USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume II > Part 48
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73
The belief that the public school system should fit the pupil for the battle of life asserted itself very early in San Francisco. In 1865 evening schools giving instructions in commercial branches were established. During the period after 1883 this feeling exerted itself so actively that a commercial department was started in the Lowell high school. Its popularity was at once made so manifest that in 1885 a commercial school was started under the auspices of the depart- ment on Powell near Clay street. In 1892 manual training was added and the institution was designated the Polytechnic high school. In 1900 a segregation
Commercial and Training Schools
r
-
LONG ROWS OF STREET KITCHENS After the fire no householder was permitted to cook or to light fires in his house until the building was inspected
803
SAN FRANCISCO
of the commercial and manual training branches became necessary, and a new commercial school was built on Grove near Larkin streets, the Polytechnic being maintained. In 1887 Henry D. Coggswell gave deeds of trust for $1,000,000 for the purpose of endowing the Polytechnic school which bears his name. The buildings of the institution were erected on Coggswell's property between Sev- enth, Folsom, Harrison and Sixth streets. By the terms of the trust the school was made coeducational. Later another manual training school was created by the bequest of Wilmerding.
An interesting statement printed over the signature of Rev. Father Gleason in 1903 presents an idea of the flourishing condition of the parochial schools at that time. He said: "Without cavil we boast today that the Catholic school sys- tem of the archdiocese of San Francisco is at least as good as, if not superior to the public system in vogue in every branch of instruction from the matchless kindergarten, conducted by the sisters of the Holy Family, to the classes entering the state university from the colleges of Notre Dame and Dominican nuns." In the same connection the father remarked: "The gratifying results of these sacrifices in behalf of education are seen in 13,000 pupils attending the parochial schools of San Francisco, not to speak of other thousands in academies and col- leges for young men and women." This condition of the Catholic educational system of the diocese continued down to the time of the fire. It is worth noting while dwelling on the subject that at no time have the Catholics of San Francisco urged that any part of the public school moneys be devoted to the promotion of their system. Occasionally mild criticism has been directed against the secular schools, and the desirability of imparting religious education has been urged, but there never was, as in New York, a serious attempt to secure state recognition.
San Francisco's commercial instincts, although highly developed, have never tended to cause its people to undervalue the influence for good exerted by the presence of the great institutions of the higher learning in its immediate vicinity. The people of the City have taken the liveliest interest in the fortunes of the state university and that endowed by Leland Stanford, and have always energetically assisted in every movement to extend their importance. They have usually been foremost in such efforts, and while these two institutions are in no sense local, it has always been felt that they are peculiarly dependent upon the support of the people about the bay for the promotion of their facilities. In addition to their contribution to the revenues provided by the state for the maintenance of the state university there has always been a marked disposition on the part of the people of the City to assist in broadening the field of its activities. In 1896 Mrs. Phoebe Hearst undertook the important task of securing a general scheme for the build- ings of the state university by inviting the architects of the world to compete. Two competitions were held, a preliminary one at Antwerp and a final at San Francisco which closed July 1, 1898, the first prize being awarded to Emile Ber- nard of Paris. The first building constructed in accordance with the accepted plans was the Greek theater, which has since acquired a world wide fame through the desire of every artist of note to display his or her talents on its classic stage. The theater was the gift of Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, wife of the proprietor of the "Examiner." Since the erection of the Greek theater numerous noble edifices have been constructed on the university grounds, and they are gradually assum- ing the appearance contemplated by the original promoters of the scheme to
Parochial Schools
The Nearby Universities
804
SAN FRANCISCO
properly develop the magnificent site. The Leland Stanford Jr. university at Palo Alto is maintained by the splendid endowment of its founder and contests with the state institution for first place. Its faculty is large, and has included many professors who have distinguished themselves in the walks of learning. The University of California until 1887 depended for its revenue upon income from invested funds, and upon bi-annual appropriations by the legislature. In that year its future was made secure by providing for an annual levy of one cent on each $100 of the taxable property of the state. In 1897 the revenue was further enlarged by an additional cent on the $100, which together with the amount de- rived from the invested funds made liberal provision for extension in every di- rection.
