Sunday, Mar. 03, 2013 | 08:15 AM
Question: I have a Fresno Lines token in my coin collection. How much was the fare and where did the lines go?
-- Raymond Ensher, Fresno
Answer: The dime-size token was used on the Fresno City Lines, the bus system that took over when the Fresno Traction Co. stopped running streetcars in Fresno on May 20, 1939.
The next day, Fresno Mayor F.A. Homan, other officials and "Fresno pioneers" took a commemorative streetcar ride to Wishon and Shields avenues where the service officially switched to the bus line.
According to a Bee story on May 22, 1939, about 22,000 people, mostly children, took the free rides offered on the first day of bus service.
Some bus routes followed former streetcar routes.
In September 1939, the bus fare was reduced from 5 cents to 3 cents for adults, with a 1-cent transfer fee.
However, the fare for schoolchildren remained unchanged at 31/2 cents per ride.
Tokens for students were available at schools and from bus drivers.
In 1947, the California Public Utilities Commission approved an increase for one-way bus fares to 10 cents from 7 cents. A discount rate of five tokens for 35 cents was available.
The city of Fresno took over the bus system in 1961.
Q: While helping the Central California Chapter of the American Red Cross move to its new office, I found a brass plaque dedicated to Sydney W. Green "whose generous gift made possible the original blood program" of the Fresno County Red Cross. Who was Green?
-- Larry Fortune, Fresno
A: Sydney W. Green, who died in 1947, was the publicity director for the Fresno County Chapter of the Red Cross for many years. In September 1941, the Fresno County General Hospital urged creation of a local blood bank. No records were available to confirm it, but perhaps Green left the Red Cross a bequest in his will.
Green was born in New Orleans in 1876. He later moved to Denver, where he became a printer. He served with the 8th Army Corps in the Philippines in the Spanish-American War (1898-99).
Green worked as a cameraman during the early days of movies. He left Hollywood in 1905 to become the editor of the Los Angeles Express and bought a Southern California newspaper in 1913, which he ran for two years.
He was advertising manager of The Bakersfield Californian before going to work in the advertising department of San Joaquin Light and Power in 1919. The company later became Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
In addition to his work with the Red Cross, Green served as president of the Fresno Advertising Club and was involved with the Community Chest fundraising efforts.
Green retired in 1941. He had a stroke not long after he went to live in the Veterans Home in Yountville in 1942.
Green was 72 when he died. His obituary lists a former wife, Katherine, in Los Angeles.
Two nephews, Harvey N. Green and Paul Green, who Green raised, and a grandnephew, Wayne Green, are listed as survivors.
Q: What is the history of the Fresno Raisin Eaters baseball team?
-- Gene Braze, Fresno
A: The Fresno Raisin Eaters was a Pacific Coast League team that played only one season in 1906. That year, the team finished in last place in the league with a 64-117 record.
The team originated in Tacoma, Wash. The Tacoma team played its season opener in Fresno in 1903.
In 1905, the Tacoma team held spring training in Fresno and moved here the following year because of poor attendance back home.
Fresno was considered a great location for a team since it was midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
According to the Fresno Morning Republican in 1905, "Both [Tacoma manager Mike] Fisher and Harry Harris of the San Francisco club, said there was much to be urged in Fresno's favor ... Fresno would be a splendid stopping place for all teams."
Both the Raisin Eaters and a team from Seattle dropped out of the PCL in 1906. The Raisin Eaters moved to Sacramento.
Raisin Eaters players who went on to play in the major leagues included Frank Arellanes (Red Sox 1908-10), Harry Wolter (Yankees, Cubs, Red Sox and Cardinals, 1907-17) and Chick Gandil (Senators, White Sox and Indians, 1910-19).
The Fresno Grizzlies wore replica Raisin Eaters uniforms as a tribute in a game in 2006.
