The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 20, 1899, Page 12

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1899 FIFTY THOUSAND NOW PREVENTS COMBINATION Secrets of the Big Deal That Is Pending Between the Water Companies. Large Pool of Contra Expire—Is Hayward at Work in the City Campaign? d Office San Francisco Call, 908 Broadway, Jan. 19. Next month the existence of an im- mense pool of Contr: a water stock will expire and with its expiration it Oaklan is probable that the consolidation of | the two water companies may become an actual fact In April occurs the annual election of the Contra Costa Company and a most deter rt will be made if con- solidation has not taken place by that time to oust the Pierce element in the airec it element is now all stands between the coming to- f the two companies. e first time The Call publishes nnected with eatest financial deals ever s State. It affects ed ¢ g facts ¢ plied by either the Dingee or water companies be- ners are threatened with a raise of rates to twice what they Oakland and other | Costa Stock Soon to the directors except the Pierces are anxious to come to a permanent agree- ment with Hayward and stop competi- tion there will be a virulent effort made to put the Plerces out. The bone of contention that is now keeping the companies apart is a paltry pumping plant located near Mount | to Dingee when he first entered the | water business for a comparative trifle —$2000 or $3000. Feeling confident that the Alvarado supply was inexhaustible | Dingee declined the offer of the Mount | Eden plant. As a matter of fact the and there is nothing to prevent any- body from sinking as many wells as he | likes and piping it into Oakland. | When it was seen that there was likely to be another dry year the Con- tra Costa Company, which depends en- tirely on its reservoirs for its supply, | considered it advisable to supplement | s catchment system with a pumping | plant. It acquired the Mount Eden plant, which was incorporated by Sam | Bell McKee and the Pierces, and the corporation was later absorbed by the = present time, t keeps the two companies ming together is a paltry $55 lization of the pros- 000,000. the two com- cked. Practically they gether and a conces- > Pierces would instantly smbination. All the de- d, everything is ad- exception of the dif- the paid for the ater any and the dent Henry de- tra Costa Company heoretically as they we nditions are | water rates may be | highest notch permitted | ng extortionate schedule ng war may begin, such two companies ious to combine and the in the way was the in- and ¢ Alvinza Hayward S ion were effected it equal terms. Hayward argued that plant was t of his rival, that it rate it, that it was as t his water supply was ot « more reliable, not de- | on catchments, needed no e tration, and that he s than the Contra Nothing could swerve 1 his fixed purpose, and w months ago could he ccept the terms upon vination is to be ef- are that Hayward s are to have three stock and that the Con- | pany after consolidation th ment of the | regating one | cut stand this big financial 1s *h three nd the re is capitalized ich one million nd three million <. Both bonds and stock | v and thelr s ever been onsequently has | bon yonds The 7 which is all ready to go into immediate effect combined com- panie dollars. This amount f the Oakland Compa Contra Costa bond > three million dollars’ worth of stock 1 by the Contra Costa Company and the remaining three mil- | lion now ir ry, which would | be turned over to Hayward, Dingee and their partners, This arrangement appears at first sight as though the Contr: a Com- v would orb the Hayward con- but this is not the case in reality. | ,000 shares held by the Contra | a company are distributed among perhaps 100 ~shareholders, between whom harmony not existed for many years ther hand, Hay- | ward would v control his | 30,000 shares, and when it came to a | vote on the directorate he would have | no difficulty whatever in getting the | dissatisfied element of shareholders now_holding Contra Costa paper. It has been known for years that the shareholders, of whom the Chabots are the largest, are opposed to the regime of the Plerces. The Plerces have al- ways maintained themselves in office, and in addition to Henry Plerce (the president), Orestes Pierce (general manager), and Marshal Pierce (an- other official), there are several rela- its trea | Mond. Contra Costa Company for a sum un- derstood to be about $60,000. With a few improvements made after it was offered to Hayward and Dingee the plant is said to be worth not more than | $7000, During the negotiations toward an agreement the Plerces demanded that the capitalization of the Mount Eden plant be considered a debt of the Contra Costa Company and be assumed by the united companies. Hayward agreed to this if its cost price be made the amount of the debt, but the Pierces stood firm | and demanded the amount for which they had capitalized