Growth of Free Public Library
There are other modes of showing devotion to learning than supporting schools and universities. San Francisco during the period 1888-1905 displayed her appre- ciation of this fact in various ways. The public library system of the state which owed its inception to San Franciscans was immensely popularized by the success which marked the opening of the first free library in California. It took ten years, however, to house the collection in a building belonging to the municipality. In 1888 the Public library which had occupied quarters in a down-town building was moved to the Larkin street wing of the new city hall which was still in course of construction, and the appropriation for its maintenance was increased from $18,- 000 to $35,000. In 1893 it was transferred to the McAllister street wing where the collection was installed at the time of the great fire in 1906. In 1888 branches were opened in the Mission, at the Portrero and North Beach. Richmond received a branch in 1892. The Harrison was established in 1896 and the Fillmore in 1899. In addition to this extension of the sphere of usefulness numerous inno- vations were made greatly tending to increase the popularity of the library. Sep- arate rooms were provided for students making researches; 12,000 volumes were segregated from the general collection and rendered accessible to the visitor with- out the intervention of the librarian, and a proportionate number was set aside in the branches which the people could take from the shelves; a juvenile department was created and abundant space devoted to periodical readers, in special rooms. In 1898 the new charter fixed the mimimum rate of library tax which compels supervisors to appropriate annually a sum of $75,000,000 on an assessed valua- tion of $500,000,000. In June, 1904, there were 155,820 volumes of which 124,- 169 were in the main library, the remainder being in the branches. In that year $10,150.87 was expended for new books and numerous gifts were continually being received.
The Mercantile library, the vicissitudes of which claimed attention in an earlier chapter endured almost to the close of the period. It might, like the Mechanics institute, have survived the competition of the Public library had it been properly managed but it was unfortunate in that regard. In 1891 it contained some 65,000 volumes and was particularly rich in old newspaper files, but in the main its pat- ronage was confined to seekers after the latest fiction, a record of books taken out at this time showing that 75 per cent of the demand was for that sort of liter- ature. After disposing of the building in which the library was originally housed the Mercantile for a time was quartered in what was known as the Supreme Court building on the corner of McAllister and Larkin streets, but about 1893 the collection of books was removed to a building specially constructed for the pur-
Mercantile Library Absorbed by Mechanics Institute
805
SAN FRANCISCO
pose on the corner of Golden Gate and Van Ness avenues. Subsequently mis- fortune continuing to pursue it the Mercantile collection passed into the posses- sion of the Mechanics institute. The latter organization continued to grow in strength and at the time of the fire was in a very flourishing condition, and its claim to usefulness was freely admitted by the student, who was apt to assert that it was the best worker's library in the City.
Adolph Sutro during the Eighties began a collection of books and documents which he designed turning over to the public. In 1891 a writer predicted a great future for the library which he said numbered some 200,000 volumes. He added: "No one as yet knows fully what there is in the collection, but it is certain that it contains many treasures." His expectation that a grand building would be built to house the Sutro collection was never realized. At the time of the great fire a large part of the books were in a building on Battery street, and it is estimated that 150,000 were destroyed. Dr. Andrew White of Cornell who examined the library in a large way extolled its value highly, but it was never put into such shape that its treasures could be made use of by the student.
The Odd Fellows library, an outgrowth of a bequest of S. H. Parker, like the Mercantile, succumbed to the superior advantages of the Public library. The collection was sold piecemeal and passed into various hands, the purchasers being largely made up of private individuals. The remaining collections spoken of in an earlier chapter with few exceptions continued to grow slowly, those specializ- ing, such as the Law library, making the most progress. In 1887, Bancroft, the writer of the series of Pacific coast histories, offered to sell his collection, com- posed almost wholly of books and documents bearing on the history of the coast for $250,000. The offer was subsequently withdrawn, and some years later the library was acquired by the University of California and constitutes one of the most valuable sections of the fine collection belonging to that institution.
