USA > California > San Diego County > San Diego > City of San Diego and San Diego County : the birthplace of California, Volume I > Part 27
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August 7, 1919, is a date which will be remembered long by San Diegans because it marked the arrival of the great Pacific Fleet at the first port of the United States on the west coast. All the vessels of Admiral Hugh Rodman's great command except the dreadnaughts New Mexico, Mississippi, Wyoming, Arkansas, New York and Texas, entered the harbor at the time; those larger vessels anchored off Coronado for the well prepared reception which was given to the fleet by San Diego and the Southwest. The New Mexico, flagship of the fleet, entered the harbor first on November 10 of the same year. The fleet was here three days in August, in which time the city was turned over to the navy. The most distinguished guest of the celebration was Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy. On Decem- ber 1, 1919, there were seventy-one navy vessels inside the harbor, that being the largest number that had entered up to that time. Since then, however, more than 100 have found safe and roomy berths inside the harbor at one time and have left plenty of mooring space for more.
In September President Woodrow Wilson, accompanied by Mrs. Wilson, came to San Diego and at that time spoke to one of the largest audiences that ever listened to an address in any place. President Wilson spoke at the city stadium on September 19. The great en- closure was almost entirely filled with auditors, who were assisted in hearing the President's words by an electric device.
Of importance to the traffic of the city was the zone fare system which was started by the San Diego Electric Railway Company on November 15, 1919. The need for some change in receipts of the company was made evident by the showing of increased costs of material and labor, and the evident impossibility of meeting those increased costs with a five-cent fare to all parts of the city. such as had been in effect for years. Considering the extent of the change, it was put into effect with remarkably little trouble and has been maintained without any serious difficulty up to the present time.
In the latter part of 1919 San Diego was chiefly concerned with the completion of the San Diego & Arizona Railway. The last spike was driven on November 15. The city's celebration of the event began on December 1. the first day of "Transcontinental Railway Week."
One of the notable events of 1920 was the visit to San Diego of Edward, Prince of Wales, who came to this port on a fast battle cruiser, the Renown, on his way to Australia in a trip around the world .. The prince spoke to a large audience at the stadium. His stay here covered April 7 and 8.
The first large vessel launched at San Diego, slid into the water on June 12. 1920. It was the Cuyamaca, one of two large tankers built in the local concrete shipyards. The other, the San Pasqual. was launched a few weeks later.
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A serious blow to the San Diego & Arizona was a landslide which occurred at Carriso Gorge, in the mountains, on May 10, as the result of heavy rainfall. This trouble necessitated extensive changes in the line at that point to make it absolutely safe, as its owners demanded that it should be. Those changes took several months and required the expenditure of a large sum of money, while, of course, the main line of the road was idle. The road was opened again No- vember 25.
In the years 1911 to 1914, inclusive, San Diego set a really re- markable record in municipal undertakings, issuing in that period bonds amounting to $9,442,000, an enormous sum for a city of San Diego's size to assume, but a burden which the municipality has carried with confidence and to which up to December 31, 1920, the sum of $2,312,200 had been added.
Here is the record of bond issue for those four years :
1911
$1,533,000
1912
1,000,000
1913
4,029,000
1914
2,880,000
Of this imposing total $1,850,000 went for park improvement, a work which would not have been done in many a long year if it had not been for the exposition, which thus left a princely legacy for San Diego. Harbor, water and sewer projects account for most of the remainder.
The total of bonds authorized by the voters of the city, at the end of 1920, was $13,890,374. Redeemed or cancelled bonds at that time amounted to $2,683,050, leaving outstanding bonds amounting to $11,207,324. As San Diego began the year 1921, it still had a bonding margin of $2,002,716, according to the city auditor's report. Here is a summary of December 31, 1920:
Total assessed valuation of non-operative property. $88,067,609
Bonding capacity, 15 per cent of valuation 13,210,041
Authorized bonded debt. 11,207,324
Bonding margin, December 31, 1920. 2,002,716
The city assessment roll for 1920 placed a valuation on real estate of $72,273,478, and the improvements were valued at $6,183,420. The city auditor's summary of net valuations at that time was as follows :
Real estate and improvements.
$77,382,569
Personal property
10,685,040
Operative property, state collection
6,020,271
Grand total of taxable property
$94,087,880
Valuation for city tax purposes and the city rates from 1900 to 1920, inclusive, are as follows :
Valuation
Tax Rate
1900
$12,651,714
$1.10
1901
12,447,523
1.10
1902
12,154,919
1.45
1903
12,516,383
1.40
1904
14,387,105
1.48
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CITY OF SAN DIEGO AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY 205
Valuation.
