The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 19, 1895, Page 1

VOLUME LXXVIIL—NO. 141. 'SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 19, 1895. = PRICE FIVE CENTS REPORT ON DEBTS O ARE REFUNDING SCHEMES REJECTED BY GOVER MENT DIRECTORS LURD. TACTICS OF HUNTINGTON DIVERSION OF T | SoUT PACIFIC RUINED MiLrioN DOLLARS D TO PREVENT CLOSURE. | of troops, military supplie: | Government. : pre: | ganized shall not enter into an | agreement with nental road. | or Central Pacific shall not consent to re- | organization as provided by Congress then | F PACIFIC RAILROADS ganization. Under present conditions | these branch roads®are oniy “suckers’ | from the main line, whereas under pro- | posed reorganization they would be valua- ble feeders to it. The plan of reorganiza: | tion would include the Union Pacific, Cen- tral Pacific and Western Pacific, making a | | through trunk line from Omaha to San Jose. The directors recommend that Congress provide for such reorganization and that | when the roads have reached an under- standing on this basis, and have so certi- fied to the Secretary of the Treasury, he be | | authorized to accept a minimum sum in | full payment of the Government indebted- | ness, and discharge the roads from any | further obligation beyond transportation for the also ex- s reor- sort of any other transconti- If either the Union Pacific Congress mus provide that these roads the Government shall foreclose on the lien | of the recalcitant roads. | WASHINGTON, D. C., Oct. 19.—The report of the five Government directors of | the Union Pacific Railroad has been filed | with th ary of the Interior and will | be given out for publication to-morrow. | g report and of peculiar | and importance to Californi- | t does with the relations of | toward the Pacific rail- | z any funding scheme and | n legislation. | report was written by William J. Coombs, one of the five directors. He was e Secrets a representative in Congress for two terms | from the city of Brookl. n n. He has for | ny years been an exporter of American and being a wealthy man accepted ypointment of Government director at the request of President ciand, although the emoluments of | the office are trifling. | Mr. Coombs was, indeed, appointed as a personal representative of President Cleve- land to inquire into the condition of the | Pacific roads and suggest a remedy for ex- | isting financial complications in which the | Government 1s involved. | Mr. Coombs has just returned from a tour of the West. and his report is the re- | sult of his personal observations. THE | CaLL correspondent is enabled to tele- | graph in advance a synopsis of the report, the directors preface by describing | itory through which the six trans- ! continental railroads extend. The conclu- | sion drawn (from a geographical point of view) is that the Unmion Pacific and Cen- tral Pacific route has a great advantage | over the Canadian Pacific, Great Northern, | Northern Pacific, Santa Fe or Southern Pacfic roads, because the former extends | in a direct line westward from the richest nd most productive part of the country— | the great Mississippi Valley. | The intermountain country traversed by it is much suy through which run other trunk lines to | the coast. The Union Pacificand Central | Pacific should, therefore, prove to be pay in railroads, but this route N s been seri- 7 crippled because the Ce tral Pacific, with the Union Pacific as one trunk line to the coast. has not worked in harmony h latter road. A great part of lhei traffic which formerly went over: the | Central’s tracks has been diverted to the | Bouthern Pacitis The Central, instead of bein. rior to the territory | PROSPECTS OF SECURING TH vhich Congress intended should operate | NATIONAL COMMITTEEM P | The directors do not undertake to recom- | | mend any specificsum which the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to accept from the two roads, but in conv i with Tue CALL correspondent to-day Mr. Coombs suggested $71,000,000. The latter having been appointed by President Cleye- land ‘‘because he had never been mixed up in railroad business,” Mr. Coombs him- self states, and being practically the Presi- dent’s personal representative in the matter, it 15 a fair assumption that Coombs’ report may be incorporated or alluded to in the President’s message to the next Congress. Mr. Coombs said to the correspondent | to-day that it was his belief that Congress | would not grant any further extension of time to the Pacific roads in which to pay their indebtedness. He is anxious that Congress shall adopt his recommendations, and s that the effect of suc organization would mean pract ly a| competing road for California. Bat the | California shippers who have suffered at the hands of the Southern Pacific and are familiar with the tactics of Mr. Hunti on may be inclined to doubt whether any reorganization can be effected whereby Central Pacific rates may compete with the Southern Paciic. | Mr. Coombs is actuated by motives of friendship for Californians’and by a per- | sonally disinterested desire to offer a solu- tion of the Pacific railroad problem, but it | is also very evident that this proposition of reorganization will meet with favor fram the Union Pacific folks and with deter- mined opposition from Mr. Huntington | and his lobb | e | SHN FRMNCISCO' CHANCE, REPUBLICAN CONVENTION | VERY BRIGHT. FAvOorR THE THEP; METROPOLIs CIFIC COAST. | WASHINGTON, D. C., Oct. 18.