Alameda County, CA History

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://calarchives4u.com/

These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for 
profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations 
desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain
the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative 
of the submitter. All persons donating to this site retain the rights to their
own work.

Past and Present of Alameda County California
Joseph Baker, Editor, Volume I, Illustrated
Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company 1914 
 
CHAPTER XX
OAKLAND
(con't.)
 
        An immense dredger was at work in Alameda creek in the spring of 1886. 
Much of the debris was deposited in a reservoir which was formed by a bulk­head 
starting from the high land between Willow and Chestnut streets skirting the 
marsh and putting it to high land again at Oak street. The basin to the depth of 
six feet was filled. The discharge pipe was located at the edge of the high land 
and showed well the workings of the system. The discharge was almost the whole 
capacity of a twenty-inch pipe, and clay balls as big as a man's head, thick mud 
and large masses of sand were poured out at the rate of 300 tons of slickens 
every hour. In the fall of 1886, for the first time, iron girders and columns of 
Oakland manufacture were used here—in the Blake and Moffitt building at Broadway 
and Eighth streets. They were cast by the Judson Iron Works. This was the first 
introduction of California made iron for building purposes and the first 
castings made in Oakland for building purposes.
        In 1880 the receipts from the sale of stamps at the Oakland office were 
$28,844; in 1887 they were $59,844. In 1880 letters delivered by carriers were 
679,362, and in 1887 were 1,973,322. In February, 1888, a petition signed by 
2,163 voters of Oakland asked to have the northern boundary of the city extended 
so as to include. Alcatraz avenue and take in part of Fruitvale. The petition 
asked the council to call a special election to determine the question of 
annexation.
        By the last of March the Oakland Board of Trade, through lack of unity, 
ceased to be a representative body. The trial of a large directorate had proved 
unsatisfactory. Members had resisted the organization, the dues had fallen to a 
small sum and there was an indebtedness of $300. The public measures before the 
board, at this time, were (1) extension of city boundaries; (2) adoption of the 
new charter; (3) issuance of bonds; (4) build up manufacturing interests; (5) 
improvement of roads near the city; (6) liberal support to the California and 
Nevada railroad; (7) improvement of street railroad facilities; (8) new lines of 
railroads converging in this city. After much discussion a committee was 
appointed to consider all the status of affairs and report at a subsequent 
meeting. The board of trade was reorganized early in April, when fifty well 
known and prominent business men agreed each to pay $5 per month for one year in 
order to build up the organization. There was yet much dissatisfaction expressed 
concerning the question of incorporation. The new directors were V. D. Moody, F. 
K. Shattuck, S. Kahn, W. W. Camron, J. S. White, A. S. McDonald, R. M. 
Fitzgerald, F. J. Moffitt, J. L. Lyon, C. L. Taylor and E. F. Delger. The newly 
incorporated board of trade prepared to push the completion of the projected 
road into Contra Costa county. That county had already completed the road to its 
limits at a cost of about $5,000. C. M. Plumb was secretary of the board at this 
time.
        Uncle Joe Russell, the hermit of Richmond canyon, was found dying in his 
cabin in April, 1888, and was conveyed to the Receiving hospital in Oakland, 
where he breathed his last. He was once a partner of Mountain George, who was 
found dead in his cabin some time before this date.
        Upon retiring Mayor Davis, on April 1st, recited what his administration 
had accomplished: Maintenance of the high standing of the schools; sixty miles 
of macadamized streets; improvement of the mid-turn plazas; the merchants 
license was abandoned; a large appropriation for Oakland harbor; the question of 
city expansion had been well advanced, the new charter was ready for the people 
after months of labor by a citizens' committee of fifteen; the city ordinances 
were being codified; work on the boulevard around Lake Merritt had been 
commenced.
        Capt. W. R. Thomas, captain of the Oakland police department, was 
removed in April, 1888, and Capt. Peter Pumyea was appointed in his place. At a 
large public meeting held in Cameron hall on April 9th the council was severely 
criticised for this action, because no cause for the step had been given. The 
meeting in its resolutions said: "The City Council without just cause or 
provocation and entirely neglecting to make suitable investigation before 
performing so important an act, has arbitrarily removed William R. Thomas from 
the office of captain of police, and has appointed to succeed him a man who has 
been tried in the office and found lacking in the qualities to administer it 
properly; and that we regard the recent removal and appointment as political in 
character and as tending to make the department again a political machine and is 
thus a violation of the previous understanding; that the action of the council 
in its manner and circumstances constitutes a public outrage and we denounce the 
five councilmen who voted to perpetrate it and regard them as unfaithful to 
their trusts."
        The commission of freeholders were satisfied with the charter, but it 
was yet to be submitted to the citizens—the voters—and its fate was not certain 
nor clear. It was desirable that it should have the approval of the people 
generally of the city before being presented to the Legislature. But the 
proposed extension of the city boundary, it was agreed, should precede the 
adoption of a new charter and should be submitted at once to the voters. At this 
time the desire of the people for a progressive official policy which would put 
public enterprise in Oakland abreast of private enterprise found expression in 
two great public meetings under the auspices of the board of trade. At these 
meetings three vastly important improvements were demanded, namely (1) the 
improvement of Lake Merritt, (2) the reclamation of the marshes and (3) the 
construction of a proper sewerage system. It was then found that it was 
impossible to effect these improvements under the old charter, but as they were 
necessary it was concluded to secure a new charter that would permit and amplify 
action. The board of freeholders was chosen and the charter was prepared, 
adopted and ratified. The vote was —for charter, 4,153; against charter, 1,955. 
All were united. The spirit of association generated in this common step upward 
which was shared by so many, so profoundly influenced the people that they 
temporarily renounced and abandoned party organizations, crossed party lines and 
suspended party loyalty, as they believed, in the interest of local welfare and 
patriotism and elected a citizens' ticket in order to put into effect the new 
charter as the first great step toward the required public improvements. With 
these facts in view, why, then, did the new council delay the passage of the 
ordinances that would put into execution the commencement of the reforms 
demanded? was asked in October, 1889. The city was on a peninsula, so located as 
to make the delivery of sewage short of deep water at low tide almost a crime, 
and yet nine-tenths of the sewage was deposited in Lake Merritt, in the north 
arm of the estuary, on the south front of the First ward, on the west shore of 
the bay, in easily remedied cesspools, or on the Sixteenth street marsh, so that 
the city was wrapped in a phylactery of its own filth. Action was now demanded 
in accordance with the spirit that had animated the people since the inception 
of the general movement for improvement. This demand was voiced and emphasized 
by a citizens' committee of which John P. Irish was chairman and for which he 
was spokesman before the city council. The committee demanded the issuance of 
bonds in sufficient amounts to meet the expenses. This committee consisted of 
John P. Irish, W. F. Price, J. C. Bullock, J. C. Carrington, H. Toedt, G. H. 
Wright, A. A. Williamson, William Gross, Joseph Emery, Robert Brand, C. A. 
Nordhausen, R. M. Anthony, E. B. Herome, B. C. Cuvellier and N. B. Hoyt.
        A short time before his death Mr. Chabot made a deed of trust to certain 
persons to found an institution for dependent women and children. The aggregate 
value of the whole gift was estimated at $116,000 and consisted of twelve shares 
in the Central Land and Improvement Company; 600 shares in the California Jute 
Mills Company; 500 shares in the Contra Costa Water Company; 40 bonds of the 
Judson Manufacturing Company, and $25,000 in money under the codicil of the will 
and to a piece of land at North and Franklin streets. The object of the gifts, 
in the language of the grantor, was as follows: Nature—A temporary home or haven 
for working women and their minor dependents; object—to lighten the burdens of 
humanity and aid respectable women in earning a livelihood. The name suggested 
by the grantor was "The Woman's Sheltering and Protective Home of Oakland." The 
seven trustees named in the deed were Henry Vrooman, John R. Glascock, Horatio 
Stebbins, J. R. McLean, S. T. Gage, John P. Irish and Ellen H. Chabot.
        The Chabot estate was divided among the heirs early in 1888 and was 
appraised at $1,348,370. Among the items were 9,170 shares of the Contra Costa 
Water Company, appraised at $825,300. Among the bequests were $3,000 to the 
Ladies' Relief Society; $10,000 to the Chabot observatory; $25,000 to the 
Sheltering Home in addition to the property given to the home in June, 1887, not 
yet delivered and worth from $75,000 to $100,000. Charles Burckhalter was chief 
astronomer at Chabot observatory. At this time Charles B. Hill, his colleague, 
resigned to accept the position of assistant astronomer at Lick Observatory. Mr. 
Hill a short time before this had discovered the nucleus of Comet A. The 
observatory regulated the time pieces of the city and gave instruction in 
astronomy, etc., to school classes.
        On April 1, 1888, there were in Oakland sixty-four miles of macadamized 
streets and about seventy-five feet of bituminized streets. During the fiscal 
year 1888-89 there were built 10 2/3 miles of macadamized street at a cost of 
$201,504. Bituminous rock was laid in different places at a cost of $20,807. 
Sewer work costing $53,319 was completed or under way. The Sixth Ward 
Improvement Association did much street improvement this year. Harrison square, 
an eyesore, was made attractive and beautiful. Among the contemplated 
improvements were underground electric wires, streets opened to tide water, a 
marginal sewer on the south side of the city, cross walks of bituminous rock, 
salt water for street sprinkling, flushing of sewers, extension of fire limits, 
rear entrance to city hall. The city was determined to be up-to-date and modern 
at the earliest possible moment. It was at this time that the talk of a bonded 
debt for needed public improvements was seriously broached and thoroughly 
discussed. The charter had been adopted with ease, the annexation of new 
territory was almost unanimous, and the rings of politics had been broken and 
dissolved in favor of non-partisan municipal administration. The city finances 
were in excellent condition, the city rich, taxation low, everybody prosperous 
and why not then issue bonds to make the city the most attractive on the coast? 
was asked. The Legislature had petitioned Congress to grant to Oakland the north 
arm of the San Antonio estuary. The generous appropriations for harbor 
improvement kindled in the breasts of all the fond hope that Oakland would 
become a great ocean and interior shipping point. The most important duty of 
Mayor Glascock at the outset was the selection of the board of public works.
The council had much trouble in 1888 to prevent property owners near Lake 
Merritt from continuing the old practice of discharging their sewers into that 
body of water. The use of bituminous rock on the streets of Oakland was 
commenced. In July M. J. Laymance and Company, real estate dealers of Oakland, 
sold 100 lots in San Leandro at public auction. In July Oakland had four fire 
engine companies, two hose companies and two truck companies and 3,000 feet of 
hose. The expenses for the year ending July 1st, were $34,407.38. Lorin had a 
volunteer fire company; it had several stores and shops, lodges, schools, 
churches, etc., and was growing rapidly.
        The West Oakland Improvement Association was organized in 1888-89 for 
the purpose of securing the reclamation of the West Oakland marsh and its 
transformation from a pestilential hole to a beautiful park. William Gross was 
one of the first members. About fifteen men met in a dingy room on Peralta 
street and during several meetings consulted what was best to be done to secure 
the cooperation of the authorities. The hat was passed around to raise money 
with which to pay for the room. Finally open meetings were held, the newspapers 
began to give accounts of the proceedings, and more prominent citizens began to 
attend and to take an interest in the object of the association. William Walsh, 
Father J. B. McNally and John P. Irish soon became interested and the latter was 
elected president. From that moment the usefulness and purpose of the 
association were heralded over the city with a force and eloquence that in the 
end brought results.
        The board of trade in August espoused the cause of the annexation, 
boulevard and clean-up projects and announced its approval of the proposed new 
charter. At this time the citizens residing east of the city limits except 
Fruitvale, favored annexation. The citizens north of the city limits generally 
favored annexation. The board at this time circulated a petition for the 
annexation of these districts, and expressed the opinion that Oakland's 
imperative need was signal success upon some one line of progress and 
improvement which should be accepted by the majority before any action should be 
taken. First agree upon the line of action and then go to work, was its 
recommendation. The proposed new charter provided for four additional councilmen 
from the city at large, four additional members for the board of education from 
the city at large; created a board of public works which should have executive 
control of the various city departments; provided for a police court and two 
justices of the peace; made it compulsory for the council to grant franchises to 
any railroad company to enter the city and operate steam railroads to and upon 
the water front west of Wood street and south of First street.
        In August the public improvements demanded were the dredging of Lake 
Merritt, construction of the boulevard around it, a park for West Oakland, sewer 
extensions and intercepting sewers. But while the people were enthusiastic and 
could see nothing in the way, the council found that the end desired could not 
be attained without an enormous cost. It was estimated that $1,500,000 would be 
necessary to carry into effect the reforms demanded. Part of Lake Merritt and 
the proposed boulevard lay outside the city limits; there were conflicting 
titles to property; how to improve the noisome swamps in the western part of the 
city; the practical construction of a new sewer system and many other 
obstructions faced the willing council; and in addition the paving of Broadway 
throughout its whole length seemed an imperative necessity. The council had its 
troubles at this time. In his message to the council in August, 1888, Mayor 
Pierce advised the council to give the board of education what they required for 
the public schools; stated that the increased death rate should be remedied; 
recommended that petty criminals should be made to work the streets; advised 
that electric wire systems should be underground; suggested that two more fire 
engines and a hose cart should be procured; advised that the fire alarm system, 
which had been put up in 1875 should be repaired; recommended that thereafter 
street franchises should be sold, not given away; advised electors to vote in 
favor of the new charter in November; urged the council to give necessary 
attention to squares, parks, sidewalks, streets, bridges and the care of all 
public buildings; recommended that an election should be held to determine 
whether the limits of the city should be so extended as to take in all of Lake 
Merritt and the proposed boulevard around its borders.
        In spite of all drawbacks many very useful and important industries 
located at Oakland or its immediate suburbs. The cotton mills, the flour mills, 
the oil refinery, the metallurgical industry, powder making, furniture business, 
grain shipping, iron industry, electric power, lumber business, rail making, 
beet-sugar making, coal distribution, canning, acid and paint works and many 
others were vastly important to the rapidly growing and ambitious town. The 
first important stretch of double track railroad in California was laid by the 
Southern Pacific from Oakland to Martinez, a distance of about twenty miles, in 
1888.
        A small section of bituminous rock was laid on Ninth street near 
Broadway and on September 21, 1888, an immense crowd gathered there after dark 
to listen to speeches by W. W. Camron, J. L. Lyon and others on the value of 
that material for street paving and to enjoy the music of the band. A large 
number of citizens, in September, petitioned against the paving of Broadway with 
bituminous rock as had been proposed.
        A large basking shark (Selache Maxima) was killed in Oakland harbor in 
1888 by the sailors of the revenue cutter Bear; it was over twenty feet long and 
at first no one knew what it was. The annexation of Vernon Heights to the north 
of Oakland was projected late in 1888. This was included in the land to be 
annexed to the city under the newly proposed charter.
        Among the largest and most active and enterprising real estate firms in 
1888-89 were E. W. Woodward & Co., operating in the direction of Piedmont; 
Benham & Thomas, on Myrtle, Twenty-fourth streets and San Pablo avenue; O. C. 
Logan at Fruitvale; Scotchler & Gattshall, between Oakland and Berkeley; A. S. 
Macdonald & Co., in Piedmont and on Linden street and San Pablo avenue; Gaskill. 
& Vandercook on Castro street and in North Oakland; E. C. Sessions at Highland 
Park and Twenty-third avenue; H. H. Smith at Glen Echo.
        In September the council hesitated long in taking measures to call an 
election on the question of annexation. It was doubtful whether such a step was 
legal and there were many obstacles in the way. A petition signed by about two 
thousand voters asked for such an election, but still the council hesitated. It 
was only after the board of trade had taken strong position in favor of such 
action that the council finally called an election for that purpose on October 
27th. Legal council had been taken by both the friends and the enemies of the 
proposition. After much discussion the council on October 11, 1888, called a 
special election on the charter question for November 6th. There was some doubt 
whether the election should be special or be a part of the general state 
election.
        Late in November the Oakland Board of Trade asked the county board to 
give them the balance remaining of the $1,000 authorized by the Legislature to 
be expended in advertising the county. This board of trade was the only 
organization in the county devoted to this work and was contributing $300 per 
annum to the California State Board of Trade. It had just constructed, at a cost 
of over five hundred dollars, two topographical maps of the county, one of which 
was on exhibition in San Francisco and the other had recently been on exhibition 
in Columbus, Ohio, where 100,000 people saw it. Circulars had been issued, but 
more were needed. This request was referred to the proper committee with power 
to act.
        On December 1st the Oakland free library had 11,173 members. The 
membership of 2,000 was cancelled so that on January 1, 1889, the total 
membership was 9,259, a few others having joined. The old list had not been 
revised for ten years. Upon investigation it was learned that many had died, 
moved away or had failed to return their cards; so all who had not used their 
cards for the previous five years were dropped from the list. There were the 
Central, West Oakland, East Oakland and North Oakland reading rooms. In 1888 no 
portion of Oakland grew faster and better than Piedmont. Its elevation made it 
specially desirable for residences. At a meeting held at the residence of Herman 
Bendel on Alice street on January 18, 1889, resolutions were adopted asking the 
council to memorialize Congress or the Secretary of War to grant to the city of 
Oakland the north arm of the estuary of San Antonio for the sanitary improvement 
of the city. By January the sale of brooms made at the Home of Mechanical Trades 
for the Adult Blind on Telegraph avenue just north of the city limits amounted 
to $17,955; all of which had been from time to time paid into the state treasury 
and was lying there unused. Senator Dargie introduced a bill for the 
appropriation of that sum to the use of the institution. From the passage of the 
Vrooman law until January 1st nearly $400,000 was spent for street 
improvement—mainly by the Oakland Paving and the Alameda Macadamizing companies.
        There was a strong movement against the ratification by the Legislature 
of the new charter in January, 1889. A meeting was held in Hansen hall and an 
organization effected to extend the opposition to Sacramento. Among the leaders 
of the opposition were H. M. Collins, W. F. Price, E. E. Walcott and Rev. George 
Bothwell. A petition addressed to the Legislature and opposing the ratification 
was prepared, one clause being as follows: "That said charter contains 
provisions which are detrimental to the growth of the city of Oakland and 
discriminates against a large body of the citizens of said city." It was stated 
that a tract of about one hundred and fifty acres covered with from five hundred 
to six hundred houses was made subject to condemnation for railroad purposes. 
Other objections were offered. The petition in opposition to the ratification of 
the new charter contained 1,730 names. Both sides in the charter fight sent 
strong lobbies to the Legislature in July. Before the new charter had been 
approved by the Legislature nearly all the city officers regarded it with 
disfavor; only three or four were its outspoken friends. Mayor Pierce was its 
ardent friend from the start. So was Fred M. Campbell, city school 
superintendent, who was the author of the feature which took the public schools 
practically out of politics by making the office of superintendent appointive 
instead of elective. While the measure was in the Legislature struggling hard 
for passage against violent and determined opposition, sentiment here was at 
fever heat as the news was received from day to day of the fight over the 
various and numerous vital provisions. When Assemblyman Hyde turned against the 
measure and supported the cause of the opposition, many supported the cause of 
the opposition. Many hesitated to express their delight. When it became known on 
January 30th, that it had just passed the House and would no doubt be signed by 
the Governor, there was intense delight here among its friends.
        Immediately after the ratification of the charter by the Legislature, 
the newly annexed districts were notified by the board of health to make proper 
sewer connections, but not one of the forty-nine thus notified complied with the 
order. Many nuisances were abated at this time and all possible was being done 
by the board with their limited powers to put the whole city in better sanitary 
condition. Vernon Heights was the name of the newly annexed district. As a 
reason for not complying with the orders of the board, it was stated that a more 
feasible project was on foot for the construction of a substantial sewer from 
Bay street to connect with the sewer along the northwest side of Lake Merritt. 
At the head of this movement was Edson Adams. They regarded their plans as 
better than the cesspool proposed by the board. There was a decrease in the 
death rate at this time—to 13.30 during January. The people in the annexed 
territory were granted longer time to put their premises in proper sanitary 
condition.
        The board of public works, in May, 1889, estimated that bonds to the 
amount of nearly $1,500,000 would be required to effect the contemplated 
improvements. The Oakland council on February 11th established a new city grade. 
The action of the council in fixing the saloon license at $400 was followed by a 
genuine and spirited crusade against the liquor evil and by the organization of 
the Anti-Saloon Alliance. The measure was treated as a moral rather than a 
business proposition. It encountered much opposition throughout the county. Many 
contended that the license would drive out the light wines and beers and 
encourage the consumption of whisky and brandy and would thus prove a source of 
great harm. The mistake made by Oakland, it was claimed, was in compelling the 
payment of a license for the sale of wine and beer exclusively. This meant a 
blow at the pure and harmless drinks of Alameda county—at one of its chief 
industries. A majority of the people consumed the native wines, but now could 
not obtain them even in original packages or cases.
        The new board of public works consisted of J. West Martin, E. W. Playter 
and R. M. Fitzgerald—an American, a republican and a democrat, respectively. 
Martin and Playter were formerly mayors. Under the new city administration in 
1889 plans for great improvements were duly considered, among which were a new 
city hall, brick high school, boulevard, sewers, street extension, parks and 
Lake Merritt purification. Mayor Glascock was in favor of a bond issue to 
commence a general system of city improvement.
        Early in 1889 the name of the West Oakland Herald was changed to the 
Western Christian Union. Rev. G. W. Bothwell, D. D., remained its editor, and 
Stephen R. Ward, its publisher.
        In May, twenty-five lots at Encinal and San Antonio avenues and Union 
street were sold at auction; the price per lot ranged from $1,000 to $1,600. 
Charles S. Neal owned the property. M. J. Laymance & Co. at this time sold large 
numbers of lots in all parts of the city and suburban towns. The Kingsland 
tract, Brooklyn township, comprising eighty-four acres about one mile east of 
Fruitvale, was divided into one-acre lots and thrown on the market by Gaskill & 
Vandercook. It fronted on the county road running from Oakland to San Leandro. 
On June 30th the Oakland library had 14,468 volumes and on June 30, 1890, 
14,888.
        The rainfall at Oakland in the fall of 1889 was heavier than ever known 
before. By December 11th there had fallen since July 17.55 inches. During a 
shower in November a quarter of an inch of rain fell in five minutes. Lake 
Merritt was overflowing, a wide stream pouring over the dam. Lake Chabot was 
within one foot of the top and the end of rain was not in sight. All the streams 
of the county were over their banks. In the canyons the floods swept all before 
them.
 
