San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume II, Part 66

Author: Young, John Philip, 1849-1921
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Pub. Co
Number of Pages: 738

USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume II > Part 66

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).

The account of the transportation facilities of the City in 1912 may be rounded out with some interesting details of the operation and extent of the roadway of the United Railroads furnished by Thorndyke Mullally. The operating expenses in 1911 aggregated $5,000,000. The number of fares collected was 157,279,054, and 66,532,000 availed themselves of the transfer privileges of the company. The

TETRAZZINI MEMORIAL BEING PLACED ON THE LOTTA FOUNTAIN BY SUPERVISORS

925

SAN FRANCISCO

company at the beginning of 1912 operated 264 miles of single track, including the line to San Mateo. The average number of persons transported daily was 600,000, and 140,000 of these were carried between 4 and 6 p. m. At the time of the report the company was using 600 cars which traveled over 60,000 miles daily, requiring 1,800 platform men to run them. To run these cars it required the equivalent of 35,000 horse power, or reduced to electric terms 100,000,000 of kilowatt hours. The transbay traffic likewise furnished abundant evidence of the expansion of the metropolitan area. In 1911 the Southern Pacific on its Oakland and Alameda ferries carried 18,133,396 passengers; the Key Route 13,383,656; Western Pa- cific to Oakland, 83,165; the Santa Fe to Richmond, 244,369, and the Northwestern Pacific to Sansalito, 5,316,815. These figures of transbay traffic convey some idea of the rapid development of the region about the bay, but the story is far more emphatically told in the budget account of the City of Oakland which aggregated $2,732,752 when the city council fixed the tax rate at $1.98 on the 28th of August, 1911, the assessed valuation of the City at that time being $116,000,000. The Oaklander sometimes resents having his city considered an adjunct of San Francisco, and when he contemplates the great growth made by the community in which he lives in the short span of a life he is often inclined to assume that it may outstrip San Francisco in importance. The growth of population, however, is not the determining factor in these matters. The modern tendency of business is to converge towards the center while the people distribute themselves over con- stantly widening areas. San Francisco is not peculiar in that regard. The fact that the business center of a city is separated by water from a large part of the territory inhabited by those who are identified directly or indirectly with its interests can- not militate against its advancement, nor can arbitrary political subdivisions impede its growth. The fortunes of all those living about the bay are bound together, and the prosperity of one part is not at the expense of the remainder. In the census of 1910 the enumerators included within the area of the metropolitan district of San Francisco 686,873 people, 416,912 of whom live in the City, 150,174 in Oak- land, 40,434 in Berkeley, 23,833 in Alameda, 6,802 in Richmond and 5,934 in San Rafael. These constitute a homogeneous people, the most of whom when they go abroad style themselves San Franciscans, and are proud to hail from the Pacific coast metropolis.

The solidarity of these growing communities is shown by the hearty accord in which they enter upon a project for the common good. Political and personal in- terests may interfere for a time in carrying out the sentimental idea of making them politically as well as actually a Greater San Francisco, but it does not operate adversely when such enterprises as the Panama Pacific Exposition are being pro- moted. The suggestion that such an exhibition should be held in this City was made by R. B. Hale in January, 1904, in a communication to the Merchants Associa- tion. In January, 1906, Representative Julius Kahn introduced a bill in the house asking the appointment of a Government Commission, and an appropria- tion of $5,000,000 on condition that a like sum be raised in San Francisco. An Eastern paper at that time commenting upon the measure which had for its his- torical excuse the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the Pacific ocean by Balboa incidentally expressed the hope that the opening of the Panama Canal would also be commemorated, and the idea was promptly embraced by those who were giving the matter attention. The fire of April, 1906, diverted the minds of

Panama- Pacific Exposition Idea Broached in 1904

926

SAN FRANCISCO

San Franciscans from the contemplated exposition for a time, but in January, 1907, a bill was introduced in the legislature and passed by that body formally recogniz- ing the Pacific Ocean Exposition Company, articles of incorporation for which had been filed on December 10, 1906. Regular meetings were held during 1906, 1907, 1908 and 1909, and in November of the latter year a resolution was reached to form a ways and means committee of two hundred citizens which practically resolved itself into a mass meeting which took place in the Merchants' Exchange

on the 7th of December, 1909. On the 29th of the month the Committee of Ways and Means met and appointed a committee of thirty to take charge and on March 22, 1910, the Panama Pacific International Exposition Company was incorpor- ated with these thirty as directors. On the 29th of April following, a mass meet- ing was called for the purpose of publicly receiving and announcing subscriptions. Forty public spirited citizens headed the list with subscriptions of $25,000 each, and at the end of two hours $4,000,000 was subscribed.

