The San Francisco call., 1908-03-09
COULD NOT QUIT

We could not afford to be idle. We could not
afford to stop trains and we could not afford
not afford TO buy bonds because they were
straining credit TO rebuild their San Fran
cisco properties. What to do was the important
We analyzed the situation as follows: We
cannot sell our bonds to the rich--they are
using their money for febulding their property in
more money-they must Increase their reserves
There is as much money in the country ever,
The people must have itf
Therefore we must ask the people to buy our
Ocean Shore has bonds for sale. The people
want good. sound. safe investments, but they do
wants TO sell its bonds and the people want TO
buy bonds. Advertising is the connecting link
between the buyer and the seller, SO. therefore
we must advertise Ocean Shore bonds. IL is
better TO advertise Ocean Shore bonds 10 the
public, giving every one an opportunity TO buy
these bonds in small denomina tions, than to sell
them in bulk through underwriting syndicate
at low price, allowing the syndicate to make
large profit.
We never asked the public to invest cent
Of their money In our road until after we had
invested our own. Three million dollars of our
ably more money per share in proportion TO the
capitalization than has ever been invested in
any other railroad
The bonds we had to offer the public were
secured by 5000 600 mortgage held in trust
by the Mercantile Trust Company of San Fran
cisco. So we DECIDED TO issue bonds In de-
nominations of 500 each and offer them TO the
public. with the result that IN less than 60
days we have sold nearly 800. 900 worth Of
these bonds. The advertising expense has been
insignificant compared to the amount of bonds
sold. Eighty per cent of the sales were made as
the direct result Of newspaper advertising.
/ cannot speak too highly of this great bus-
ness force. advertising. I never realized the
tise Ocean Shore bonds, but / can see bow
it IS that the big national concerns make their
out the world by advertising.
MAKES ROAD POPULAR
Another feature of our advertising which com
mends itself most strongly to Is the. fact
that it is making the Ocean Shore popular
road, and that for many years to come the
Ocean Shore viii enjoy patronage largely due
to the power Of our present advertising.
When began this campaign in the. month
of January 1 think it is safe to say that not
20 per cent of our people knew there was
such railroad the Ocean Shore. and not
passengers each week. Our freight business
lots in the new beach towns along the road
between San Francisco and Half Moon bay
ing means the carrying Of lumber. material
and all sorts of supplies.
There is another point that must be- con-
sidered, and that is, Ocean. Shore bonds are
These people buy from one to afty bonds
These bonds are being held by the masses
and all these people will be friends Of the
If railroad companies would advertise their
throughout the country and give more pub
lieity to their affairs, there would De much
less criticism of and antagoDism to railroad
interests. Railroads are the very backbone
OF the commercial interests OF this country
They are the real developers of America. 1t
is the railroads of the United States which
put New York within four days OF San Fran
cisco and Los Angeles within thirteen hours
II is the railroads which haul the products
OF this great country and encourage settlers
TO develop new and resourceful lands There
can never be TOO many railroads, and no mat
ter how much criticism there is against rail-
roads they have been a powerful factor in
the upbuilding of the United States.
There is no reason in the world why the
Ocean Shore should not have been built The
building Of the road was bound to come and
because ii was gigantic undertaking 1t has
been delayed until the present time. I admit
that it is big task-if 1t were not 1t would
have been built long ago. but the worst OF
IL is over, and we are now facing easier
conditions.
The sale of our bonds enabled us to keep
between three and five hundred at work
and we are making rapid progress toward
Half Moon bay. As soon as we reach this
point earnings will exceed $500 a
month From there to the end of our present
line at Scott's creek the country is level and
fertile and advanta geous for railroad building.
Eighty-6ve per cent of the grading to Santa
Cruz is already finished. Three steam shoyels
are now completing the roadbed between
Pedro Point and Saddle Rock. The pleasant
weather Of the last month has enabled US
to do a vast amount of surfacfng between
San Francisco and Pedro valley, and we have