                        BONDED DEBT OF OAKLAND
 
      1880    $673,0001885    440,000
      1881                643,0001886    397,000
      1882    764,5001887    397,000
      1883    570,0001888    397,000
      1884    526,0001889    397,000

 
        In October, 1889, the towns of Lorin, Golden Gate, Emeryville, Newberry 
and perhaps Temescal, with other adjoining settlements discussed the 
advisability of incorporating as a consolidated municipality or as several 
separate towns. This action was caused by the demand for street light, sewer, 
police and other improvements which they could not secure without incorporation. 
At the meeting a committee was appointed to investigate the wishes of the 
various towns interested and learn what they wished done. This committee 
reported to a large audience at Klinkner's hall on November 7th in favor of 
uniting Golden Gate, Lorin, Newberry and surrounding country under one 
corporation. The boundaries and conditions generally did not suit the Golden 
Gate delegates, who succeeded in their efforts to have the report laid on the 
table. Nothing definite was done because it appeared that the majority of those 
present at the meeting thought all the small towns should be annexed to Oakland.
        The reception tendered to General Grant by Oakland and her citizens was 
a splendid ovation. As soon as he touched the soil of Alameda county, he was met 
by Mayor Andrus and the city council of Oakland, when his honor, stepping 
forward, said: "General Grant: Your merited ovations have encircled the world. 
They have been as grand and as varied as the nations who have offered them. And, 
yet, among them all, there has not been a more earnest, sincere and cordial
welcome than that which the city of Oakland now extends to you. This is 
preeminently a city of homes and of families; of husbands and of wives; of 
parents and of children; of churches and of schools. There is no earthly tie 
more sacred and lasting than that of the family. At the family altar the fires 
of liberty are first enkindled, and there patriotism is born. The love of home, 
of kindred, and of country, is one. This is the source and the foundation of our 
welcome to you, the defender of our country, our firesides, and our families. I 
am authorized to further present to you this official expression of good will 
from our city authorities." The freedom of the city, with the resolutions quoted 
above, were then tendered to and accepted by General Grant, who thereupon 
grasped the hand of the mayor, and said: "Mr. Mayor: I thank you."
        The council passed the following resolution: That upon receiving 
telegraphic notice of the signaling of the steamship City of Tokio off the 
"Heads," the mayor be requested to cause the American flag to be hoisted on the 
city hall, and the superintendent of fire alarm be and he is hereby authorized 
and directed to cause the fire-alarm bell to be sounded for five consecutive 
minutes, to give notice of the return to his country of America's most 
distinguished citizen, General Grant.
        During 1889, 400 dwellings and fifty-seven business blocks were erected 
in Oakland; other buildings brought the total up to 460. In 1889 Oakland 
appropriated $8,930 for two new fire engines; it also paid Rudolph Hering $1,000 
for a plan for a new or improved building. In December the council considered 
issuing bonds for the four following purposes: (1) Deepening Lake Merritt, and 
filling the marshes of West Oakland; (2) providing additional land and 
facilities for the school department; (3) purchase and placing of poles and 
wires for a system of electric lighting; (4) salt water storage reservoir for 
street sprinkling. It was estimated that these improvements would cost 
$1,000,000.
        Late in January, 1890, the board of public works, in a courteous 
communication, charged the city council with having usurped the functions 
conferred upon the former by the new charter. The board stated that it was 
willing to purchase peace and harmony with personal sacrifices, but was not 
willing to delegate to others the duties which the new constitution conferred 
upon it. That document gave them charge of the public works of the city not 
controlled by the general laws, and the board of public works had the right to 
expect the legislation asked for from the council to carry into effect their 
operations. Twelve or fifteen important measures had been recommended and 
desired, but the council had paid no attention to the requirements of the board. 
This request from the board of public works was received with considerable 
indignation by the councilmen, several of whom denied the charges and others 
controverted the premises assumed by the board. It was claimed that the board of 
public works had started wrong—started with the assumption that they were a 
superior body with superior powers, when in reality they were a subordinate body 
with subordinate powers, that their first act was to investigate the finances of 
the city—a step they had no legal right to take. The Ah Yon decision in the 
supreme court had likewise stripped the board of more of their assumed rights.
        Temescal was quite a village by January 1, 1890. It extended from 
Thirty-sixth street, Oakland, to the bay and included Lorin, Klinknerville, 
Newberry and Claremont. A large sanitarium was planned there by a lady physician 
of Oakland. The old cannery buildings were transformed into amusement halls and 
nearby was the California Military Academy. Doctor Ayala gave land for a public 
park. There were the big public school, the St. Mary and St. Lawrence schools of 
the Catholics, the Church of the Sacred Heart, Home for Children, Home for Aged 
Women and others. In January Oakland was cut off from communication with all 
outside places by the floods which washed out the railroad tracks and washed 
down the telegraph poles. Three inches of rain fell from 9 o'clock at night 
until 7 o'clock the next morning.
        Three improvements were demanded in 1890. A suitable high school 
building; the dredging of Lake Merritt, and the reclamation of the West Oakland 
marshes. Many contended in the summer of 1890 that the Oakland sewer system was 
a rotten cesspool, that filth polluted the air because the drains were choked 
and broken, that Lake Merritt was a reeking pestilence—breeding bed of slimy 
ooze, that every street was a breakneck in its disruption; that dust settled 
upon everything with no water to wash half of it off; that the walks were traps 
for every pedestrian; that there was not a hotel in the city where a man could 
rest in comfort, sleep in peace and eat without inducing acute indigestion; that 
every hostelry was the stronghold of a robber and a synonym for discomfort; that 
the city officials were the worst in the world—thieves, cut purses and abandoned 
wretches of the slums; that consequently the city was bowed down with taxation 
and had nothing to show for the outlay; that the gas company was in league with 
the opticians; that city water was nothing short of putrified poison, and that 
even the climate was one of the worst out of doors. After reciting the above the 
Tribune of June 3, 1890, more sanely said that it was time to face the truth and 
at least greatly improve the existing conditions.
        In June about one hundred and seventy citizens of Oakland petitioned the 
city council to pass the ordinance pending to grant to the Edison General 
Electric Company the right to lay down, maintain and operate in this city wires 
and other conductors for the transmission of electricity. A special committee of 
the general committee of one hundred reported on artesian well-water supply in 
April, 1890. There were the following wells: On Bay Farm, at the old 
narrow-gauge pier, at Butchertown, at San Pablo and at Sobrante, all of which 
flowed only at high tide. Those with a constant flow were at Klinknerville, near 
Temescal, near Oak street, at Fruitvale, near Fitchburg and three at Alvarado, 
the latter three yielding from 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 gallons daily. In addition 
there were nearly one hundred others which did not flow, but yielded large 
supplies of good water. In April Oakland led all the other cities of northern 
California in the matter of street paving with asphalt or bituminous rock. One 
mile had already been constructed and another third of a mile was being 
contracted for.
        In May residents of Lorin, Golden Gate, Emeryville and Newberry 
petitioned the county board to declare their towns a sanitary district and to 
have a sanitary officer appointed there. Attorney S. P. Hall presented the 
petition and asked for prompt action. The boundaries of the seven wards were so 
altered as to give them as nearly as practicable the same population; all were 
changed more or less except the Seventh. Broadway terrace at Prospect and 
Florence streets was placed in the market by Carnall-Fitzhugh-Hopkins Company of 
San Francisco. About the same time, also, the Terminal tract, at Piedmont, at 
May and Bonita streets, was offered by E. A. Heron. It can not be truthfully 
said that the citizens in early years did all that they should and could to make 
this city attractive and beautiful. Many cities throughout the country surpassed 
it in this regard. It did not even improve its natural advantages, to say 
nothing of keeping up the sewer, water and street paving and many other systems 
as it should. The city had too many old codgers in office who were willing to 
sit down and let the city advance in rags and disgrace so long as the taxation 
was small. A dozen vital improvements were demanded in 1890 and the council only 
just awakened to the necessities and the possibilities.
        In August a real estate exchange was organized in Oakland and was 
composed of the following dealers; W. W. Camron, Blow & Warder, J. H. MacDonald 
& Co., W. E. Barnard & Son, Benham & Thomas, Dusenbury & Wurtz, Riley & Jackson, 
A. J. Snyder and Leckie & Hawkett. The purpose of the organization was to 
cooperate in the purchase and sale of real estate—at private sales and public 
auctions. W. W. Blow was the first president of the association. The Ladies 
Syndicate and Exchange, a real estate concern, was organized in August, and 
began business with offices in the Blake building. The ordinance which 
determined the land necessary for the boulevard around Lake Merritt passed the 
council by a unanimous vote. The free library authorities asked for $50,000 to 
be used in constructing a new building, as the old one was wholly inadequate to 
meet the needs of the growing library. It required $15,899.15 to maintain the 
big library.
        On October l0th Mayor Glascock vetoed the tax ordinance passed by the 
council on October 6th, on the ground that it was too high—that $1 on each $100 
was sufficient. The year before, on a levy of $1, there was a surplus of 
$41,000. The position taken by the mayor was denied by many citizens who 
insisted that the dollar limit of the charter was not exceeded by the levy of 
$1.05, because part of the levy was for improvement and not for regular 
municipal expenses. It was further declared that as public sentiment favored 
advanced public improvements, a niggardly policy of city administration was both 
harmful and undesirable. Thus far every dollar that had been spent for public 
improvements had brought returns so satisfactory that more money should be spent 
in the same direction, was the general opinion. On October 13th the ordinance 
was passed over the mayor's veto by 8 to 3 votes. The project incorporating as a 
city of the sixth class of portions of Claremont, Peralta and Lorin was 
considered by the county board in November. The tract was bounded north by 
Berkeley, south by Alcatraz avenue, west by Grove street and east by an 
imaginary line.
        The speedy adjustment of the Lake Merritt difficulties late in 1890 
spurred the people of West Oakland to redoubled activity to reclaim the large 
marsh in their district. The West Oakland Improvement Association had done all 
it could to induce the citizens there to demand and enforce the reclamation, but 
until this time had failed to awaken the citizens to the importance of the 
improvement without further delay. Now the action of Oakland and Alameda did 
more to interest them than had been done by the association. Oakland made final 
plans for its boulevard around Lake Merritt and Alameda perfected its designs 
for a boulevard along the whole water front, and both demanded that a fine 
bridge to connect the two boulevard systems should be built across the tidal 
canal at Park street. The people generally insisted that the quality of city 
water should be improved and the council be brought to accomplish that result. 
Early in 1891 it further succeeded in reducing the water rates from 5 to 30 per 
cent. The estimated number of buildings erected in Oakland in 1890 was 548, at a 
total estimated cost of $1,881,450.
        By a unanimous vote the council on December 9, 189, passed to print an 
ordinance appropriating $20,000 with which to begin work on the Lake Merritt 
boulevard. This action was opposed before the council by John P. Irish on behalf 
of the people of West Oakland who believed it was a step taken at the 
solicitation of certain property owners in the vicinity of Lake Merritt and not 
generally by the city as a whole—that if the city was to be benefited why was 
not the reclamation of the West Oakland marsh likewise given a liberal 
appropriation? He referred sarcastically to the alleged self-sacrificing motives 
of the lake real estate owners in deeding their property to the city and 
declared it was done to save their own lives. Mr. Evans said the reason why a 
similar appropriation was not given to West Oakland was not because the council 
wished to draw a deadline, as insinuated by Colonel Irish, but because the 
owners of the West Oakland marsh had not placed their property under the city 
government so that legal improvements could be made. Mr. Camron said in 
substance that the marsh would receive the necessary appropriation in due time. 
It was soon apparent that the position taken by Colonel Irish was favored by a 
majority of the best citizens—that both Lake Merritt and the West Oakland marsh 
should be improved under a joint act and at the same time.
        The $20,000 appropriation ordinance for public improvement came up for 
final consideration on December 22d. An amendment reducing the amount to $10,000 
was lost. The ordinance then passed by the vote of 8 for and 3 against. Mayor 
Glascock promptly approved the ordinance and said: "In doing this permit me to 
express the pleasure it gives to place the stamp of official approval on the 
first of the great improvements evidencing the awakening spirit of Oakland 
enterprise. That others equally necessary and important will follow there can be 
no doubt." He said the city had outgrown the provincial and had entered upon the 
metropolitan stage of municipal life. He spoke of dredging Lake Merritt, 
constructing the boulevard, reclaiming the West Oakland marsh, building a new 
