SAN FRANCISCO. to meet which a sinking fund exists, the city is The charter under absolutely free from debt. which the municipality is now governed is as rigidly drawn as the act it displaced, limiting the rate of taxation for ordinary municipal purposes to 1 per cent. on the assessed valuation of all property. An extra tax may be levied to meet unusual requirements, and there is a comprehensive license system. The assessed value of all property on March 1, 1904, was $502,000,000. The expenditures provided for in the budget of 1904 aggregated $6,299,388, the chief items being: Public schools, $1,385,617; police, $1,047,053; fire department, $943,603; general government, $900.347; health department, $419,035; highways, $506,735; park fund, $349,339; charities and corrections, $484,409. It has been found in practice, however, that very little is spared for permanent improvements from the ordinary revenues. There is an active movement in San Francisco looking to the acquisition of a municipal water system, the present supply being derived from a private corporation's reservoirs on the peninsula. The project contemplates the bringing of a larger supply from the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the cost will probably reach $25,000,000. A two-thirds vote of the people is required to authorize a bond issue. In addition to the safeguards mentioned, the charter has created a civil service system based on merit, and it places great power in the hands of the mayor, who by his veto, which can be overridden only by a five-sixth vote of the board of supervisors, can prevent the adoption of separate items in the budget. He is also endowed with an extensive appointing power and the right to remove his own appointees, but the courts have curtailed the latter. The board of public works is an appointive body and has control of streets, sewers, buildings, and all public improvements. POPULATION. San Francisco has grown very rapidly. The population in 1860 was 56,802; in 1870, 149,473; in 1880, 233,959; in 1890, 298,997; in 1900, 342,782. One-third of the population in 1900 was of foreign birth. Of these the Germans numbered 35,194; Irish, 18,963; English, Scotch, and Welsh, 12,342; Italians, 7508; and Chinese, 13,954. The Chinese live in a distinct quarter, which has taken on many of the characteristics of their native land. This quarter, known as 'Chinatown,' is freely visited by strangers, who are attracted by its Oriental aspect. There has been a great diminution in the number of Chinese in recent years, owing to the operaIn 1890 there were tion of the Exclusion Act. 25,833 enumerated. Though this class of Orientals is diminishing, Japanese are coming in rapidly. They aggregate several thousand already, but, unlike the Chinese, they do not segregate themselves. The population by Federal estimate June, 1904, was 360,298. HISTORY. The first settlement in this locality was made on October 9, 1776, when two Franciscan monks, Palou and Cambon, established here an Indian mission, which they called San Francisco de Asisi, the name San Francisco having been previously given (in 1769) to the bay. About this mission, after the Mexicans secured control of California in 1822, a small The mission village called Dolores grew up. itself prospered until 1834, when it was secularized, and in few years thereafter little re a mained but the adobe buildings. In 1836, near San Francisco was incorporated in Consult: Soule and others, The Annals of San Francisco (New York, 1855), for a graphic con temporary account of conditions during the pe riod of excitement over the discovery of gold; also Royce, California (Boston, 1886); San Fran cisco and Its Resources (Denver, 1893); and a chapter in Powell (ed.), Historic Towns of the Western States (New York, 1901). An inlet of the SAN FRANCISCO BAY. Pacific Ocean indenting the coast of California (Map: California, B 3). It is 42 miles long and from 5 to 12 miles wide, and runs nearly parallel with the coast, being separated from the ocean by a peninsula 7 miles wide, at the north end of which is the city of San Francisco. North of the city the Golden Gate, a passage one mile wide and 4 miles long, connects the bay with the ocean. San Francisco Bay is a beautiful sheet of water completely shut in by wooded mountains 1000 to over 2000 feet high. The water is generally shallow far out from the shores, but the Golden Gate and the part of the bay adjoining San Francisco as well as a central channel running through its whole length have a depth of 30 to over 100 feet. On the north the bay communicates with the Bay of San Pablo, which is of circular form with a diameter of 10 miles, and which further communicates through the Straits of Karquines with Suison Bay. The latter receives the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, so that the drainage of the entire western slope of the Sierra Nevada passes out through the Golden Gate. SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE. At 5.13 o'clock on the morning of April 18, 1906, the people of San Francisco and a very large district along the adjacent Pacific Coast were awakened by the first tremors of an earthquake. Light shocks are not uncommon in California, but in this case the movements became unusually violent in many localities and the ground rocked and swayed to such an extent that many buildings were wrecked, movable objects shifted, and occasionally animals were thrown violently to the ground. This was repeated a few minutes later and followed by comparatively slight shocks for several days. The area affected was at least 450 miles in length extending from Eureka in Humboldt County, to the southern extremity of Fresno County, and probably 50 miles wide at most points, and at many places the violence of the shock seems to have exceeded that felt in San Francisco, but, because