Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-12
CITY TEARS TRACK
FROM MHUNTINGTON
SAN PEDRO GRANT
Chief of Police Galloway Person.
ally Directs Work of Taking
Up the Rails
CARS ARE PUSHED FROM SPUR
Southern Pacific Railway Attor-
ney Watches 0usting of Co.
from Harbor Concession
CARS ARE PUSHED FROM SPUR

Southern Pacific tracks no longer
span the Huntington fill at San Pedro.
They were torn up by the city Of Los
Angeles yesterday. Two shifts of city
laborers worked yesterday afternoon
and last night under the direct super
vision of Chief of Police Galloway,
and when they had finished the rails
were ripped up and the ties cast aside.
The track tearing was a little sur
prise that City Attorney Shenk has
been arranging for the last few days.
1t was carried out with such secrecy
that the Southern Pacific knew moth
ing of what he intended to do until
work actually began yesterday after
noon. Word was sent to Frank A.
Carr, attorney for the Southern Pacific,
when the first gang arrived on the
scene yesterday and he jumped into
his automobile and broke the speed
ordinance to get to San Pedro. But
when he arrived he had no injunction,
probably because it was Sunday and
the courts were not in session. In fact
he was armed with nothing more dan"
gerous than package of cigarettes,
and these he puffed complacently while
he watched the operation. He took the
matter good-naturedly and even made
some helpful suggestions.
1t had been planned to tear up tho
tracks Saturday, and w. M. Hum
phreys, inspector of public works, had
a gang of men ready to hurry down to
San Pedro at the first word from Mr..
Shenk. But Mr.. Shenk and City En-
gineer Hamlin went down TO San
Pedro and found eighteen fat and
dump cars anchored on the track, with
the switches turned above them and
locked so that the cars could not be
moved off This presented another
phase of the problem and 1t was found
necessary to delay for a time. But
it had become known that the laborers
were being held for the work, and the
| city attorney was afraid to delay very
long for fear OF a possible injunction.
Yesterday morning he called Mr..
| Humphreys over the phone and pro-
posed that the work be done in the
| afternoon. Mr., Humphreys was thor
] .oughly agreeable and instructed his
| chief deputy, William Laws, to assem-
BILE a gang of men. In less than half
an hour Laws had twenty-five men
at the city hall and sixteen of these
were armed with picks and crowbars
and sent to San Pedro
When the laborers arrived Chief Cal
loway, City Attorney Shenk, City En-
gineer Hamlin, Harbor Engineer Vim
cent and Mr.. Humphreys were already
on the ground.
GALLOWAY TAKES CHARGE
The hardest part of the work was to
get the cars off the track so 1t could
be torn up. Back in Indiana Chief
Galloway had been superintendent of
a railroad, and he personally took the
locks off the switches and turned
them, replacing the railroad locks
with police locks and keeping the keys
himself. He stationed patrolman along
the line so that no switch engine could
be backed down on the track, and then
he uncoupled the cars on the tracks
to be torn up. Teams were hitched to
these cars, and with the teams pulling
and such dignitaries as the city engi-
neer and the city attorney pushing be-
hind and the teams, one Of them
driven by Billy Laws, the cars were
pulled from the spur track. Haroor
Engineer Vincent took off his coat and
acted as brakeman, releasing the hand
brakes that had been set on the cars.
Every one did something, and 1t was
hard manual labor too. not just stand
ing around and bossing the job.
When the cars had been moved on,
the chief, with his coat off, took direct
charge of the 1aborers, even welding
a crowbar himself where it would DO
the most good, and under his super
vision the rails were ripped up and the
ties tossed over toward one side of the
roadbed.
Now, If he had just put those rails
on that last fiat car he moved out we
would not have had to come back
here and get them," moaned Attorney
Carr.
"This is sure dry work, and I would
like to have a drink of water" said
the chief.
1.-THE Southern Pacific has pump
over on it's slip, and if you want to
send one of your men over you are
welcome to all the water you want,
answered Carr, with hospitable wave
of his cigarette.
Can we really have some Southern
Pacific water?" asked the chief.
Sure" responded Carr. You are
welcome to anything the Southern Pa
cific has. We might as well offer 1t to
YOU, because if you want 1t you are
sure to take it. anyhow"
HAMuIN ON THE JOB
City Engineer Homer Hamlin was
on the lob to show the Workmen Just
where the citys land began, so there
would be no mistake. This land, which
has come to be known as the Hunting
ton concession, begins at the very tip
of the high bluff on inns point. It
was not until few days ago that the
engineer discovered that the railroad
tracks were on the city's land. NO
engineering data existed on the lines
of this concession, and the city did not
declare 1T forfeited until august q
About a week ago the engineer put
CORPS of men to work running lines.
and when these were completed it was
found that the Southern Pacific spur
ran out on the city's land between AGO
and 500 feet.
AS soon as this became known TO
City Attorney Shenk he planned the
coup he executed yesterday. He was
only awaiting a favorable opportunity
to put it into commission.
Ten policemen are kept on guard
at the fill to see that the railroad does
not relay it's tracks or do something
else that may interfere with the city's
rights, for it is on this land that the
city intends to build its municipal
wharves, and it is considered one OF
the most valuable pieces of frontage
in the entire harbor.