city hall and supplying additional educational facilities. The appropriation of 
the $20,000 would not in any way interfere with the issuance of bonds for any or 
all of these improvements, he said.
        The year 1890 was a quickening one for all departments of progress in 
Oakland and its various suburbs. The people had at last awakened to the fact of 
their possibilities and to the need of prompt and efficient action to keep 
abreast of the other progressive cities of the coast. There was a general 
revivification followed by better streets, sewers, sidewalks, and every other 
advance. In fact so urgent became the demand for improvements in these 
particulars that the council was compelled part of the year to hold extra night 
sessions to attend to the demands upon their consideration. New sewers had been 
built in every section of the city and the old ones were extensively repaired. 
Macadamizing and laying bituminous rock had gone on by hundreds of feet and all 
the paving companies were far behind with their work. However, it took the 
Glascock administration nearly two years, or until just before the municipal 
election in 1891 before it did what should have been done in 1889 and which the 
citizens then demanded should be done as a result of the political upheaval of 
March, 1889.
        The cable road to Piedmont was one of the important improvements put 
forward in 1890. A large hotel was going up at Piedmont. The electric road 
connecting Oakland and Berkeley was nearing completion—would be in operation by 
March, 1891. The Y. M. C. A. building was one of the greatest improvements this 
year. Others were the new Chemical building at Berkeley and the ship building 
plant on the estuary; three shipyards were in operation and several steamers and 
schooners had been launched. The board of trade, after making vast pretentions 
in 1889 finally sank into desuetude in 1890, when all their dreams were not 
promptly carried into execution. During 1890 about $550,000 was spent for 
buildings in Berkeley.
        Early in 1891 two important questions to be taken into consideration by 
the new administration were: (1) Continuation of the public improvements planned 
and already commenced and (2) the question of high or low or any license for the 
sale of liquor. There were nearly two hundred saloons paying each $400 license 
which gave the city a revenue of about seventy-five thousand dollars annually. 
The proposed West Oakland park was an irregular tract extending from Eighteenth 
street to Twenty-eighth street in part and Yerba Buena street in part and from 
the railroad to Peralta, Minor and Center streets in part.
        In 1890-91 the Legislature enacted a law which provided for the issue 
and sale of bonds with forty years to run. This gave the cities of Alameda 
county the opportunity which many of its citizens had clamored for and wanted a 
long time. Oakland was not in a situation to take advantage of this law, because 
the case concerning the annexed territory north of Lake Merritt was then pending 
in the supreme court, whence it had been appealed. Late in April a petition was 
circulated and numerously signed asking the council to call immediately an 
election to decide whether the territory heretofore annexed under a law which 
was declared to be unconstitutional should be reannexed under the new law. Over 
one hundred and forty signed the petition, among them many of the most prominent 
men in the city. By this time the question of calling such an election was 
supported by a large majority of the people. In May, the council having received 
a petition signed by more than one-fifth of the qualified electors, and there 
being no legal obstacles, called a special election on the reannexation 
question. The issuance of bonds for the West Oakland marsh reclamation, for the 
construction of the boulevard, for the improvement of Lake Merritt, for better 
sewers, for the streets and for other progressive and up to date measures had 
hung fire for many dreary months. The ordinances calling for bonds for the West 
Oakland park, the boulevard around Lake Merritt and vast school improvements 
were finally passed and immediately approved by the mayor on September 23, 1891. 
 The next step was to call an election on the bond question. The bare suggestion 
of a bond issue of a million dollars, even for the most urgent improvements, 
caused the "old shellback silurians" of Oakland to shudder and grow sick with 
fear—fear that their taxes would be increased. No matter if the improvements 
then made should double the valuation of property, the sick feeling still 
remained. They could not see that this city was destined to extend from Pinole 
to Mission San Jose and from the bay eastward to and up the rolling foothills. 
The West Oakland park project embraced 112 acres, instead of 160 acres, in July, 
1891. The total cost of its acquisition by the city was estimated at $112,000. 
It was necessary to fill about forty acres to the height of four feet at a cost 
of $48,000. John P. Irish and Father McNally were active in the movement to 
reclaim and beautify this objectionable tract.
        The vote in Oakland in 1891 was—for annexation, 1,008; against 
annexation, 263. In outside districts the vote was—for annexation, 19; against 
annexation, 1.
        In July the following real estate firms and dealers recommended voters 
to cast their ballots in favor of annexation: W. J. Dingee, W. G. Henshaw, E. W. 
Woodward & Co., M. J. Laymance & Co., J. A. Jones, J. L. Scotchler, W. W. Blow, 
E. P. Vandercook, Gray & Swenarton, D. F. McDonald & Co., Benham & Thomas, H. M. 
Cameron, W. E. Barnard, W. H. Mackinnon, J. H. Macdonald & Co., E. A. Heron, 
Riley & Jackson, O. I. Denison & Co. and W. W. Camron. This annexation tract 
embraced the land that had been illegally annexed and included about two hundred 
acres owned by the Edson Adams estate. The petition calling the election was 
signed by over two thousand citizens. In August, 1891, the Oakland Syndicate 
Improvement Company planned to reclaim about two thousand acres of overflowed 
lands west of Oakland and north of the railroad mole. They asked the council to 
submit to the voters the question of granting them a bonus of $500,000 to be 
used in starting this reclamation project, because they claimed that it meant 
the return of the grain shipping facilities from Port Costa to Oakland, would 
furnish ample railroad facilities for all companies who desired terminal 
advantages and would add from $20,000,000 to $30,000,000 to the assessment roll 
of the city. L. W. Kennedy was president of this company. It was a remarkable 
fact in 1891 that the citizens of Oakland did not realize what wonderful strides 
real estate values were soon to take. The commercial importance and terminal 
prominence of the city were not appreciated and hence land near the harbor was 
offered at a ridiculously low figure.
        Early in May, 1891, President Harrison visited Oakland and vicinity. His 
visit was unsatisfactory, owing to want of time to be seen and heard and owing 
to his own peculiar and well-known petulance. The cities were all prepared to 
give him a reception suited to his station, but unable to do so through 
regrettable slips and misunderstandings. W. B. English, the grand marshal, said: 
"The trouble was due to bad management of the committee which met him at West 
Berkeley and rushed him through ahead of time. It was expected that he would 
spend twenty minutes at the university and he stayed there only a few moments. 
He passed one parade before we had assembled and before we were ready to fire 
the salute and it was fired afterward. After he was gone we carried out our part 
of the program and paraded." With the president was Postmaster General 
Wanamaker. John P. Irish said in the Alta: "The president gave them no 
intentional snub. It is absurd to suppose that he intended to be rude." The 
state newspapers were full of accounts of the slight to Alameda, the banner 
republican county.
        In 1891 North Oakland grew rapidly and it was clear that the center of 
population was slowly moving in that direction. Real estate transactions were 
numerous and advantageous. In that suburb scores of elegant buildings had gone 
up on Broadway, near Eighth, then to Fourteenth and finally to Seventeenth 
street facilities were excellent. But at this time Piedmont was a formidable 
competitor of North Oakland. In fact for several years preceding 1891 North 
Oakland remained almost stationery while Piedmont advanced by scores of 
buildings at a time. But North Oakland again resumed its growth and was 
preferred as a place of residence by many well-to-do families. Houses costing 
from $15,000 to $25,000 were built there. The postoffice was moved northward 
from time to time as the center of population moved in that direction. Once it 
was on Fourth street, then on Broadway, near Eighth, then to Fourteenth and 
finally to Seventeenth street.
        The bituminizing of Broadway and the extension of the cable road from 
Seventh street to the creek ferry landing in 1889, gave a great impulse to the 
growth of the south side of the city. Before these changes property on lower 
Broadway sold for about $60 a front foot, but two and a half years later the 
same land was valued at $200 a front foot, proving how rapid was the advance 
when such substantial improvements in transportation were carried into effect. 
In 1891 lower Washington street was bituminized from Third to Seventh and 
macadamized from First to Third. Lower Clay street was not neglected. The city 
wharf at the foot of Webster and Franklin streets was also finished in 1891, at 
a cost to the city of nearly $100,000 and after years of labor and suspense. The 
income of the city from all sources for the two years ending April 1, 1891, was 
$1,539,547. Of this sum $781,591 was received from taxes; $303,753 from state 
and county for school purposes; $173,146 from licenses; and $26,810 from police 
and justice courts. The disbursements for the same two years were $1,324,210, of 
which $80,176 was spent on bonds and interest and $1,065,967 for the maintenance 
of the departments and for increased facilities. There was in the treasury on 
April 1, 1891, $215,337, of which $80,702 was school fund and $50,898 was bond 
redemption fund.
        Lot values in Fruitvale advanced from $400 and $600 in 1887-88 to $1,500 
and even higher in 1891. The construction of the Laundry farm road, and the 
extension of the street railroad mainly caused this remarkable advance. In 1881 
property on Washington between Tenth and Eleventh streets was worth $150 a front 
foot. In 1891 property on Washington between Twelfth and Thirteenth sold at over 
$700 a front foot. Property on Clay street near Twelfth doubled during the same 
period. On Broadway frontage was valued at $1,500 per foot in 1891, but a half 
dozen years before was worth only $800. Blair park at Piedmont was an attractive 
spot which was sought by picnics and pleasure seekers generally in the late '80s 
and '90s. There was a dancing pavilion, a bandstand, a fountain, refreshment 
stands, a merry-go-round, swings, ponies and goats to ride, and generally all 
the attractions of a modern city park. East Oakland was east of Lake Merritt and 
in 1890-91 comprised about one-third of the area of the city. Peralta Heights 
bordered on the shores of Lake Merritt and Highland park was near. At this time 
bargains in lots were offered in the Templeton tract, Bella Vista park, 
.Lakeview, East Oakland Heights and Twenty-third avenue tract. Farther east was 
Fruitvale. Dusenbury & Wurtz offered for sale a large number of lots at 
Forty-fifth and Adeline streets. West Oakland was generally considered that part 
of the city lying west of Market street and extending from the San Antonio 
estuary to about Twenty-eighth street. During the fiscal year 1890-91 there were 
erected in Oakland 454 private dwellings, 38 stores and dwellings combined, 46 
flats, 105 additions and 15 other structures of all kinds. Piedmont took steps 
to unite all the valuable springs in that vicinity for the purpose of conserving 
the supplies and utilizing them to the best advantage; a large reservoir was 
built. The Piedmont baths were opened to the public late in June in the presence 
of a crowd estimated at 4,000. The Piedmont cable road was given a bonus of 
about sixty thousand dollars, of which over fifteen thousand dollars was in 
property. By June the value of property along the line had more than doubled.
        In three months' time early in the summer of 1892 an immense reservoir 
with a capacity of 8,000,000 gallons was built on Linda Vista terrace at a cost 
of $1,000. This was an emergency case—when it was believed the supply of pure 
water might run short during the dry months. In July the Weld tract of forty 
lots near the Oakland and Haywards electric line was offered for sale by Clough 
& Baker at $250 per lot.
        In November, 1892, the inmates of the Home of the Adult Blind found much 
fault with the management of that institution and with the food and other 
supplies. It was believed by many that the complaints were trivial or 
groundless. At this time the directors were John P. Irish, Jacob Greenhood, 
Frank A. Leach, Fred A. Campbell and A. D. Thomson. One complaint was that the 
meat was tainted. Mr. Sanders was superintendent. A portion of the trouble at 
least seemed to be in the differences between the members of the board as to how 
the institution and inmates should be managed. Director Campbell filed charges 
of incompetency and bad food against Superintendent Sanders of the Home for the 
Adult Blind, but the majority of the board decided after investigation that the 
charges were not sustained. Superintendent Sanders was blind.
        During 1892 about four hundred and fifty buildings of all kinds were 
erected in Oakland; the Contra Costa company made 451 new connections, among 
them being the Macdonough theater, Abrahamson block, Central Bank building 
(commenced), Hotel Metropole, Oakland Gas building, Taylor's block, Y. W. C. A. 
building, Huff's block, a fine new Catholic church partly completed. The city 
now had 263 electric lights. The boulevard around Lake Merritt was being 
constructed. The voting of $400,000 in school bonds was followed by great 
activity in all educational matters. There were fourteen day and four night 
schools and about one hundred teachers were employed. The city had six banks 
with a paid up capital of $1,604,000, and deposits of $10,500,000. In all there 
were about one hundred manufacturing establishments. Work on the harbor 
improvements was renewed, the plan being to convert San Antonio estuary into a 
suitable harbor for deep sea commerce. This work had hung fire for nearly twenty 
years. Even the retaining walls which were begun in 1873 were not yet finished. 
The Government had already appropriated $1,452,180 for Oakland and harbor 
improvements. Late in 1892 and early in 1893 real estate made a decided advance 
on the ground that the Santa Fe railroad would soon be built to this city or 
vicinity.
 
