The San Francisco call., 1906-03-25
Public Favors Plan
for a Conduit
Railway.
Calhoun May Now
Go Before Board
of Supervisors.

|
The Incorporation of company for the
construction in San Francisco Of con-
| duit system of electric street railways
may take place within a fortnight. Skilled
attorneys, acting under instructions. are
! taking into account all legal considera-
| tions preliminary to the actual drawing OF
the necessary papers. The center and
| head Of the great enterprise is Claus
| Spreckels, whose message to the public,
| published in the newspapers yesterday,
has given rise to great hopes and general
appreciation.
| Rudolph Spreckels said yesterday that
| the articles of Incorporation for the new
| street railway would probably be prepared
within ten days from date.
| All over the city yesterday the approval
of Claus Spreckels' course was outspoken.
Enough opinions favoring the construction
of conduit road and the prevention of
the erection of overhead trolley wires on
Market street, Sutter street and elsewhere
were voiced to show that the current OF
public opinion is running strongly and
universally in favor of the conduit sys-
tenn.
In business houses, in banks, in shops,
On the streets, in the cars. on the ferries
and among men and women of all walks
in life inquirers for The Call found prac-
tical unanimity concerning the vital ques-
cisco that has been raised by the attitude
of the United Railroads and the prompt
and spirited action Of Claus Spreckeis.
What steps the United Railroads will
take next can only be conjectured. Presi-
dent Patrick Calhoun of the United Rail
roads declined to be interviewed yester-
day about the situation or about the plans
of the corporation that he heads in San
Francisco His communication of Friday,
| OF oad M NIT 90 nf eff
ed by James D. Phelan, announced prac
tically that the United Railroads plan for
the construction OF an overhead trolley
system in San Francisco would first be
carefully prepared and not submitted to
the citizens until 1t was completed. This
was the reading that was given to 1t by
those to whom It was addressed. Mr.. CAL
houn preserved silence and did not explain
that the communication could have any
other interpretation.
MAY NEXT SEEK PERMIT.
The general opinion of citizens would
seem to be that the next step the United
Railroads Company will take. through its
president, will be the filing of an applica-
ton with the Board of Supervisors for
permission to change cable lines to over
head trolley lines. Whenever this Is done
1t is expected that the Sutter Street Inn
provement Club will appear, personally
and by attorneys. to oppose the granting
of the United Railroads request.
A provision in the city charter reads as
follows: "The Supervisors shall have no
power to grant franchises or privileges to
erect poles or wires for transmission of
electric power or for lighting purposes
along or upon any public street or high
way of the city and county except by
competitive bidding and the payment of a
percentage of the gross receipts"
This provision forestalls any possibility
of speedy action by the Supervisors, IL
they were inclined to move suddenly,
which is considered to be improbable
under existing circumstances. In any
event three organizations of citizens
stand in readiness to answer any call
of their respective chairmen to meet and
act. These organizations are the COM
mittee headed by James D. Phelan,
which includes representation of the AS
sociation for the Odornment and I'M
provement of San Francisco, the Cali
fornia Promotion Committee, the local
chapter of the American Institute OF
Architects and the Out Door Art League,
all of which are interested in the future
of San Francisco; the Sutter Street I'm
provement Club, and the Pacific avenue
property owners.
One cause that may prevent the United
Railroads from making an application
for overhead trolley privileges is the
large amount of work that Is reported to
be before it's engineering corps prelimin-
ary to a final and adopted plan embrac-
ing all particulars OF construction and
route In conferences with the citizens
committee of which James D. Phelan is
the chairman, the United Railroads peo-
pie intimated that there might be some
diversion of route for the lines from at |
least some blocks by which they now run.
While it was said that the routes would
be generally the same. 1t was not denied
positively that some blocks now having |
railroad facilities might not be on the
travelled routes of the United Railroads
after awhile
In addition to this suggestion of change /
II was intimated that the United Rail- |
roads intended to put in a tunnel to go |
under the Powell street hill to avoid the |
present steep grade and so make 1t feas-
ible to run electric cars from Market
street along Powell and through a Powell |
street tunnel to Clay street. The chief
engineer of the United Railroads has so |
many details to consider that an imme-
date application to put in overhead troll
ley lines where they do not exist may
be held back for short time, while the
engineer continues his study of the situa-
tion.
A WAY FOR COMPETITION.
while the United Railroads occupy
MANY streets and have contrived to pro-
feet for their own exclusive use prom
inent public points to which travel Is
heavy, in their applications for fran
chises the charter would seem to pro-
vide amply for the use of established
tracks by any new street railway COM
pany, the provision having been con-
trfved for the purpose Of preventing any
from taking exclusive and
permanent control of the city's streets
for railway use.
In the city charter 1t Is E-ovided that
one road may use the tracks of another
road for distance of ten blocks. This
would be sufficient to overcome the OBJ