Although the idea of holding an exposition to signalize the opening of the canal and to celebrate the discovery of the Pacific was first mooted in San Fran- cisco its claims were antagonized by New Orleans whose representatives demanded that the Crescent City be designated as the Exposition City .. This rivalry resulted in a spirited contest in which the press of the entire country participated. The principal argument advanced in favor of New Orleans was that it was "the logical point" for holding such a celebration. Its geographical location, it was held, would make it easily accessible to many more millions than could be induced to visit San Francisco, but the unfortunate experience of the Jamestown and other exhibi- tions held in the South weakened the force of the assumption that propinquity to great populations was the determining factor in promoting the success of inter- national expositions. San Francisco relied upon the priority of her claim, and on the fact that she would be able to devote a sum of money, which New Orleans could not hope to match, to making the undertaking a success that would reflect credit on the nation. Armed with the authorization by the legislature to raise $5,000,000 by a general state tax, and another permitting San Francisco to raise $5,000,000 by issuing bonds to that amount, and $5,000,000 subscriptions by citi- zens of the City, a body of men representing the Exposition Company and the people of California went to Washington and after an arduous campaign which engrossed the attention of the whole country congress on the 31st of January, 1911, passed a resolution authorizing the president, when certain conditions had been complied with, to invite the world to the exposition at San Francisco in 1915.

The question of location being settled, the determination of the site occupied the attention of the directory. There was considerable division of opinion, but the community generally inclined to the belief that Golden Gate park was in every way more suitable for the purpose than any of the other places suggested, being largely influenced by the desire to secure some benefits of an enduring nature for the vast sums to be expended. The directory after a prolonged controversy settled the point adversely by selecting the North Beach site which was largely composed of submerged lands in private ownership, the filling in of which required the ex- penditure of a large sum of money, and was still in progress in the closing days of the year 1912. It was asserted by the engineer of the exposition and representa- tives of the directory that the process of making a site in no wise interfered with the preparations for building, and that the exposition would open promptly in

Scope of Panama- Pacific Exposition

Contest for Privilege of Celebrating Opening of Panama Canal

926

SAN FRANCISCO

Although the idea of holding an exposition to signalize the opening of the canal and to celebrate the discovery of the Pacific was first mooted in San Fran- cisco its claims were antagonized by New Orleans whose representatives demanded that the Crescent City be designated as the Exposition City. This rivalry resulted in a spirited contest in which the press of the entire country participated. The principal argument advanced in favor of New Orleans was that it was "the logical point" for holding such a celebration. Its geographical location, it was held, would make it easily accessible to many more millions than could be induced to visit San Francisco, but the unfortunate experience of the Jamestown and other exhibi- tions held in the South weakened the force of the assumption that propinquity to great populations was the determining factor in promoting the success of inter- national expositions. San Francisco relied upon the priority of her claim, and on the fact that she would be able to devote a sum of money, which New Orleans could not hope to match, to making the undertaking a success that would reflect credit on the nation. Armed with the authorization by the legislature to raise $5,000,000 by a general state tax, and another permitting San Francisco to raise $5,000,000 by issuing bonds to that amount, and $5,000,000 subscriptions by citi- zens of the City, a body of men representing the Exposition Company and the people of California went to Washington and after an ardnous campaign which engrossed the attention of the whole country congress on the 31st of January, 1911, passed a resolution authorizing the president, when certain conditions had been complied with, to invite the world to the exposition at San Francisco in 1915.

