USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume I > Part 63
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Catholic Schools and Colleges
University of California
Resources of the University
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SAN FRANCISCO
selected a site of 160 acres a little to the north of the Berkeley grounds of the College of California.
Scope of University Broadened
Those most earnestly interested in the cause of the higher learning were anxious to broaden the scope of the institution created by the legislature, and in 1867 they made a proposition which resulted in the merging of the College of California in the state foundation. Rev. Dr. Horatio Stebbins, Professor Durant, Governor F. F. Low, John W. Dwinelle and John B. Felton on behalf of the college offered to turn over all its property to the state on condition that "it should forthwith organ- ize and put into operation upon the site at Berkeley, a University of California, which shall include a college of mines, of civil engineering, of mechanics, a college of agriculture and an academical college of the same grade and with courses of instruction at least equal to those of Eastern colleges and universities." The offer was accepted and in 1869 the College of California discontinued its work and gave place to the new university, which opened its doors on September 23rd of that year.
Provision for Co-Education
Professor Durant was the first president of the new university. The honor was deservedly bestowed for his zeal in the furtherance of the cause of the higher edu- cation was unsurpassed. It should be remarked of the creation of the university that the public attitude towards it was extremely liberal and that the sentiment in favor of making it something more than a mere agricultural college and school of mechanics arts was very pronounced. It is also indicative of the spirit of the times that the legislature, when providing that no fees should be charged, also prescribed that the university should be opened to women on terms of equality with men. This provision respecting co-education was largely inspired by the discussion growing out of the separation of the sexes in the high schools of San Francisco which re- sulted in the success of the separatists who, however, conceded that the arguments which applied to younger students were not applicable to those of mature years. The advocates of women's suffrage, whose activities were quite pronounced during the Sixties, also exerted considerable influence in securing for the unenfranchised sex this valuable recognition which, perhaps, more than any other cause contributed to the final success of their movement in 1911. Many of the most vigorous cham- pions of woman's suffrage in that year were graduates of the university and were in the van of the contest for "equal rights."
In later years the University of California and the Leland Stanford, Jr., university established in the Eighties, made their impress on the City in various ways. The metropolis was too large to have imposed on it the peculiarities of a university town, but the proximity of two great institutions exerted an influence which could easily be recognized by the careful observer. But during the Sixties such advances as were made in literature and the arts were largely dissociated from the higher culture. It has been said that "the year 1868 witnessed the dawn of California literature-a dawn of radiant promise which paled and faded into a brief day that closed ominously." Concerning the concluding clause of the criti- cism there may be a difference of opinion, but regarding the first part, which assumes that nothing worthy the term literature was produced during the first twenty years after the American occupation, there is not much room for dispute. It is hardly possible to successfully attribute this to San Franciscan or Californian defects; the same indictment could be brought against the whole country with equal propriety. The twenty years preceding 1868 was the period in which namby-pambyism in writing was predominant. It was the era in which the choicest literary pabulum was
Literature and the Higher Education
ITT
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LADIES' PROTECTIVE AND RELIEF SOCIETY BUILDING, ERECTED IN 1864 ON FRANKLIN STREET BETWEEN GEARY AND POST STREETS
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served out by writers who exerted their talents for the benefit of the readers of the New York "Ledger," Street & Smith's "Weekly," and Gleason's "Literary Com- panion." There were some rare exceptions in the East of escape from the influ- ence of the "Bertha the Sewing Girl" style, but the general product was on that plane. Under the circumstances it would have been extraordinary if San Fran- cisco had evolved a new school, for it must be borne in mind that the generation then inhabiting the City was imported and not a product of the soil. When J. Mac- donough Foard, the editor of the "Golden Era," the first paper in California making literary pretensions, in after years declared that the admission of "school- girl trash" to its columns killed it, his indictment was against the literary taste of the period, and did not apply exclusively to the contributors of that pioneer journal.