it, and therefore | a difference of about $50,000 is all that | keeps the two big corporations apart at * | this day. Alvinza Hayward is known to favor. in the event of consolidation, a large reduction in the amount of stock. He | believes that a $9,000,000 capitalization would be altogether too high for a | town the size of Oakland, in the event | of placing the stock on the market. He | has said that a water plant for Oakland | could be obtained on a capitalization of $4,000,000, and that such stock would at once find a good market. Experts declare that $2,000,000 worth of city | bonds could duplicate either water plants now existing, because sucy bonds would be wortn far more than the same issue of honds of a corpora- tion. It is more than suspected that | the platforms recently adopted by the | Municipal League and Republican party, favoring the municipal owner- ship of waterworks, have not been in- serted for the single purpose of catch- | ing votes, but that it has emanated | from those interested in the new com- | panies. Some taxpayers have even | gone so far as to say that Havward would accept $2,500,000 in city bonds for his plant, and that then the City of Oakland would be independent of pri- vate corporations. ROBBED OF HER BABIES. Mrs. Marrea Shlifko Claims That Her Husband Has Taken Them Away. Mrs. Marrea Shlifko, residing at 51 Jer- v street, complains that her husband, | sey s Joseph Shlifko, abducted her children last Tuesday and refused to give her infor-! mation as to their whereabouts. For fear | of his vengeance the woman refrains from | asking the police to assist her in a search for her offspring, but friends will bring the matter to the attention of the officers if the little ones are not produced soon. According to her story, the family is indigent, and her husband forces her to toll for the dally bread. He frequently beats her, and w i administered to her such’'a s shing as to pre- vent her from attending the cigar fac- to where she works. It w rent day , and her_ delinquenc in salary prevented the landlord from receiving his | rent He threatened ejection and the | father took the two children and left the house. He informed the woman that he | was simply going to a neighbor's house and would soon return with them, but put in an appearance yesterday morning unaccompanied by the children. When questioned concerning them he said that he had placed them in a poorhouse, but would give no further information. = The mother is frantic and threatens to take her life if she cannot have the children back again. Some of the neighbors fear | that she will carry out this threa | Last night the father offered to com- promise the matter, ng_that he did not care whether he lived with his wife | or not, and would be willing to return | her one child if she would give him the | right to hold the other one after a sep- aration. This proposition was met with | refusal, whereupon he informed her that | he wotld persist in keeping them both, he elder of the children is a girl, aged rs, and the younger a boy of four o B — Nothing Finer in Europe. A palace in the fullest sense of the word is the Diamond Palace of Colonel Andrews at 221 Montgomery street, now more beautiful than ever since the recent improvements. For fifty years Colonel Andrews has been one of San Francisco's foremost citizens. Progressive, enterprising and tives and friends well placed in the company. So long as good dividends | were being pald on the stock no one | cared much who ran the concern, but | when Alvinza Hayward entered the | fleld and cr ed a disastrous competi- | tion dividends ceased and factional bit- | | within the company increased to a great extent. Prior to the negotiations taking defi- | nite shape it was stipulated that each | company should meet free of debt—that is to say, that prior to consolidation | each should pay off its floating indebt- | edness. The Dingee Company has no floating indebtedness, and the Contra | 6] Company s understood to have had but $10,000 outstanding, but when balances were struck this amount was found to be over $100,000. | This large debt had to be cleared off by the company before a basis of agree- ment was reached. The Contra Costa | people were very anxious that it | should be taken care of by the com- bination, but Hayward was obdurate, | and finally the debt was provided for | by Its contractors. About t tion was height, Contra Costa | stock fell from par to $30, and there was great fear that Hayward would get in and obtain a majority of the stock | at the low figures. This was feared | by Messrs. Prescott, Tom Brown and | Whittier, and they at once formed a large pool composed of a controlling | amount of the stock and agreed that | under no condition should any of such | stock be disposed of for two years. At | the annual election last April the pool, | which is friendly to the Pierces, voted, | and of course retained control. Next | month this pool goes out of existence, | angd as