a matter OF course be
one of the first whose six months con-
tract with the electric light company will
expire. This will occur on the LIST of
May, and the question now uppermost in
the minds of the merchants on the street
is What is to be done2'
This is partially answered by each and
all who have subscribed to the light found
that, come what may, Polk street cannot
be permitted to relapse into the condition
OF the dark ages, out of which it was taken
six months ago.
BY ludicious management the executive
committee of this club will be enabled to
keep the street lighted during the month
of May out of the surplus saved during
the past six months. Something, how
ever, must be done to keep the lights
burning during the month of June.
Then comes the issue of the day, not
only with the Polk-street but all the i'm.
provement clubs in the City which have
"
provements. A combined effort will be
made by all the clubs, through the Mer-.
chants Association, to induce the Super
visors to provide in the annual appropria.
ton sufficient funds to have all the streets
now lighted at the private expense of the
merchants and property-owners hereafter
illuminated at the expense of the tax.
payers of the whole City.
The executive committee OF the Polk
street Club recently extended invitations
10 all the other clu bs in the City to meet
tor the purpose of discussing mode of
procedure to accomplish this purpose, but
owing 80 a clerical error in the notice of
the call no meeting was had.
Since that time, however, the general
opinion OF the clubs has been expressed
that the matter could be dealt with by the
Merchants Association representing tho
clubs before the Supervisors.
From the same clubs comes the unani-
nous opinion that the electric lights on
the streets have been beneficial from q
business point of view.
Several merchants on Polk street say
that business has improved 25 per cent
during the past six months.
Third street = one of the last to get
the electric current turned on-is still
more boastful of an increase In business.
Bernard Katschinski of the PhiladeI-
phla Shoestore, speaking for th- Third
street merchants, said he was free to adj
nit that the business on that street has
improved over so per cent since the strees
was lighted up and he Is still more hope
fui of this street being second to
none in the City as soon as the newspaper
buildings now in course of construction
are finished. After that ne says he will
spend $4,000 in improvements on his
store, and other properry-owners will
follow suit on the i'm provemenr line.
Consequently the Third.street mer-
chants are in favor of having the lights
continued at the general expense of the ?
taxpayers.