The subscriptions in definite amounts received on Tuesday, January 22, 1895, did not much exceed $20,000. The committee of twelve met, however, on January 24 and Claus Spreckels was elected chairman. Soon after this, larger pledges began to appear. Spreckels himself now subscribed $500,000, or ten times his initial offer, and at his instance, John D. and Adolph Spreckels, his sons, subscribed $100,000 apiece. From this one family, therefore, came twice the sum which the Traffic Association had tried in vain to raise from all of San Francisco. The whole complexion of the business changed as a result of this beginning. By January 30 over $1,200,000 was pledged. Subscriptions through February 2 amounted to $1,536,500, and on February 8 the $2,000,000 mark was reached. This so encouraged the committee that it immediately resolved that the sum of $4,000,000 should and must be obtained from the city of San Francisco, and that with the aid of the interior the competing line could be constructed on a cash basis. To this end every effort was to be turned.[463] It is very evident that the substantial wealth of the Spreckels group and the reputation for success which Claus Spreckels enjoyed, made a powerful impression both in San Francisco and in the San Joaquin Valley. The proposed railroad enterprise was the same as before, but the leadership was different. At the same time the amount of money necessary to be raised in the first instance was increased from $350,000 to $2,000,000.[464] Large sums are sometimes easier to secure than small, for reasons both sentimental and practical, and it proved so in this case. Claus Spreckels said himself that he had never made a failure in his life, while with $2,000,000 in hand it seemed so unnecessary for anyone to fail that people hastened to share in the anticipated success. Campaign for Stock Subscriptions