The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 25, 1896, Page 36

* Corbett and Others to Draw Down THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1896. 33 LIGHT AND POWER SPAEAD ABROAD Three- Wire System of the Edison Plant on Steven- son Street, How the Currents Can Be Regu- lated and Equalized at the Switch-Board. The “Booster” Will Refresh a Long- Distance Current— Capital In- vested and Men Employed. The magnitude of the electric lighting system of San Francisco cannot be com- prehended unless one pays a visit to the extensive and superior plact of the Edison Light and Power Company, 227 and 229 Stevenson street. The plant is the largest in the United States west of Chicago, and is fully equipped with the latest up-to- date mechanical appliances. The man- ipulation 18 in the hands of skilled electricians, whose faculties must con- stantly be on the alert. The alternating Station A contains twelve dynamos, operated by five engines —two engines of 400 horsepower each, R P T T il L —— A T e one of 300 horsepower, another of 250 and still another of 200 horsepower. Two of the engines were constructed by the TUnion Iron Works of San Francisco and two were built at Erie, Pa. Passing along to station C, under the same roof, one is introduced to tbe mys- teries of the three-wire system—a system by which the weizht of a current may be taken or equalized on a neutral wire be- tween the first and second wires. The power between & positive and negative wire may attain 220 volts; between a posi- tive and neutral, or neutral and negative a voltage of 110 may be obtained. In this way the current for either licht or power may be regulated, equalized and instantly controlled. In this room there are five superb engines, each Trepresenting 750 horse- power. These beautiful engines were constructed at Wilmington, Del., and are modern in every detail. To each engine is attached a dynamo constructed by the Geverre Electrical Comlpnny of Schenec- tady, N. Y. Thereis still another engine in the station with 350 horsepower. ‘Water for the engines is pumped at sta- tion B, a mile and a half south. The water is taken from the bay there and is condensed at the main station on Steven- son street. To economize in fuel, which isa large item of expense, the water is placed hot in the boilers. The engineers at the Stevenson-sireet plant can atany moment signal to the pumping plant for | an increased or diminished flow of water. PR P T e CUU O LU For generating steam there are thirteen upright and four horizontal boilers with an aggregate power of 4500 horses. The electric power generated by the en- gines and dynamos above mentioned 1s regulated in “its distribution by a s%itch- board. In this department men of the highest skill and experience are em- ployed. Incidentally 1t may be noted that a modern piece of mechanism Xnown as the “booster,”” as its name implies is capable of boosting up or refrashing a fail- ing long-distance underground current. 1t is a marvelous invention and has solved the problem of transmitting power for a great distance. Krom the switch-board the insulated rubber wires of the three-wire system run to the underground department, which re- sembles a vast tunnel with insulated wires on either side. Here forty miles of under- ground conduits radiate, through which passes 85 per cent of the electric light and power of this magnificent plant. The beautiful feaiures of the system and one that arrests the attention of ob- servers is the regulation cf distribution at the switch-board. A volt meterand an amp. meter afford the registrations. If more light is desired at the corner of Sut- ter and Jones, for example, it is applied, and the indicator indicates the increased brilliancy. Several tests were made to show the ad- mirable manner of controlling the supply to every section of the City, near or re- mote. The light was increased at the Edison Light and Power Company’s Building. TAXPAYERS AND DELINQUENT TAXES Rebates Will Be Paid With- out Regard to Former Dues. Judge Seawell Says the Consoli- dation Act Does Not Govern. $40 05 Though They Owe $g0 to the City Treasury. More than 10,000 taxpayers are directly interested in and affected by a decision rendered by Judge Seawell of the Supe- | rior Court yesterday morring in which he held that the County Treasurer is not called on to deduct from taxpayers delin- quent taxes for past years before repaying to them money which they demand for rebate on the taxes for the current year. The question arose in the suit of Corbett | and others against the Treasurer when they demanded a writ to compel him to pay them $40 05 rebate said to be due to a certain taxpayer who had assigned his claim to Mr. Corbett and his associates. Deputy City and County Attorney Bro- beck, representing the Supervisors ana the City generally, and Attorneyv Willett, representing the Treasurer, conceded that the City is owing $40 05 to the taxpayer | for whose claim Mr. Corbett has an as- signment. They draw attention to the fact, how- ever, that the said taxpayer is indebted to the City for $90 on account of unpaid and detinquent taxes levied in former vears. According to their view of the case it was unreasonable to ask the City Treasurer to pay $40 05, when be is actuvally indebted more than twice that amount to the City. Mr, Brobeck drew the attention of the court to section 82 of the consolidation act, which contains the following lan- guage: Section 82.