Another of the early magazine editors furnished quite a different explanation of the drawbacks to which literature was subjected in the Sixties. J. H. Hutchings, who essayed an illustrated publication in 1858, which he called "Hutching's Illus- trated California Magazine," declared that its demise in 1861 was due to the pro- pensity of his contributors to go to the East for their subjects and to utterly dis- regard the value of local coloring. There seems to have been little foundation for this assumption as it is notorious that in after years there was a pronounced disposition to regard with disfavor the work of authors who colored their writings with California pigments which the outside world thought produced pictures true to Nature, but which most Californians insisted upon considering as burlesques until they were taught their error by people who had never been in the Golden State but knew literature when they met it face to face.
The truth of the matter is that the Californians of the Fifties and Sixties, al- though somewhat prosaic and practical, demanded writing with a great deal of ginger in it. This requirement for literary seasoning was amply met by the writing editors of the daily newspapers who produced articles which fairly sizzled. The appreciation of this quality was very general, and a taste for virile expression ex- isted, which can only be properly likened to that of the habitual drinker who pro- nounced all liquor, excepting that which burned as it was being swallowed, as stuff fit only for the consumption of infants. There was so much of that sort of writing in the daily papers it is not astonishing that the weeklies varied the feast, and intro- duced the "sweeter" stuff offered by women contributors. An intellectual feast com- posed wholly of curries and chutney needed something of the sort.
Next in point of acceptability in the Sixties was the work of the cynic. The period produced one whose reputation was well established in California long before his merit was recognized by Eastern critics. Ambrose Bierce, who began his career in San Francisco in 1866 was for a long time a source of unfailing delight to the readers of a weekly paper, the "News Letter," the principal aim of which, for many years, was to make people uncomfortable and succeeded in doing so by telling the truth about them with a frankness almost brutal at times, or by delicately puncturing them with the rapier-like thrusts of Bierce, who was as satirical as he was cynical. In those days Bierce was responding to a demand. Had he been able to offer literature of the quality of that of his maturer years it is doubtful whether it would have been acceptable to the most of his readers, and yet, they unquestionably had as high an opinion of his merits as Mrs. Atherton, who has said that "he is the peer of Robert Louis Stevenson in weird, shadowy effects and the superior of that writer in expression."
California Note in Literature
Highly Seasoned Writing
Cynical and Satirical Literature
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There was no such ready perception in the case of some of the true lights of California literature. The public of San Francisco was not near so responsive to the work of Mark Twain, Charles Henry Webb, Bret Harte and Charles Warren Stoddard, all of them contributors to "The Californian" during its brief existence which lasted from 1864 to 1867. There were others whose productions were as well received by the editor, whose literary training had been received on the "New York Times," but their names never became distinguished through their writings, although some of them attained to prominence in other fields than those of literature. "The Californian" was among the first to seek for other qualifications in its contrib- utors than the mere ability to write English, and in its brief career it introduced to its readers such men as William C. Ralston, William Sharon, Frank McCoppin and Hall McAllister. None of them apparently was seeking literary honors, but they regarded the "Californian" as a convenient vehicle for the dissemination of their peculiar views.
It should be said of the literary development of the Sixties that it lacked the stimulus of an active demand. It has been noted by critics of the work of this and the preceding decade that the attempts at magazine publication were nearly all dismal failures, but the experience of San Francisco in that regard was not unique. The publication of purely literary journals at this particular time was a precarious business in other and more densely populated sections of the country. Nowhere in the United States was there anything like an approach to professional writing. Even Boston could hardly boast a purely professional class whose members sub- sisted wholly on the earnings of their pens. Outside of those performing the routine work of the newspaper office there were few men and less women who were able to support themselves by their literary labors.