of its density of population and subsequent disasters, the attention of the world was centred for several days on that city. The people, somewhat accustomed to slight disturbances of this kind, would soon have returned to their houses but for the repetition and attendant dangers. The streets were crowded with people whose sole thought at first seemed to be to reach more open and safe ground, or escape from the city entirely. The creaking walls, swaying chandeliers, and toppling chimneys lent a reality to the dangers of their vicinity that could not be disregarded. Observers on the ground noted that some of the walls of buildings had fallen, that the streets were more or less obstructed with fallen debris, that here and there the ground was distorted into miniature hillocks and hollows, and that occasionally cracks yawned at their feet. There is no doubt but that such damage would soon have been repaired and the dangers forgotten except for the more serious conditions that at once developed. With the destruction of the first shock a few fires were started in the lower part of the city. The fire department responded with confidence in their ability to control them, only to find that the earthquake had damaged the water mains to such extent that there was now no supply adequate to the unusual demands of the situation. With the fire department practically helpless the city was soon the scene of one of the most extensive and hopeless conflagrations of modern times. When the utter hopelessness of the situation became known a general exodus from the zone of more immediate danger began, which added immeasurably to the first confusion by reason of the efforts made to move the most highly prized personal effects. For three days this conflagration raged in the heart of the business section. By the end of the first day an area along Market Street as far as 10th street and from 4 to 6 blocks on each side had been destroyed by fire. With water from the bay and with the aid of the Navy a narrow belt along the water front was saved. Later on, by the 20th, salt water was used to fight the progress of the fire at greater distance through a mile of hose length. By the 21st and 22d the repairs upon the local water system began to give additional relief. On the 21st, as a result of extreme emergency measures, the fire was reported under control, and the rest of the city out of danger. It was estimated that half of the population spent the night of the 19th under the open sky in the parks and streets-200,000 people camped in Golden Gate Park and 50,000 in the Presidio Military Reservation. EMERGENCY MEASURES. The seriousness of the situation was grasped at once by the officials in whose hands lay the means of organizing relief and protection. General Funston, who was stationed at the Presidio, without waiting for orders from Washington, at once sent out detachments of troops to patrol the city. On the afternoon of the first day Mayor Schmitz called together over 40 of the leading men of the city to discuss measures for the emergency. This was announced as the Committee of Safety, also known as the Committee of Forty, and through it and its subcommittees and connections were carried out the measures that finally saved a part of the city and protected its people from famine and restored order. It was early appreciated that there must be strong-handed control and a systematic disregard of the usual rights of the individual in favor of the common good. The city was placed under martial rule. Rigid discipline was enforced. An officer's order or even a soldier's request became law and from it there was no appeal. Men on their way to safety were impressed for service in fighting the fire, or clearing the streets, or aiding the helpless. Conveyances were halted in their progress, no matter in what important private interests they were engaged and dispatched upon emergency errands for the public. Stocks of goods were confiscated and, under the emergency authorities, appropriated to the relief of those in most immediate need. Disobedience or even hesitation was in many cases visited with extreme harshness. The patrols were ordered to shoot vandals at sight. Under the excitement of the time and the confusion of the people, and the haste with which decision had to be made, as well as the inexperience of many of the patrol, it is not surprising that the bounds of strict justice were occasionally over-stepped. It is well recognized that the highest praise is due as a whole. In the earlier days there was occasional conflict of authority between the representatives of the different forces, but this was arranged on the 21st, by the division of the city into three districts, one each to be given to the city police, State, and Federal troops, and a plan of cooperation agreed upon. The failure of water forced a resort to destruction of buildings in order to remove the means of progress of the fire. Dynamite was used until the supply gave out and then artillery was employed to finish the work. A mile of buildings along Van Ness Avenue was blown up on the 19th. There was not a sound water main east of this line and later, after being driven from a most heroic stand at Knob Hill, it was decided to bombard everything east of Van Ness Avenue. Although the fires repeatedly crossed the lines thus drawn for them, yet it was chiefly by such measures, together with the reaching of a few more open spaces and a shifting of the wind, that they were finally brought under control. But by that time a third of the city had been laid in ruins, all of the business section had been destroyed, every one of the 44 banks was in the burned area, over $200,000,000 worth of buildings had been lost, and it was estimated that 250,000 people were homeless, many of them wholly ruined financially and reduced to hunger and absolute want. |