USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume II > Part 64
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Tetrazzini's Open Air Concert on Christmas Eve 1909
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of the "Chronicle" office building. The great success of the affair excited some newspaper jealousy, and pressure was brought to bear on the supervisors, who caused the misleading tablet to be prepared and attached to the fountain. The popularity of the Christmas Eve open air concert suggested to the "Examiner" a repetition of the performance, and a programme was arranged for the Christmas Eve of 1911, which attracted a vast crowd to the locality of the morning news- paper offices and once again the charms of San Francisco's winter climate were spread abroad.
The destruction of the Grand opera house on Mission street in April, 1906, left the City without a spacious place for the presentation of opera with all the accessories that contribute to the complete success of important organizations, and managers who had formerly regarded San Francisco as a most profitable field hesitated to bring their expensive companies to the coast. This drawback was recognized by the music loving part of the community, and an agitation was started as early as 1909 to secure a suitable structure. The unsettled condition of af- fairs, and the uncertainty attending the location of the civic center delayed the accomplishment of the plans of those interested. In 1912 when the large issue of bonds for the purpose of acquiring the land on which to establish a central beauty spot was authorized the project took form. The San Francisco Musical Society, a large organization with many hundred members, whose activities have resulted in giving the music lovers of the City seasons of symphony concerts, and other high class entertainments, interested itself in procuring subscriptions and received promises to the amount of three-quarters of a million for the construction of an opera house on the new civic center, the site for which was donated by the City. The new enterprise will be a quasi municipal undertaking, with representatives of the City acting in conjunction with the organization representing the sub- scribers, but the arrangements made seem to preclude the possibility of the Acad- emy of Music or Opera House being diverted from its purpose of fostering high class music. The committee of the subscribers are to prepare the plans, the only requirement of the City being that they should conform in a general way to those of the other buildings to be placed on the civic center. The Auditorium, which will also have a place in the civic center will likewise be subjected to this rule of architectural conformity.
A people whose fondness for music and amusements `of all kind has been so marked as to earn for their city the reputation of a pleasure-loving community which the possession of nearly sixty theaters and other places of entertainment at the close of 1912 perhaps fully justified, naturally take kindly to processions and pageants. From the day of the celebration of the admission of the State into the Union in Portsmouth square, when the sailors marched over the dusty roads in their blue jackets and straw hats, and the marines in their tall caps led by officers who fairly glittered with gilt, at their head a flag with many less stars than now adorn it, down to the day of the fire there were frequent spectacles of this kind. The story of the changes in the manner of celebrating might be made long and interesting, as the difference in the makeup of the marchers and the attitude of the spectators towards them reflect the changed conditions of the City and nation, and to some extent the sentiments of the people. It is not prob- able that the love of pageantry will ever be wholly extinguished. The fact that the Fourth of July parade has fallen into desuetude, and that the political torch-
Visit of the Battleship Fleet in 1008
A Grand Opera House in the Civic Center
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light procession has become a thing of the past, merely indicate that the popular taste for annual repetitions without variation has disappeared; but the delight in novelty still persists as was evinced on the occasion of the visit of the battleship fleet in May, 1908. The spectacle was one of the most remarkable ever witnessed in San Francisco bay, and perhaps was never surpassed by any ever seen in an American port. The fleet which entered the harbor on May 6, 1908, was composed of 16 battleships, 14 cruisers, 11 destroyers and 6 auxiliary ships. These 49 war vessels, and countless other craft which filled the harbor, all gaily bedecked with the national colors and signals made a brilliant sight witnessed by half a million people. Every point of vantage surrounding the bay was crowded with spectators and patriotism was at fever heat. From the 6th to the 18th when the fleet departed for Puget Sound on its voyage around the world the City gave itself over to festivi- ties. There were parades, banquets, balls and receptions to the secretary of the navy, the officers, the 8,000 bluejackets and the 500 marines, the hospitality of the City being as lavishly bestowed on the man before the mast as upon those who commanded him. Jack was the recipient of attentions of all sorts. He was invited to balls at which the elite of the City were present, and danced with him; he was taken on excursions to points of interest about the bay; a prize fight was gotten up for his delectation, and he was escorted in companies to the theaters and to see baseball contests. Nothing that could be thought of as contributing to his pleasure was omitted, and he responded by giving receptions on board the ships of the fleet which were visited by tens of thousands, and by brilliantly illuminating them, the electrical displays night after night being marvelously beautiful. Admiral Evans was in command of the fleet, it being the last great event of his active life. The expense of this profuse hospitality was borne by private subscription, the sum of $71,284 being raised for the purpose.
