The San Francisco call., 1904-11-02

posed withdrawal of lands from the
park is to further the interests Of an
electric road company is generally be-
lieved by those wl-o have become I'M
terested in the matter. Behind the
scheme is supposed q be syndicate
represented by Captain "A. II. Ward,
owner of considerable land, in the ma
tional reservation, and N. c. Ray.
well known civil engineer. Ward has
from time to time, been quietly ac-
cumulating land within the boundaries
of the national park and ii is well
known in that section that for years
he has been working with one single
object in view, and that is to. open up
a roadway from the San Joaquin Val
ley along the Merced Canyon to and
through the national park to the en-
trance of the. Yosemite Valley. With
this end in view he has been. acquiring
water locations, some of which are an
cient and have been perfected, and
others are kept alive by refling con-
stantly.
Assisted by Engineer Ray. who Is a
man of great perseverance and per
tinacity; Ward has been promoting the
formation of an electric railroad COM
pany, which has in view proposed
line of road from Merced up to. the
Merced Falls, thence UP the Merced
River Canyon to the Yosemite National
Park.
COMPANY is ORGANIZED.
The promoters have. succeeded in
their scheme to the extent of procur-
ing the survey of the land lying along
the Merced River in the canyon from
the falls up to the boundary line Of
the park and through the boundary
line up to within half a mile of the
entrance to the Yosemite Valley, and
in bringing about the Incorporation in
this city on December IS, 1902, Of the
Yosemite Valley Railroad Company,
which was capitalized. at $5,00O.0 600.
Having this land and number of
mining Claims in the canyon and hav-
ing acquired the different. water rights,
it becomes necessary for. the further
ance of Wards electric road company
that the way. be opened through the
Sierra Reservation in ranges Is, IS, IL
and 1S and through the Yosemite Ma
tionaI Park, ranges 10 and 20, in order
to permit the road to reach the valley.
In order to bring about. this desired
result 1T was necessary TO have action
taken by Congress and toward that
end Engineer Ray was sent to Wash
ington, where he lived at the Willard
Hotel while acting as the legislative
agent of Ward during the last two.
sessions of Congress. That Rays pres
ence in Washington was effective in
behalf of the electric project of Ward
was shown by the Introduction of the
bill, which failed to pass. but which
resulted in clause being injected into
the sundry civil appropriation act pro-
viding for the appointment of a COM
mission to pave the way for eliminat.
ing certain lands from the public do
main.
SECURES RIGHTS OF WAY
Another important step taken by
the promoters was TO obtain a right of
way through the Sierra forestry reser-
vation, which includes within it's boun-
daries ranges 16, II and 18 east, lying
west of the Yosemite National Park
boundary. In February. 1903, the
Yosemite Valley Railroad Company
filed a map with the Secretary of the
Interior for the proposed right of way
for the electric road across public
lands up to a point on the boundary
of the Yosemite Park, the proposed
route following the course of the Mer-
ced River In January of this year
the Secretary of the Interior made an
order eliminating from the Sierra
reservation tracts of land along the
Merced River, in the Merced Canyon.
in Ranges 16,- IL ard Is, through
which the electric railroad company
proposes to obtain its right of way.
In the same month the Secretary OF
the Interior also notified the Registrar
of the Land Office at Stockton that
the subdivision of land along the river
in the canyon had been eliminated
from the Sierra reservation. The fill
ing of this map, showing a terminus
at the boundary line of the Yosemite
Park, leaves the Ward railroad at