        OAKLAND ASSESSMENT TOTALS
 
      1872$6,647,039188328,353,338
      187318,528,303188428,794,948
      187419,869,162188529,217,052
      187522,200,706188629,866,200
      187624,000,712188732,092,375
      187725,845,628188833,789,175
      187827,730,109188935,778,392
      187928,348,778189037,647,842
      188028,691,610189140,106,545
      188128,238,631189242,437,531
      188228,289,650  

 
        From 1872 to 1879 Oakland grew by leaps and bounds as will be seen by 
these figures. Then came a period of slow growth extending to about 1884; the 
city had really been overbuilt. In fact, a meeting of the real estate agents in 
1881 complained of the number of empty houses. It was even said at that time 
that there were 1,000 empty houses in Oakland, though this was no doubt an 
exaggeration. Building was checked, but the population continued to increase 
rapidly, the new manufactories bringing here many new residents who soon filled 
up the vacant houses, so that by 1884 real estate again began to expand and 
soar.
        Horace W. Carpentier in 1891-92 owned an elegant house on Third street 
between Alice and Harrison streets, but he did not live here—he had lived for 
several years in New York.
 
      Oakland
      WardsPark and Boulevard
              Bonds
      For             Against        School
              Bonds
      For            Against
      First                 456407617220
      Second526409803206
      Third    457475740151
      Fourth 519479680212
      Fifth                 274341572124
      Sixth     494377690160
      Seventh    374720803242 
      Totals   3,1003,2984,9051,315

