The San Francisco call., 1909-06-11
Gossip Of RaiIvaYmen
2IvT THO is that extremely hand
w some young mans~ asked


Ross.
Which of the. two handsome men do
YOU mean was tho inquiry.
Il refer tosthe man with the dreamy
eyes said the young lady
"oh, that's John Ross. You do not
know that you are looking at one OF
the greatest inventors of the day.
"Indeedf L thought ne was too poet
ical too dreamy. to be a mere vulgar
Inventor. Inventors are such prosaie
/ people. One really can not get along
with them and, pray. what did that
handsome man invent she added.
1T is this way he answered. John
( Ross Joined the passenger department
/ of the southern Pacific when quite
/ young. lie was set 10 work tearing
I up old tickets. 1t was easy work, and
! John thought he would be able to do il.
six sacks were put before him filed
with tickets To be torn up.
I we lost JOAN one day. Search as
I we would there was no trace of him.
I He was discovered finally fast asleep
ton the sacks of tickets We could not
/ fire John Ross. 1t would have been
cruel SO the company had TO invent
Z q
/ call il Johnny Ross, because sone-
/ BODY has to be With it to keep il busy.
IF il lad not been for Johnny Ross
that machine would never nave been
! invented. why, of course, he deserves
credit for its invention.
1 J. Q. Barlow. assistant chief engineer
I of the Southern Pacific. in speaking
/ of the work OF electricizing the roads
/ in Berkeley and Oakland ana Alameda,
+ said yesterday.
'.AlI the steel is In place in The new
i power house at GIasc0ck and Fruitvale
/ avenues and the building should be
! completed in the course OF the next SIX
months Machinery valded at S50eOQ0
+ is TO be put in and its installation VIII
/ take another six months. After the
I machinery is ia place il viii reqUre
1 fully three months before the Alameda
/ line is eIectricized- You may say that
4 Is months from June L electric ears
viii be running in Alameda. [ am not
j in a position 10 say when the rest or
! the system VIII be operated by cleo
+ tricity."
y Since William Hood has been placed
in charge OF the construction Of the
/ Southern Pacific extension IN Mexico
/ there has been marked rapldlty IN the
+ prosecution of the work, and the lat
/ est duNlcGS from GUauclt JetiS nlea tc ZIG b
i the line viii reach Acaponeta and
Tepic by June Is, and the santiago
river near Santiago Ixcuintla by Au-
/ gust. This is the present program OF
1.-THE Southern Pacihc construction
( forces working on the extension south
I lit is certain that AcapOneta VIII be
4 reached by the middle of the month.
as construction is advancing now AJ
<the rate of kilOmeJer daily. Unless
( fhara arc upriG1Iq llv heavy rains the
/ line viii be completed to the Santiago
I river early in August As soon as the
/ rains cease the construction of the
extension through Topic viii be pushed
i ana the barranca work VIII be started.
i If a decision for / per cent line
through the canyons OF the sierra
AIadre is reached by William Hood, who
I has been personally looking over the
i work. n outlay Of SS.Q00,00G lIeNicstn
I currency will be necessary for that
work alone c. E. Pani, government
4 inspector of the road, is well satisfied
4 with the work. He reports that the
/ line had been completed to EXcuinapa,
81 kHometers south Of Mazatlan, and
he inspected and accepted lit to that
I point Excuinapa is S55 kilOmeteFs
from Guaymas- When the subsidy in
+ staHment for the Mazatlan- EXcuiDapa
is paid by the Mexican government the
/ southern Pacific ~ll have received q
total OF S106SE500 Mexican currency
for the main line Of the extension.
( Guaymas and Santiago IXcuintla 1,025
/ lzilOmeters.
California lines have instructed
Agent r. II. Countiss of the transeOn-
/ tfnental freight bureau TO publish q
rate of 20 cents per 100 pound car
loads, $4,000 pounds minimum, on roof
ooatfn ro0fiuas -eerrauf car0ar+ r.oof
n o, s, asbestos roofing, asbestos ce-
ment roofing paint or coating and
roofing paper saturated with compost
tion and gravel in packa ges. The cur
rent rate is 95 cents per 100 pounds.
4 This reduction of 20 cents per 100
pounds is made to enable the eastern
manufacturers 70 enter the market,
from which the present rate excludes
them
c. NJ. Rasor. the chief engineer of
the new line that is to be built between
Ely and Golddeld, is now at Ely super
intending the work OF construction
from that end.
I The Western Pacific on Tuesday let
a contract for the construction Of two
freight sheds on its terminal property
at Ninth and Bryant street. sand on
"wednesday the contractors started in to
build The contracts cah for incoming
and outgoing freight sheds The frst
is to be GO feet wide. with length of
400 feet. and the second is to be 80 feet
wide, with a length of 400 feet. AS yet
no contracts have been let for Office
or other buildings. The cost of the
two sheds viii be s55-e0o.
F. L. southack. chief clerk of. the
4 maintenance of way department of tn7
Southern Pacific, at his own request.
has been placed on the retired list.
Southack took service with the Central
Pacific company at it's inception, and
has been with the railroad company
ever since. He is one of the best chief
clerks the company ever had. and us
retirement is the cause Of many re-
grets on the part Of his old associates
The Southern Pacific and Santa Fe
in conjunction with the oceanic steam
ship company, viii establish q joint
agency in sydney. Australia. and V. A.
SprouI viii be put in charge. 1t viii
/ be his business 10 induce travel to t.-is
city by the Union steamship line and
the Mariposa, which sails between this
port and Tahiti. The Southern Pacific
has sent to his Office, which viii he
opened July 1, several Of f0x9o pictures