The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-06-27

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erty owners he said, want this cross
town railroad. and do not let us jeo-
pardize it by piling amendments upon
it. Let us dispose of the crosstown
road and then ! am in favor of the
Grant-avenue loop and not before"
But" urged Aigeltinger, the Mer-
chants Association is in favor of this
Grant-ayenue spur
And l see no objection to it," added
Mayor Phelan, who had undergone a
change of mind. Indeed, l see many
advantages in it"
SO do l." interjected Supervisor Hol-
land. Il am ready to vote for it after
we finish with the crosstown railroad"
Since you are talking about amend
ments," interrupted Supervisor By
ington, how about my amendment on
the fiat rail?" There had been linger-
ing hope that Supervisor Byington was
asleep, but he was awake and watch
ing. He was representing what subse-
Quently proved TO be the Mayors
hobby. 1t was shown that the amend
ment on fiat rails had been rejected by
the Street Committee, so Supervisor
Byington, with a persistency worthy of
a better cause, reintroduced 1t upon the
warning suggestion of Mayor Phelan.
A vote was then taken on the amend
ment offered by Supervisor Aigeltinger
to provide for the Grant avenue loop.
The amendment was lost, Supervisors
Aigeltinger Attridge and Phelps alone
voting for it. This killed the PROPOSE
ton beyond the possibility Of revival,
NJ q
board did not realize until it had been
accomplished.
Consideration of Byingtons amend
ment was next in order. There was a
long discussion over flat rails, but the
arguments were precisely the same as
those that had been advanced before
the Street Commute on Thursday.
President Dohrmann of the Merchants
Association pleaded for the road. He
begged that the Mayor and the Super
visors permit an Improvement which
has become a necessity. The mer-
chants he said, are willing to accept
the terms Of the railroad and only Off
cial objection can block the building of
the road. Others spoke in the same
strain and urged the DIRECTORS to give
way
Mayor Phelan had a score Of objec-
tions to offer. He said that he could
see no reason why the fiat rails should
not be used. He had heard no reason
able excuse why the railroad company
should not use such rails. He wanted
to hear some practical objection to
them. 1t was pointed out to him that
the rails are not Objectionable. They
are as good as those now in use on
Market street, and the people who want
the crosstown road are willing to- aC-
cept them. But the Mayor talked about
wheel fianges and other interesting de-
tails. The people of two great sections
of the city were thinking of the bene-
fit of new road. The Mayor said the
fiat rails were in use in other cities
and the merchants reiterated that they
want a road
The discussion continued for an hour
and then a vote was taken on Bying
tons amendment. The amendment was
lost, Supervisors Byington, Heyer,
Lackmann and Perrault alone voting
for it. The board then voted to offer
the franchise for sale. The fight had
been won and the Mayors opposition
had counted for nothing.
The Market-street Railway Company
is expected to be the only bidder, and
in view of that fact Mayor Phelan Sc
cured from the corporation material
concession.
The franchise act Of 1897 says no
percentage shall be paid for the first
five years." but thereafter at least
per cent shall be paid of the gross re-
ceipts But the charter which goes
into effect January l next says that at
least 8 per cent of the gross receipts
shall be paid during the first five years,
4 per cent for the next ten years and )
per cent thereafter till the franchise
expires.
The board could not, under the ex-
listing act of 1897, require any percent
age for the first five years, but the COM
pany could, as they did, agree to bid
more than the present law requires.
Just before the meeting of the board
the Mayor asked Attorney jeremiah
Burke and Agent Lynch of the Market
street Railway Company if they would
respect the charter provisions if the
franchise were granted and they finally
agreed to do So The franchises are
only granted for the life of the con-
Meeting franchises, so they will all ex-
pire together and be then a valuable
property, with all their feeders.
The agreement which binds the Mar
ket-street Railway Company to re-
spect the provisions Of the charter is
as follows:
Board of Supervisors,
June IS, 1899.
We agree that we will bid at least the
minimum percentages of the gross re-
ceipts as required by the new charter if
the "corkscrew" (so-called) franchise is
offered for sale by the board under the
provisions of the law of 1897, as reported
by the Committee on Streets.
MARKET-STREET RAILWAY CO.
Per H. H. Lynch, agent.
This ends the long controversy over
franchises. The city gains a benefit
and the railroad retires profitless from
a raid.
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