—No payment can be made from the treasury or out of the public funds of said | city and county unless the same be specifically | authorized by this act, nor uniess the demand | Which 15 paid or duly audited, as in this act provided, and that must appear on the face of it. No demand upon the treasury shall be al- Jowed by the Auditor 1n_favor of any person or officer i any manner indebted thereto, without first deducting the amountof such in- debtedness. In support of his position in this case Mr. Brobeck said: *On the guestion of the expediency of giving iull operation and effect 10 that portion of the consolida- tion act which requires the indebtedness of all claimants to be discharged before their claims can be audited, the Supreme Court of this State in Gas Company vs. Brickwedel, 62 Cal. 646, held that: ‘A taxpayer should not be allowed to have 8 claim against a municipal corporation satisfied when he owes tosuch corporation the money which goles.to furnish the means ischargiog his claim.’ d'?o:fr oofiw:tion being that the Treas- urer should not be required to pay out of any public funds except upon demand duly audited by the Auditor, we are lead to further contend that no such demand should be audited until the taxpayer’s in- debteaness for delinquent taxes has been deductea from the face of his demand for taxes. ux.t::)rne_v Willett said that the Political ode holds that taxes when ievied have theeftect of a judgment and of an execu- tion. Of course, that judgment is against all the property of the taxpayer, and this, being some of the property of the tax- payer, the Treasurer shounld hold it and pay it over to the Tax Collector on account of delinguent taxes. Attorneys Craven & Craven argued that | Supervisors and the Auditor has nothing | were cited in support of this position. | appreciate the consolidation act does not govern in a case of this kind, as the demands of tax- payers are not presented to the Board of | to do with them. Numerous authorities Judge Seawell repeated the suggestion that he dropped at the opening of the bearing, when he intimated thai the Treasurer and Auditor could not reason- ably be expected to hunt up the accounts of claims which the City may hold against persons who may present demands for payvment. The fcourt evidently did not consider that the present case came fully within the purview of section 82 of the consolida- tion aci, for in passing on the question | the Judge said: *'I think I will issue the writ asked for in this case because I donot | believe it right that the taxpayer shouid | be cailed upoa to employ a lawyer to pre- | pare a demand and have ft presented to the Board of Surervisors and the Auditor for audit beiore he can finally present it to the treasury.” The use of the word ‘de- | mand’ in section 3804 of the Political Code is not the demand provided for in the consolidation act, and the Auditor, not beirg required to audit the demand, is not required to deduct rebate taxes.” It is expected that the case will be ap- pealed to the Supreme Court. Nearly 11,000 taxpayers are immediately inter- ested in this decision, the amountinvolved so far as the City treasury 1s concerned be- ing over $70,000. THE OCCIDENTAL HOTEL. Its Attention to Guests and Superior Service Have Made It Famous. The reputation of the Occidental for ex- cellence is not confined to the. United States, but isfamiliar to the traveling pub- licin every part of the world. Perhapsasa quiet home for families who know how to the umform atiention ana courtesy which have always distinguisned the hotel under the management of Major Hooper it has more than in any other way established its pre-em.nence. In modern equipments the hotel is kept strictly up-to-date. Improvements of the latest character are always in progress, and at the present time the house has re- ceived new furnishings throughout, while the newest system of sanitary plumbing has been extended through the entire building. It hLas been a matter of com ment among guests that on every visit change and improvements are noticeable that add to the modern character of the hosteiry. A notab einstauce is the recent introduction of the new telephone system, by which every room in the Occidental is connected by telephone with the of- fice. The commodious cafe and din- ing-rooms, the excellent cuisine, the bar and billiard-rooms, the eiegant parlors and large sample-rooms for commercial men bear evidence of this progressive spirit, In army and navy circles the hotel is regarded as a sort of unofficial head- quarters, and here mav be met at one time or another all the more or less dis- tineuished men in both brauches of the service who have visited San Francisco. Here the reporter repairs to interview some military or naval notable as he lingers over his choice menu or takes his comfort in his enjoyable apartments. To families visiting a great metropolis wishing to see all the objecis worth seeing and enjoy the attraciions to be found in great centers of population it is an im- Son_nnt point to be