Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-17

Is apparent In every direction. The popuIa-
ton, which by the certsas. eff 1900 was
342 100 has increased to ASS 600 according
to an estimate from the city directory In
May 1904
There are very few horses and carriages
in San Francisco, because of the tepograph-
ical difficulties, and automobiles are use
less on half the streets for the same rea-
sons. Everybody rides on the street cars,
and the city is well supplied with them
Within its limits are one hundred and
forty miles of electric trolley road, seventy
seven miles of cable, twelve miles of steam
dummy and ten miles of old-fashioned horse
cars.
Los Angeles claims the most extensive
street car system in the world, with a
total of six hundred miles of track includ-
ing the suburban service. which reaches
every settlement within a range of fifty
miles.
The railway companies have been spend
Ing a great deal of money in California
during the last few years The Santa Fe
company, which reached San Francisco
only a few years ago, Is building very ex-
pensive terminals on the bay both for
freight and passengers. retaining a large
area-building sea walls, docks and slips
warehouses and passenger stations. so ex-
tensive as to provide for the possibilities of
a century's growth. The santa Fe COM
pany has lately acquired the San Francisco
and Northwestern railway, which reaches
into an almost unknown quarter on the
north Pacific coast of The state, and Is ex-
pected to prove an attractive scenic line
as well as develop great industrial wealth.
The Santa Fe has also done great deal
to promote the petroleum industry. and a
large part of the output Of the oil wells
on it's lines Is consumed in its hundreds of
smokeless oil-burning locomotives. The
tracks of the entire system In California
have been sprinkled with crude petroleum.
which settles the dust permanently.
Using Oil as Fuel.
The use of petroleum a fuel in locomo
tives and steamers Is becoming general on
the Pacific coast. Many manufactures and
power plants are using 1t instead OF coal
1t is not only more economical but adds to
the comfort Of railway travellers and the
safety of the grain fields and the forests
around the tracks. The original cost of oil
Is much less than any other fuel. 1t re-
quires less labor to keep furnaces going, as
the devices for feeding the oil are usually
automatic. and there is no SCOT and scarce
ly any smoke to poIlute the atmosphere and
deface buildings There are still other adj
vantages to steamships A vessel can be
supplied with that sort of fuel in an hour
or so, where days are required to fill its
bunkers with coal; there is great saving of
space for cargo and In the wages of stok
ers. Steam can be furnished by oil fuel in
one-third of the time required by coal
furnace, and the fires can be Increased or
diminished instantly by the turning of
stop-cOck. One hundred and thirty-seven
vessels have been licensed at the port of
San Francisco to burn oil instead of coal
for fuel, and ocean-going steamships.
coasters, ferryboats, towboats and pleasure
crafts are included in the list. The chief
obstacle in the way of extending the use of
Oil in ocean traffic lies In the fact that there
are no sources of supply at other Pacific
ports A company Is being organized for
the purpose of establishing storage depots
In the Hawaiian Islands, China, Japan and
at all Pacific ports, that California oil
wells may extend the benefits of cheap fuel
to all parts of the world
The Southern Pacific Company has spent
nearly 100000 600 during the last five years
IN physical improvements on its system
and has put more than 10000 900 tons of
steel into its tracks and bridges 1t has
Dullt nfty-three new stations 245 new pas
senger coaches, 1856 new freight cars anu
33I new locomotives since the 1st of Jan
uary. 1900 F'F
The architectural beauty of the new rail-
way stations that are being erected in the
west Is not only gratifying to travellers. but
exercises an influence upon the architecture
OF the towns to an extent, that is often sur
prising beautiful public building, court
mouse, schoolhouse library, hotel. railway
station or business block always educates
the taste and inspires the ambition of pri-
Vate builders, and this Is demonstrat ted in
an uhmlstakable manner throughout all of
the western states. The Santa Fe Railway
company mas adopted the Spanish mission
style or architecture for its stations in Cal
norma and other parts of the west II is
not only appropriate to- the climate and
grateful to the eye. but perpetuates local
history and traditions IN