—Colonel ;.mm S. Mosby is at the National Hotel. g a part of | He ishere on law business. Colonel Mosby | the great trunk line which Congress in | believes that McKiniey and Morton are in granting aid as one road from Omaha to Pacific Coast,-is now only a for the Southern Pac: to the directors, this fact is dem among California shippers that they not choose their own line, but are practi- | cally coerced into shipping by the South- ern route. and Central Pacific did not expect the two roads would pay from the start. The sterile country through which they were to pass | was vastly different from the rich and vir- | gin soil traversed by other roads. It was ! not supposed that the local traffic would be considerable, but chief reliance was based upon through traffic to be carried over the Union and Central Pacific roads, acting conjointly as one great trunk line between Missouri River and Pacific coast ! points. Little by little the intermountain | countr; been built up by capital and labor, so that if the two roads worked in | harmony local and through traftic earnings | would soon enable the roads to pay off | their indebtedness. The directors say that notwithstanding adverse conditions the net earnings of the two roads last year amounted to seven and a half million dollars. It will be seen, then, that the action of the Southern Pacific in diverting traffic from the Central route to itseif operated to defeat the intent of Congress, which ex- tended: 2id to the Central and Union | Pacific upon the hypothesis that the! through traffic earnings of the two roads, acting conjointly one system, would | enable them to discharge their indebted- dess within the stipulated time. The directors declare against any re- funding ‘proposition such as the Reilly bill in the last Congress. They say that the Reilly bill failed because of its compli- cated provisions and the inability of mem- bers to understand them. This was very obvious toward the close of the debate in the House of Representatives when that measure was under consideration, Sec- ondly, many members hesitated about voting for the measure, which might and probably would result in fresh complica- tions, involving the Government in stil] deeper embarrassment. The directors de- clare that what is wanted is a measure simple enough for its terms to be readily comprehended. Insubmitting their recom.- mendations to legislation they act upon the assumption that Congress intended that the two roads be operated asone transcontinental trunk line, and this in- tentof Congress, they say, is expressed in every act that has dealt with these roads, Therefore, it is entirely within the power >f Congress to provide for the reorganiza- sion of the roads. In making such reorganization the di- | rectors say that the Kansas Pacific, Oregon Short Line, Utah Northern, Utah South- 2rn and branches should not be included. T'he Kansas Pacific with its mortgages and debt complications would cause very preat embarrassment in effecting reor- are rapidly becoming protectionists. Congress in extending aid to the Union | enteen years ago the Ninth District of contemplated would run | the lead for the Republican Presidential | the | nomination. feeder | nia peovle would prefer McKinley to other | ceording | candidates mentioned. nstrated | geographical location will operate to his | by the large number of complaints heard | disadvanta, an- | horse. He believes that the Califor- He thinks Reed’s ge, while Allison is only a dark Colonel Mosby finds great changesin the | South in seventeen vears. Southerners g Vir- was ly Democratic, but Walker, a Re- ginia, where strong publican, will represent it in the Fifty- fourth Congress. This result, he believes, is largely due to the protection sentiment which s fast g:fiiningimurin Virginia. He thinks Mec- Kinley will receive strong support from the Southern States. San Francisco’s chances tional Republican convention appear to be brightening, Three of the most influential members of the National committee have now declared emphatically in favor of San ¥rancisco—Chairman Carter of Montana, | Manley of Maine (who is suppos | v of ) supposed to | represent Mr, s T t Reed) and Clarkson of Towa. | It is said that Senator Quay is not uh- | friendly. | Some time ago he said to Twr Cavr cor- | fespondentlhat while he cou ise to support it might be a ¢ vention. he formerly lived, for the Na- t uld not prom- | San Francisco, he thought ood place to hold the con- Hansbrough of North Dakota | | Hotel, swept over four blocks of the busi- COLLIS P. HUNTINGTON ANSWERS “THE CALL'S”»” N N N AN QUESTIONS. has already expressed himseif in favor of | San Francisco, and it is reasonably certain that Cuney of Texas can be persuaded. Alaska will probably be represented, and these together with the committeemen from Washington, California, Oregon, Ne- vada, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming and New Mexico would make a strong | body of workers. There is in fact an ex- | cellent chance for San Francisco, if the | Californians could only be made to realize | | | their opportunity. NEW YORK, N. Y., Oct. 18.