considered that the ccidental offers not only every modern equipment and convenience of. a great hotel, but also the quiet seclusion of a| carefully guarded home, where nothing inconsistent with the strictest respecta- bility is aamitted. i ——————— Around Earope in a Box. The other nizht some workmen, open- ing at the railway station a chest purport- ing to contain botties, found in side the individual named Zeitung, who claims to haye traveled in this fashion ovar most of the European lines. He was' alive, but weak, as be had spent six days in the box since he started from Bale. He accord- ingly was taken to the hospital, whence to-day he was discharged. He said his object in visiting Rome was to carry out experiments with an impenetrable cuirass, UNCLE SAM SHUNS ART AND ARTISTS Reason Why Cade- nasso Painted Half a Picture. The Its Middle Distance Ended With a Presidio Fence to Save Trouble. Latimer and His Class Threatened With Arrest for Sketching on the Reservation. Of late the Presidio fence has been a re- lentless barrier against artists, and never- more may a picture of some of the beauti- ful spots within the Government reserva- tion be painted. Nor even the Golden | Gate or the bay from any voint of view north of the long paling that divides the civil from the military world. Occasion- ally an unsuspecting artist wanders be- yond the boundary, and then there is trouble. Not long since the charmed do- main was invaded by an artist equipped with a sketching outfit. = He did not ap- prar warlike, which goes without saying, as the unipriunate one was none other than G. Cadenasso. Now, Mr. Cadenasso isnot a man with a disposition to give people the impression of a European gentleman with & mission inside theafore- said fence. = Nor did he have the faintest concention of all the grave suspicions and other equally ugly things his presence with an casel was creating. An ideal man of peace, with thoughts only for the beautiful, his soul was wrapt in a dream of inspiring landscape, surely the painter could not be taken for an emissary of a northerly direction. This happened to be the direction oi the fort. *‘What are you doing there?” The voice came from some distance, from the Presidio, and it was that of the ofticer of the day on his rounds. “*Sketching,”’ replied the artist. “You must stop; vou are liable to im- prisonment for three years.”” I bave permission.” The officer of the day made an inspec- tion. He found & serious defect in the sketeh. “You have permission to paint in the hospital grouads, but not beyond this fence.” The end of it was that the ‘‘distance” had to be rubbed out, for it was a true picture of part of the Presidio. Every- thing north of that fence running across the canvas became a blank, and a new background had to be discovered. In the same way Mr. Latimer almost incurred the displeasure of the officers. He used to take his class out to the Ma- rin:i Hospital, and his pupils became too bold. *“fhe next time he comes here,” said the officer to Mr. Cadenasso, ‘‘both he and his class will be arrested.”” . Letimer was informed that same day of his danger, and he has never ventured near the frightful fence since. So Golden Gate Park and thereabouts is good enough now ‘for artists who don’t relish the thought of three years’ absence from their studios. GEORGE GOODMAN. The name of this pioneer manufacturer and layer of artificial stone is favorably known to the business community. His work 18 evidenced by the beautiful and durable walks surrounding our public buildings and many of our finest resi- dences. Mr. Goodman has been in this business since 1874, and whenever the Federal Government wants any work done in his line he is seiected by the experts 1o do 1t. His office is aL 307 Monigomery street. —————— The Rural Idea. ‘When Millais was painting his famous “Chiil October’” he had a movable plat- form erected on the banks of the Tay, and when the river rose he used to get a friendly porter to assist him in the opera- tion of changing his position. Months a terward a friend of Sir John met the orter. I was readin’ in the papers that Maister Mllais got a thousand poun’ for a piciur’, and I jeest thocht it micht be the one he painted down there,” pointing over his shoulder to a backwater on the Tay hard by. On being assured that he Hotel 8t. Nicholas and the Hotel Pleasan- ton for a few seconds and the indicator at once displayed the increase. Every fifteen minutes of the day the amp. meter is read to show the volume of light and power going out. When more light or power is demanded an additional engine is started up. Both light an power may be trans- mitted over the same wire, The Edison Light and Power Company has invested $3,000,000 in perfecting in every detail the superb modern plant. The number of men employed is about 350. The underground wires convey 85 ver cent of the light and power gener- n{ed. The arc lights are fed by overhead wires. The oil used for the machinery is pumped from tanks and flows back again to the reservoir. The water is used over and over again, so there is no waste. There are storerooms ‘in the basement of the house, and overnead there is an extensive laboratory and testing department. The arc-light station of the company is sitna- ted on Townsend street and Clarence place, covering a space of 80 feet frontage by 275 feet in depth. Here are installed five en- gines, having a capacity of 3350 horse- Dower, to operate sixty-five dynamos. 