Scope of Panama- Pacific Exposition

Contest for Privilege of Celebrating Opening of Panama Canal

QUENTIN

RICHMOND

60 MIL VALLEY!

IO CENTS

TIBURON

SAUSALITO -

'FORT POINT

PIEDMONT

CLIFF

CHRONICALE w- BLD6.

ALAMEDA

40 40

MELROSE

5 CENTS

CITY LIMITS

5 MILES

BADEN

- 10 MILES

SAN BRUNO

ROCK

10 CENTS

BURLINGAME

80) MONTARA

SAN MATEO

MAP SHOWING INTERVALS OF TIME REQUIRED TO REACH POINTS IN SAN FRANCISCO AND THE METROPOLITAN AREA. BY TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES EXISTING IN 1912

Figures in heavy black lines indicate street car nnd ferry commutation rates, Figures in circles show the number of minutes from Chronicle building, the central point selected by transportation expert Bion Arnold

OAKLAND

HOUSE

G.G. PARK,

...

FERRY

SAN FRANCISCO

BAY

MILLBRAE

-15 MILES

927

SAN FRANCISCO

1915 on the day named. The architectural scheme was worked out by a corps of architects headed by Willis Polk, and in the early part of September, 1912, sketches of some of the more important buildings were published in the daily press. The dominating feature of the exposition from the view point of the architects will be the tower of the Administration building, 425 feet high, flanked by the gilded domes, towers and minarets of the remaining buildings of the group. The largest buildings in the exposition were to be the Palace of Agriculture, covering in two sec- tions a floor area of 680,000 square feet. The other buildings are to correspond in magnitude. Before the close of 1912 many foreign nations had accepted the in- vitation of the government to exhibit and had chosen sites for their buildings. Japan was among the foremost and announced her intention of expending a million dollars in making her exhibit. Most of the states of the Union had also selected sites and in many cases their legislatures have made large appropriations for rep- resentation. It was estimated that the expenditures for the exposition would exceed those of any previous undertaking of a similar nature, and the hope was generally entertained that in many respects it would prove the most noteworthy exposition of modern times.

While the object of promoting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition was admittedly the same as that which influenced the holding of similar exhibitions of the world's progress it was thought by San Francisco that the event to be cele- brated, and its ensuing results would make it unique. Other expositions held in the United States were merely designed to commemorate events of the past; the Panama-Pacific Exposition will celebrate the accomplishment of the greatest en- gineering feat of all times, which is expected to effect revolutionary changes in the world's commerce. This may be called the universal view, but San Franciscans and Californians generally considered the subject in relation to their own destiny and believe that the result of the opening of the canal will be to fill the vast area of the state with a population great enough to develop its varied resources. Hitherto the remoteness of California from the countries from whence the states on the East- ern seaboard have derived their immigrants has resulted in hindering rapid develop- ment. It was believed by those who enthusiastically supported the enterprise that with cheap steamship rates from Europe, which will permit emigrants to California to embark at their home ports and debark at San Francisco without change, would provide the necessary supply of labor to develop the soil, and that of a sort which would be assimilable and produce ideal communities of thrifty small farmers and horticulturists. It is this point of view which prevented Californians and San Franciscans particularly in 1912 from regarding with apprehension the assumed after effects of an exposition. They believed that a revolution in conditions would be accomplished by the state securing a population whose numbers will bring it closer in point of density to the Eastern commonwealths, and that the future growth which such an accession will promote must enormously increase the importance of San Francisco as a distributing center.

Confidence in that result has inspired comprehensive plans for the improvement of the harbor. The Harbor Commission promptly resumed its activities after the fire and with the aid of a local commission outlined a scheme of development, based on the assumption that in 1927 facilities would have to be provided for handling not less than 13,000,000 tons of shipping annually. Tbis it was estimated would require sixty wharves aggregating 600 feet in length, and abont 21,000 linear feet of sea

