400 HISTORY OF PASADENA. 



Prosser, George A. Greeley, W. E. Arthur, H. H. Rose, M. E. Wood. The 

 capital stock was fixed at $50,000, divided into 500 shares office each. 



The company secured a right-of-way 100 feet wide from the Precipicio 

 Canyon Water Company (Eaton canyon) across their lands, and from the 

 county board of supervisors for the rest of the distance — this latter includ- 

 ing " Henniger's flat," which Capt. Henniger held at that time only by 

 squatter's right, not by patent. Their first step was to determine just 

 where their roadway should be located at the mouth of Eaton canyon, and 

 its position relative to the tunnels, pipes, check valves, etc., of the water 

 company ; and Engineer J. E. Place was employed to survey this part of 

 the roadway territory and prepare a detail map of the same. But no grad- 

 ing was done for more than a year ; and the project seemed to have died 

 before it was born. Debts had accumulated for various services and inci- 

 dental expenses, and remained unpaid. 



December 10, 1890, a meeting was held to consider the situation, and 

 decide what should be done further. At this meeting Mr. Kernaghan pro- 

 posed a reorganization of the company, on condition of having assigned to 

 him all the shares held by the various stockholders ; and as the outstanding 

 debts for which each stockholder was liable under the law about equalled 

 the yalue of the stock held, the proposition was readily accepted, many of 

 them being glad to thus let themselves down easy and get out of further 

 responsibility in the matter. The reorganization was effected, and under 

 it, George F. Kernaghan, C. S. Martin, J. W. Vandevort, R. T. Vande- 

 vort and George A. Greeley became the sole owners of the corporation and 

 its franchises. And from this time on things began to move. Mr. Kerna- 

 ghan as president and manager devoted most of his time to forwarding the 

 enterprise. Engineer J. W. Sedwick was employed to survey the route from 

 mouth of Eaton canyon to the summit, set the grade stakes and prepare esti- 

 mates of all grading,- filling, bridging and rock work to be done. The origi- 

 nal wagon road theory had been boiled down to the more practical and 

 feasible plan of a bridle-road ; and a contract was let to Thomas Banbury to 

 grade and construct such a road for the company. He pushed the work to 

 completion as rapidly as possible ; but the blasting and rock work around 

 some of the granite spurs and crags proved a more difficult and costly job 

 than had been anticipated. 



The length of road constructed, four feet wide, is nine and one-eighth 

 miles, extending from the mouth of Eaton canyon, about 1,575 feet above 

 sea level, to the summit of Mount Wilson, where the Harvard telescope 

 stood for a year and a half, 5,565 feet above the sea ;* and the grade nowhere 



*Judge Eaton's aneroid barometer gave different altitude registers at foot of the road, varying from 

 1,500 to i,57,s ; and at the summit it varied more than loo teet at different times, owing to wind currents 

 of difTerent degrees of moisture or dryness, or electrical tension ; but an average of twenty observations 

 Rave ,s, 550 feet as the altitude. Engineer Sedwick, who surveyed the Toll Road, save 5,560 feet as the 

 altitude. And I'rof Pickering of Harvard I'liiversity, with his superior instrume'nis and expert scien- 

 tific tests, made it 5,565 feet elevation. So I take that as .scientific authority. But it should be noted that 

 Judge Kalon's result only varied fifteen feet from that of the great scientific expert; and Sedwick's 

 actual survey only varied five feet. 