—The mem- bers of the Republican National Commit- | tee aré giving considerable attention just now to the consideration of the time and place for holding a meeting of that body. | Senator Thomas H. Carter of Montana, | the chairman, and Messrs. Hobart of New | Jersey, Fessenden of Connecticut, Clark- | son of Towa, Sutherland of New York and Mickener of Indiana are in town, and other members of the National Committe are expected to arrive to-day or this evening. | Owing to the absence of Joseph H. Man- | ley, chairman of the executive committee, | no formal meeting will be held at thi: time, but there will be an informal con- ference within a day or two for the pur-| pose of getting the general sentiment as to the most. desirable time and place for | the meeting of the National organization. | It is probable that a call will soon be is-“ sued. | Senator Carter, who is at the Holland | House, saia to-day there was a very gen- eral sentiment among Eastern members in favor of holding the Republican National Convention in San Francisco and, of | course, the Western members favor the idea, he said, but he did not believe any- thing definite regarding this would be ar- rived at for some time. - Four Blocks Burned. CREEDE, Coro., Oct. 18.—Property valued at $150,000 was destroyed by fire here before daylight this morning. The | flames, which started in the Cottage Home ness part, from Second to Fourth streets and from the Rio Grande tracks to within 150 feet of CIiff street. In June, 1892, the whole town was destroyed by fire. BLOCK 21 1S SECURED, VALLEY RAILROAD BUILDING CAN Now GO FORWARD UNCHECKED. THE BLOCKADE RAISED. SIMPSON AND GRAY SIGN A DEED TO THE ‘MUCH-NEEDED PROPERTY. ' WILL WORK NIGHT AND DAY. | TRACK-LAYING OVER THE GRADE IN THE COUNTRY TO COMMENCE NEXT WEEK. STOCKTON, Car., Oct. 18.—Block 21 has passed into the possession of the San Joa- quin Valley Railroad. Messrs. Simpson & | Gray signed the deed to-day and the rail- road will have free access to the material rards on Mormon Channel just as soon as | the track can be put down across the block. This deal, over which there has been much talk, involved a small amount of money, but its consummation was extremely necessary, as the block lay midway be- tween the main line and the storage yards. It it had been a square mile of land a more complete blockade of the construction work would not have existed. Messrs. Simpson & Gray receive but THE BALLASTING CREW ON THE SAN FRANCISCO AND SAN JOA [Reproduced from o Dhotograph taken for “The Call.'’) - e R e QUIN VALLEY ROAD, T $4000 111 cash for the block, but the Com- mercial Association, which stood respon- sible to the railroad for the delivery of the block, must make a $3000 credit on the C. P.HUNTINGTON ON THE RAILROAD'S DERT, on the square between Elysian Fields street and Esplanade avenue were burned, including ricenaill B, formerly known as Perseverance ricemill. It was one of the finest and_best-equipped ricemills in the country. It is stated that there was lost | $100,000 worth of clean rice in the mill. | The amount of loss could not be stated to- | night, but is probably $300,000, partially | covered by insurance. il | SWEPT BY THE GREEDY FLAMES. Business Blocks, Dwellings, Churches and Banks Destroyed by Fire at Blan- chester, Ohio. BLANCHESTER, Onio, Oct. 18,—Ear1.y | to-day fire broke out, and this place is THE MAGNATE - ANSWERS POINTED QUESTIONS FOR THE “CALL.” WHAT THE ROAD WILL ASK OF CONGRESS. HIS IDEA OF A SETTLEMENT OF THE CENTRAL PACIFIC | now almost entirely destroyed. The fire originated in Burke’s livery stable from | the carelessness of some smoker, and has been raging up to 10 o’clock to-night. A high wind prevailed almost the entire | time, sweeping the flames in every direc- tion. Buildings four blocks away caught from burning cinders. Every business | house is either entirely consumed or gutted and the stock completely ruined. In addition to this wholesale destruc- tion, twenty residences are burned down and fanilies made homeless. Two churches, two bank buildings and the 0dd Fellows and Masonic halls were also destroyed. Editor A. C. Bell and Fred Rey, a fire- | man, were badly burned. The total loss will be over $150,000, with insurance not | exceeding $40,000. JET 10 REACH THE POLE GIVEN UP EXPLORATION IN THE ARCTIC. NexT YEAR HE WILL BE CHOSEN TO LEAD ANOTHER EXPEDI- TION TO THE NORTH. PORTLAND, ME., Oct. 18.