River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-01-28

| ban lines as well is a long and pfc
turesque story The United Railways
of San Francisco finally was organized
in 1902
At the same time that the traction
combine company was incorporated
under the laws of California there was
| organized also the United Railways In
vestment Company of San Francisco
holding company which took posses
sion of all the stock of the traction
company except II shares necessary
to qualify certain directors. The man
ner of purchase of the San Francisco
lines was simple. Calhoun's new
company got the whole thing for about
| $18,000,000 They issued bonds against
the property to pay for it and retained
| the common stock, amounting to some
| $40, 100000. There also was some $685.
| 100000 of preferred stock some of
which was turned over to the sellers
as a part of the purchase price. The
| stock of the investment company was
| $10,000,0 900 at first, but this was in
creased in 1906 to $25,000,000. This
made a total of about $4,000 900 CAPT
| Utilization in the two companies, as
| against purchase price of 100000.
OF course there were a great many
| besides.
Made Properties Pay Well.
The separate units of the street rail-
way system had not been prospecting
to any marked degree before they
were united in one company by Cal
houn. Economy in operation, for one
thing, put them on a paying basis
quickly. The common stock of the in
vestment company scared to close to
par. Other companies in other cities
were bought with some of this stock
and some of the bonds. In 1903 the
San Francisco company controlled
some lines of the st. Louis tramway
system and that of Pittsburg. The
ST. Louis company has passed out of
the investment company's hands, but
it still holds the Pittsburg tramways.
Probably if the earthquake had not
shaken and the fire destroyed San
Francisco in 1906 the stock of the trac-
|
tween $40 and 500 a share in the
market to-day. These disasters, add
ed to the six months bitterly fought
strike that preceded them, sent the
stock down so that last year in the
time of depression it was selling
around IL for the common and 27 for
the preferred. Now the common is in
the 30s.
The strike on the United Railways
brought the bulldog grit and fighting
qualities of Calhoun more into public
notice than anything else he had done
or that had happened to him previous
| ly. He had made up his mind that the
strike must be crushed at any COST
He got James Farley, the noted strike
breaker, from New York. Farley took
with him his best lieutenants and
some of his hardest men, and had
others sent from various points in the
west, where he had men waiting for
just such an emergency. When Far
ley reached San Francisco and saw
Calhoun the latter said to him:
you've got to run cars on Market
! SlT66I DIS OlI6u DIS YOU Cdu anu OA SS1-
tain other lines at stated intervals in
order to hold our franchises. l don't
care how you do it, but it must be
done If you can't do it with your
own men I'll take a gun and go out
and help you"
Crushed the Strike.
The cars that ran in San Francisco
the next few weeks were filled with
armed men. There were practically
no other passengers. There were
many sharp encounters between the
desperate strike-breakers and the
equally desperate men who were
striking. A great many shots were
fired and a few men killed. The only
safe place for Farley was in President
Calhoun's own house, which was heav-
lily guarded and which was not seri-
ously molested. Calhoun went about
| aOoo of Edith DoDuicly tbo ctouo ri