    
        Thus the park and boulevard bonds were defeated at this election and the 
bonds for the schoolhouses and schoolhouse sites were carried.
        In 1892-93 Oakland and its suburban towns grew very fast. Many fine 
residences were erected north of Lake Merritt and in Piedmont and Fruitvale, at 
Mills College and on the Crocker, Klupher and Dougherty tracts. Many houses were 
erected at Emeryville. The Warner tract and the Vista del Mar tract of Berkeley 
were attractive home sites. Late in September, 1892, Ina D. Coolbrith, librarian 
of the Oakland free library, was dismissed by the trustees upon a three days' 
notice. Henry Peterson, her nephew, was chosen her successor. In January, 1893, 
a joint committee of the State Senate and House assembled in Oakland to 
investigate the management of the Home for the Adult Blind.
        The vote in Piedmont in April, 1893, on the question of a sanitary 
district was twenty-four votes for and three against. The famous Tubbs hotel was 
destroyed by fire in August. It cost originally $110,000, and the furnishing 
$100,000, and was erected in 1871 and was for many years the pride of the city. 
It had three usual stories and a mansard story. In August, the Moss tract was 
offered by M. I. Laymance & Co., 600 lots at from $225 to $300 each. Already 
from 50 to 100 houses were standing or being erected. A $15,000 schoolhouse was 
being built and the street car facilities were good. In August the Pacific Nail 
Works were destroyed by fire. They stood at the foot of Market street and cost, 
all told, about four hundred thousand dollars. They had been closed down since 
May and therefore the fire was ascribed to an incendiary. The Oakland Water 
Company secured ownership and control of the artesian water belt of Alvarado 
where weekly millions of gallons of the purest water went to waste. The belt 
included the Poorman and Granger tracts. The company's system included the 
supply from the Piedmont hills. Three gangs of men were set at work in January, 
1894, to lay the mains from the wells to Oakland.
        Reports were in circulation in December, 1893 that the People's Home 
Savings Bank was in trouble. It was investigated and found to have $240,000 
assets over its liabilities. It was permitted to resume business. In a contest 
with the Pacific Bank, it was also entitled to a credit of $175,000. Late in 
December the unemployed residents of Oakland to the number of one thousand 
registered for work at the city hall. They gathered for the purpose of making 
their wants known to the assembled council. At this time the city was full of 
men without work, and the council prepared to the best of its means to set as 
many at work as possible. Many were men of families. Every department was 
investigated and places were found for many worthy laborers. The County 
Federation of Trades thanked the council for the efforts in their behalf. An 
important building feature was the large number of fine residences erected in 
Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley and their adjacencies.
        There was much complaint in January, 1894; that although the city had 
voted $400,000 school bonds in April, 1892, they were not yet issued, but were 
tied up in the courts. The New Oakland Water Company was incorporated in 
February, with a capital of $3,000,000, among the leading stockholders being 
Alvinza Hayward, W. J. Dingee and A. W. Rose, Jr. In May, Fruitvale asked to be 
incorporated as a town of the sixth class. The village claimed a population of 
over 500 and had a newspaper—the Fruitvale News. In July the California Jute 
Mills at East Oakland, giving employment to about four hundred persons, closed 
its doors.
        Under a circular issued in September, by Councilman W. E. Barnard a 
series of mass meetings of the citizens was held to consider the question of 
public improvements. Among the subjects investigated were the following: (1) The 
change of the county seat to Haywards as a preliminary to the creation of the 
county of Oakland; (2) the widening of Broadway; (3) sale of the city hall for 
$750,000 and the erection of a new city hall and library; (4) the purchase of 
the Sather tract and its conversion into a public park; (5) a new ferry line 
from Emeryville to be run in conjunction with the Oakland Terminal Railway; (6) 
to take steps to secure other railways for this city. On September 29th, Oakland 
voted on the question of refunding the old school bonds to the amount of 
$140,000 and defeated the project. The Oakland Iron Works were burned in 
October; they stood at Second and Jefferson streets. About sixty men were thrown 
out of employment.
        In June and July, 1894, the labor situation in Alameda county grew first 
serious and second threatening. Labor unions in all parts of the country, 
particularly at Chicago, struck, tied up business and inaugurated numerous 
scenes of property destruction and bloodshed. At Oakland in July the strikers 
seized a train, cut the air brakes and refused to let it proceed to the pier; at 
the same time they took possession of the tracks. The next day they killed 
engines and stopped nearly all traffic on the road. Vessels which approached the 
landings put back to evade attacks and lawless invasions. The Seventh street and 
Narrow Gauge trains were not molested. The Pacific railway was helpless. Martial 
law was practically declared here on July 11th under President Cleveland's 
proclamation. Troops from Mare island began to arrive July 12th—about three 
hundred and fifty marines. The police of Oakland likewise under the orders of 
Mayor George C. Pardee, prepared for stern measures. On July 14th the strikers 
captured the Mendota train, but in a few minutes it was recaptured by two 
batteries of artillery which came to the scene on a gallop and trained Gatling 
guns on the engine and the mob of strikers. On the 16th the strikers captured 
another train, and barricaded themselves, but were promptly dislodged by the 
militia and completely routed. Gradually the contest here died out and by the 
20th no further acts of violence were committed. On July 17th, Mayor Pardee 
called a meeting of the representative citizens to be held in the council 
chambers, city hall, to consider the best method of dealing with the strike 
conditions here and to furnish the legal authorities with moral and physical 
support. There was a large assemblage of the best citizens. The audience loudly 
cheered the action of the Alameda chief of police when it was stated that he 
refused to permit the crowd to kill the engines. The meeting passed strong 
resolutions for the maintenance of order. One resolution was as follows: "That 
we offer ourselves in any capacity most effective to put down the lawlessness 
and disorder instigated by the American Railway Union and its sympathizers." A 
committee was appointed to draft an address to the people embodying the spirit 
and intent of the meeting. The speakers were Rev. Dr. Chapman, A. C. Henry, 
Mayor Pardee, W. R. Thomas, J. L. Bromley and Warren Palmer. At a second meeting 
peace was demanded at all hazards. Doctor Wendte quoted Henry George who said, 
"As long as the present system of taxation exists, wrong and iniquitous as it 
is, I am going to observe it," and said all should obey the laws. A large mass 
meeting of the labor interests was held at the Tabernacle on July 19, 1894, 
under the auspices of the American Railway Union. T. J. Roberts, president of 
the union presided. The meeting was comparatively orderly, but at all stages 
showed its displeasure over the actions of the meeting that had been called by 
Mayor Pardee. There were hisses and groans when the names of the speakers at 
that meeting were mentioned. The speakers derided and unstintedly ridiculed the 
remarks made at the other meeting. Resolutions were adopted, respectfully 
requesting Mayor Pardee to recall his proclamation forbidding the people to 
peaceably assemble, which act was declared to he in violation of national and 
state constitutional rights.
        Early in April, 1894, the so-called industrial (Coxey's) army was driven 
out of Oakland under an escort of police. On April 3d about seven hundred men 
came from San Francisco and were joined at Oakland by about one hundred. There 
were enough desertions to reduce the army to 474 men. They received no 
encouragement here and were denied the use of the Tabernacle where they had been 
holding meetings and creating discontent. They were permitted to parade and hold 
meetings upon condition that they leave town. A considerable sum was subscribed 
by citizens for their transportation from this city. The mayor issued orders 
that no body of destitute men be permitted to land here.
        They did not leave on April 5th as they had agreed and were accordingly 
ordered to leave on the 6th by the chief of police. Preparations to order out 
the militia were made and the police were specially armed and organized for any 
outbreak that might occur. The Gatling gun was removed from the armory and 
placed in front of the city hall. At first it was decided to drive them across 
the county line, but it was finally determined to treat them as kindly as 
possible and out­wit them. Seven box cars were secured for $200 to carry them to 
their next stopping point—Sacramento. They refused to go and their leaders, 
Kelly and Baker, were arrested, but finally released upon agreeing to leave the 
city with their forces at once. They left the Tabernacle at 3:30 A. M., April 
6th, led by Commander in Chief Kelly and Colonel Baker. The whole force, 568 
men, or eighty-one to each of the seven cars, then left the city. The council 
passed resolutions denouncing the action of San Francisco in sending here 500 
destitute men; that no more would be permitted to enter the city; that the 
citizens should not receive, entertain or assist such men; and that the mayor 
should take such steps as the exigencies of the case might require to protect 
this city from invasions of such destitute and desperate men. When the army 
reached Reno, Nevada, it numbered about one thousand men who occupied 
twenty-three combination cars, besides two cars with rations. In order to aid 
the unemployed the county board transferred $2,000 from the general fund to the 
various road funds to be paid to men set at work on the county highways and 
elsewhere. In the cities and towns hundreds of indigent were fed free. Another 
regiment of the industrial army was organized late in April, a large number of 
recruits being secured at Oakland.
        Early in 1895 the Oakland council passed a resolution that the best 
interests of this entire community demanded the establishment of the city and 
county of Oakland. Reflections having been cast upon the methods of the Contra 
Costa Water Company, a committee of citizens in July, 1895, went to Alvarado to 
inspect the artesian water supply which the Oakland Water Company had recently 
purchased and was preparing to pump to Oakland. It was claimed that the Contra 
Costa company, while raising prices and cutting down the city supply, was 
wasting large quantities at the Alvarado water shed by pumping it on the marshes 
whence it ran into the bay. On August 15th, a large mass meeting in Oakland 
denounced the Contra Costa company and pledged patronage to the new company. 
This was done openly by the city council. The new company reduced rates and 
furnished better water, it was claimed. Soon afterward damaging reports 
concerning the quality and purity of the Contra Costa company's water became 
current after thorough examinations by experts.
        In 1895 the Oakland Saturday Night was welcomed by social, literary and 
artistic circles; it was issued by Miss Mollie E. Connors, editor and 
proprietor.
        In 1895 the Fourth of July was celebrated at Oakland from dawn to 
midnight with unusual splendor and success. The streets were traversed by a 
procession of nine divisions two miles long. The carnival at Lake Merritt was 
the principal feature; fire works were set off at night. There were games, races 
and literary exercises. In 1895 the Fruitvale Temescal tract was placed on the 
market by the McCarthy Company. On one side was the Haywards electric line and 
through the center ran the Southern Pacific broad gauge line. Already in 
December, 1896, there were twenty-three houses more or less finished in the 
tract.
        In Fruitvale were many beautiful residences. Water was furnished by both 
companies. Lots were valued at $200 and up. In 1895 the Oakland exposition under 
J. W. Nelson, president, attracted the attention and interest of the farmers of 
the county as well as the merchants and manufacturers. The farmers desired to 
exhibit their products—fruit, grain, plants, poultry, vegetables, etc., but all 
could not be accommodated owing to lack of space. The Tabernacle was filled and 
an annex was also occupied. As a whole this fair was a gratifying success. At 
this time the merchants here were trying to force to completion the Contra Costa 
road in order that the valuable trade of the valleys there might be secured. 
Though they had fought for two years for the result, it had not been 
accomplished.
        On February 27th Oakland gave 1,636 majority in favor of the annexation 
of Temescal to the city, but the latter gave a majority of eighty-nine against 
it in a total vote of 645; Peralta was included with Temescal. Early in 1895 
important improvements were made in the old free library building on Fourteenth 
street. The new rooms were cleaned, papered and renovated. On the second floor 
was the reading and reference room. Mr. Peterson was librarian. A reading room 
was in rented quarters on San Pablo avenue. Mayor Pardee upon surrendering the 
mayor's chair stated that the council during his term had corrected the matter 
of public printing; had reduced taxation from $1.24 to $1.12; had improved the 
fire and the police department; had made advancement on street improvement; had 
abated many nuisances; had made important progress in recovering the water 
front, etc. He showed that though the city had spent in two years $2,052,411, 
there had been spend for "betterments" $512,333—schoolhouses, fire engines, new 
wharf, parks and drives, sewers, streets, etc. The school department alone, for 
maintenance and advance, had spent all told $840,131. For redemption funds the 
city had spent $143,222—in short that $984,131 had been spent for matters over 
which the council had no control. When thus explained it was shown, he declared, 
that for each of the two years the council had really spent but $534,145 per 
annum, a record of economy of which they could feel proud. The income for the 
two years was as follows: Received from taxes, $998,116; from licenses, 
$193,121; from tuition, $8,813; from state and county for schools, $263,854; 
from other sources, $37,659. The bonded debt of the city at this time was as 
follows: $680,000 on which the annual interest was $38,400 and the annual 
payment $45,000. The Merchants' Exchange gave a big banquet in April, on which 
occasion all plans for city improvement and advancement were discussed. Among 
the speakers were George E. De Golia, Senator Perkins, Congressman Hilborn, John 
P. Irish, R. M. Fitzgerald, Ben Morgan and F. M. Campbell. Oakland for a long 
time rested under a cloud owing to lack of enterprise on the part of the 
citizens. At intervals it responded spasmodically to certain immediate 
necessities, but in the main seemed content to drift with the tide of events, 
depending apparently upon whatever fortune might bring unassisted and 
unsolicited.
        Although $140,000 in bonds were about to fall due in August, 1895, many 
citizens opposed the plan of refunding them. A certain class said, "Let the 
property holders cash the bonds. It will be good for them. They ought to be 
cinched anyway. Go for them now and make them squeal." The situation was amazing 
to the officials who saw no way of inducing the moneyed men to buy the bonds or 
of compelling the citizens to refund them. The vote on the question of refunding 
the bonds (1895) was as follows: For refunding, 3,153; against refunding, 931. 
The populists let the movement against the bonds, though Mayor Davie, a 
populist, favored them. In July the county board went en masse to Sacramento to 
show why Alameda county assessments should not be increased from $91,000,000 to 
$100,000,000. The Merchants' Exchange held its first open meeting on October 
29th. About two hundred invited guests—prominent business men of the city—were 
present. The subjects discussed were the needs of Oakland. The speakers were 
Arper, Hilborn, Davis, Irish, Fish and Mayor Davie. All advocated energetic 
action to place the city at the head of the progressive centers of the coast.
        The boulevard tract east of Lake Merritt was put on the market in 
September. It was sold in lots at auction and brought from $1,000 to $3,400 per 
lot. A comparison of down town real estate value between 1885 and 1895 showed 
that they had risen from 200 to 400 per cent. A further comparison showed that 
values in Alameda, Berkeley and all of the suburban towns had advanced at a 
proportionate rate. In September the realty syndicate was organized with a large 
capital. The syndicate included many of the leading men of the city who had 
previously operated along private lines. By the last of September the company 
had acquired real estate valued at $1,500,000. This betokened a new and reformed 
movement in real estate and was an expression of confidence in the future growth 
and magnitude of the city.
        Again in the fall and winter of 1896 the subject of "Greater Oakland" 
was discussed and agitated and viewed from all angles and elevations. George P. 
Morrow was particularly active in the movement at this time. He desired the 
annexation of a large tract to the northward. In 1896 the Spring Valley Water 
Company brought suit against many individuals for an infringement of its 
riparian rights; the farmers used the creek water for irrigation. A test suit 
was brought against John Beard of Niles.
        The group of small frame houses which became known as the "House of 
Blazes" stood in the mud on the south side of Twelfth street just west of the 
dam. It was the resort of vice of all descriptions—drinking, gambling and 
scandal. The whole concern was sold out at auction in 1896 and became a scar of 
the past. It stood near where the auditorium now stands. In August seven Indian 
skeletons were dug out of Shell Mound at the park of the same name. Prof. John 
Merriam unearthed them after they were first discovered by workmen. All the 
