USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions > Part 84
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" The law under which the Board of Education has its existence was passed at the last session of the Legislature, and under its provisions the workings of the School Department have been most satisfactory. It is only in the matter of issuing bonds,
*This block is situated between Fourth, Fifth, Grove, and Jefferson Streets.
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and in the purchase sale, or lease of property that the Council has any concurrent action with the Board of Education, and it is gratifying to state that whenever any concurrence on the part of the Council has been asked for it has generally been promptly granted."
In August, 1869, the primary school on the east side of Grove Street, between Fourth and Fifth Streets, was opened. It will thus be seen that Oakland at that date possessed educational advantages of a very high order, while it is gratifying to place on record, that her scholars, then as now, were well-conducted within and with- out the school, their general demeanor testifying to a high moral training.
In the year 1871 there was a Cosmopolitan School under Professor Champion, situated at the northeast corner of Grove and Eleventh Streets, an experiment that was tried with some diffidence by the Board of Education, everything there being taught in the French language. We cannot agree with the following remarks of a writer treating of this institution: "There ought certainly to be one language familiar to all educated persons, and French by its easiness and wide diffusion, has the best claim to selection. As we learn the language of foreigners we get into their ways of thought, and the way is paved for that universal brotherhood which, we believe, will yet reign upon earth." This is a pleasant enough picture, but we rather incline to the belief that a good knowledge of our own tongue will carry us as far through the world as would any of the languages of continental Europe, and would not militate against paving the way for that universal brotherhood so touchingly described above. But be that as it may, it is a pity that so excellent a venture should have had to succumb.
On September 17, 1871, the handsome High School building at the corner of Market and Twelfth Streets was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies.
In the year 1872 there were nearly eighteen hundred pupils attending the public schools of Oakland, showing an increase of one thousand six hundred in ten years, while at that time there were three thousand four hundred and two children fifteen years of age and under within the corporate limits of the city. It will also be seen that the change in school accommodations had kept pace with the increase of chil- dren, while Oakland then boasted, as she does to-day, of as fine school buildings and as efficient a corps of teachers as could be found anywhere.
The school building known as the Lincoln Grammar and Primary School located at the corner of Tenth and Alice Streets, was first occupied in this year, while the buildings in East Oakland became the property of the Board of Education consequent upon the annexation of that district to Oakland in November, 1872. The reader will therefore remark, and not without some astonishment, that from 1853 with one build- ing and sixteen pupils, the department had increased to buildings comprising thirty- six rooms and over fifteen hundred pupils.
On December 22, 1873, a communication was received from the Committee on Legislative action of the Board of Education covering a resolution of the Board ask- ing the co-operation of the Council in obtaining authority from the Legislature to issue bonds to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars for purchasing lots and erecting and furnishing buildings for school purposes; also, a communication from the Oakland Citizens' Union asking for the same; also, the draft of an Act authorizing the said issue of bonds. A resolution recommending the passage of the Act was there- upon offered.
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
From the foregoing remarks it will be observed that the management and control of the public schools of the city of Oakland are vested in the Board of Education. In the purchase of lands and the erection of school houses the Council has concurrent jurisdiction, while the management of this trust has been, in the main, economical. The high character of the schools and their great reputation sufficiently attest the wisdom of the general policy that has been followed and the fidelity of the Board in the discharge of its duty. In providing for the maintenance of the schools the policy of the city should be just and liberal. It should be its aim to have as good a system as money and skill can create. In common with all citizens we believe that there should be the utmost economy in the management of public affairs. The public do not expect, however, that school houses shall be built for less than they are worth, or that teachers shall be underpaid for their labor. There can never be public complaint where a full equivalent is returned for the money expended, and there will be no per- manent indorsement of any measures that are parsimonious instead of economical. Large as the yearly expenditure is there can be no serious complaint as long as the public funds are used to the best possible advantage. Oakland may well be proud of her public and private seminaries, and truly should she glory in the name of the Athens of the Pacific Coast.
