The San Francisco call., 1906-12-30
PLAN To KILL
SPUR TRACK
PERMIT
Supervisors to Take
Action During
the Week
Boss Is Said to Have
Discovered Treachery
Report of Attempt
to Sacrifice the
Curly One
Trouble Dates Back
TO Days of Disaster
Boss Is Said TO Have
Discovered Treachery
Trouble Dates Back
TO Days of Disaster

Is Abe Ruef striking his frst blow
at the powerful Influences and interests
that are at work to save Schmitx, Ieav-
ing the curly boss to the mercies of the
prosecutors.
At meeting OF the Board of SUPER
vfsors to be held this week sweeping
action IL to be taken looking to the re-
vocation OF all spur track permits
granted to railroad corporations within
the limits of the city and the abroga-
tion of the spur track ordinance con-
taining the notorious ~Jere Burke ex-
be framed and adopted which win not
exempt tracks, any part OF which runs
over private property, from that section
of the law which requires that all
tracks shall be open to NIL railroads.
ut ou--stroke the Supervisors VIII thus
destroy privileges worth millions OF
dollars which have been handed out
gratis since the IRE TO the Southern
Pacific and Santa Fe by the constituted
authorities of the mrnicfraiity.
On the face of IL this looks like a
sudden awakening OF the Supervisors
to their duty TO the public and a rec
ognition of the wrong done in special
However. the explanation for this COM
templated action Of the Supervisors
heard In the~corridors where politicians
congregate ascribes the entire move to
the desire Of Ruef to be at once re-
venged upon the Southern Pacific and
to bring Mayor Schmitz to a fresh
realization Of the fact that he is Mayor
in name only and OF the fact that he
can't escape alone.
The efforts Of those high in the coun-
ellis of the Hartman corporation to
sacrifice Ruef to the graft prosecutors
that Schmitz might survive Is said to
have stirred Ruers wrath greatly and
to have whetted his desire for revenge
That the revocation Of the spur track
permits is contemplated is stated upon
the authority Of Supervisor Furey. IL
is corroborateH by Attorney Wright OF
the Merchants Association.
Action will come ostensibly from the
street committee of the board. COM
posed of Rea. chairman; Corey. San
derson, Furey and Phillip. Objection
has been raised by the commercial
bodies to that section OF the spur track
ordinance known as Jere Burke's ex-
clusion act. This clause provides that
roads need not open their tracks to
other lines when such tracks are on
"a Of hU
General Manager Calvin of the South
ern Pacific to the Chamber OF Com
merce recently gave assurance that the
Hartman corporation intended to In
terchanse traffic with other roads
reaching San Francisco, To make this
promise binding Calvin was asked to
make the same declaration in writing
to the Board OF Supervisors. Although
there was some objection. this was
done. The protest from the CONNER
cial associations will be used by the
Supervisors as the immediate cause for
their action. Members OF the street
committee OF the board have gone to
posal to cancel all the permits and to
annul the ordinance If another ordi-
nance were drawn up eliminating the
"Jere Burke exclusion act" These
overtures were made to Secretary l..
Nj. King of the Merchants Association
King turned the matter over to Attor-
ney Wright Of the association. and the
lawyer is now at work on new or
dinance-
1t will be possible for the Supervisors
to revoke most Of the franchises grant
ed to the railroads. clauses were In
serted in the permits which made them
revocable at the will of the board
| The story Of the compact between
| Calhoun and Hartman In the early
days OF the calamity is believable. be-
cause 1t Is the only plausible explana-
tion OF the many queer things that
came to pass while the town was full
of soldiers and while the Mayor was
supreme. with no courts to interfere