Langley's San Francisco directory for the year commencing 1880, Part 9

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: San Francisco : Francis, Valentine & Co.
Number of Pages: 1214

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During the year ending June 30, 1879, the Park was visited by seven hundred and three thousand four hundred and fifty-five persons.

The length of roadway constructed is forty-eight thousand six hundred and eighty-two feet, representing an area of two million fifty-six thousand six hundred and thirty square feet. About five miles of linear length of walks have been constructed, of which nearly three-fourths are completed, the remainder needing only the capping surface of screened rock with which all are finished. The improvements in roadway during the past year consist in the completion of a large section of the "Southern Drive," the driveway connecting with First avenue, and a fine macadamized road connecting the western entrance with the Point Lobos Road. About five thousand five hundred feet of walks have also been completed. A large area has been graded, converted into lawns, and sown with selected grasses. A cottage for the florist in charge of the conservatories has been erected, also a propagating house in the nursery grounds. Extensive improvements are now being made, the men being paid by voluntary subscription secured by Mr. David Bush.

The number of trees and shrubs planted in the Park since the spring of 1872, when this branch of improvement was begun, is one hundred and fifty-five thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight. In the nursery, for future planting in the coming season, there are forty-five thousand trees and shrubs, and about twenty-five thousand flowering plants. The reclamation of the lands bordering on the great highway, from the continued drift of the shifting sands of the ocean, the solution of the problem for which the simple means adopted by the engineer in charge, amply furnished, continues to become more and more assured ; the dune has steadily increased in height, and its resisting power to the drifting force of the sands has become fully established.

In 1878, a conservatory was erected for the reception of the two conservatories presented to the Park Commissioners by a number of our prominent citizens during the year 1877. These conservatories were purchased from the estate of the late James Lick, Esq., by whom they were imported from France, and presented upon the condition that suitable buildings for their reception and care should be erected in Golden Gate Park within eighteen months from date of presentation. In pursuance of this condition, the Legislature of 1877-8 passed an enabling act, authorizing the appropriation of $40,000, and the work was at once begun. The conservatory is located about one-quarter of a mile from the entrance of the main park, and is built upon a plateau, partially artificial, lying to the right of, and about fifteen feet above, the level of the main drive. An adequate conception of its magnificent character may be obtained from the following figures :

It is built, judging from superficial appearance, almost entirely of glass, is two hundred and fifty feet in length, the main building being fifty-six feet square, and surmounted by a dome, rising fifty-six feet high in the clear, inside measurement, the inside space being unbroken by any trusses or girders, the roof being supported and sustained entirely by its connection with the external walls. In this splendid dome the bright glare of the con- tinuous crystal is relieved by two lines of glass in variegated colors, one at the spring of the arch and the other at the summit of the arch. The remaining portions of the building average thirty-five feet in width; the east and west ends being extended in their fronts, which face the south, to a line parallel with the main or central building. In front of the main building is a reception room, twenty by twenty feet, through which visitors will enter. In the center of the reception room is a small pool, from the middle of which rises a tasty and unique fountain, the design showing a swan surrounded by magnolias, upholding a bowl in which a mermaid rises, holding on her shoulders a sea-shell in which the fountain plays. On the right of the rotunda is the "Orchid Honse," an arched room, thirty-five by fifty feet, not yet thoroughly stocked, yet still making quite a display of some handsome varictics. The east extension is used as the aquatic house. Here, in the front, is located the fernery, in the shape of a Grecian cross, from which the water passes to the main pool in the rear of it, which is a trifle lower in height, and thirty feet in diameter. This is the home of the Victoria Water Lily, a tropical flower, whose exuberant growth produces leaves five and six feet in length, each of which is capable of upholding a child on the water. During the year the queen lily arrived at maturity, and has now produced about twenty-five beautiful flowers. Some of the leaves measure eight feet in diameter. The temperature of this pool is maintained at

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eighty degrees Fahrenheit. The heating apparatus is located in the basement of the office, which is situated directly in the rear of the main building. The pipes for communicating the heat to the main building are over four thousand feet in length. On the east of the office, and in the rear of the east wing, is located a smaller glass house, fifty by twelve feet, containing two propagating beds. Similarly located, in rear of the west wing, is another structure, twenty-five by thirty-five feet, containing two nursery beds.

