The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-04-25
WATER COMPANIES
in BITTER WAR
Contest for Alameda County
Field Apparently On to a
Finish


company, controlled by Frank C.
Ravens, and the Bay Cities water
company, headed by William S. Tevis.
capitalist and land owner of San Fran
cisco. Failure of long continued ne
gotiations for the purchase of the Peo-
pies holdings by combination of Tevis
and eastern interests was followed by
the entrance of Tevis into the Alameda
county field as a purveyor of water.
The gauntlet was picked up by the
Ravens corporation and the battle is
on apparently to finish.
Tevis has made public announcement
that he is in the field to stay; that he
has water to sell and that he pur-
poses to try to sell it to the con-
sumers of Oakland, Alameda and
Berkeley. His plan of campaign has
been to establish permanent headquar-
ters In Oakland, and thence to send
forth an army of canvassers TO obtain
| contracts with individual consumers to
supply them with water. The Bay
Cities company has established a slid
ing scale of rates, based upon the total
amount of water to be delivered-the
| larger the supply, the lower the rate
CONTRACTS BEING SIGNED
According to reports from the COM
pany's offices contracts are being signed
with satisfactory progress. Tevis
claims virtually unlimited supply of
water at his command. His first source
| is in the watersheds he owns adjacent
TO Mount Hamilton district southeast
of Alameda county. His company also
| controls other sources, location not
made public, which will bring the total
up to a daily capacity of 100000, 900
| gallons.
The activity of the Tevis organiza-
| ton was marked at the outset by the
offer to Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda
of proposition to wholesale water to
these cities, to install distributing sys-
TENS and to guarantee TO sell them at
cost plus reasonable profit, to the
| municipalities, If desired The alterna-
tive OF supplying water directly to con-
sumers at rates to be fixed on the
basis of quantities delivered, was pre-
! sented in the original programs out
! lined by Tevis two months ago.
His appearance as a competitor of
| the existing company started the
| Ravens interests. There was near at
hand the time for fixing water rates
| in Oakland, which is the storm center.
Negotiations were opened with the city
| in an effort to Offset the approaching
| contest over water supply. The Peo-
pone the day when Tevis should actu-
| ally be competitor, submitted mu-
nicipal ownership proposition to the
| city council in the form of an option
| of purchase of control of the Peoples
water company for S16,O00,000. This
| option runs until January l, 1911, and
| is conditional upon the assumption by
the city of the existing bonded indebt-
edness of the company and the pur-
chase of a control of the stock.
MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
Besides this the company has signed a
memorandum of agreement with the city.
which is now under consideration. This
agreement clears up several points of
| dispute between the corporation and
| the city. In the first place the company
seeks to secure g. continuance of exist
| ing water rates for two years. In re-
| turn it agrees to dismiss all litigation
| on rates now in the state and federal
courts, pay the city 100000 for excess
collected under former rates and to ex-
pend 100000 in developing an addi-
| tional S,500,000 gallons daily Supply
| from it's San Pablo watersheds.
This memorandum is Independent Of
| the proposed option of purchase, which
! was made to all appearances as an Off
| set to the Tevis proposals.
/ The city council has not settled upon
! the memorandum as yet. 1t has been
| discussed and considerable argument
| on both sides has been made at the
| several sessions of committees. The
| proposal will be taken up tomorrow
evening in committee of the whole.
CAMPAIGN OF TEvIS FORCES
| Meanwhile the Tevis forces have con-
tinued their campaign. They have pub
| licly declared that the Peoples water
/ company can not supply the demand for
water on this side of the bay, but that
| Tevis not only can produce an abundant
| supply, but can bring it from pure
mountain sources. The Peoples COM
| pany has denied that its supply is in
| adequate and has made various statis-
| teal announcements in support of it's
assertions. The Peoples company has
attacked the proposed contract. 1t has
warned the public against the Tevis
plan and has enlisted attorneys to fight
| its opponents.
Tevis has declared that he has come
| to Alameda county to stay and that
| there will be no surrender. His posi-
! ton has been put thus:
Il have water to sell and / propose
| to find a market for it. 1 believe that
| Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda need
more water, and 1 am here to supply it
at a reasonable figure"