Conjectured Effects of Opening of Panama Canal

Projected Water Front Improvements

928

SAN FRANCISCO

wall. At the time this estimate was made in 1907 there were 31 wharves, but the construction of these was of such a character that at least 19 would have to be rebuilt to meet modern requirements changed by the rapid increase of the size of ships. At that time the state had constructed 9,803 feet of sea wall and over an ad- ditional 1,000 feet had been contracted for and was being built. This left 11,000 feet of sea wall to be still provided for at an approximate cost of $2,160,000; the 48 wharves would involve an expenditure of $7,200,000 and the purchase of land necessary to carry out the Islais creek improvements, extension of the belt road and dredging would bring the total demand for a water front betterment to nearly eleven millions. A statement made by the president of the Harbor Commission in December, 1911, gave the number of wharves at 26, many of which had been built with difficulty in soft mud. Of these 17 had concrete piles, and nine were of wood; but he added that only five of the concrete docks were good, and characterized the other 12 as "from fair to bad." How much of this adverse criticism was due to a discovery of actual conditions, or a deliberate purpose to expose the bad methods of the past the future will disclose. He declared that the harbor board over which he presided had necessarily been forced to adopt the policy of maintaining old wharves as long as possible in order not to disturb commerce, but that arrangements were in progress to construct eight new piers, two to be 800 feet long and 200 feet wide, and that important extensions of the ferry slips were being provided for, together with additions to the Ferry building on the north and south. The belt rail- road was to be carried across Market street so that cars could be switched from one end of the water front to the other and tracks were to be laid on all the piers. To this outline of plans he added that the governor had approved the intention of the commission to expend all the proceeds of the $9,000,000 bond issue authorized at the election in 1910 during his term of office, so that the present generation should get the benefit of the improvements.

This programme was in a fair way of being interrupted owing to the unforeseen rise in interest rates which rendered the marketing of four per cent bonds of the State of California a difficult matter. The signs indicated that the requirement that bonds shall not be sold at less than par will have to be modified by the people unless there is a reversal of the tendency of interest rates to rise, which was very pronounced in 1912. The first issue of bonds under the $9,000,000 loan sold at a premium, but the second offering made in the fall of 1912 was marketed with much difficulty and the financing of the projected improvements without additional legislation did not seem bright. This condition of affairs, and the fact that the legislature of 1911 had given the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego control of their respective water fronts prompted a movement in San Francisco which had for its object the taking over by the municipality of the facilities of the port with the view of administering the same, but it was at once opposed by the harbor commissioners who took the ground that they were going to administer the affairs of the harbor in such a fashion that there would be no ground for com- plaint. That there was abundant cause for fault finding in the past every one conceded. A statement of the cost of administration between 1863 and 1906 showed that $21,350,796 had been expended, all of which was derived from shipping making use of the facilities of the port. Despite the source of the in- come, when the people of San Francisco, recognizing the capacity of the political machine to absorb all the revenues of the port in its mere upkeep, without pro-

City Moves to Obtain Control of Its Water Front

MEETING OF CITIZENS IN MERCHANTS' EXCHANGE TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS FOR HOLDING OF PANAMA- PACIFIC EXPOSITION IN 1915

929

SAN FRANCISCO

viding betterments, and desiring to secure a much needed ferry building, proposed resorting to bonding for that object, the proposition was antagonized, 91,- 296 voting to permit and 90,430 citizens, the latter principally living in sections of the state remote from San Francisco, recording themselves as against grant- ing the privilege of making the needed improvements. This was in 1892. After that date there was a somewhat better understanding of the relations of the state to the port. Voters learned that the revenues of the harbor met all the interest charges, and that the commonwealth was not directly affected by the administra- tion of its affairs, and that the only motive for retention of state control was the desire of some to perpetuate a political machine. In November, 1900, when the proposition was submitted authorizing the issuance of the $9,000,000 of bonds less than 172,000 persons voted on the measure out of a total of 385,607 who cast their ballots for state officers. Although the measure carried, 41,831 voted against it, and on the proposition to purchase the India Basin lands at a cost of a million dollars the vote was 103,051 for and 65,897 against.