skulls were flattened. Over the bones were a layer of ashes and then a layer of 
shells. He decided they were the skeletons of Flathead Indians.
        The establishment of the Oakland Water Company was made a notable event 
in the history of this community. When the people were clamoring for better 
water, when it seemed out of the question for them to secure any improvement, 
and when the old company refused to purify the supply or reduce the price, the 
Oakland Water Company was organized by William J. Dingee, largely through 
accident. When his intentions became known he was at first hailed by many as a 
public benefactor. He not only planned to secure the supply from the Piedmont 
foothills, but the immense outflow of the artesian wells at Alvarado. Promptly 
many people rallied to his support. So great was the rush of patronage that his 
company soon threatened to outstrip its rival both in support and public esteem 
and prestige. The board of trade, the Merchants' Exchange, the board of 
supervisors and the town and city trustees and councils promptly favored the new 
company. Soon the gigantic pumps and big pipes brought all the water needed— 
fresh and pure from the subterranean reservoirs at Alvarado. At once the old 
rates were cut and recut until in a short time it was declared that the new 
company saved Oakland alone annually $250,000.         ,
        In 1896 Emeryville and Temescal called for separate existence as 
municipal centers and bodies. The tax levy of $1.14 was opposed by the mayor and 
at last was cut down to $1.10 and passed by the council. In August committees of 
the Merchants' Exchange, the board of trade and the good roads association 
appeared before the council to advocate better roads at once. The latter 
association numbered about four hundred members who were greatly interested in 
the subject. In September Oakland had only two methods of street construction, 
macadam and bitumen―97.2 miles of the former and 4.57 miles of the latter, and 
67.6 miles of unimproved streets. Late in 1896 a movement was begun to secure 
about five hundred acres as near the heart of the city as practicable for a 
public park. A committee of the board of trade composed of E. C. Sessions, J. P. 
Taylor, M. J. Keller, D. E. Collins and A. D. Pryal called for proposals from 
property owners. Attention was called to the fact that bonds would have to be 
issued to pay for the land.
        An earthquake shock lasting about five seconds was felt here on January 
17, 1897, while many of the churches were holding services. At the Tenth Avenue 
Baptist church the whole edifice was violently shaken. Many of the congregation 
stood up, several ran out of the building, and a few women turned pale or shed 
tears. Ejaculations or screams were heard in all parts of the auditorium. At the 
First Presbyterian church the children's orchestra members dropped their 
instruments in fright. During all the time the southern cities were moving 
along, growing in population and increasing in wealth and attractiveness, 
Oakland, in a large degree slept on its oars. It did little or nothing of much 
effect in a cooperative way. It trusted too much to its natural attractions and 
its important location. In 1894 W. J. Dingee, A. H. Breed & Co., and others 
began a movement to collect a general fund to be used for the express purpose of 
advertising the city, of providing accommodations for visitors, of accumulating 
valuable information about the county for dissemination in pamphlets and 
circulars, and of providing the public representatives with data concerning the 
desirability of the city and county as a home and business point. (1880 to 
1897.)
        Early in 1897 the citizens of Oakland, more than ever before, came out 
openly for a "Greater Oakland." That was the slogan of the highlands and 
lowlands of the time. All leading citizens except the customary and hereditary 
grouchy class joined the advancing army. More than a dozen industrial, social 
and improvement organizations enlisted and worked for a broader policy of civic 
betterment. Mass meetings were held, eloquent speakers addressed large 
audiences, and means were forthcoming to aid the cause; but all to no avail, 
because the masses were not yet ready—had not passed the stage of wildness in 
the West—could see yet no merit in the movement where they were required to pay 
extra tax for improvements that were to be enjoyed mainly by their descendants.  
The movement for a greater Oakland grew in importance rapidly and called into 
action for its support hundreds of the best men of the city. One step early in 
1897 was to annex at the earliest practicable date Piedmont, Golden Gate and 
Temescal. A few years before this date the latter had defeated the project at 
the polls so far as it was concerned. In the annexation scheme of March, 1897, 
the following suburbs were included: Golden Gate, Peralta, Temescal, Claremont, 
Piedmont and Linda Vista.
        The Citizens' Municipal Improvement Association in 1897 considered three 
important subjects: (1) Consolidation of the city and county governments; (2) 
street improvement; (3) acquisition of land for a public park. The objects of 
the association were to direct public attention to municipal improvements. At a 
meeting held October 22d, it was the consensus of opinion that the park project 
should be pushed and that a tract of land in the foothills and a portion of the 
Adams property in Lake Merritt should be purchased. W. R. Davis favored the 
measures. John R Irish said he was authorized to state for the West Oakland 
Improvement Club that the people west of Market street would not support any 
proposition to purchase outside land by inside taxation. E. C. Sessions, John T. 
Bell, Frank K. Mott, D. E. Collins and others favored the park improvements.
        At an early date Oakland wanted a mammoth hotel for the benefit it would 
lend the city as an advertisement, and many seemed willing to sell the City Hall 
park to secure it. The next hobby was an intercepting sewer which, many 
declared, was an absolute necessity in order to conserve the health of the 
inhabitants. The third scheme was a magnificent boulevard around Lake Merritt 
which was commenced, but another council with malice aforethought and in cold 
blood paid the contractors a large bonus to give up the contract. A fourth 
feverish impulse was to open all the streets to the water front—Grove street was 
so opened and a wharf was built perhaps illegally, but the step amounted to 
nothing. Then came the spasm over the water front and about $75,000 was spent to 
learn that the city had been doing right for forty years in collecting taxes 
from individuals and corporations. In 1897 came the scheme for a beautiful park 
that would require the issuance of $300,000 in municipal bonds and was so far in 
the country that no one would go there as there was no suitable conveyance. The 
park committee of the council met similar committees from the board of trade, 
Merchants' Exchange and the real estate dealers with a view of reaching definite 
conclusions that would meet the approval of all. The Sather tract was north of 
Lake Merritt and a little distance from its border. Another tract inspected was 
320 acres near Leona Heights and Mills College. The price was $100,000. The 
Livermore tract and the Rock Ridge park were also considered. The estimated 
price of the Sather tract which included Indian gulch was $750 per acre, but the 
owners wanted over two thousand dollars an acre.
        In February, 1898, six councilmen were openly charged with the betrayal 
of their trusts to corporations—particularly to the water company in fixing 
water rates. There was much excitement and on one occasion one of them was 
pursued by the populace who shouted "lynch him." At a big mass meeting called by 
the Oakland Board of Trade in April, to consider the question of town and city 
consolidation, Alameda opposed it, Berkeley was lukewarm, but Oakland warmly 
favored the project. The question of county division was also discussed. The 
outside villages and towns did not seriously oppose the step, but all asked for 
certain concessions in case the measure became a finality. The Niles Improvement 
Club wanted the outside county called Alameda. Colonel Bridges of San Leandro 
wanted the outside county called Golden Gate. The firm position against the step 
taken by Alameda was the only serious obstacle, but was sufficient to prevent 
conclusive action. B. F. Samborn of that town said that he did not believe two 
people there would favor consolidation and that "since 1874 Alameda has acquired 
in city property $975,000. We can now give Oakland points in water—price and 
quality―electricity, light, taxes, etc. We have no trouble over our water front, 
will have free wharfage and streets opening on the harbor or bay. A campaign of 
education may change our minds. If in the next ten years you will show us how to 
reduce your expenses faster than we will reduce ours, we will be with you." The 
city called for tenders of park sites and was offered its choice of the 
following tracts: The Simeon tract nearly 1,200 acres near Leona Heights for 
$150,000; Medan tract of 476 acres back of Piedmont for $100,000; Blair tract of 
235 acres near Mountain View cemetery for $250,000; Dimond Canon tract of 245 
acres at the head of Fruitvale avenue for $150,000; Rock Ridge tract of 281 
acres for $155,525; Sather tract of about 280 acres for $360,000; Adams property 
of 62 acres near Lake Merritt for $290,000. In addition the realty syndicate 
offered to furnish land at any of the sites where it owned property. It was at 
this time that the citizens admitted that the city had made a costly and 
grievous mistake in not securing park sites long before when the land was cheap.
        The Piedmont Improvement Club was reorganized for the purpose of 
stimulating and promoting the growth of that suburb. The Encinal Land 
Association was organized with a capital of $50,000 and at once became active in 
handling realty properties in this vicinity. It seemed that if Oakland was to 
have forever the interminable water front wrangle, just so long would the 
progress of the city be retarded. Unquestionably many individuals and business 
concerns refused to locate here permanently owing to this obstacle.
        The report of the Oakland librarian in 1898 showed that the library 
contained 25,775 bound volumes, less 263 that were missing. For the fiscal year 
1897-8 the receipts were $18,666.58 and the expenditures $18,563.68. The report 
showed how cramped were the operations in the old building and how sadly a new 
building was needed. The librarian said that while the building was sufficient 
for the needs of 1868 it was totally inadequate in 1898. Perhaps in no other 
branch of the city government was the parsimony of the voters more conspicuously 
shown than in providing money for the free library. In August the council 
ordered an election to determine whether $320,000 in bonds should be issued for 
the following purposes: $240,000 for the purchase of Adams park; $50,000 for the 
improvement of West Oakland property; $10,000 for the improvement of 
Independence square.
        The celebration of July 4, 1898, at Oakland, was a gorgeous and 
memorable affair. More than two thousand five hundred people gathered at Lake 
Merritt to see the parade during the day and to witness the fire works and the 
bombardment of Morro castle at night. All of the troops at Camp Barrett took 
part in the proceedings—nearly two thousand of them, including those who came 
from the Presidio and the navy yard. The parade consisted of seven divisions all 
under the command of Webb N. Pierce, grand marshal. All the lodges, societies, 
posts and clubs were in line, decorated with banners and emblems, and marching 
to the stirring airs of fife and drum or to the statelier music of the bands. 
John A. Britton and Major Whitthorne were the chief orators. The news had just 
been received of the destruction of Admiral Cervera's fleet at Santiago and of 
General Shafter's advance, all of which were sufficient to fire the enthusiasm 
of the dullest patriot. The soldiers were almost wild and uncontrollable in 
their delight and played and sang "There'll be a hot time in the old town 
tonight." Their sham battle was witnessed by the vast audience from the heights 
above Adams Point. The fire works were set off from floats on Lake Merritt. The 
Red Cross ladies supplied luncheon to thousands of citizens and to all the 
soldiers. It was said that the latter charged the overloaded tables, carried 
them at the point of the bayonet and captured 300 gallons of coffee, 10,000 
sandwiches and fruit by the ton. The tables were 200 feet long. During the day 
and evening there were also games, races and literary exercises. The total cost 
was $3,063. It was stated at the time that this celebration was the most novel, 
original and dashing ever held in the county.
        On July 19th Gung Wong Chang set off 5,000 pounds of powder near Melrose 
and killed himself and six other persons. He had shot Ham Si Sing at Melrose and 
took refuge in a magazine of the Western Fuse and Explosive Company and defied 
arrest. A sheriff's posse approached the magazine and after a parley were blown 
to pieces. The victims were dreadfully mangled. A whole row of houses near the 
works was demolished. A train of freight cars near was wrecked. Probably a score 
of buildings were wholly destroyed and hundreds at great distances from the 
scene were injured. Thousands of horror­stricken spectators, gathered to view 
the scene of wreck, ruin and death. Men at Camp Barrett were thrown down by the 
force of the explosion. The county board passed resolutions deploring the sad 
event. The funeral of the victims was one of the largest ever held in the 
county.
        In April, 1899, the Government was given its choice of twenty-seven 
properties in Oakland for a postoffice site. The prices varied from $30,000 to 
$130,000. The present city hall is a rookery and a fire trap in which it is 
positively unsafe to store public records and would not be considered a safe 
building in the tenement house district of an eastern city. "The people could 
easily afford to furnish a better building for the proper care of so valuable a 
collection of books as I have found beneath the roof of your present library 
building." (A. M. Dewey, Government expert on municipal affairs.) In July, the 
North Oakland Improvement Club demanded the abatement of the nuisance along the 
bay shore by the filling in of the marsh land and the construction of a wharf to 
deep water in the bay on the western front of the city at a point far enough 
north not to conflict with the claims of the water front company to tide lands 
then in litigation. Mr. Dewar was president of the club at this date. In July, 
Henry F. Peterson retired and Charles S. Greene succeeded him as librarian of 
the Oakland free library. In August, Andrew Carnegie offered to give $50,000 for 
the construction of a library building in Oakland, providing the city would 
procure a site and agree to maintain the library with $4,000 annually.  At this 
time the city was paying about $18,000 per annum for the maintenance of the 
library. In August, Mayor Snow recommended an issue of bonds to the extent of 
$450,000 for the purpose of constructing a pier from the west side of the city 
to deep water in the bay in order to develop the shipping interests. At this 
time the Oakland harbor in the San Antonio estuary had cost the Government over 
$1,800,000. The deep water channel was completed in 1898-99. At this time the 
mayor said, "It takes all one's courage, in a city like this, so divided in 
purpose, so rent by jealous factions, so quick to criticize, so slow in action, 
so dull in civic spirit, to stand forth here as an exponent of large municipal 
undertakings." He recommended an issue of bonds as follows: Piers, $450,000; 
sewers, $300,000; library, $90,000; parks, $800,000, with many other subjects 
yet to be considered.
        In August it was estimated that 50,000 cubic yards of mud should be 
dredged from the bottom of Lake Merritt and deposited on the marsh between 
Twelfth and Eighth streets in order to form a park from that unsightly strip. As 
the time drew near for the completion of the dredging of Lake Merritt in the 
fall of 1899 it became important to settle the many disputed rights to land 
titles in that vicinity. The city did not know exactly what it owned there. On 
the marshes at the two upper arms of the lake considerable work had been done at 
city expense in filling land, a portion of which in reality belonged to private 
owners. It was important to know who owned that portion of the lake adjoining 
the Twelfth street dam and west of the most westerly boat house where private 
persons claimed title under the Peralta grant. The consolidation of the two 
Oakland water companies was effected largely through the efforts of W. J. 
Dingee. He was president of the newer, Oakland water company. He said that eight 
years before, when he engaged in the water business, he had no more intention of 
trying to supply Oakland with water and of bucking against a $6,000,000 
corporation (the Contra Costa company), than he had of flying, and that it all 
began by his attempts to sell a tract of elevated land in Piedmont. He found 
that he could not sell the lots without water and the tract was above the level 
of the system of the Contra Costa company. This led to the development of a 
small water supply in the hills, and later much more water was found than 
expected or needed. Accordingly a 10,000,000-gallon reservoir was constructed 
and in the end an independent water company was formed. He was no longer 
regarded as a public benefactor.
        In compliance with the provisions of resolutions to that effect a fire 
and water committee of the council investigated the subject of municipal 
ownership of water supply. The Blue Lakes Water Company desired to furnish 
Oakland with water—about 11,000,000 gallons daily, but refused to do so if the 
rate was to be fixed year by year. The company wanted about $15,000,000 for its 
whole plant. Another plan was to secure possession of the Alameda county 
artesian well belt and furnish its own supply. Still another plan was to condemn 
the property of the present water companies and take possession. In addition a 
system of salt water street sprinkling was considered. At this time every 
available source of pure water supply was investigated and duly weighed.
        In September, 1899, the Associated Improvement Clubs' plan of municipal 
improvement embraced the following items :
 