Another matter of vast importance which took its start in 1853, was the estab- lishment of means to prevent conflagrations. The first notice that we find of a Fire Department is on August 27, 1853, when an ordinance was passed relative to the pur- chase of a fire-engine, to effect which, Mr. Staples and the Clerk of the Board of Trustees were appointed a Committee, who, on December 24th, were authorized to pay two thousand dollars therefor. On the 8th October, John Scott and others petitioned for the organization of a regular Fire Department to comprise the Empire and Washington Engine Companies and the Oakland Hook and Ladder Company. This organization was effected in 1854; John Scott elected Chief Engineer; and an engine-house built. On March 25, 1854, eight hundred dollars was allowed for the purchase of hose, necessary fixtures, and painting the engine-house; while, in his first message, Mayor Carpentier recommended the organization of a more efficient Fire Department. He says: "Notwithstanding the width of her streets and comparative isolation of her buildings, Oakland is still exposed to danger from that element which has successively visited with ruin nearly every other city and town in the State. The building of cisterns at convenient intervals will be necessary, and I recommend the purchase by the city, at an early day, of additional fire-engines and also of the necessary apparatus for Hook and Ladder Companies. By a judicious use of such means as may be in our power, and by encouraging a spirit of emulation among the citizens, I hope, at the end of the year, to see the Fire Department of Oakland one of the best regulated and most reliable in the State." On June 24, 1854, Empire Engine Company and Oakland Hook and Ladder Company were admitted into the Department; and the Chief Engineer recommended the building of four cisterns to be placed at the corners of Broadway and First, Second, Third, and Fourth Streets. On being referred to the Committee on fire and water, however, on June 24th, they advised the construction of only two of these, viz .: at the corner of Broadway and Second and Fourth Streets. On August 5, 1854, Washington Fire Company, No. 2,
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was admitted into the Department; and, on November 4, 1855, the office of Fire Warden was created. Unfortunately this organization was short-lived. On January 16, 1856, we find the Council authorizing the sale of the fire-engine if it could be done with advantage to the city, but on its being ascertained that such must be done by auction, in accordance with the charter, its sale was deferred. There is no other record in this regard until March 25, 1865, when fire limits were first established by ordinance.
About this time the Delger Block was destroyed by fire and damage done to the extent of fifty thousand dollars. The want of an efficiently equipped Department was felt, therefore the military company known as the Oakland Guard tendered their services to the city in the following communication, an act highly creditable to the company and the individuals composing it :--
"TO THE HONORABLE, THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF OAKLAND- Gentlemen: The late disastrous and destructive fire which has devastated a large por- tion of our young city certainly shows the urgent necessity that exists for a proper fire organization to resist such a dire evil in the future. As citizens of Oakland, and having her welfare and safety deeply at heart, we tender the services of the Oakland Guard as a fire company, provided your Honorable Body will furnish the necessary apparatus. While our services as soldiers are not needed on the battle-field, as firemen we may save our fellow-citizens, their lives, and property, from the scourge of fire.
" Respectfully Yours,
HENRY N. MORSE."
Consequent upon this public-spirited offer a public meeting of citizens was called for April 24, 1865, where the presence of the Guard was earnestly solicited, and a Hook and Ladder Company was organized by them.
On January 18, 1868, it was resolved by the City Council that permits would no longer be granted to erect wooden buildings within the fire limits.
The present Fire Department was organized March 13, 1869, under the provisions of an ordinance approved September 21, 1868, by the election of John C. Halley as Chief Engineer, and Thomas McGuire and George Taylor, Assistants, who succeeded John Scott, Chief, and John C. Halley and W. WV. Moore, Assistants, acting under authority of a previous organization. The apparatus of the department comprised a third-class Amoskeag fire-engine, purchased by the city, and a hose-carriage procured with funds temporarily advanced by Colonel John Scott.