This was particularly true of San Francisco where the literary productions even of the best writers of the period were paid for at such figures that the authors came perilously near being in the class of voluntary contributors. It has been noted during recent years that the literary ranks have been largely recruited from the newspaper offices, but that source of supply had not reached a high stage of develop- ment in San Francisco at that time. The force needed to produce a daily paper in those days was absurdly small compared with the number employed by a modern journal which attempts to cover the news and print matter whose only excuse for its presentation is that it interests readers. Journalism in the Sixties was so inti- mately connected with what may for the sake of convenience be termed "literature," that a description of the condition of the former will furnish a fair idea of the advances made by the latter. It has been remarked by the author of "The Story of the Files," that the growing prosperity of the San Francisco newspapers proved a boon to the writers who contributed to the weekly and monthly periodicals, and she gives a list of women who, when the opportunity offered, engaged in the more prosaic work of reporting. But this movement was not perceptible until toward the close of the Seventies, when the superior qualifications of women for the perform- ance of certain duties began to be recognized.
Employment of Women as Reporters
That they were not employed to any extent at an earlier period was by no means due to prejudice or failure to recognize their fitness. It is not impossible that some editors in the Sixties may have thought that newspaper work was not a proper occupation for the gentler sex, but it is improbable that the subject seriously occupied the mind of any one in charge of a daily journal of that period. The
Business Men Write for Magazines
Literature as a Calling
Journalism in the Sixties
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reason is simple. The scope of the newspaper was exceedingly limited, and the number of persons employed in producing a daily was small, and their rewards were small. A glance over the pages of the San Francisco dailies of any date be- tween 1860 and 1870, and in fact down to the close of the latter decade, will show how little of the matter produced was of a sort to inspire the idea in the feminine mind that journalism opened a field for the employment of woman's talents.
When women entered journalism it was not as competitors with men, but to fill places in most instances deliberately created with the view of adding to the interest of the daily presentation of what may be characterized as news matter. In the Sixties the newspaper editor did not feel the impulse to add to the attractive- ness of his sheet by making innovations. He more nearly conformed his methods to the ideas of those who assume that the proper function of a newspaper is to print only the news of serious import. Indeed some of the editors of the period went a step further and acted upon the assumption that instructive comment on political matters was of more importance, and far more interesting to the reader than mere news. That was true of the "Examiner," which during the years from its founda- tion in 1865 as an evening paper, down to the time of its purchase by George Hearst, paid far more attention to political discussion than the gathering and presentation of information.
The founder of the "Examiner," which was first published as an evening paper, was William S. Moss. It made its first appearance June 12, 1865. Moss had conducted a paper known as the "Democratic Press" which was wrecked by a mob during the Civil war for its too frequent expressions of sympathy with the cause of secession. Moss had associated with him William Penn Johnston and Philip A. Roach. Johnston was a prolific writer and deserved the reputation he attained of being a clear exponent of the principles of the party to which he be- longed, but neither he nor Roach gave a rap for news unless it was political. It is related of Roach that on an occasion when some one found fault with the inade- quacy of the paper viewed from the news point he referred the complainant to "our reporter." Perhaps the news gathering force of the "Examiner" was not as small as this story implies, but it did not greatly misrepresent the strength of the paper's reportorial force.