The movement down town and the rapid subjection of the ash heap was the excuse for the holding of a festival in 1909 which established the ability of the resurrected city to present a pageant rivaling in interest any ever given in Amer- ica. It was conducted under the auspices of the merchants who devoted much time and pains to make it epitomize allegorically and otherwise a period in the early history of California linked up with the discovery of the Bay of San Fran- cisco. It was called the Portola Festival in honor of Gaspar de Portola whose search for the Bay of Monterey resulted in the finding of a harbor far more im- portant than the one he was in quest of, and which he came near overlooking in his wanderings from San Diego northward in 1769. The celebration was a suc- cessful exhibition of the restored energy of the City, and its growing ability to turn its attention from the engrossing work of clearing away debris and other tasks of restoration to the lighter affairs of life. The description of the floats and decorations in the daily papers read like the accounts of "the joyous entry" and other pageants described in the history of the Netherlands. A descendant of the early Spaniards, Nick Covarrubias, personated the explorer in the procession, and Vergilia Bogue was selected out of some two thousand competitors as worthiest to be the queen of the occasion. The festival lasted five days and embraced day- light parades and night processions of illuminated floats. The latter were all designed by clever artists and admirably illustrated the history of the state, es- pecially that of the earlier period. It was estimated that over a half a million people were drawn to the City to see the pageant, the presentation of which cost
Portola Pageant and Festival
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the citizens instrumental in its promotion over $150,000. Among the items of expenditure were $40,447 for lighting and decorating; $25,166 for parades and floats; $8,851 for music; $8,008 for athletic sports and $6,938 for entertainments. The celebration was devised for the specific purpose of attracting attention to the City, and with the view of promoting the interests of those who contributed to the fund required for carrying it out, but it proved fully as successful as if the motives inspiring were as elevated as those which prompt receptions to heroes, or those prepared for the gratification of kings.
Celebrating Arrival of the New Year
Several years before the great disaster the practice of celebrating New Year's Eve by parading on Market street was inaugurated in the City. There was a con- siderable interval between the cessation of the ancient practice of New Year's calls, and its attendant hospitality, and the development of the spontaneously intro- duced public demonstration, which, without organization, has grown to such pro- portions that practically the whole City participates in the annual custom of wel- coming the incoming year. After the fire Market street was not in a condition to at once resume the festivities, but when at length the restoration was complete enough to permit the annual demonstration on that thoroughfare it was accom- panied by such manifestations of joy, and felicitations over the return to the "old street" that color was lent to the assumption that the community is permeated with sentimentality. On every New Year's Eve since dense throngs have over- flowed the sidewalks and invaded the streets making the movement of cars for any other purpose than that of affording an opportunity to witness the spectacle of the noisy celebrants something of a mockery. The quantities of confetti con- sumed on these occasions are enormous. The best of humor usually prevails, but rowdyish tendencies sometimes assert themselves, and the entire police force is required to restrain the exuberance of the moving masses, some of which resort to other methods of getting rid of their surplus energies than by blowing horns, ringing bells, creaking rattles and throwing colored paper. The leading restau- rants have such a run of patronage that they require the reservation of seats, based on a strictly cash consideration which involves the necessity of expending a minimum amount for entertainment. Occasionally the scenes in these restaurants transcend the bounds of decorum, and some color is given to the claim that San Francisco resembles Paris, by impromptu dances on tables and other departures from the strict rules usually governing those establishments. No statistics are available, but there is a popular impression that enough champagne is consumed to float a ship if there was a desire to put it to that use rather than the more con- vivial one to which it is applied when San Francisco welcomes the New Year.
There is one feature of San Francisco life which has earned for the City the reputation of being provincial. It has always shown an excessive desire to con- vince the outside world that it is hospitable, and sometimes puts forward its claim to be so regarded in a fashion that suggests the artless self appreciation of the "three little maids" in the "Mikado." This desire has even touched the people whose business it is to dispense hospitality for a consideration. It is worthy of record that no attempt has ever been made "to despoil the stranger within its gates." On the numerous occasions of the invasion of the City by visitors in large numbers, restaurants and hotels have maintained their usual charges. The con- veniences of the establishment may be lessened by the extraordinary draft made on its resources on such occasions, but the prices remain the same. Investigations
Exhibitions of Hospitality
CLAUS SPRECKELS BUILDING Home of the San Francisco Call
HEARST BUILDING Home of the San Francisco Examiner SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE BUILDING
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have been made by the local press at different times to determine whether this claim is well founded, and they have invariably resulted in the disclosure that there is a genuine effort to live up to the City's reputation for hospitality. An- other charge of provincialism sometimes brought against the City is its tendency to make much of distinguished visitors. The great ovation tendered to Grant on his arrival in San Francisco after completing his "around the world" tour has been re- ferred to, and might be supplemented with accounts of the reception accorded presi- dents of the United States when they have visited us as they have occasionally during recent years. The number of these visits can be tabbed off on one hand. The first was that of Benjamin Harrison. Later William Mckinley conceived the desire to realize the extent of the nation over which he presided, and during his first term Theodore Roosevelt journeyed across the continent to see and be seen of the people. The latter availed themselves of the opportunity to the fullest extent, and no Roman emperor who deigned to visit his subjects in cities remote from his capital was ever received with greater demonstrations of interest and pleasure than were the presi- dents who traveled thousands of miles to get in touch with their fellow citizens on the remote Pacific coast.