On September 28, 1868, an ordinance extending the fire limits was passed, which was repealed, however, on the 28th October.
The Oakland Daily News of January 15, 1869, says: "There have been passed numerous ordinances creating and organizing a Fire Department, almost every Council having considered it incumbent to pass some such measure and in due time repeal it. The present Council has created a Fire Department, on paper, and destroyed it. Another department is about to be created which will be a reality, and we hope never to be disorganized. In ordering the transfer of five thousand dollars from the Building to the General Fund, the Council signified its intention to pay for the steam firc-engine from the first funds that might be received. There is before the Council, for its consideration, a very long and elaborate ordinance providing for the organiza- tion of a Fire Department, the outlines of which we will briefly state: Section One
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enacts that a Fire Department is thereby created, and that all engine, hook and ladder, and hose companies having an organization and constitution, after petition to the City Council, shall be furnished with apparatus, provided the constitution of such company shall be submitted to the Council and approved by that body. Section Two provides that the Fire Department shall consist of a Chief Engineer and Assistant Engineer, three Trustees, a Foreman and Assistant Foreman for each fire company, a Foreman for each hook and ladder company, and such other officers as each com- pany may require. Each fire company shall, when full, consist of sixty-five men, including officers, and each hook and ladder company shall consist of twenty-four men. The hose company shall consist of men detailed from the fire company with which it is connected, and the men so detailed shall elect their own officers, and all the officers of each fire company, or hook and ladder company, are to be chosen by the members of each company. The Council shall appoint a competent Engineer and Assistant Engineer for each steam fire-engine. The Engineer must live at the engine- house and give his whole personal care to the trust devolving upon him, always responsible to the foreman of his company. In his absence the Assistant Engineer will attend to all these duties. The Chief Engineer and the Engineers of each steam fire-engine shall be allowed a salary to be fixed by the Council, but no other person connected with the department shall be allowed any compensation for his services. Section Three provides that the Trustees of the department shall be elected by the department, and hold office at their pleasure, but they shall not receive a certificate of election unless the City Council shall order the Clerk to issue the same; and by a two-thirds vote, with the concurrence of the Mayor, any Trustee can be removed. The department cannot remove a Trustee without the consent of the Council. No person removed can again serve as a Trustee in the department. Section Four pro- vides that the Board of Trustees shall hold in trust for the city all property of the Fire Department, and shall descend to their successors in office without formal con- veyance. Each Trustee shall take a proper oath before entering upon his duties, but no bonds are required. Section Five provides that the fire companies shall, on the third Monday of March in each year, hold an election for a Chief Engineer and an Assistant Engineer, such election to be held at some engine-house, as the Council may order, after ten days' notice. Only those persons who have for thirty days been members are entitled to vote, and the officers elected are to be approved by the Council before a certificate of election can be granted. Should they refuse to approve of the officer chosen by the department, they are to elect officers themselves. Section Six provides that each company shall adopt such rules and regulations as it may deem proper, subject to revision by the Council. Section Seven provides the duties of the Chief Engineer. He shall in all cases of fire have the sole control over all persons connected with the Fire Department. He is to have the arrangement of apparatus at fires. He shall examine frequently into the condition and requirements of the Department and report the same monthly to the Council, and also the number, location, and description of any property that may have been damaged or destroyed by fire, and the total loss. He is to superintend the erection of engine-houses, cisterns, and any repairs which may be required and ordered by the Council. Section Eight provides that the Engineer and his Assistants shall take oath of office. Section Nine
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OAKLAND TOWNSHIP-CITY OF OAKLAND.
provides that the Chief Engineer's office shall be declared vacant by the Council, should he for the period of thirty days absent himself from the city. Section Ten enacts that the Chief Engineer shall act as Fire Warden and exercise a supervision over the construction of flues and chimneys. He is given power to cause the removal of hay or other dangerous material not under proper cover. He is given the authority to enter any house and inspect the same, and if he should find any explosive or combustible material liable to accident by fire, or any unsafe stovepipe or chimney, he shall order the owner of the premises, or the occupants of the same, to remove such dangerous material or stovepipe, or make the same secure. Persons refusing for the space of five days to obey such order shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars. The Engineer is to have power to order the immediate removal of any gun- powder or explosive material which may be dangerous to life or property. Any fines which may be collected under this section shall be paid into a fund to be known as the Fire Department Fund.
