That incident made a vast difference, not alone in my fortunes, but in the history of California.
Left to myself, I would have had a railroad to Humboldt bay thirty-five years ago, and would now be the owner of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad.
Also it is more than probable that my youthful energies would have carried another railroad eastward through Beckwith Pass. That would have made history, changed our Governors, United States Senators, bosses and the whole machinery of state.
As for poor Ralston, he was gold-bricked. He never received the car concession at all. I cannot tell why, for I was out of the State when that scheme went up in smoke. The great building he had constructed for the purpose was converted into the West Coast Furniture Company’s plant, which was operated during his lifetime at a heavy loss.
I can only think of Ralston as a long cherished and lamented friend. But so far as business went, our acquaintance began and ended under an unlucky star.
CHAPTER XIX.
Two Men Block Plan to Run New Montgomery Street to the Bay; One Asks Coin, Other Prefers Fight.
Promoters Appeal to Legislature and Do Not Neglect Precaution of First “Seeing” Vote Brokers.
When Ralston and I opened New Montgomery street we never doubted that its manifest importance would compel an immediate and voluntary extension to the natural terminus of the waterfront and prove the logical outlet for congested trade. That this would have been the case had the majority of property owners been able to follow our example, I have no reasonable doubt. But just as in the case of “Montgomery Street Straight,” special interests and selfish considerations stood in the way. Less than half a dozen property owners, to their irreparable disadvantage, blocked “Montgomery Straight”—a project that would have changed the whole course of the city’s progress and development. Just two property owners prevented the immediate extension of New Montgomery street to the bay, and again the failure was the city’s heavy loss.