—Lieutenant Peary returned to-day after his trip to ‘Washington to superintendent the storage of the Arctic collection brought back by the expedition at the Smithsonian Institu- tion. The mounting of the collection will tenant Peary has been in very poor health | since his return and work cannot progress | until his recovery. Notwithstanding all reports to the contrary, he has by no means given up Arctic explorations, and it is even now a strong probability that he will return to active work next year. ‘When seen to-day he stated that all re- ports that he had given up the idea of con- tinuing his work were untrue, as he had | never intimated such a thing. | “Ibave just begun my work, and as long | as my strength lasts and I am able to se- | cure support I will never relax my efforts. LIEUTENANT PEARY HAs Nor| not take place for another month, as Lieu- | PROBLEM. MORAL OBLIGATIONS AND LEGAL RIGHTS. He Wourp NoT BuiLD THE RAILe WAY AGAIN FOR ALL HEe MapE Our oF It. The railroad will attempt to put through Congress a bill similar to the Reilly fund- ing bill and the accompanying act to get | $1,800,000 from the Government which should show for the payment of the Cen- tral Pacific’s debt. So the fight will have to be made all over again. Itis an understood thing that the core poration believes that it has the votes of a sutficient number of Senators and Repre- sentatives to push the measures through. In yesterday morning’s CarL Congress- man Maguire and sSenator Thurston gave their views of the proposeda legislation, The Senator very frankly gave his idea that the Government had lost its chance to collect millions of dollars owed it by the Central Pacific. The Congressman was still hopeful that the measures might be beaten, but even he considered the | statement that the railroad had a majority in Congress as within the bounds of pos- sible truth. Yesterday Collis P. Huntington con- sented to make a statement of the rail- road’s position im the matter—its hopes and its intentiops. In order that the statement should be full and free of pos- | sible errors he wrote it himself. The questions were submitted to the magnate and he answered them ong by one. * The questions were: 1. What legislation does the Pacific rail- road propose to try to obtain from the next Congress? 2. It has been stated that the propo- nents of a funding bill claim that a ma- Soutbern Pacdie Gompamn. it Arwy_1hees o fed—e G, & gty e MR. HUNTINGTON’S POLITE NOTE TO THE EDITOR OF “THE CALL.” A, M ShriFaidpe, Etitrr s Sy I Saw Araed Trwmwer @ ax = 2 /s wesh firm’s donation to its fund for raiiroad pur- poses. Activity will now be witnessed all along the line. By working both a day and a night force Superintendent Wilbur will be enabled to put in the track by Monday, and, so far as is at present known, there will be nothing to delay the beginning of construction work in the country next week. Near the foot of Hunter street the company has stored several thousand tons of coal for the use of the construction trains. The talk of suing the railroad for an alleged crade above the official line on Taylor street sounds absurd since the City Council provided that the grade might be established at a point that would render the track safe during the high water. All the city lines are being placed in ex- cellent shape by the track crews. There is a large supply of ballast on hand and more is arriving every day. A large amount of this—Folsom crushed rock—is also being placed on the street crossings, and, in spite of ail talk to the cuntrary, they are being leitin better shape than before the line crossed them. Mills and Rice Burned. NEW ORLEANS, La., Oct. 18.—A disas- trous fire occurred here about 6 o’clock to- day. All the buildings fronting the river Arctic explorations in the near future will be comparatively easy, when compared to the hardships of past expeditions. The discovery of the north pole is a thing which to my mind is only a matterof a few years. Each succeeding expedition is in the nature of a great teacher rendering the following one so much easier. “If a man can stand tropical heat there is nothing that can prevent him from com- bating gretic cold, and as he has overcome the former so will he overcome the latter. I have made no definite plans for the ex- pedition, but I have received assurance from several sources that an expedition will be organized and'if I am asked to go I shall surely do so. It is my one object, and I hope to see it attained, of reaching the north pole.” e Suit Against Gould and Sage. NEW YORK, N. Y., Oct. 18,—An order of consent and discontinuance was entered in the Supreme Court to-day in the suit of the Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home of 8t. Louis against Russell Sage and George J. Gould, individually, and the executors of the es- tate of Jay Gould and the Union Pacific Railroad. The action was. brought to re- cover certain stocks and bonds, amount- ing to_over $10,000,000, which it is alleged the defendants wrongfully diverted. . For additional Pacific CoMMmefl'dnd‘-‘ jority of members of the coming Congress will vote in favor of such an actasthe Reilly bill, and will also vote to allow the claim of the Southern Pacific Company for $1,800,000 for services rendered the Gov- ernment, which was defeated at the last seseion. Have you any knowledge on this point? 3. What do you think will be the prob- able vote of Senators and Representatives on this point? 4. What, in your view, would be ir SMOKE LaBelle Creole - CIGARS, 3 for 2Gc--10c Straight--2 for 25 ASK DEALERS FOR THEM. RINALDO BROS. & CO., Pacific Coast Agents, 300-302 BATTERY ST., S. F.