The whole building required in its construction twenty-six thousand square feet of glass, weighing thirty-five tons, and three tons of putty. It is a marvel of architectural beauty, sur- passing in this respect any similar construction in the United States, and is only equalled in size by the Government Conservatory in the Horticultural Gardens at Washington. The contractors were Messrs. Lord and Burnham, of Irvington, N. Y., who make a specialty of works of this class. This being the largest work they have ever executed, they have given personal supervision to all its details, and its completion has justly created for them, as well as for the reputation of San Francisco's greatest park, a monument of never-failing beauty; a testimonial to the one of superior skill and genius, and to the management of the other a full comprehension of the æsthetic tastes of our people.

No further work upon the parks of the city has been done during the year, save simple maintenance, except in the case of Pioneer Park, where the road leading to its summit has been completed.

In addition to Golden Gate Park, we have Pioneer Park, on the crest of Telegraph Hill, which embraces six fifty-vara lots, donated for the purpose by several liberal citizens; Buena Vista Park, bounded by Haight, Fell and Broderick streets, containing thirty-six acres; Mountain Lake Public Square, in the Presidio Reservation, and eighteen additional reserved blocks or squares in different sections of the city, most of which have been more or less im- proved. Portsmonth Square, opposite the old City Hall, is noted as being the place where the United States flag was raised over our newly acquired territory from Mexico, on the Sth day of July, 1846.

WOODWARD'S GARDENS. . These gardens, although a private collection and improvement, are justly regarded as one of the principal attractions of the city. They are located on the block bounded by Mission, Thirteenth, Valencia and Fourteenth streets; are finely improved, and contain valuable and extensive collections of natural and antique curiosities, wild animals, fossils and paintings.

CENTRAL GARDENS, located at the junction of Point Lobos and Central avenues, will be, when completed, one of the most attractive places of resort in the city. The grounds will be laid out in a tasty and ornamental manner, and planted with shrubbery, flowers, etc., of the choicest and most varied kinds. It will contain fountains, aviaries, conservatories, menageries, fish ponds, etc. There will be erected a capacious amphitheater for the purpose of balloon ascensions; also a pavilion, which will accommodate over five thousand persons. The site will command a fine view of the bay and surrounding country.

Public Schools.

The free public schools of San Francisco are the pride of the citizens, and their efficiency attract many families to reside in the city in order that their children may reap the advan- tages they offer. The first English school was established in April, IS47, with about thirty pupils, taught by a Mr. Marston, who is therefore the pioneer teacher of the city. Late in the same year the citizens organized a public school, and erected a building on the southwest corner of the Plaza, now Portsmouth Square. In April, 1849, the Common Council estab- lished a public school, and John C. Pelton and wife were employed as teachers, and this was the beginning of the system which has continued to the present time. During the fiscal year 1878-79 there were 60 schools, employing 696 teachers, and having an enrolled attendance of 38, 129 pupils, of whom 19,926 were boys and 18,203 girls. By the report of the School Cen- sus Marshal, June 30, 1879, the number of youth in the city under seventeen years of age is 88, 104, being an increase for the year of 7,816. The number between five and seventeen who are entitled to draw school money is 62, 105, an increase of 6,206 for the year. The num- ber attending private and church schools only during the year (not including Chinese) was 7,224, an increase during the year of 673. The number between five and seventeen years of age (not including Chinese) who have not attended school at any time during the year was 19,389, an increase over the preceding year of 3,16S. The last exhibit-of children not at- tending any school-is worthy of note. The enrollment at the different schools was as fol- lows: High schools-Boys, 350; girls, 901; total, 1,251. Grammar schools, including some primary grades-Boys, 6,999 ; girls, 7,246; total, 14,246. Primary schools, including some grammar grades-Boys, 10,743; girls, 9,807 ; total, 20,550. Evening schools-Boys, 1,834; girls, 249; total, 2,083. The financial condition of the Department is represented as follows: The State and city tax for school purposes in the year 1878-79 was 16 cents on each $100. The total income, including cash on hand at the beginning of the year, was $856, 107 52, a de- crease from the previous year of $161, 102 31. The expenditures were $876,489 14; less than