'his is pronounced by experts to be the finest arc-light station in the United States. The whole plantis under the supervision of J. E. Green, secretary and general mana- ger, to whose courtesy THE CALL i8 in- deb for the privilege of visiting the ex- tensi¥e and superior works. able attention to the injury the sore grew worse, and by the latter part of September blood poisoning set in, and on October 8 he died from the effects of such blood poisoning, which Judgze Adams concluded was a direct result of the abrasion of the toe caused by the tight shoe. These are the facts as found by Judge Adams, and he concludes death was occasioned by “ex- ternal, violent and accidental means,” within the true meaning of the certificate. had guessed rightly he remarked: *‘Aye and he got a thousand poun’ for yon! Weel, I wadna hae gi’en half a croon for it mysel’ !"—Good Words. —————————— - LUKE G SRESOVIOR & 00. As every one knows, this is the leading house in shipping green and dry fruits in the City. Its Pioneer Shredded and Desic- cated Cocoanut has a high reputation. The firm keeps on hand an immense stock of the finest goods at 601-605 San- some street. e “TIGHT SHOE, SORE TOE OASE. A Decision in an Interesting Accident Insurance Litigation. In the United States Circuit Court in St. Louis the other day Judge Adams handed down a decision giving Sarah T. Smith a judgment against the Western Commer- cial Travelers’ Association for $2165. This is the somewhat celebrated *‘Tizht Shoe, Sore Toe Case.” The plaintiff is the widow of Freeman O. Smith, who was a member of the deféendant association, and she was his beneficiary. The policy provided for the payment of an amount not exceeding $5000 in the event of death by “external, violent, accidental means.”’ Up to August, 1895, Smith was an exceptionally healthy and strong man. Early in that month he be- gan wearing a pair of new shoes, and “preaking them in’’ produced friction of the shoe against his foot, and there re- suited, ‘“unexpectedly,”’ as the Judge finds, “and not according to the usual course of things, an abrasion of the skin of one of his toes, thereby causing a sore.’’ Notwithstanding that he gave reason- MURPHY, GRANT & 00 The Greatest Wholesale Dry Goods House on the Pacific Coast.' This great firm occupies in the year of grace 1896 the same position it has held since the pioneer days, namely, in the fore front of the great commercial establish- ments of the coast. While San Francisco has gone forward, at times slowly, at times in leaps and bounds, the house of Murphy, Grant & Co. has kept pace with every phase of its development and pros- perity. Many firms which have been rominent and powerful in commercial and gnsuciul life in this City have gone out of existence after a comparatively brief ca- reer. They either went down during one of the recurring periods of industrial de- pre-sion, or were not conducted on wise business principles. The management of the house has never varied in its safe and conservative_ policy, Its transactions cover the United States as well as the European centers of trade. The firm wholesales domestic and im- ported dry goods, a vast stock of which it carries in its warehouses. Adam Grant, Henry Murphy, Joseph D. Grant and H. L. Whipple constitute the firm. The names have long represented probity of character and high commercial standing. B A wealthy Englishman, who recently died in Vienna, had a fad for collecting uniform buttons, the teeth of wild beasts and the tansof beautiful women. His col- lection comprised 352 fans, 20,000 buttons and about two bushels of enimals’ teetls. TROUBLE AHEAD FOR THE NEW MiP Suit to Epjoin the Treas~ urer From Paying For It Charges That Grave Omissions Appear in the Work of the Surveyor. Mr. Humphreys Defends His Work and Declares That It Ap- : proaches Perfection. The wrinkled front of war has again come to view in the field of municipal doings. This time it is manifested in an injunction now in preparation to restrain Treasurer Widber from paying the bal- ance of that $10,000 over to Surveyor Til- ton for the last City map. The injunction will be asked by Dr. George W. Daywalt in behalf of the peo- ple, and if a suit develops it will be carried on in his name. Several other names were suggested, but it was finally decided to let the case for the public be carried on in Dr. Daywalt’s name. He himself humorously asserts he was the person chosen to bear the blunt of the conilict because of the manner in which, single-banded, he car- ried on the fight for Judge Hebbard in the late Populist convention. The atiorneys who will carry the pay- ment of the balance of the $10,000 into the courts are George W. Schell and Wil- liam H. Cobb. Messrs. Smith and Mur- askv are associate counsel. The grounds on which the complaint wiil be made are as follows: First, because the Board of Supervisors, being officers of tue City, bave no power to enter into a contract with a City engi- neer for the performance of municipal work and under guise of such contract ine