Tax Rate.
1905
17,636,988
1.45
1906
20,020,011
1.28
1907
23,749,670
1.35
1908
26,619,596
1.48
1909
33,814,991
1.48
1910
41,949,727
1.30
1911
44,445,459
1.45
1912
49,068,148
1.58
1913
60,738,409
1.90
1914
85,037,776
1.57
1915 1
85,107,759
1.79
1916
83,005,910
1.98
1917
84,659,589
1.98
1918
86,341,557
2.10
1919
86,615,621
2.10
1920
1
1
1
I
88,067,609
2.10
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1
1
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CHAPTER XVI
THE PANAMA-CALIFORNIA EXPOSITION
The Panama-California Exposition, which was held in San Diego in 1915 and 1916, had two objects, and in each of them it was mag- nificently successful. Those objects were :
First, to advertise the city and its various advantages in so strik- ing a manner that the population of San Diego would be increased to the degree warranted by those advantages ;
Second, to beautify the great city park, which up to that time had not even received a distinctive name.
There is not the slightest reason to doubt that the remarkable increase of population which San Diego enjoyed from about 1907 to 1916, in which period the gain was more than 100 per cent, was due principally to the Exposition and the advertising which the city gained from that great enterprise.
Also the Exposition was the means by which the park, now Balboa Park, so named after the noted discoverer, was transformed from an almost barren waste and a nearly civic "white elephant" to a veritable garden of beauty, in which the principal Exposition buildings remain standing-a princely cluster of jewels in a setting of surpassing charm.
The man who conceived this Exposition and who was largely responsible for the remarkable success which it attained is G. A. Davidson, well known banker, who then was president of the Chamber of Commerce. Other San Diegans-many of them, notably the dy- namic D. C. Collier-swung to the wheel with Mr. Davidson almost as soon as the great idea was broached by him; but to him belongs beyond all doubt the honor of having suggested it; from him also came much of the enthusiasm without which the project must have failed ; to him in the second year went the honor of being head of the great enterprise, and he upheld the honor with marked ability and fitting dignity.
Mr. Davidson had come to San Diego for the Santa Fe Railroad in 1886, his offices being in National City, then the Pacific coast head- quarters of that railway system. He left in 1888, but took with him a lasting love for San Diego and an unshaken faith in its future. In 1907 he was able to come back to San Diego, this time as head of a bank, and he soon entered with vim into all movements for the advancement of the city.
How the Exposition idea came into being and how it was carried into execution he told the writer as follows:
"The plan was formed in July, 1909, when the need of something to stimulate the city's activities seemed evident. Having in mind
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CITY OF SAN DIEGO AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY 207
the forthcoming opening of the Panama Canal, to which completion the whole world looked forward as one of the most remarkable achieve- ments of the ages, it occurred to us who were meeting at sessions of the Chamber of Commerce that we must do something to let the world know of San Diego's geographical importance and climatic and other advantages. One idea which was predominant, of course, was that San Diego was the first American port of call on the Pacific coast north of the great canal.
"The rough plan for an Exposition was presented to the board of directors of the chamber, and it was agreed that it possessed con-
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ONE OF THE MANY BEAUTIFUL SCENES AT THE EXPOSITION GROUNDS, BALBOA PARK
The Panama-California Exposition was opened in 1915 and its gates re- mained open more than two years. Most of the buildings were of a per- manent nature, and this majestic group remains as one of the greatest attractions of the Southwest.
siderable merit. After a short discussion. it was decided to call a second meeting at the Chamber of Commerce. A call was sent out quietly to a large number of representative men of the city to attend this second meeting, and to this gathering some details of the plan were laid forth. Its possibilities were seen by all, and the meeting was enthusiastically in favor of going ahead. So the very next day articles of incorporation of the Panama-California Exposition Com- pany were drawn up.
"Of course we had in mind the fact that the other cities of the Pacific coast and of the Atlantic, too, might already be laying plans along the same line as those which the meeting in San Diego had favored, and we resolved to move with haste and as quietly as possible
208 CITY OF SAN DIEGO AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY
until we should be ready to make formal announcement. That an- nouncement we decided to delay until our articles of incorporation had been filed at Sacramento.