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PROGRESS OF THE CITY.

the previous year by $112, 769 85. Cost of instruction per pupil, based on the enrollment, and excluding expenditures for lots and buildings, $21 96. Cost of instruction per pupil, based on average attendance, and including expenditures for lots and buildings, $32 37. The amount paid teachers' salaries, $689,485 88. The estimated value of school property is: School sites, $1,930,000 ; buildings, $900,000 ; school furniture, $183,000 ; libraries, $9,302; school apparatus, $25,000. Total, $3,047,302. The Superintendent, in his Annual Report, institutes comparisons of the cost of the schools of San Francisco with those of St. Louis, Cincinnati and Boston. A principal of a grammar school in St. Louis receives $2,250; in Cincinnati, $2,110; and in San Francisco $2,406 per annum. Primary teachers of the lowest class in Boston re- ceive from $504 to $744 per annum, and in San Francisco $600 to $840 per annum. The salaries of head masters in high schools in Boston, $3,780; principal in high school in San Francisco, $4,000. The difference is regarded as not as great as tlie relative difference in other salaries and in cost of maintenance. The total amount paid for teachers' salaries during the past fiscal year was $689,485 8S, or an average for each enrolled pupil of $18 09. The amount paid as salaries of teachers at the high schools, $72,200, or an average charge to the 1,251 pupils enrolled of $57 55 each. The average cost for each pupil in the primary schools on account of salaries paid primary teachers, is about $16 per annum. As a matter of interest in connection with the public schools of the city, we give a few extracts from the biennial re- port of the State Superintendent, Ezra S. Carr, covering the school years 1878 and 1879. In 1855 California had only 227 schools, with an attendance of 13,000, and 26,077 census chil- dren; in 1879 it had 2,743 schools, with an attendance of 144,806, and 216,404 census children, an increase of 16,337 over the census of 1877. . In 1855 teachers were paid $181,906; in 1879 they were paid $2,285,732 39. Up to the present time the people of California have devoted to the cause of education : For public schools, $33,743,819 84; for State Normal School, $566,600, and for the State University about $4,150,000. (The total expense of the School Department of San Francisco has been $11,075,870 45.) In percentage of average attendance on school population California stands ninth among the States, the highest being Massa- chusetts, with 72.76, and the lowest Louisiana, with 19,05. Census children attending the private schools at any time during the year, 15,432. Percentage of census children enrolled in public schools, 66.91; percentage in private schools, 7.04; percentage attending no school, 26.05; per cent. of children of native born parents, 46.14; per cent. of children who had one foreign born parent, 12.68; per cent. of children who are of foreign parents, 41.17; school dis- tricts, 1,999 ; number of male teachers, 1,236 ; number of female teachers, 6,217; average monthly salaries paid male teachers, $82 13; average paid female teachers, $66 37; new school houses erected, 122; institutes held, 34; cost of institutes, $2,988 22. Total receipts of the School Department from all sources, State and County apportionments, city and district taxes, etc., for 1878, $3,820,661 26 ; for 1879, $3,653,798 96 ; State apportionment per census child, 1878, $7 67: for 1879. $6 60; county apportionments per census child, 1878, $3 50; 1879, $3 59; total receipts of all kinds per census child, 1878, $18 59; 1879, $16 84. Total expenditures of the School Department, including salaries, rents, fuel, libraries, apparatus, sites, buildings, furniture, etc., 1878, $3,155,815 27; 1879, $3,010,907 13. Cost of tuition per pupil enrolled in public schools, 1879, $14 58. Total current expense per pupil enrolled, 1879, $17 34. Total current expense per pupil in daily attendance, 1879, $27 60. Valuation of school property, 1879, $6,857,380. By the foregoing it will be seen that San Francisco has about 39 per cent. of the enrolled pupils; pays about 33 per cent. of the teachers salaries; has about 35 per cent. of the children entitled to school moneys, and owns about 50 per cent. of the school prop- erty of the State. Of the State University the Superintendent says: "The University has reached the ideal standard of its original projectors, with full departments of law and medi- cine, courses or colleges of agriculture, mechanics and engineering, and affiliated colleges of dentistry and pharmacy. The foundation of an art college has been laid in the gift of an art collection, with $25,000 in money, to which the State has added an cqual sum. The muni- ficent example of Dr. Toland, in donating the valuable property of the Toland Medical Col- lege entire to the University, has borne fruit in the ample endowment by Judge Hastings of the law college, and of the dental college by Dr. Cogswell, and of the equally generous gift of H. D. Bacon for the promotion of the fine arts. The Faculty of the University is composed of gentlemen of unexceptionable ability." Of the Normal School the Superintendent says : "It has 19 instructors, and the number of its pupils is 548. The training school connected with it has 113 pupils. With the increase of population there will be an increased demand for normal instruction. This should be met, not by establishing other normal schools, but by maintaining annual normal institutes at different points in the State. and by carrying for- ward the high school course in towns and cities through another year, especially devoted to didactics. This is already done in the Girls' High School at San Francisco, from which three classes of well trained teachers have graduated."