About the same time that the "Examiner" made its appearance a candidate for public favor entered the journalistic field, but in a guise so modest at first that it was scarcely recognized as a newspaper, and indeed it did not proclaim itself as such until some months after it was launched. Its proprietors were Charles and M. H. de Young, two young men who had developed a fondness for amateur jour- nalism in the pursuit of which they gained a practical knowledge of publishing. On the 27th of January, 1865, they began the publication of a sheet which so far as typography was concerned bore a close resemblance to the ordinary the- atrical programme, but an examination of its contents disclosed the fact that it contained news of a general character. This new venture was called the "Dramatic Chronicle," and at first was distributed freely in places of amusement. It soon began to be looked for because it early fell into the habit of anticipating the con- tents of the next morning's dailies. It had no telegraphic facilities to speak of, but by the alertness of its proprietors it managed to pick up and present bits of information which attracted attention to its existence. War news was its par- ticular forte and it managed to secure many interesting bits of intelligence in the
News Gathering in the Sixties
The "Examiner" Founded
Founding of the "Chronicle"
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few months intervening between the date of its birth and the treaty at Appomattox. Not only did the editors of the "Dramatic Chronicle" display alacrity in the pres- entation of news, they also made some bold innovations on which the paper subse- quently based the claim that it was the first newspaper to appreciate the value of illustration as an adjunct of daily journalism. This claim rests on the fact that on the receipt of the intelligence of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by Booth, it published a portrait of the murderer with a noose around his neck, and followed it up with a picture of the scene in the box of Ford's theater, Washing- ton. The two pictures were engraved by an artist named Tojetti, who enjoyed a repu- tation as a mural decorator, and were electrotyped by a job concern which made a specialty of printing bill heads and pamphlets. The facilities for producing pictures were too restricted, and the operation too slow at the time to tempt a publisher to engage heavily in illustration, but from that time forward, whenever the occasion offered, the "Chronicle," which on August 18, 1868, dropped the pre- fix "Dramatic," and became the "San Francisco Chronicle," printed cartoons, maps and occasional scenes from life, the most ambitious venture in the latter direction being a three column cut of the destruction wrought by the Inyo earthquake in 1871.
The "Bulletin" During the Sixties
The "Evening Bulletin" which took a leading place in the journalism of San Francisco after the murder of its editor, James King of William, by Casey, main- tained its position during the Sixties. Its directing spirit was George K. Fitch, upon whom the excesses of the men who maladministered municipal affairs before 1856 made so profound an impression that he could never escape its influence. The "Bulletin" was the leading champion of the Consolidation Act framed by Horace Hawes, and regarded it as the highest attainment in the way of city government. Its restrictive provisions particularly appealed to Fitch, and he resisted every movement which looked toward the creation of a public indebtedness. The influ- ence of the "Bulletin" unquestionably was great during this period, and whatever credit attached to the comparative freedom from debt about which San Franciscans were prone to boast down to the time of the great conflagration in 1906, may be claimed by that journal.
A Vigorous Local Journal
The "Bulletin" during this period was well edited so far as the presentation of opinion was concerned. Matthew G. Upton and William Bartlett, who were the chief contributors to its editorial columns during the Sixties were incisive writers and Fitch shared that reputation with them, but he lacked the style which his two assistants possessed. The conduct of the paper in its news columns was marked by the same conservatism which its chief displayed in his attitude toward public improvement. It never made innovations in its news columns, but adhered steadily to the practice of presenting happenings in a matter of fact way. Its strength lay wholly in its editorial columns in which crusades against law breakers and the plans of politicians who were suspected of extravagant tendencies were carried on with relentless severity. There probably never was a paper more completely de- voted to the affairs of the municipality, or which showed as intimate a knowledge of their intricacies as that possessed by the "Bulletin" when George K. Fitch was at its head.
The "Morning Call"
Associated with Fitch in the publication of the "Bulletin" were Loring Picker- ing and James A. Simonton, who, with him in 1856 founded the "Morning Call" whose destinies were directed by Pickering, Simonton chiefly concerning himself
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in managing the affairs of an associated press service which was in later years merged with the greater organization bearing that name. The "Morning Call" was conducted on lines wholly different from those of the "Bulletin." It made news gathering its principal aim, especially devoting itself to the local field, the ob- trusive happenings of which it printed concisely. It rarely departed from the straight and narrow path dictated by the extreme cautiousness of its head, and made no effort to attract attention by the introduction of new features. During the entire decade it had the lead in the morning field and was generally regarded as a safe and conservative journal, although the weakness of its editorial policies were often made the subject of comment and ridicule.