crease his salary. Tilton now arts $500 a year. Awarding ‘him a contractt for u ciiy map is said vir- tually to increase his salary to $10,000 a year. Second, because the Board of Super- visors has no power or auihority to con- tract for an official map at all. Third—Because the contract, even if valid, provided that the work should be completed by October 1, 1896 and the map is not completed yet. Neither was there any extension of time. Fourth—Because the contract and the resoiution of the Board of Supervisors re- quired that surveys shouid be made ac- tually upon the ground, monuments, either of stone or ironm, to be set up and fixed and the homestead surveys properly connected. It is claimed that none of these things have been done. Fifth—Because it is claimed that streets have been omitted from the map, which have not only been deaicated but used by the public for years. Sixth—Because it is claimed that streets which have never been either dedicated to or used by the public have been projected through private property without any warrant or authority whatever. William P. Humphreys, the surveyor whodid the work for Mr. Tilton, told a CALL reporter yesterday that the map was nearer perfection, both as regards accuracy and detail, than any piece of work that had ever been done for the city. The terms of the contract between Mr. Tilton and the Supervisors had been carried out in every particular. Referring to the complaint that certain homesteads and other tracts laid out hy real estate men had been omitted from the map, Mr. Humphreys said that there were some homesteads that appeared on paper and then ceased to exist. The con tract did not require him to put all those private geographical subdivisions on the map. He declared that he did not propose to make public the reasons why ihe exterior contour lines of the great highway were not laid down on the map. If the reasons were made public, he added, the beach would be fitled with squatiers. In answer to the complaint that the boundary line between San Francisco and San Mateo counties was not shown, Mr. Humphreys said that there was a dispute between the two counties about a slice of territory five or six miles long and 100 feet wide. He could not take upon himself to settle the dispute. He insisted that there was no valid cause of complaint againsi the map. It involved a greatdeal of re- search and hunting through resolutions of the Board of Supervisors since 1850 in order to correct the list of streets opened and closed, and so forth The late Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson affirmed that the skin of the reindeer is so impervious to the cold thatany one clothed in such a dress, with the addition of a blanket of the same material, may bear the intensest rigors of an Arctic winter's night. s —_—— The Dutch people consume more to- bacco per head than the people of any other country. NEW TO-DAY. gmmmmmmmmm hiidiibisan SRR AR AR AA BRI AR R foreign power gathering data about forts and topography. And yet his reverie was rudely disturbed thatday as he sat beneath a sreat weeping willow beside the lake at the Marine Hospital. ““What are you doing here?” The gruff voice startied the artist, who on looking up from his sketch beheld an apparition in brass buttons and blue uni- form. It was the superintendent of the hospital. “Sketching,” was the artist’s answer. Resentment of speech /to which he was not accustomed impelled Mr. Cadenasso’| 10 treat the official with disdain and he re- sumed his work, which had the effect of exasperating the Government official. “Do you know the penalty for sketching here?”’ “I do not; I don’t know that there is any penaity.” “Well, there is. Three years’ imprison- ent.’’ “0h, well then, I'll leave.” This was half an apology and the artist proceeded to pack up his paints and prushes. “You may finish this picture,’” the offi- cial said, **but don’tcome here again,” *Indeed, I shall not. I—" D “Unless you have my permission,” the official added, interrupting the explana- tion. But the picturesque bit ot scenery, with its variety of vivid green weeping wiilows, bluegum trees and knolls of gay flower: proved too strong a temptation, and the artist visited it again, after paying his re- spects to the Marine Hospital superin- tendent. He painted four pictures there, and the last time came within an ace of feeling the strictness of military law. It happened this way: The picture was a of which he claimed to be the inventor.— ‘Westminster Gazette. Sl g e ExTrA edition of Christmas Town Talx on sale at all newsstands to-day. The regular weekly edition will be issued to- MOIrow moraning. prospect from the hospital reservation toward the Golden Gate. The foreground was inside the hospital limit, buc right through the center in what is technically known as the “middle distance” ran the Presidio fence, and as a matter of course the landscape extended beyond in a WL AL OSEDALE BOURBON £ %NWWWN YTV JOHN D. SIEBE. FR. C. SIEBE. ey J. F. PLAGEMANN. SIEBE BROS. & PLAGEMANN, Wine and Liquor Merchants. S 322 to 332 Sansome Street, SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., AUDDURARFEOER RO RORR RO LU AU AR bbb ¥ 11! SEDSIMLAUAAADRRAEA LU LAD LM BIASLA AR IR TR RO GAR LI AN %&MWHM