      San Pablo avenue   $100,000
      Telegraph avenue 100,000
      Wharf and docks, West Oakland  400,000
      East Fourteenth street  50,000
      Intercepting sewer 450,000
      More schoolhouses and sites200,000
      Filling North Oakland marsh 35,000
      Raising Twelfth street dam 15,000
      Purchase of park sites and boulevards 400,000
      East and West Oakland parks  50,000
      Total    $1,800,000

 
        All the clubs at this time assumed that the sum of about $2,000,000 
would be needed to carry on the projected improvements. The various local clubs, 
of which there were about a dozen in the city and suburbs, referred the matter 
of items to the Associated Clubs with the above result. In 1899, as never 
before, the people of Oakland grasped the serious subjects of public 
improvements and considered a new city hall, a new library building, larger and 
better parks, the planting of trees, extensive street improvements, wharf 
building, salt water street sprinkling, municipal ownership of water works, 
encouragement to incoming railroads, improved sewerage, pure food supplies, 
local transit facilities improved, well-paved main thoroughfares, completion of 
the Lake Merritt improvement, filling in of West Oakland marsh, bond issues, 
etc. All agreed that a million dollars could readily be spent for needed 
improvements, but that there was little or no likelihood that such a debt would 
be permitted by the voters. However, it was agreed that a forward step must be 
taken at once.
        No matter what the newspapers said the people of Oakland continued for 
many years to do their trading largely in San Francisco. They would not buy in 
Oakland because the prices were higher. At last the business men of Oakland by 
general consent dropped their prices to those of San Francisco, when lo ! their 
trade at once picked up and Oaklanders thereafter bought solely in Oakland and 
the city grew faster than ever before.
        For years one of the drawbacks of Oakland was a body of cheap 
politicians and professional demagogues who kept up a continuous assault upon 
capital and industry in order to win the applause and favor of that portion of 
the laboring element which entertained nothing but hatred for wealth. In fact 
they invariably spoke disparagingly of large industries and railroad enterprises 
and hence at all times did incalculable damage to the rapid development of the 
city. In many instances they sought popularity and power by assuming the role of 
arbitrators between capital and labor, but not having any good object in view 
they usually made a rotten mess of any industrial dispute or contest. If such a 
man had an itching for office he at once and with eclat attacked the 
corporations and the railroads in particular as his legitimate prey. But the 
saner element at last found a way to unmask or disrobe such scavengers and 
thwart their damaging proceedings. It was also admitted late in 1900 that what 
Oakland earnestly needed was a few first-class funerals—a retirement of fossil 
business men and the advent of fresh blood and enterprise.
        In January, 1900, the council informally agreed upon a plan of public 
improvement which involved a cost of $1,685,000. The time seemed opportune; but 
they failed to submit the matter to the voters and in the political campaign 
which followed the wants of Oakland were for the time lost sight of. In fact, 
the people lost faith in the council which seemed more intent on playing petty 
politics than on doing something substantial for the city's benefit. When the 
charter amendments were finally submitted in December, 1900, they were badly 
beaten—showing an utter lack of confidence in the existing council. The 
progressive element clamored for improvements, while all unprogressives stood 
ready to defeat any broad plan of civic betterment. Many citizens declared that 
the city too long had deferred to the parsimonious spirit which shaped and 
controlled the makeshift policy of the municipality. Scores of instances were 
cited where the penny-wise and pound-foolish policy in the past had cost the 
city unnecessarily and foolishly hundreds of thousands of dollars. If there had 
not actually been municipal retrogression it was owing to the wonderful growing 
qualities of the city and not to the trend and import of administrative events.
        On January 8, 1900, the council as a committee of the whole, agreed upon 
the following items to be submitted to the voters on the proposed bond election:
 
      New sewers and repairs$ 350,000
      Main thoroughfares 325,000
      New schoolhouses and sites 200,000
      New engine houses and sites 75,000
      Wharves on south side100,000
      Wharf at West Oakland 225,000
      New city hall 300,000
      Salt water sprinkling plant 75,000
      Commerce street filling 25,000
      Total  $1,675,000

 
        In July the library trustees awarded the contract for building the new 
library building to A. E. Barrett of San Francisco at $47,000. His original bid 
was $49,000, but was reduced by reason of changes made in ornamentation. In July 
and August over one thousand five hundred taxpayers petitioned the city council 
to submit to the voters soon the question of a new charter. It was believed that 
a new charter was necessary in order to carry into effect the improvements which 
were planned or commenced. At this time several automobiles could be seen upon 
the streets, and highways of the county. On January 1, 1901, the mercury fell in 
Oakland to 22 degrees above zero. A few years before it fell to 18 above.
        For the first time in seven years labor day was celebrated in Oakland in 
1901. There were twenty unions in line and it required ninety minutes for the 
procession to pass a given point. Many women were in line. For the year ending 
June 30, 1901, the following were the improvements in Oakland: New dwellings, 
187; stores and dwellings combined, 9; store buildings, 8; churches, 2; 
additions to old buildings, 65; total, 271. Both Berkeley and Alameda were 
growing rapidly, particularly the former, faster than ever before.
        In 1900-01 the Contra Costa Water Company bought out the Alameda Water 
Company and thereafter supplied the customers of the latter with water. The old 
Berryman reservoir passed to the new company; also the pipe line south of Ward 
street. But almost from the start the people of Berkeley were dissatisfied with 
the change, though they were given better service than that received by 
Oaklanders, because their supplies. were measured by meters. By January 1, 1902, 
there were from twenty-five to thirty automobiles in use in Oakland. Thus far 
they had displaced only buggies. Physicians owned more than any other profession 
or trade.
        Early in 1902 the Alpine tract was opened to purchasers; it comprised 
fifty acres laid off into twelve city blocks and was located on Grove street 
north of Temescal creek. Heron & Holcomb were the owners. Oakland in 1901 headed 
the list of coast cities in the number of new residences in proportion to 
population.   The Belden Building and Investment Company transacted a large 
business in realty. This year sixteen tax suits were brought against the city on 
the ground of exorbitant assessment. The complaint said, "That said exorbitant 
assessment of the property of plaintiff was not from error of judgment on the 
part of the said purported board, but was done with the intention of compelling 
plaintiff, together with a few other owners of property in the same part of the 
city, to bear more than their just burden of taxation, and was done to offset a 
certain reduction theretofore made by said board in the assessed valuation of 
three certain pieces of property." Judge Ogden said it looked very much as if 
fraud was charged in this allegation. In April the Oakland council adopted a 
resolution of intentions to call an election to decide on an issue of $2,000,000 
in bonds for public improvement.
        The realty syndicate early became one of the largest and most important 
business concerns ever established here. Though a private enterprise it 
conferred enormous benefits by properly advertising the advantages of Oakland at 
a time when other suitable publicity was almost totally lacking. Its predecessor 
was the Mutual Investment Union, whose scope of operation was not of sufficient 
breadth to insure the best results. With plans for vaster expansion the realty 
syndicate under a liberal charter began operations in 1895. Its charter rights 
and privileges were almost startling in their originality and power. They were 
to acquire undeveloped realty along forecasted lines, to possess the entire 
street railway system in Oakland and adjoining cities, and to combine with these 
interests a new ferry system between Oakland and San Francisco. Land was 
purchased slowly as it could be secured at a price upon which a profit could be 
realized. In a short time its securities were owned in all parts of the country, 
though a majority of the stock remained in the bay cities. By 1902 the syndicate 
owned several thousand acres of land throughout the east bay cities and their 
suburbs, controlled every street car line in Alameda county and was almost ready 
to put its ferry plans, into operation.
        On June 30, 1902, the new Carnegie library building was formally 
dedicated in the presence of a large crowd. Addresses were delivered by L. J. 
Hardy, G. S. Evans, President Wheeler of the university, Rev. E. E. Baker and 
Col. J. P. Irish. Mrs. O. K. McMurray rendered a vocal selection and Librarian 
Charles S. Greene read an original poem entitled "The Fruit of the Tree of 
Knowledge." The speakers all paid eloquent tribute to the ladies of Ebell 
Society, who had done so much for the library. Of course, Mr. Carnegie received 
the credit that was due him. Colonel Irish closed as follows: "I desire to 
express the hope that there is enough public spirit in Oakland to give us in 
this splendid building the 700,000 books that we need." Rev. Mr. Baker said, 
referring to the Ebell ladies, "If Paradise was lost by a well-known woman, the 
women of today are doing their best to redeem it. Let us say, All honor to these 
ladies. It is quite impossible to overestimate the good influence in this city 
and community of the Ebell Society." President Wheeler said, "Let this library 
stand not as catering to a desire for information, curiosity or anything of a 
similar nature, but as enlarging the field of human usefulness." The opening 
verse of Librarian Greene's poem was as follows:
 
