The San Francisco call., 1906-06-29

JOKER IS
IN LEASE
Harbor Board Looks Into
:. China Basin Contract
With Santa Fe.
Fears 1t Cannot Assign
Space on Outer 100
Feet Of SeawalL.
Must First Construct the
Extension From Mis-
sion Street.

.Harbor Commissioners Charles II.
Spear and John D. Mackenzie sent to
the archives of the commission yester-
day for the official copy of the lease of
China Basin. which was executed in
1900 by the Board Of Commissioners and
the San Joaquin Valley Railroad. The
purpose of the inspection was to as
certain If the Commissioners had the
right TO assign space and collect wharf
age on the outer 100 feet of the sea
waA at the basin, which was construct
ed by the Santa Fe Railroad Company
under the terms Of the lease.
- Examination of the document dis
closed the somewhat significant incl
dent that the signature OF Henry T.
Gage, who was Governor of the state
and eX-officio member of the Board of
ItarbOr Commissioners on November q.
1900, the time the lease was executed
:. did not appear on the dotted line desiR-
mated for his name, or elsewhere on the
document The signatures OF James D.
Phelan, then Mayor of San Francisco.
and also the autographs of the then
Harbor Commissioners, Kilburn, Har-
ney and Herold. and Of William D. Eng
lish, then secretary of the board, are In
proper place.
Wonder was expressed why Gage did
not sign, and IL was remarked that his
p
on file in the office of the Secretary of
state at Sacramento.
LOOKS LIKE A JOKER.
William H. Davis. the attorney of
the State Board Of Harbor Commission
-ers, was the executive secretary of
Governor Gage when the lease of China
Basin for fifty years at $1,000 a year
was executed. He maintains that the
absence Of the Governors signature
does not invalidate the lease, as a ma
1oritE of the members of the commits
sion. together with A H. Payson, rep
resentng the railroad corporation,
signed Il in due form.
r. S. PiNsbury was the attorney for
the railroad in the preparation and ex-
ecuti0n OF the papers II is an open
question whether there is a little
5oker" in the lease. The Commissioners
End on careful readipg of the docu-
ment that they cannSt use the outer
strip Of 100 feet at China Basin until
they extend the seawall from Mission
street TO the basin. They fancied that
they could a any time make more room
for the hay and grain men at the Santa
Fe seawau on the basin, but that fancy
proves a sweet illusion A vast sum of
money. perhaps $500. 600. and two years
work viii be required to complete the
extension from Mission street 10 China
Basin, Surely the proceedings of the
DodIu ledUluB up 10 the execution OF
the lease show that the Commissioners
intended to reserve the right to control
affairs on the wharves OF China Basin.
..- TO RAISE RATES ON GRAIN.
The Commissioners, at the session
yesterday. directed Secretary Foy to
notify Governor Pardee and Mayor
Schmitz that a proposition to Increase
the dOckage on lumber and grain would
be considered at a meeting Of the board
on Friday. July 6. at p. m.
The board proposes to advance the
toll on grain at the seawall from 2 l-2
90 cents a ton. The present toll on
lumber is cents per 1000 feet. 1t is
noted that a thousand feet of LUMBER
weighs on an average 1000 poundsf
- Report was made TO the board that
the sum Of SS2.4s1 was due to Healy,
Tibbitts & CO. on the firms contract
for the construction Of piers ~ and ~.
Pacific Mail dock
Tire chief engineer estimated that the
: da mage caused at washington-street
wharf by the steamer Ukiah was Sl3s4.
a bill against the boat for that sum
was rendered.
The State Labor Commissioner and
the Building and Loan Commissioners
were given rooms in the ferry build
ing Each Commissioner is TO pay rent
of $50 month.
The san Francisco Rapid Transit Ex-
cavation Company applied for space on
the south side OF Nallejo-street wharf
The company proposes 10 load barges
with. debris