it is understood that nearly all ® | proud. It is one of the city's chief s ago, when competi- | 1 conspicuous in all public movements, his name has become synonymous with progress and improvement. Activity in an uninterrupted business career has resulted in accumulated wealth, yet contrary to the course pur- sued by most rich men, the colonel has seen fit to maintain his residence here rather than iIn the centers of the East or the Old World. Colonel Andrews’ interest and pleasure lies in this city and admits that the Diamond Palace has been made more attractive each passing year with an idea of creating a place of which San Francisco might be show places and’ its attractions are famous throughout the length and breadth of the land. Visitors to San Francisco should not fail to see this palatial establishment. —— . Aiding Helpless Animals. The regular monthly “meeting of the board of trustees of the San Francisco Soctety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was held yesterday. Following a_synopsis of Secretary C. B. Hol- report for two months: Number s reported, 492; investigated, 433; secuted, 30; animals taken from wori, 327; animals involved, 1740; animals re- lleved, 1502; sick and disabled animals killed, 45. Eighteen new members were elected, The following members were appointed district officers: John A. Renner, W. J. Stange, W. R. Cluness Jr., William Kun: necke, J. B. Schroyer and James Pack- er Jr. ——— Commodore Watsor relates a num- ber of interesting anecdotes about Farragut and other naval leaders in next Sunday’s Call. Eden. This pumping plant was offered | | artesian belt in that district is general | 0000 0C0C00000OCIOC00000C] YOURE UP AGAINST THE REAL THING NOW! 3 : B i ) ing to put you ND now we say to you, ready! Just through stock taking. Lots of our choicest lines been sold down to a few of a kmfl. So, we're going right next to the real thing. Not the ordinary clearance sale, but, to speak in more forcible terms, ’we're going to dump e out, and thetdi]imse:ti:ta tvhez;ty: The choicest of Men's Clothes, the choicest of Boys’ and Children’s, all through the house where the lines are small. The Big Kearny-street Hiou interesting place right now—the spot where you can make money, and make it easy. i S Quite A big lot of Men’s Fash- ionable Suits where we've only a few of a kind,; blues among ’em; drayish ef- fects, brownish effects, but all stylishly made cloth- ing. You know we enjoy a reputation jfor handling only fashionable clothing. The Single - Breasted Sack Suit. A lot of Boys’ Double-Breasted School Suits, gdenteel colorings, ages 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 1}, and 15 The Dowble- Breasted Sacle Swit. Raphael’s carry, at each swit. the extra pants, for | The velvet collar, satin faced, satin sleeve liningd; in fact a high-art sarment, a swell garment, just as rich as can possibly be; a Coat that yow’d never hesitate to pay $18 for. This will be the star Overcoat special on our second floor at THE THREE NINES, $9.99. A big lot of Suits for little chaps between the ages of 3 and 8 in style like yow see in picture opposite. Swits you' know that we have sold in prices ranging up to §6. Only a few of each kind, but they're: all gems. If we had full lines of each style we would never sell ’em under $5; as it is, we've only 4 or & of a kind, but there’s enqugh for you to find one that will fit your little chap, and if yow find it yow'll get a $5 Suit for - - - - - A big lot of Boys’ Suits, specially Sood Of course they’re g0ing | sonool suits for chaps between th> agesof 8 and to be gobbled wp at the 15; serviceable and fashionable styles. Of cowurse price. Who wowldn’t 30b-|these will be gobbled up at the price. ble up Men’s Suwits, suchas | are values all the way up to $5; pretty mix- Switsthat tures ; plain blue goods, dressy styles. The trousers have double knees and seats; goods that we have only a few of akind. They're all good. You can only gdet dood goods at Raphael’s. You get an extra pair of pants with Now here are Suits as good as any other store’s $§5 suit; the pants are surely worth $1 that’s $ 6 ; but just because we only have a few of each style yow can have the Suit, including PR TeS B OIS SUEN BU DUl U T e s e CU R S S s SR SO S GO Swell hing! The nattiest Men’s Top Coat ever shown ~in‘;siws at 9c Frisco, in fine light shades of Venetian Cloth ; silk | C pair. A big lot of Boys' Sweaters; the sailor and round collar; all- wool goods: worth $1.25. To- day and Saturday at 69c. Boys’ Shirt Waists, broken | lots and odd sizes. ¥our pick at 15c¢. Boys’ Golf and Yacht Caps all the new plaids, new shapes ; equal to anything in town -at 50c¢. Inouwr hat department to- day at 19c¢. Boys’ Heavy Derby Ribbed | Winter Hose; fast black, all Of course there are other big values, equally as important as the ones quoted, but we can’t tell of all the doings on Eig_hi Floors in one advertisement. Better appoint yourself a committee of one and investigate.