"" The next section provides that the Foreman of each company shall report to the City Clerk each quarter the names of all the members of his company, which shall be duly registered. The following section enacts that any insubordinate fireman shall be tried by the company to which he belongs, and punished by fine or expulsion if found guilty of an offense. The next section provides that at an alarm of fire no engine shall be taken from its house unless one of the Foremen or four of its firemen be present and consent thereto. The next section vests every Foreman with all the powers of a policeman at the time of a fire. The following section makes it unlawful to drive a vehicle over the hose of any engine at a fire. The Chief Engineer is, by the next section, given power to order the tearing down of any buildings in an emergency occurring during a conflagration. Persons called upon by the Mayor, a policeman or a fireman, at any fire, for assistance, and refusing, shall be deemed guilty of a misde- meanor. No independent fire organizations outside the provisions of this ordinance shall be permitted in Oakland."
These valuable rules are here produced, not especially as a portion of the history of the city of Oakland, but as a possible advantage to those other towns where in the future it may be necessary to organize a Fire Department. They will be found eminently useful as a guide and foundation on which to build up so necessary an association.
On March 3, 1869, the Phoenix Fire Company was admitted into the organiza- tion, but her stay in the Department was not of long duration, as the following resolutions passed by the Council on October 24, 1870, will exemplify :-
WHEREAS, It is evident that Phoenix Engine Company, No. I, after an existence of more than eighteen months, has utterly failed to so perfect its organization as to become a well-drilled and efficient fire company, and WHEREAS, Said company shows no signs of improvement, but on the contrary manifested even less effi- ciency than usual at the fire which occurred on the 16th instant, and
WHEREAS, The negligence and want of skill of said company have resulted in large losses of property to our citizens; therefore
Resolved, That the honorable, the City Council, be requested to disband said company and take such steps as they deem necessary for the election of a new company by the Commissioners, or otherwise.
Which, on being adopted, twenty-six persons were accepted as a new organization.
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
On February 17, 1869, the Council passed the following resolution :-
Resolved, That the Committee on Fire and Water be requested to consider the matter of having hydrants placed at convenient locations about the city and report to the Council at an early date.
It is always a pleasing duty for the chronicler to place upon record the public acknowledgments of those persons who have earned the good wishes of their fellow- citizens. On February 22, 1869, Chief Engineer John Scott and the Oakland Fire Department were presented with a beautiful silver trumpet on behalf of the Pacific Insurance Company. The presentation was made by R. N. Williams, in a felicitous speech before the whole brigade, as follows : "Firemen of Oakland-The anniversary of the birth of the Father of our Country has been well chosen to celebrate the suc- cessful inauguration of an enterprise which claims the active sympathy and co-opera- tion of every citizen of Oakland. You have associated yourselves for no selfish pur- pose, but for the public good. The parade to-day shows what can be accomplished by men, few in numbers, but resolute in purpose, bent upon the acquirement of an object in which they believe, and for which they are willing to work. In a short time you have stimulated the public into earnest support of an effort to provide some means of protection against fires. You have induced by your personal exertions an apathetic city government into providing a steam fire-engine, which has no superior on this Coast. You have organized a company of active and intelligent members, whose very appearance guarantees their efficiency. From among you, a few of the more prominent ones have secured an expensive hose-carriage and an ample supply of hose, for which they have become personally responsible. So far as you are con- cerned the organization is a complete success, and, with the exception of providing a 'steamer,' you have no one to thank but yourselves. You may well feel proud of your organization, for it is the result of your own labor. Only one thing is necessary to render your efficiency complete-an ample supply of water, and the public voice imperatively demands that this want shall be immediately supplied. You deserve some acknowledgment from the people for your services, and as the representative of one of the prominent Home Insurance Companies I request your acceptance of this trumpet for the use of your Chief Engineer and his successors in power." Mr. Williams then addressed the Chief Engineer of the Department, Col. John Scott, complimenting him upon the energy and perseverance he had exhibited in organizing the Fire Brigade. He expressed his belief that the gift would but gain value while in his possession, and, looking forward into the future, predicted that in time his little son, who was present, would fall heir to his father's tastes, energy, and popularity, and perpetuate the name of Scott in connection with the position of Chief of the Oakland Fire Depart- ment, to all of which the gallant Chief made a suitable reply. The trumpet bore the following inscription: " Presented to the Chief Engineer of the Oakland Fire Depart- ment, John Scott, by R. N. Williams, Agent of the Pacific Insurance Company." On the inverse side are the words: "To John Scott, by R. N. Williams, February 22, 1869."