"As soon as the articles had been drawn up they were sent around for signatures of incorporators, and as we had resolved to waste no time the work continued into the night. ' As a matter of fact, we had to call several well known men out of bed to get their signatures. John H. Gay, I remember, was one of them.
"The papers were taken to Sacramento and duly filed, and then our announcement was made to the world that we were going to hold an Exposition here. It was one which created much interest, too.
"I had been in San Diego from 1886 to 1888 and had seen the city's 'possibilities. When I returned in 1907 and started my little bank, I came to the conclusion-to use a baseball term-that we should never get to first base unless the city did something unusual to direct attention to what could be found here. We people of San Diego had faith in the city, but we had not spread that faith broadcast enough.
"Our desire in starting the Exposition was two-fold. It was to have the city so well advertised that people would come here and aid us in building it up. Also, we wished to produce different results in the park. It had great possibilities, as of course we realize fully now that it is so beautiful, but these possibilities had been scantily developed, and the park was by no means beautiful. Visitors came here and after being made comfortable at some hotel asked to see our great 1400-acre park, of which they had heard, and then what had we to show them? Principally a barren waste, with few flowers and few trees. A laudable attempt had been made indeed to put lawns on the west side, but that was a small part of the park after all. Bonds for the improvement of the park had been turned down by the voters only a short time before.
"Well, we went ahead and accomplished what we had started out to do. When the gates of the Exposition opened on the first day, the city had been transformed from what it had been a few years before. Before the Exposition project was launched, there were few hotels in San Diego and none of these was of great size or im- portance. The U. S. Grant Hotel, to be sure, had been started, but in 1907 it was only a shell. It was completed, and many other hotels and apartment buildings were started and completed. Paving of streets was extended all over the city. The people began to pav more attention to the beautification of their yards and homes, and from a grown up village San Diego became a city of the metropolitan kind- not large but of the same class as the larger cities. Nearly all of this was done in 1912. 1913 and 1914, the three years immediately pre- ceding the Exposition.
"Mr. Spreckels, of course, had announced his determination to build the San Diego and Arizona Railway, and that announcement had started a real estate excitement in 1906 and 1907, but when I came to San Diego the second time I was convinced that San Diego needed something to back up this movement. The Exposition we determined on as the means to supply that want.
CITY OF SAN DIEGO AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY 209
"The Exposition was a really remarkable project for a city of this size. Just think of it! When the plan was brought out, the city had only about 30,000 population. Yet within a few days the entire capital stock of a million dollars had been subscribed, and the success of the Exposition seemed to be assured. Yet there were many discouragements. The early years of the enterprise were not years wholly of optimism, and at this time the wonderful enthusiasm of Charley Collier did much for the cause. He made several trips to Washington and also went to South America, and his faith and boundless energy accomplished wonders.
"Great credit for the success of the Exposition must be given also to Congressman Kettner. It must be remembered that after we made up plans in which the Federal Government was concerned, it was he who put them through as far as Washington was concerned. For that alone San Diego owes him many thanks. To use another baseball term, we should never have got past first base if it hadn't been for Kettner.
"It must be remembered, too, that those who had subscribed money or given pledges to furnish it, as most of them did, were remarkably loyal throughout. More than 95 per cent of the money was paid in-a wonderful record.
"Now we have the beautiful buildings of the Exposition in their striking Spanish colonial architecture, all grouped in surroundings which fit them in every way. That indeed is a rich heritage to the city. I shall never forget the occasion on which I escorted one of the high Spanish officials across the magnificent Cabrillo bridge and the manner in which he enthusiastically acclaimed the beauty of the buildings. 'Mr. Davidson,' he said, 'we have nothing in Spain so beautiful as that.' I expressed surprise, as I knew that his country had many beautiful structures. Yet he quickly reminded me that on both sides of one of these fine buildings in Spain there often were shabby buildings and conditions of squalor. Here we had archi- tectural perfection in superb surroundings. There is no finer, no more beautiful collection of buildings anywhere in the world than these, here in the very home of that kind of architecture.
"I am sure that for every man who expresses doubt now as to the degree of success of the Exposition there will be 200-yes, 500- who will declare it was a great thing for San Diego.
"One point which I believe should be emphasized is that the exposition was largely responsible for the establishment of the mag- nificent marine base which has been built at Dutch Flats. General, then Colonel, Pendleton of the Marine Corps was here at the time. and there were some marines stationed here. The suggestion was made that it would be a fine thing to have some of them kept here for escort duty. Colonel Pendleton helped us to bring that about, and he became enthusiastic over San Diego as a place for a marine base ; and that has at last come about."