The period under review was less prolific in writers able to make their im- press upon the world outside of the state than that which produced Harte, Twain, Joaquin Miller and their contemporaries, but the list of those who made names for themselves is not inconsiderable. Among the number may be included Charles Edward Markham, John Vance Cheney, Alexander Del Mar, Charles Howard Shinn, Archibald Clavering Gunter, Richard Henry Savage, Clay Meredith Greene, Mrs. Romualdo Paeleco, Mrs. Gertrude Franklin Atherton, The Irwin brothers, Wallace and William, Kate Douglass Wiggin, Jeremiah Lynch, Frank Norris, Jack London, John Muir, Chester Baily Fernald, Harry J. Dam and a number of others whose work was found acceptable to the public and freely accepted by the publishers. The list can hardly be said to embrace stars of the first magnitude, but it must be borne in mind that their productions were put forth at a time when literary rivalry was almost as keen as that witnessed in commercial circles. When Harte and Twain made their reputations there were fewer aspirants for fame throughout the wide world than during the period in which the authors first quoted struggled for recognition; and that so many of them should have made their names familiar and attained to the high distinction of producing "best sellers" justifies the claim that California had not regressed.
That San Francisco presented some of the features of a training school for literary aspirants and also for histrionic fame has been observed by commentators. It has been noted that the state has long been a recruiting ground for the lyric
The Sutro Library
Odd Fellows and Bancroft Libraries
Producers of Literature
A Dramatic School
806
SAN FRANCISCO
and dramatic stage and that some of the best known favorites proclaim their Cali- fornian origin or early training. The roll of actors, actresses and other amusement artists who began their career in San Francisco is a large one. It embraces such names as Mary Anderson, Sibyl Sanderson, Lotta Crabtree, John Mccullough, Edward Harrigan, David Belasco, Isadore Duncan, Maud Allen, Alice Neilson, David Warfield, Maud Adams, Nance O'Neill, Blanche Bates, Modjeska and some others, all of whom in their subsequent careers became as popular in other communities as in that in which their career began. That San Francisco atmos- phere should have proved stimulating to the artistically inclined is not surprising. Its isolation tended to throw it on its own resources during many years, and the natural result was to develop talent. Theodore Thomas on the occasion of one of his numerous visits to San Francisco with his well trained orchestra declared that it was easier to create a competent chorus capable of dealing with the best music than in any other city in the Union. Not that there were more educated singers here than elsewhere, but there was relatively a greater number ready to sing. The same comment applies to musicians, the local talent always being ade- quate to piece out the deficits of visiting organizations, or to form a symphony orchestra.
Musical Taste aud Musicians
That the City has not a greater fame as a producer of musical compositions is due to the swarming tendency. Budding musical genius in San Francisco is in- clined, as in the case of literary aspirants, to flock to the great centers of wealth and population. They reverse Bishop Berkeley's view and seek empire in the East. But enough remains behind to satisfy the desire for originality and entitle the City to a modest share of distinction, and definitely prove that it is not under the baleful influence of Philistinism. The Bohemian Club and the Family, two organizations, unique in many particulars, have for years successfully labored to establish that man, even if he is practical most of the time, need not necessarily be a machine. Their plays in the woods, while they have not made the same noise in the world as those of Bayreuth or Oberamergau, are known far and wide and would attain still greater celebrity if more were permitted to see and hear them. The Bohemian Club's essays on their outdoor stage, the enjoyment of which is confined rigorously to their own members or to distinguished visitors, have been in every field of dramatic and musical art: the romantic realistic, the romantic ideal- istic and the historical. These plays and the music are produced solely by the members and result in spectacles which the circumstances and surroundings divest of all appearance of amateurism, and have been pronounced profoundly impressive by impartial visiting participants.
