The San Francisco call., 1899-08-20
MAY HAVE ONE
MORE LINE Of
OCEAN STEAMERS
OrientNo Beyond the
Santa Fe.
PRESIDENT RIPLEY HERE
CAME TO INSPECT THE VALLEY
ROAD PROPERTY.
The Head of Great Railroad System
Discusses Matters of Vital In
terest to the People of
This State.
CAME TO INSPECT THE VALLEY
ROAD PROPERTY.

distinguished party of Santa Fe of
ficials arrived in the city yesterday from
Los Angeles after making a tour of m
spection over the Valley road 1t consists
of President L. P. Ripley, A. f. Walker,
chairman of the board of directors, who
arrived in this city some days ago from
a pleasure trip to Honolulu and went
down the road as far as Bakersfield to
meet President Ripley and accompany him
back; J. NJ. Barr, third vice president; w.
G.. Hodges, purchasing agent; John Play
er of Topeka, superintendent of machin-
cry; W. q. Nevin, general manager of the
| Santa Fe Pacific and Southern California
Railroad, and Ford Harvey of Kansas
City; Captain Payson, vice president of
the Valley road; w. A. Bssell, assistant
traffic manager of the Santa Fe, and w.
B. Storey, general superintendent and
down the line to meet their noted guests
and returned with them to this city.
When seen yesterday in the Offices of
the Valley road President Ripley said that
the general purpose of his visit to the
coast was to go over the property which
his road had acquired when it absorbed
the Valley road property and see for him.
self the general state in which the new
investment was to be found. Not only
was this his object in coming here, but
he wished to acquaint himself by personal
inspection with everything connected with
the Santa t'e as well.
In regard to the often mooted PROPOSE
ton that the Valley road acquire a ter
minal point in Oakland, Mr.. Ripley said
that it was altogether too early to discuss
that matter now. All the energy of the
Santa t'e people is, for the present, direct
ed toward the completion of the plans of
the Valley road branch as far they are
now laid out, and seeing that that road
gets into San Francisco by the 1st of next
January. What may happen after that.
he said, he did not know, but as yet no
steps had been taken toward anything
that might be construed into an attempt
to secure an Oakland terminal.
Mr.. Ripley had practically the same all
swers for questions pertaining to the pro-
posed branch lines of the Valley road to-
ward Sacramento and to tap the fruit
raising country in the vicinity of Winters.
1t was altogether too early in the game
for any definite plans in these directions
to have been formed, though what time
might bring forth he was not prepared to
say. The Santa Fe system was out for
business, he said, and would certainly 80
wherever it was to be found Even if it
should be made apparent that another line
of trans-Pacific steamers would be a pay
ing investment the Orient would not be
considered too far for the Santa Fe peo-
pie to stretch from this port
ready owns, and which runs from San
Diego to China and Japan, has proved a
veritable mine, and it is not improbable
that the success that has attended this
with the Pacific Mail for the freight and
passenger business out of San Francisco,
particularly since the acquisition of the
Philippines by the United States has
opened up such a new and extensive field
of commercial research.
The line to the Grand Canyon is being
pushed with the utmost vigor, and though
the work on it is not being done by the
Santa Fe people, yet they have entered
into agreements with it's owners which
promise them very fair slice of the bust
ness it is expected to do.
Mr. Ripley will probably visit Point
Richmond tomorrow and inspect the
work that has been accomplished there.
particularly that on the big Franklin tun-
nell He will then return to the city, and
after a day or two devoted to general
matters he will return to his home In the
East.