Ground for the Exposition was broken in a celebration which extended over July 19, 20, 21. and 22. 1911. Of this celebration J. M. Dodge was general manager. H. A. Herrick his assistant, Edwin H. Clough historian. Henry Kabierskie director of pageantry and
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210 CITY OF SAN DIEGO AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY
Herbert R. Fay grand marshal. The most imposing ceremony of the celebration was on the first day when a procession in which were many noted Catholic clergymen marched from St. Joseph's Church to an altar which had been erected in Balboa Park and at which solemn high mass was celebrated, the Very Rev. Theodore Arentz being celebrant. Bishop Thomas J. Conaty delivered an address. The mass closed with the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the bishop's request.
The year 1915 was filled with special "days," to heighten interest and promote attendance. A few of these days were:
January 1, opening day ; days for the various states of the Union and for California counties ; days for various organizations, such as G. A. R., Daughters of the Confederacy, fraternal orders and the like; a day for Vice-President Thomas R. Marshall of the United States; a day for Carrie Jacobs-Bond, the song writer; one for Nazimova, the noted actress, who appeared in "War Brides" at the organ pavilion on August 5; one for Henry Ford, the automobile man, another for Edison and Ford; an open-air fete on Christmas and many others. The list alone filled nearly two columns of news- paper type.
The coming of the historic Liberty Bell fromn Philadelphia was a notable Exposition event of 1915. The famous bell, symbol of liberty, was in San Diego for three days and was viewed with rever- ence and affection by thousands.
Distinguished visitors to the Exposition included many of the nation's most prominent men and women. In the long list for 1915 were three cabinet officers: William G. McAdoo, Secretary of the Treasury ; Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, and William B. Wilson, Secretary of Labor. Champ Clark, Speaker of the House of Representatives, was another on the list, which included many Senators and Congressmen. Others of the number were:
Former President Theodore Roosevelt, former President William Howard Taft, Nicholas Longworth, Theodore Vail, "Uncle Joe" Can- non, Mme. Schumann-Heink, Seth Low of New York, William Jen- nings Bryan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Mr. and Mrs. William R. Hearst, John Barrett, Thomas A. Edison, Henry Ford, Governor and Mrs. Whitman of New York, Col. George Goethals of Panama Canal fame, Governor Fielder of New Jersey and Charles M. Schwab.
The military units sent to or stationed at the Exposition made a pleasing feature of the programs from day to day. On a mesa near the state buildings was the Second Battalion of the Fourth Regiment of Marines, stationed there largely through the efforts of Colonel (now Brigadier-General) Joseph H. Pendleton, then in command of the regiment. Just outside the Exposition grounds was camped a squadron of the First Cavalry. In addition, units from the Pacific Fleet often provided drills and parades. for the Exposition. An event which greatly pleased San Diegans in the first year of the Exposition was the visit in the city of some 500 Annapolis midshipmen who had cruised around from the Atlantic through the Panama Canal.
Music played a large part in the programs arranged for the Ex- position in its first year. Foremost among the artists who appeared at the great Spreckels organ in 1915 was Mme. Ernestine Schumann-
CITY OF SAN DIEGO AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY 211
Heink, the famous contralto, who claims San Diego as her home. She sang to an audience estimated to number 25,000 persons. Some of the others who appeared at the Exposition in 1915 were Signor Florencio Constantino, Ellen Beach Yaw, Carrie Jacobs-Bond, Claudia Albright, Hamlin Hunt and Will O. Macfarlane.
The Exposition was planned to display the resources of California and the states nearest to it, and to this purpose there was close ad- herence. Every possible attempt was made to avoid the mediocre. Exhibits of especial interest to the homeseeker and colonist were encouraged, and in this way doubtless much was accomplished in bringing new residents not only to San Diego but to all of Southern California.