The journalism of the period 1883-1905 was marked by numerous changes and developments. In 1887 the "Examiner" became the property of William Randolph Hearst, the present proprietor. During its entire previous career it had occupied an inconsequential place in the newspaper field, enterprise of any kind being for- eign to its conductors who concerned themselves almost wholly to make it a use- ful democratic organ, and to promote the political aspirations of Mr. Hearst's father, George Hearst. That was one of the recognized methods of gaining par- tisan favor in the early Eighties. When William R. Hearst took possession of the "Examiner" it had the appearance of a moribund sheet ; but in a remarkably brief in- terval he put new life into the paper. With abundant means at his command he surrounded himself with bright newspaper men whose efforts were as much de-
William R. Hearst's Journalistic Success
+
-
A BOHEMIAN CLUB SPECTACLE IN THE REDWOODS
BOHEMIAN CLUB MEMBERS AT DINNER AMONG THE REDWOODS OF THEIR GROVE
807
SAN FRANCISCO
voted to the presentation of novelties as to the gathering of news. Their work attracted attention, and the paper grew in circulation. Its methods were largely modeled on those of the New York "World," which had proved so successful in New York, but the exaggerations of the model were soon surpassed by the "Examiner." Sensational journalism and the journalism that does things were not unfamiliar to San Franciscans. As briefly related in these pages the "Chronicle" had invaded both fields before the "Examiner" became a factor in journalism, and it will be recalled that the personal element was a distinguished feature of the Fifties. Mr. Hearst's innovation consisted largely in emphasizing his departures from the normal by the use of big type and a resort to unsparing laudation of the accom- plishments of his paper and its enterprise. The new style was yclept "yellow journalism," and the reputation for having introduced it was bestowed upon him later when he entered the Eastern field, which he did by purchasing the New York "Journal," which he has since conducted in that city. Later Mr. Hearst established or secured papers in other Eastern cities, and in Los Angeles, and through their influence, despite the adverse and often virulent criticism directed against him. he has secured a foremost place in American journalism and is recognized as in- fluential in national politics. One of the elements contributing to Mr. Hearst's suc- cess in the East was his practice of transplanting talent that had been developed in San Francisco to his New York or other Eastern papers, a fact recognized and much commented upon by impartial critics.
During the Eighties the "Call," the senior of the three leading evening journals, was purchased by John D. Spreckels. As he took little interest in its conduct other than its politics, it was generally assumed that the control of the paper had been secured for the purpose of advancing or "protecting" the projects in which the Spreckels people were interested. Claus Spreckels, the father of John D., was a man of great energy and initiative, and was connected with and directed numerous enterprises of a quasi public character. He had built up a large sugar refining interest in the City, and when the reciprocity treaty with Hawaii was en- tered into he became the most important factor in the development of the sugar industry in the islands, at the same time largely extending his refining operations in San Francisco. He and his sons were also interested in the promotion of navi- gation between the Hawaiian islands and the mainland, and later Claus promoted a gas company which was absorbed by the concern with which it engaged in rivalry. The senior Spreckels dealt liberally with his children, bestowing large sums upon them, and John D. was the especial object of his favor at the time of the purchase of the "Call," hence the assumption that the paper was not bought merely as a journalistic enterprise. Mr. Spreckels did not give his personal attention to the management of the paper, and entrusted it with varying results to others. The several changes in its conduct indicate that the outcome was not always favorable, but the paper being liberally provided with funds it maintained its reputation as a news gatherer. The "Alta," which after many vicissitudes had passed into the hands of James G. Fair, in 1891, gave up the ghost. It had been maintained for many years by its owner apparently with no other object than to keep alive its Associated Press franchise with the view of profitably disposing of the same to- gether with the plant and good will when the opportunity should arise.
The "Bulletin" passed into new hands after the death of Loring Pickering, who together with George K. Fitch had successfully conducted the "Call" during a long
San Francisco Call During the Eighties
808
SAN FRANCISCO
Bulletin and Other Even- ing Papers
period. Fitch had run the evening section of the two properties on extremely conservative lines when he was in charge. Under the changed management the disposition towards conservatism was reversed, and the policy of its new proprietor was to popularize his journal by his manner of presenting the news, but more par- ticularly by adopting methods of pushing street circulation that were not in vogue in San Francisco. The "Evening Post" passed through many tribulations and had many nominal owners during the period; none of them, however, found its opera- tion profitable. Two other evening papers, both of which had enjoyed seasons of prosperity while the stock gambling furore existed were interred in the journalistic graveyard during the Eighties. One of them, the "Daily Report," had a chance of survival, but it passed out of the possession of the parties who had built it up into the hands of an Eastern man who tried the penny paper idea before the coin was acclimatized with fatal result to his property.