CITY NORMAL SCHOOL .- Superintendent Mann recommends the establishment of a City Normal School. New York and Boston have such schools. The Normal Class of this city (October 1, 1879) numbers 95, all graduates of the High Schools.

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gartens "all over the city." "The excellent work done in that direction by the Silver Street Kindergarten, under the skillful management of Miss Catherine Smith, has shown the possi- bilities of the system, and I believe that to-day the most valuable and effective change that can be made in our School Department would be the establishment of at least twenty similar schools under trained and competent teachers."

COSMOPOLITAN SCHOOLS .- Professor Herbst reports there are four Grammar and three Primary Schools, in which instruction in French and German is given, besides the English course prescribed for all the Common Schools of the city. There are ten special teachers of German and French, whose aggregate salary amounts to $11,700. There are twenty-four Cosmopolitan classes taught by class teachers who hold German or French certificates besides their English ones. Most of the candidates for teachers of German and French are natives of America, and many are unable to give oral instruction, wherefore it is recommended that the examinations should be so conducted that it will be impossible for any one to obtain a certificate who is not able to give an oral lesson in either French or German. The four Gram- mar Schools in which French and German are taught are the North Cosmopolitan, Hayes Valley, Valencia, and South Cosmopolitan, and the Primary are the Bush Street, Post Street, and South Cosmopolitan.

EVENING SCHOOLS .- Mr. Joseph O'Connor, Principal of Evening Schools, reports the number of pupils enrolled at 2,083, of whom 1834 were boys, and 249 girls. Average daily attendance, 699 ; average number belonging to Evening Schools, 747. The studies are reading, arithmetic, penmanship, and composition or letter-writing, bookkeeping, drawing, higher mathematics, etc. Under the present rules the Evening Schools commence on the first day of September, and are continued to the first day of May in each year, but the Board has allowed the best classes to remain open to the end of the school year. The Evening Schools were reopened on the same date (July 7, 1879) as the day schools. The result was a con- vincing proof that they could and should be opened. as well as closed, with the day schools. The average attendance for the first month was 776.3; and the number of classes it was found necessary to organize was 27. The Evening Schools are held at the Lincoln, Mission, and Washington Schools.

CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES .- The new Constitution brings numerous changes in the Public School system. It recognizes evening, technical and normal schools as properly belonging to the Common School system, and makes high schools and cosmopolitan schools practically independent of the State, but dependent upon the city for their establishment and support. "Some have feared," says Superintendent Mann, "that the withdrawal of State support from the high schools would lead to their abolition. This fear is groundless, as the city by local taxation raises more than six times the amount necessary for their support." Section 6 of the Constitution, Article IX, says : "The entire revenue derived from the State School Fund and the State School Tax shall be applied exclusively to the support of Primary and Grammar Schools." The Board of Education (Section 7) will have control of the schools, selecting text-books, direct the examination of teachers, and, unless done by the Legislature, will prescribe the course of studies, which may include all the studies of the high schools. The change in the examination of teachers and the selection of text-books are important.