The Woman's Board of the Panama-California Exposition was appointed as a committee by the Exposition authorities to represent the women of the city at the fair, and this board did much to make the Exposition a success. The board and its committee heads were thus constituted in 1915:
Mrs. Iver N. Lawson, president ; Mrs. Uriel Sebree, first vice- president : Mrs. A. E. Frost, second vice-president ; Mrs. T. B. Wright, corresponding secretary : Mrs. Earl Garrettson, recording secretary ; Miss Alice Halliday, treasurer ; Mrs. George Mckenzie, entertainment ; Miss Alice Klauber, furnishing : Miss Gertrude Gilbert, music; Mrs. Jarvis L. Doyle, house ; Miss Daisy Barteau, organized labor ; Mrs. B. G. Saville, federated states societies ; Mrs. A. E. Horton, Mrs. J. G. Burne, Mrs. Clarke W. McKee, San Diego County representa- tives of the Woman's Auxiliary of the Southern California Exposi- tions Commission ; Mrs. A. S. Bridges, Mrs. Frank Von Tesmar, Mrs. E. Thelen, Mrs. Ernest. E. White, Miss Gertrude Longenecker, education.
Thirteen wives of directors of the Exposition joined forces with this board. The reception or persimmon red room in the California building, the "silence room" in the same building and the children's day nursery, maintained in a little bungalow, were cared for by these women and those places and the hospitality to be found there did much to make pleasant the visits of thousands of women.
Through the Exposition building and during its early operation H. O. Davis was its director-general. He resigned August 1, 1915, and was succeeded by E. J. Chapin.
Directors in 1915 were: R. C. Allen, Lucius R. Barrow, Frank J. Belcher, Jr., L. A. Blochman, George Burnham, William Clayton, G. A. Davidson, C. W. Fox, D. F. Garrettson, Percy H. Goodwin, C. H. Heilbron, M. F. Heller, H. H. Jones, W. F. Ludington, Arthur H. Marston, J. W. Sefton, Jr., W. A. Sloane, John D. Spreckels, C. L. Williams, Julius Wangenheim, D. C. Collier, F. W. Jackson and E. J. Burns. The executive committee for that year was com- posed of F. J. Belcher Jr., G. A. Davidson. P. H. Goodwin, M. F. Heller, H. H. Jones, C. L. Williams, W. A. Sloane and E J. Burns.
A notable event of 1915 was the celebration of Catholic Day at the Exposition, October 24, solemn high mass being sung by a chorus of more than 100 voices under the direction of Dr. Humphrey J. Stewart, whose mass in B minor was selected. The service was held at the Spreckels organ pavilion.
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212 CITY OF SAN DIEGO AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY
In its first year 355 regular recitals were given at the great organ ; nearly 3,000 selections were played on the great instrument, and some thirty outside soloists and ten local artists appeared there. The organ, gift of John D. Spreckels and his brother, Adolph B. Spreckels, was formally presented to the people of San Diego on the night of December 31, 1914. Only seven times in the first year, 1915, did bad weather prevent the recitals. Six musicians were honored by having special Exposition days allotted to them in 1915. They were Schumann-Heink, March 22; Carrie Jacobs-Bond, June 1 ; Mrs. H. A. Beach, June 28; Charles Wakefield Cadman, July 6; Marcella Craft, July 14, and Ellen Beach Yaw, August 24. Several noted guest- organists played at the organ at the invitation of Dr. Humphrey J. Stewart, the noted organist engaged to play the instrument for the city.
The second year of the Exposition was in many ways as success- ful as the first, although the attendance was not so large in 1916 as in 1915. Several notable attractions, however, were added in the second half of the Exposition's life. Chief among these was the exhibit from Canada which had been at the San Francisco Exposition in 1915. The French exhibition was another. Tommasino's Italian Band was engaged for the year and provided many programs of interest. La Belle Sevilla and her troupe of Spanish dancers and singers also gave many pleasing programs which will long be remem- bered with pleasure by San Diegans. The year was filled with "spe- cial" days similar to those arranged for 1915 to stimulate interest and attendance. These days included Dedication day, on March 18; Carrie Jacobs Bond day, April 27; Odd Fellows' days on May 9, 10, 11 and 12; Pied Piper day, May 27, a Mark Twain day, Mother Goose day and various others, the names in this small list having been selected at random to illustrate the scope of the programs. A fifty- mile automobile race was a feature in March. Another was pro- vided in August, when Joe Boquel, considered one of the greatest trick aviators of his time, was engaged. He opened his engagement August 28, startling thousands of spectators with the dizzy gyrations and maneuvers of his airplane. A week later, just as he was about to receive a gold medal as a tribute to his prowess, his plane, through some mishap or error, was driven to the ground and he was killed. A military funeral was held for him. A children's fair in December and battle maneuvers in which many troops participated were among the attractions provided in the closing days of the big show.
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