Statistically considered San Francisco may be said to have realized the boast- full proclamation on her great seal, which shows the fabled Phoenix rising from its ashes, before the close of 1912, but there were at that time still many unsolved problems, and much to be done. The units composing the community had done their part, but the people acting in their collective capacity had not performed as well as the individuals. The latter have to their credit all the achievements, while the story of the efforts of the municipality to restore itself to its former estate is filled with instances of failure and incapacity. As late as September 4, 1912, the representatives of the down town merchants appeared before a commit- tee of the board of supervisors to complain of the wretched condition of many of the streets in their district. The spokesman of the board, Supervisor Giannini, made no attempt to excuse. He admitted that money had been wasted. Nine and a half millions, he said, had been expended since the fire in an attempt to put the streets in order. The cause of the failure of this large amount of money to ac- complish satisfactory results he attributed to "muddle headed incompetents." When the administration to which he belonged came into power, he declared, the City was served by "subordinates who were the worst kind of grafters. They grafted time, they pinched the good will of the people, they peculated the municipal trust and burglarized the City's mandate." He promised that within a year every street in the City would be in a presentable condition. Whether the promise will be re- deemed the future will disclose. There were sceptics who listened to him who did not hesitate to express the belief that the restraints placed upon the energetic by hampering charter conditions would indefinitely postpone the desired result. The municipality was called upon to restore many miles of streets absolutely destroyed by the fire. Along many thoroughfares the curbing of granite was spalled in such a fashion as to necessitate its replacement by the property owner, and the basaltic blocks in many cases, owing to neglect, were so uneven as almost to make travel over them impossible. Much of the nine and a half millions was wasted in patching these stone block pavements which speedily became as uneven as before the alleged repairs were made. The bituminous rock covered streets were in a still worse condition. Market street for a time was constantly being patched, the corrupt
Condition of Thorough- fares After 1906
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officials superintending street improvements permitting contractors to work over the bitumen. Under the Taylor regime this trouble was remedied by the City se- curing a street surfacing plant and insisting upon the use of fresh material. The result was apparent in the greatly improved condition of Market street and other thoroughfares, which, however, were subjected to constant disturbance by public service corporations and by the board of works.
The difficulties arising out of the operation of the constitutional provision par- mitting water companies and corporations supplying illuminants to open the streets at will resulted in the adoption of an amendment to the charter which gives the municipality the power to compel the observance of its regulations in the matter of restoration if it chooses to exercise it, but the failure to employ the means at its command to rectify other abuses suggest the possibility that no more rigor will be displayed than formerly. There are ordinances requiring the maintenance of sidewalks of prescribed materials which have been utterly disregarded since 1906. In the down town district streets stretches of sidewalk may be seen rudely covered with boards. No attempt is made to compel compliance with the ordinances, and in many cases the City is itself an offender. There was a reasonable excuse for not pressing property owners during the first years after the conflagration, but the failure to enforce the ordinances after five years of grace is inflicting a distinct hardship on those citizens who have put their sidewalks in passable condition. Much had yet to be done in 1912 to improve this state of affairs. Although eye- sores of the sort indicated were numerous, a movement for the beautification of the City was in progress which took no note of this defect, nor of another equally serious which militated against any successful attempt to keep the thoroughfares in the residential districts in a presentable condition. The frequency of elections has resulted in imposing a nearly permanent infliction in the shape of shacks which serve as election booths. These unsightly structures are left standing month after month and mar the appearance of streets which otherwise would have some claims to be considered attractive. The tolerance of the overhead wire was another ob- stacle to the accomplishment of this object. A movement to compel the telegraph and telephone, and the companies supplying electric current to put their wires underground was inaugurated by the Merchants' Association in the first years of its existence, but comparatively little success was achieved. The obnoxious poles were removed from a few streets, and conduits were provided, but the municipality proved a laggard, and in some of the busiest quarters of the City maintained unsightly sticks scarcely deserving the name of poles to carry its fire alarm wires. In the clos- ing days of Ruef's bossism he sought to secure a franchise for laying a conduit which would accommodate the wires of all comers, but public outcry against what was regarded as a palpable job caused him to retreat from his purpose. To make his proposal attractive he offered to give the City the free use of the improvement. The latest phase of the overhead wire nuisance discussion was the enlistment of the owners of property against its abatement. An effort to clear Geary street of such obstruction was antagonized in September, 1912, by property holders on the ground that it would compel them to incur unnecessary expense to connect their houses with the conduits if they were laid. The apparent disposition of the su- pervisors to listen to the protesting householders, and the attitude of the latter indicated that much eductional work was still to be done before the entire com-
Streets Torn Up and Their Appearance Marred by Overhead Wires
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ACCEPTED DESIGN OF NEW CITY HALL (WEST ELEVATION) To be erected on Civic Center at a cost of $4,500,000
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munity could be depended upon to work harmoniously for a comprehensive plan to promote the beautification of the City.