SCHOOL HOUSES. - The following named school houses were completed during the year : Haight Primary; cost, $22,488 60. Sanchez Street Primary; cost, $16,149 47. Bernal Heights School; cost, $1,192 76, and Ocean House School; cost, $1,401 58. The total number of buildings used by the Department is 73, of which 63 are owned by the city, and 10 rented. Of those owned by the Department, S are of brick and 55 are of wood. The amount paid for rented rooms was $7,356 55. Additional demands are made for class rooms, consequent upon the rapid growth of the city. The late Superintendent says there is still need for a four-class building west of Valencia and south of Twentieth streets; a lot and an eight-class building on the west side of Russian Hill; a four-class building on the school lot on the corner of Pine and Scott streets ; a four-class buildling on the school lot near Florida street, on the Potrero; an eight-class building on the West Mission street lot, and a twelve-class building on the Fourth and Clara streets lot. A building of some architectural pretensions should be erected for the Girls' High School, or a mixed High School, on the corner of Page and Gough streets. LOCATION OF SCHOOLS; NUMBER OF PUPILS ENROLLED, AND AVERAGE ATTENDANCE OF PUPILS IN THE SCHOOLS, MAY, 1879.

BOYS' HIGH SCHOOL. - Location, north side Sutter street, between Gough and Octavia. Pupils enrolled, 350; average attendance, 276.

GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL. - Location, north side Bush street, between Hyde and Larkin. Pupils enrolled, 901; average attendance, 732. Branch Girls' High School, east side Powell street, near Clay.

LINCOLN GRAMMAR SCHOOL. - Location, east side Fifth street, near Market. Pupils enrolled, 1,454; average attendance, 1,023.

DENMAN GRAMMAR SCHOOL .- Location, northwest corner Bush and Taylor streets. Pupils enrolled, 1,049; average attendance, 827.

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PROGRESS OF THE CITY.

RINCON GRAMMAR SCHOOL .- Location, Vassar place, leading from Harrison street, between Second and Third. Pupils enrolled, 581; average attendance, 502.

WASHINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL .- Location, southwest corner Washington and Mason streets. Pupils enrolled, 604; average attendance, 506.

UNION GRAMMAR SCHOOL .- Location, north side Union street, between Montgomery and Kearny. Pupils enrolled, 636; average attendance, 492.

BROADWAY GRAMMAR SCHOOL .- Location, north side Broadway, between Powell and Ma- son streets. Pupils enrolled, 635; average attendance, 541.

SPRING VALLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL .- Location, south side Broadway, between Larkin and Polk streets. Pupils enrolled, 963; average attendance, 772.

HAYES VALLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL (COSMOPOLITAN) .- Location, north side McAllister street, between Franklin and Gough. Pupils enrolled, 1,142; average attendance, 943.

SOUTH COSMOPOLITAN GRAMMAR SCHOOL. - Location, north side Bush street, between Du- pont and Stockton. Pupils enrolled, 1,101 ; average attendance, 984.

NORTH COSMOPOLITAN , GRAMMAR SCHOOL. - Location, north side Filbert street, between Jones and Taylor. Pupils enrolled, 729; average attendance, 594.

VALENCIA STREET GRAMMAR SCHOOL (COSMOPOLITAN). - Location, east side Valencia street, between Twenty-second and Twenty-third. Pupils enrolled, 1,568; average attendance, 1,246.

EIGHTH STREET GRAMMAR SCHOOL .- Location, east side of Eighth street, between Har- rison and Bryant. Pupils enrolled, 1,058 ; average attendance, 791

MISSION GRAMMAR SCHOOL .- Location, Mission street, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth. Pupils enrolled, 870 ; average attendance, 655.

JEFFERSON GRAMMAR SCHOOL .- Location, south side Geary street, near Pierce. Pupils enrolled, 879; average attendance, 673.

CLEMENT GRAMMAR SCHOOL .- Location, Geary street, between Jones and Leavenworth. Pupils enrolled, 976 ; average attendance, 770.

BUSH STREET (COSMOPOLITAN) PRIMARY SCHOOL -- Location, southeast corner Bush and Stockton streets. Pupils enrolled, 875 ; average attendance, 680.

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Langley's San Francisco directory for the year commencing 1880, Part 9

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: San Francisco : Francis, Valentine & Co. Number of Pages: 1214

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: San Francisco : Francis, Valentine & Co.
Number of Pages: 1214