The "Alta" whose foundation dated back to January, 1850, was still in exist- ence during the Sixties, but it was no longer the virile sheet published under that name in the previous decade, although it was still a prosperous journal with a good circulation and ambitious enough to attempt to hold the field by absorbing competitors. Its publishers, however, were not enterprising in the news field and to some extent shared the views of the editors of the "Examiner," who were firmly convinced that their readers were more interested in comment and opinion than in what was going on in the world. Like the "Call" it received the associated press dispatches, and because it enjoyed that advantage it considered it unnecessary to supplement the news furnished by that organization with special matter, and even permitted itself to believe that its clientele was not interested in any other than the most important city happenings.
During the Sixties the weekly papers of San Francisco were inclined to take the lead in public censorship. The "News Letter" made exposures of abuses a leading feature in its columns. It was widely read, but greatly disliked by many who were not slow to impugn its motives, but scarcely ever attempted to controvert its statements. It dealt in innuendo, and was intensely personal. It was noted for its clever satire, and its literary qualities were more marked than those of most weekly journals published in the United States at that time. The "American Flag," founded in 1861 by D. O. McCarthy also made a specialty of exposures, but its chief feature was its virulent and persistent assaults on "copperheadism." Its career was short lived. Its editors were unable to realize that the war had terminated, and that the keen interest it had excited had abated and in 1867 it went out of existence.
About the time that mining stock speculation began to take hold of the San Francisco public a daily publication devoted to recording the fluctuations of the market appeared. It was conducted on these lines almost exclusively until 1875, when it was given a wider scope by Wm. M. Bunker, who purchased and renamed it the "Evening Report." During the recurring stock excitements the "Stock Re- port" was more sought after than its competitors in the evening news field who also featured mining stocks, but were not able to keep pace with the rapid emis- sions of the smaller and livelier publication.
In 1870 there was founded in San Francisco a weekly newspaper known as the "Wasp," which claims the distinction of having been the first journal in the United States to print cartoons in colors. In addition to this feature the "Wasp" made essays in the field of light literature, but the columns to which its readers turned most readily were those devoted to showing up the foibles of prominent citizens. In addition to these daily and weekly journals, San Francisco during the
Peculiarities of the "Alta"
Weekly Papers as Censors
Paper Devoted to Mining Stock Speculation
First Cartoons in Colors
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Sixties maintained religious journals, a daily wholly devoted to the presentation of commercial news, and a number of sheets printed in foreign languages, among the latter the "German Demokrat" and "Abend Post."
Newspaper Mortality
The publication mortality during the Sixties was not so great as it was during the first ten or twelve years after the occupation. Nothing more accurately meas- ures the advances toward general stability between 1860 and 1871 than the secure hold which a few papers obtained and maintained after the year first named. In the fifty decade new candidates for public favor sprung up and disappeared with such rapidity that readers scarcely had time to get acquainted with their char- acteristics, but with the advent of the telegraph and the improvement of the news gathering service, the publication business was completely transformed. The intro- duction of these facilities made demands upon the publisher previously unknown, and it ceased to be possible to issue a "newspaper" with a scissors and paste pot and mere gray matter.
Newspapers Show Great Improvement
Before the taste for news and novelties was developed any man with a few dollars and the ability to write could produce what was called a newspaper, but which a very superficial examination discloses was usually very little better than a pamphlet containing for the information of its patrons some few easily obtained facts. It is sometimes assumed that the transformation in journalism which fol- lowed the necessity of keeping in mind the cash drawer has resulted in its deterio- ration, but it is very unlikely that the critics, if they had a reasonable familiarity with the "newspaper" of the period in which the expectation of reward was slight, would recommend that the counting room should be divorced from the rest of the establishment engaged in producing a daily journal. And the same comment may be applied to those publications which seek to make a feature of literature. When the rewards for producing what goes by that name were slight; when, as related by the writer of "The Story of the Files," a writer endeavored to eke out an existence on five dollars a week, it is not surprising that there should have been a flood of mushy stuff which went by the name of poetry, and stories which were even less meritorious than the verses collected and published under such titles as "The Golden Wreath."
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