That there was a pronounced desire to make the City attractive, and that the community stood ready to incur a serious expenditure to accomplish that object was shown by its action in authorizing an issue of bonds to the amount of $8,800,- 000 by the decisive vote of 45,129 to 4,035 for the purpose of acquiring the land for a civic center and to erect a city hall. The election for the purpose was held on March 28, 1912, and as soon as the result was known Mayor Rolph, who had announced his determination to expedite the building of the new municipal edi- fice, and the improvement of the selected site, immediately took steps to get both undertakings under way. Architects were invited to submit plans, the author of the accepted design to receive the first prize of $25,000, and to be engaged by the board of public works as the city hall architect to superintend its construc- tion, and to be paid for his services in accordance with the minimum schedule of the American Institute of Architects. The sum of $20,000 was allowed for sec- ondary prizes, and the twenty whose designs were adjudged next in merit to that of the prize winner were to receive $1,000 each. There were numerous competi- tors, many of their designs having exceptional merit. The award of the first prize was made to Bakewell & Brown, a local firm. The sketches of the elevations of the projected building present a dignified appearance, and the dispositions of the space promise a structure which will meet the requirements of municipal officials. The sum of $3,500,000 was to be devoted to construction, but there were early in- dications that it would be necessary to exceed this amount to secure all that is de- sired. It was at first designed that the new city hall should occupy that part of the Civic Center formerly covered by the municipal building destroyed in 1906, but it was subsequently decided that more effective results could be secured by erecting it nearer to Van Ness avenue, which will form the western boundary of the City's show place.
The plans for the Civic Center embraced a broad opening from Market street, between Marshall square and McAllister street on the axis of Fulton street ex- tended. It was also designed to extend Leavenworth and Hyde streets through to Market, this latter purpose to be accomplished by the creation of an assessment district. The land in the blocks which were to be acquired embraced 108 parcels in the possession of 172 persons, some of them were disposed to drive a hard bar- gain with the City but the majority of the owners showed a disposition to come to an agreement on reasonable terms. The Mechanics' institute, the owner of one of the blocks embraced in the new center, consented to accept $700,000 for its holding, although its estimated value was $1,000,000. Condemnation proceed- ings were instituted against properties whose owners valued them too highly. The plans of the architectural commission provide for the erection on the new cen- ter, which embraces six full city blocks, in addition to the site of the former city hall, a triangular piece of ground the equivalent of three blocks, of an opera house, an auditorium, a public library, an art museum, a state building and a city hall. The latter was assured by the authorization to issue bonds; the exposition com- mittee was under agreement to erect an auditorium to cost $1,000,000 and the music lovers of the City by subscription were to raise $750,000 or a greater sum, to con- struct a modern opera house or academy of music. The public library which had renewed its collection of books was the possessor of a fine site which it occupied
New City Hall Projected
Plans for the Civic Center
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on Van Ness avenue, but it was proposed to sell this and locate on the Center. Andrew Carnegie had offered to provide $750,000 to be used in the construction of a library building some years before the fire, but the acceptance of the gift was strongly antagonized by the trades union element of the City; the trustees however, were nearly a unit in favor of the acceptance of the offer. The question of funds for this building was to have been settled at an election to be held in November, when several charter amendments, and other propositions were to be submitted to the people.
Boundaries of the Civic Center
The establishment of a Civic Center gave to the City a new open space in what before the fire was the population center of San Francisco, the census bureau by its system of determining such matters having arbitrarily decided that it was at the corner of McAllister and Larkin streets. As the space between the public buildings projected will be parked, and otherwise adorned, there will be a down town breathing space. The climatic conditions of San Francisco make the need of such places less imperative than at the East where stifling heat compels the in- habitants of cities to seek open spots during the summer months, but there was a consensus of opinion that the center would prove a decided acquisition as a spot for great civic functions. The boundaries of the new site are irregular. There are four blocks between Golden Gate avenue on the north and Hayes on the south, and two fronting on Van Ness avenue between McAllister and Grove streets. In addition the triangular piece bounded by McAllister, Larkin streets and City Hall avenue forms part of the site, together with several corners cut off from blocks on streets which enter the Civic Center in order to form vistas.
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