Weekly Papers and the Magazines
In the weekly field new candidates for favor appeared and disappeared, among them the "Wave" and the "Californian." The "Argonaut," the "Wasp" and the "News Letter" were able to hold their own against all newcomers, only one of the latter, "The Town Talk," gaining a place. These periodicals, with the exception of the "Argonaut," were compelled to readapt themselves to the changed conditions created by the entrance into the literary field of the Sunday magazines of the daily papers. In many respects their methods were modeled on those of the Lon- don weeklies which make gossip concerning people in the public eye a leading feature. With the growth of the City and the enlargement of social activities their field presented opportunities which they have diligently employed. Magazines in the monthly class at no time were flourishing publications in San Francisco. Even in the palmy days of the "Overland" the most eulogistic citizen hardly thought it comparable with the monthlies produced in New York and Boston. Later it and the "Californian" suffered from the rivalry of the Sunday supplement which drew away contributors, or rather developed a new class who preferred to devote part of their talent to educational work or reporting, producing literature as a by-product. Among the number whose names became familiar to the public through the agency of the Sunday magazine were those of E. W. Townsend, Thomas J. Vivian, Peter Robertson, Arthur McEwen, Joseph T. Goodman, Thomas E. Flynn, Ambrose Bierce, William S. O'Niell, Frank Bailey Millard, Harry Bigelow, Minnie Buchanan Unger, Charles Frederick Holder, George Hamlin Fitch, Hugh Hume, J. J. O'Hara Cosgrove and others. During the Nineties the "Sunset" magazine was started. Its purpose of boosting California was frankly stated, but it has managed to make a place for itself and comes nearer typograph- ically and otherwise of realizing the desire for a real metropolitan monthly than any other sent out from a San Francisco press.
In a criticism of the daily and periodical literature of San Francisco published in an Eastern magazine in 1899 the writer dwelt on what he called the pro- vincialism of the newspapers of the City. His observation was based on the fact that the practice inaugurated many years earlier by the "Chronicle" of presenting the advantages of the state in detailed form had been generally adopted by its con- temporaries. The result, he declared, was to make the people who read these articles fancy themselves too self sufficing and to repel the sympathy of outsiders. The writer dwelt with especial emphasis upon the creation of the Native Sons organization and asserted that its tendencies were mischievous because of the cre-
Eastern Criticism of San Francisco Press
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES TO RENT
.
M
FIRST NATIONAL BANK DOING BUSINESS AMONG THE RUINS
ד
809
SAN FRANCISCO
ation of the feeling that strangers were not welcome to California. The "Chron- icle" undertook to answer the critic and showed conclusively that the three morning papers of San Francisco printed more news concerning the outside world than those of any other city in the United States; that their columns were daily filled with dispatches from every part of the globe, and that editorially they displayed a keener interest in national and foreign politics than most of their contemporaries. The retort contained the charge against the Eastern press that it rarely printed an item coming out of the West unless it related to crime. A tabular comparison was made showing that the proportion of serious matter printed in San Francisco was relatively greater than in the metropolitan press. For the "Chronicle" it was claimed that it had led the way in the presentation of extended arguments on money and cognate subjects and that it had on frequent occasions devoted as many as eight or ten pages to the elucidation of questions before the people. The rejoinder of the San Francisco newspaper man was a work of superogation so far as practical journalists were concerned, for the profession generally readily concedes that the press of the Pacific metropolis in most particulars is fully abreast of that of the East which has been largely reinforced by men from San Francisco who have in- troduced Western methods to the people of New York, that have not always proved acceptable, but which at least have taught Eastern publishers that fertility of invention is not confined to the Atlantic seaboard.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.