Observation of this continued antagonism and the other causes described re- sulted, as stated, in the movement for the acquirement of control by the City of its own water front. It did not appear probable at the close of 1912 that the movement for control would be crowned with immediate success. The pronounced attitude of hostility assumed by the Harbor Commission was regarded as fore- shadowing the position that would be taken by the state administration which despite its reform pretensions had filled the positions on the harbor front with its adherents, turning out former employes to make places for them. Neverthe- less there was an abiding faith that the justice of the demand would sooner or later make itself felt, and that the privilege of controlling its shipping facilities would be accorded to San Francisco as it had been to Los Angeles and to San Diego. According to the showing made by the Harbor Commission appointed by Governor Johnson it would have been impossible for the City to have ad- ministered the affairs of the port as extravagantly and as inefficiently as their predecessors, and there was no reason for hoping that their successors would improve upon the past. About the ability of the City to carry on the business of the port advantageously there can be no doubt. Hitherto those most inter- ested in securing reasonable port charges have had little influence with state administrations which have carried on the affairs of the harbor with an eye single to advancing the political interests of parties. The citizens committee which undertook the investigation of the question of the improvements needed to bring the port up to the highest standard of efficiency mapped out a programme which will require the expenditure of vast sums in the future, and it is essential to its successful prosecution that the City should not be hampered. To make the harbor thoroughly effective they estimated that improvements would have to be made which would incur an outlay of at least $43,000,000, which when completed and added to those already in existence would represent a sound value in water front property including wharves, seawall, ferry building, belt railroad and real estate of fully $53,000,000. With all the improvements provided for in these estimates the commission figured that 30,000,000 of shipping tonnage could be properly accommodated. The amount of the investment required to produce this result while apparently very great they showed would be slight by com- parison with those being made by other communities, seventeen foreign ports

Plans for Improvement of Water Freut

930

SAN FRANCISCO

cited by them having required $774,000,000 to bring them to their present state, which was continually being improved by large annual outlays for that purpose.

Revenues and Adminis- tration of Affairs of the Port

The quantity of freight handled over the wharves of San Francisco during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1909, was 6,325,000 tons and during the ensu- ing fiscal year there was an increase of about 81/2 per cent., the total for the year ending June 30, 1910, being 6,866,000 tons. The increase between the later date and 1894-95 was 84 per cent., the quantity in the earlier year being 3,729,000 tons. Between 1863 and 1910 the average ratios of admin- istration expenses to revenue was 21.38 per cent. Between 1908 and 1910 it was 20.47 and 18.25 per cent. In some years between 1863 and 1910 the ratio of administration expenses rose to 38 per cent. of the total revenues collected. These wide fluctuations and the notorious fact that under state supervision the selection of employes had been made with especial reference to their value for political purposes rather than fitness for the positions they filled inclined most observers to the belief that large savings could be made if a better system and rigid civil service rules were adopted. The revenues of the port in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1910, aggregated $1,637,949.19, part of which, however, was derived from advance rentals, leaving a net income of $1,042,109.79 for the twelve months. This latter amount was made up as follows: Dockage, $209,- 788.20; tolls, $343,307.39; wharfage, $7,184.73; rentals, $321,943.18; belt road, $132,228.00; minor privileges, $27,558.29. The expenditures were grouped under the following headings: Administration salaries, $29,618.65; collection of revenue, $63,290.30; expenses, stationery, printing, etc., $43,822.83; cleaning wharves, bulk- heads, etc., $34,989.56; state tugs, $52,219.59; belt railroad maintenance and oper- ation, $88,335.51; electric lighting, $32,548.34; upkeep of ferry (Union depot), $42,209.14; legal expenses, $968.49; total, $388,002.41. This left available for dredging, construction, repairs, sinking fund and interest the sum of $654,107.38. The revenues of the port may be greatly increased in the future without making the burdens of shipping onerous, and the expenditures, if efficiency is secured, will result in relatively diminishing the cost of administration. A great saving will also be effected by departing from the custom which prevailed almost from the beginning of the Harbor Commission's operations of erecting flimsy structures, destitute of the elements of permanency. The greater part of the money expended on repairs and reconstruction during many years was wasted, owing to adherence to this course, which was departed from in a measure during the four years preceding the accession of the board in charge in 1912 by the erection of a substantial type of pier and sheds.

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.

San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume II, Part 66

Author: Young, John Philip, 1849-1921 Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Pub. Co Number of Pages: 738

Author: Young, John Philip, 1849-1921
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Pub. Co
Number of Pages: 738