On April 8, 1872, the West Oakland Hose Company was admitted into the Fire Department.
In his message of April 15, 1872, Mayor Spaulding speaks as follows of the
Frai
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Fire Department: "Now that we are in a position to add to the efficiency of the Fire Department, I would suggest that the necessary steps be taken to render this depart- ment as efficient as our circumstances will admit, and the necessities of the case require. To this end I would recommend at least two cisterns in the most favorable location, of sufficient capacity to meet the requirements of possible emergencies, also that those already constructed be put in proper condition.
"An apparatus which served the purpose of a few scattered hamlets in years gone by can no longer be considered sufficient to serve the purpose of a city of the proportions we now assume. In procuring new apparatus it should be your purpose to procure that which will best serve the requirements both as to utility and economy. I consider the Babcock Fire Extinguisher worthy of your special investigation."
In a report made to the Council on April 15, 1872, by Chief Engineer George Taylor, we find that at that date the department was in possession of one steam fire- engine; one two-wheel hose-carriage; one Hook and Ladder truck and hooks; twenty- one hundred feet of hose; forty-one fire hats and belts; two fire-bells; thirteen hydrants, and three cisterns, valued in all at fourteen thousand seven hundred and thirteen dollars; while the department consisted of Phoenix Engine Company, No. I, with forty-five members, and Relief Hook and Ladder Company, consisting of thirty- seven members.
Under the head of hydrants, Mr. Taylor says: " The hydrants are located as fol- lows: Northeast corner of Eighth and Alice Streets, northeast corner of Twelfth and Alice Streets, northeast corner of Tenth and Webster Streets, northwest corner of Eighth and Broadway, northwest corner of Tenth and Clay Streets, northeast corner of Eighth and Grove Streets, northwest corner of Tenth and Brush Streets, northwest corner of Fourteenth and Brush Streets, northeast corner of Eighth and Adeline Streets, northeast corner Eighth and Center Streets, northeast corner of Seventh and Pine Streets; Point, northeast corner of Fifth and Broadway, northwest corner of Twelfth and Broadway." He goes on to state: "The mains in the streets are not of sufficient size to properly supply the hydrants in case of fires, and I would recommend the lay- ing of fourteen-inch mains." In regard to cisterns, the Chief Engineer observe4: " There are three cisterns. They are located at the corners of Broadway and Second, Broadway and Third, and Broadway and Fourth Streets," while he recommends the building of a second engine-house in the lower portion of the town, other than the one already constructed on the City Hall lot.
On October 7, 1872, the complement of the Hook and Ladder Company was increased to seventy men, while, on November 4th, thirty-five citizens organized into the department in place of the "J. B. Felton" Engine Company, No. 2, disbanded; and, on December 1Ith, Brooklyn Engine Company, No. 3, was admitted into the brigade.
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