"Set in the beautiful garden of old,
Where once our first parents dwelt in bliss, 
Was the wonderful tree, and they were told, 
Of all the trees you may eat save this. "
 
        In August, 1902, the council bond committee recommended that an election 
be held to vote on the question of issuing bonds to the sum of $2,500,000 for 
general improvements—city hall, parks and park improvements, boulevard 
completion, engine houses, garbage crematory, etc. They recommended the purchase 
of the Sather tract at $280,000 and $75,000 for its improvement. For the city 
hall $400,000 was recommended. They further recommended the purchase of the 
property west to Clay street and that the city hall be erected in the center of 
the block. They also recommended $490,000 for school sites and buildings; 
$400,000 for street work; $175,000 for the completion of Lake Merritt boulevard; 
$125,000 for filling in the park site from Eighth to Twelfth streets; $117,000 
for the purchase of the willows on the east short of the lake; $65,000 for new 
engine houses; $85,000 for the purchase of the Dr. Fremery property at West 
Oakland for park purposes; $25,000 for the improvement of Independence square 
and $25,000 for the free library. The bonds were voted down.
        In 1902 Oakland had six shipyards where 660 men were employed; nineteen 
vessels were finished or commenced. In the iron works were 705 employed; in the 
textile mills 660; in the canneries 800; in bridge and construction works 2,620; 
in planing mills 590; and in the building trades 1,665, etc. The investment here 
of nearly $800,000 by the San Francisco Terminal and Ferry Company, the purchase 
of the right of way of the California and Nevada Railway by the San Francisco, 
Oakland and San Jose Railroad Company, the establishment of a new ferry line to 
operate between Emeryville and San Francisco, the vast improvements on the 
Emeryville pier, and the erection of large steel works were important features 
of industrial development in 1902. It was estimated at the close of 1902 that 
from 700 to 800 houses of all kinds had been erected in Oakland. Among the large 
structures in Oakland were the postoffice, the crematory, Athenian Club 
building, the Elks building, the Carnegie library and others.
        By January 1, 1903, the realty syndicate had 6,000 investors, owned 
4,838 acres of suburban property and 334,000 feet frontage of inside 
property—all worth about $3,466,500. It likewise owned the controlling interest 
in the street car systems. In January Dr. Bushrod James of Philadelphia gave the 
city free, a park of 7½ acres on Shattuck avenue and Fifty-ninth street upon 
condition that it be called Bushrod park and be improved and devoted to park 
purposes. It is now a playground for the Washington school.
        It was admitted in January that the most important question which 
confronted Oakland was that of the control of city water; all others could 
wait—streets, schools, fire engine houses, sewers, hotels, parks, etc. In the 
words of the water committee the water situation was "intolerable." In January 
the citizens committee on water supply reported in favor of the city's supplying 
the inhabitants with water and stated that the best source of supply west of the 
Sierras was the Niles gravel bed. They said, "We therefore recommend the 
construction of an adequate distributing system, the laying of pipe lines to 
Niles, the purchase from the owners of the land on this gravel bed the right to 
develop and carry away water for our use, and the construction of pumping plants 
thereon. We recommend that the citizens of Oakland take action towards securing 
a water supply system under municipal ownership." This movement was denominated 
"Oakland's deliverance." In May the council took the first decisive step against 
the old water company and in favor of a municipal water plant by ordering plans 
and specifications therefor. Mayor Oleny took the position that Oakland should 
not buy out the Contra Costa Water Company because of the following reasons: (1) 
There would be too much complication in the transfer as the company was bonded 
for $3,500,000, about what the plant had actually cost; (2) The distributing 
system of water from San Leandro creek was both too small and too impure; (3) It 
would be necessary for the three cities—Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley—to act in 
unison on the proposition, because the system was already in operation in all 
these, and Oakland could not dictate to the others. The Spring Valley Water 
Company claimed to have spent for the development of its system on Alameda creek 
the sum of $5,537,304. Its total acreage in and adjoining the Calaveras valley 
was 4,900 more or less. In May, 1903, it was decided to try street sprinkling 
with salt water. The plan was tried and pronounced a success.
        On April 24, 1904, Oakland voted as follows on the proposition to raise 
$960,000 on school bonds: For the bonds 3,330; against the bonds 575. The object 
in view was to do away with the makeshift schoolhouses and erect buildings in 
keeping with the size of the school enumeration and with the importance of the 
city. It was planned to vote later on an issue of $250,000 for a polytechnic 
high school. During the year Oakland advanced rapidly in population and civic 
improvement. Large sewers were reconstructed; Twelfth street dam was remodeled; 
many streets were paved; thousands of trees were planted along the streets; 
school bonds were voted; more of the lake boulevard was built, and the great 
plan of public improvement, though the bond proposition failed at the polls, 
made distinct advance.  The eleven-story Union National Bank building was 
erected, two new theatres were built, several fine business blocks took the 
place of old structures; numerous factories, several churches and many handsome 
residences appeared in different parts of the city. The Santa Fe railroad was 
completed; the Key Route ferry began business with the numerous electric lines 
as feeders, the Southern Pacific transformed its freight terminal. The Home Club 
had a new home and the Ebell Society was securing one and excellent progress was 
made in securing funds for a new Y. M. C. A. building. The main outlet storm 
sewer along Thirty-sixth street was completed in October, 1904; it began at 
Sherman street and Telegraph avenue and extended to the bay. The total cost was 
$145,466. The dirigible balloon "California Arrow" shown at the World's Fair in 
St. Louis, was the invention of Capt. Thomas S. Baldwin of Oakland. It made a 
successful showing―was the admiration of immense crowds. Fruitvale Progress was 
edited by C. Leidecker. He said that in the past three years the population of 
Fruitvale had doubled―had now 2,300 school children as against 3,000 in Alameda. 
Late in August Charles S. Greene, librarian of the Oakland public library was 
appointed a trustee of the state library by Governor Pardee.
        The election of September, 1904, determined whether Oakland should enter 
upon a new era of expansion and development or whether it should fall behind 
other enterprising, communities where beautiful environment was sought. The vote 
on the bond propositions resulted as follows:
 
       Proposed Improvements   Amounts For       Against
      1.Small parks and play grounds $570,5803,7603,333
      2.Central park incl. part of Sather tract 450,0003,1003,976
      3.Proposed lake and other boulevards301,6703,8483,148
      4.Sewer extensions and renewals 121,4404,9102,160
      5.Wharf foundations and bulkheads15,0004,9302,135
      6.Dredging Lake Merritt 48,4003,9793,045
      7.Concrete culverts and bridges  49,6404,2742,687
      8.Bituminous crosswalks and culverts 127,0004,8242,267
      9.Polytechnic high school and land  143,0004,5442,507
      10.Additional fitting for free library 15,0004,3512,683
      11.New city hall and more land  650,0004,0922,980

 
        Thus all propositions were defeated. The total vote polled was 7,563, of 
which 5,042 or two-thirds, were necessary for success. The wharves proposition 
received 5,006 and thus lost by thirty-six votes. The sewers proposition 
received but 4,538 votes. All the others failed by smaller votes. The so-called 
central park proposition did not receive a majority of the votes cast. It was 
thought by many that the great number of propositions confused the voters and 
forced them in self-defense to say no on all. This election was termed "a 
successful failure."
        Before the city council and a large audience in October, 1904, five 
water projects were considered, as follows: (1) From the Bay Cities Water 
Company guaranteeing a delivery of 20,000,000 gallons, the city to build the 
necessary reservoirs and distributing plant; (2) plan of Engineer Miller to 
develop from wells in the county a supply of 12,000,000 gallons per day at a 
cost of $4,000,000; (3) to secure water from the American river through pipes 
110 miles long with 10,000 electric horse power by means of waterfalls at a 
total cost of water of $3,638,000 and for electrical power $410,824; (4) 
proposition of the Sierra Nevada Water and Power Company for a supply of 
17,000,000 gallons per day from the head of Mokelumne river, cost not given; (5) 
proposition from President Dornin offering the city an option on 1,000 acres, 
shown to have extensive artesian possibilities, cost $3,200,000. Of these five 
propositions the one submitted by M. K. Miller, engineer, possessed the most 
attractive features and was inspected in detail by the city authorities and the 
citizens. The Bay Cities Water Company offered to deliver to the city 20,000,000 
gallons of water per day at a saving of $8,000,000 to the city at the end of the 
bonding period over the existing system, besides owning both supply and system. 
The vote on the water problem was as follows: For the bay cities water 
proposition, 5,054; for the wells supply, 1,545; against both propositions, 366; 
for either, 65. Accordingly the council by resolution, passed late in November, 
1904, accepted the proposition of the Bay Cities Water Company.
        On January 16, 1905, the council by a unanimous vote passed to print the 
ordinance submitting the question of acquiring the municipal water supply 
offered by the Bay Cities company. March 11th was fixed as the day of election. 
On February 6th the council, without a dissenting voice sent for the approval of 
the people the proposition of the Bay Cities Water Company to furnish a 
municipal water plant. The council sitting as committee of the whole, considered 
the proposition to bond the city for the construction of sewers and voted 
unanimously to recommend that step, the cost to be about $300,000. At the same 
time the council considered the proposition of 1,700 petitioners to submit to 
the voters the question of closing the saloons—to exercise local option. At the 
election on the bond proposition March 1, 1905, the vote stood—for bonds 4,385, 
against bonds 5,242. The defeat of the bonds resulted probably from the fear of 
the people that there was something crooked in the whole proposition. In 1905 
the Merchants' Exchange appointed a committee to investigate the scope and 
character of the operations of the Spring Valley Water Company in taking water 
from Alameda county sources for use in San Francisco. The committee made a 
thorough investigation and finally rendered its report which was unanimously 
adopted. It was shown that the company owned 43,000 acres in this county, of 
which 20,000 were tillable and were thus non-productive. This land was mainly in 
Livermore, Sunol, Amador, San Ramon and Calaveras valleys and the Niles delta. 
The report was finally referred to the county board and the district attorney 
for such action as might be deemed proper. The coming of the Western Pacific, 
the development of the water front, the planning of new industrial enterprises, 
the improvement of streets, the erection of better school buildings, the 
improvement of the harbor, the increase in commerce and trade, and the 
successful attempts to beautify the city, were followed by vast advancement in 
every department of human uplift.
        In November the National Board of Fire Underwriters stated that as an 
initial step of primary importance in obtaining a satisfactory measure of fire 
protection supply the city should acquire absolute control of its water works 
through municipal ownership or other effective means and that the fire 
department as then organized was not adequate to handle fires with sufficient 
promptness and effectiveness to guarantee proper safety from conflagrations—that 
the recent rapid growth of the city had not been accompanied or followed by a 
corresponding strengthening of the fire department.
        In December Rev. Robert Whitaker, in a sermon in this city declared that 
Oakland needed sadly a municipal cleanup—that the city like Philadelphia was
"corrupt and contented." Reverend Mr. Wakeley took an opposite view and said: 
"The delectable city is not yet the spotless town and Oakland with her beautiful 
streets, her opportunities for a wide development, her parks and her schools is 
in no wise behind her more blatant rivals. Granting the facts to be true, are 
these gentlemen justified in using their pulpits for such a wholesale 
condemnation of our city's government and citizenship. The forces of good in a 
city are not to be advanced by such utterances and they are open to the charge 
of yellow preaching." At this time Mr. Whitaker was president of the recently 
organized Law and Order League of East Oakland. He appeared at a private meeting 
of the board of police and fire commissioners and explained why he had made the 
above statements. Among other things he said, "I am not certain that any 
exigency would justify a minister who has won man's holiest confidences into 
betraying them except where life itself is at stake. Nor am I certain that if I 
were prepared to give these confidences you are the men to whom I would give 
them. Your personal probity I do not question, but you are politically related 
to the accused." Of his statements Mayor Mott said that although he charged 
official graft and corruption, he did not specify nor verify his declaration but 
dealt in generalities.
        At the close of 1905 Oakland had eight engine companies, four truck 
companies, three chemical engine companies, two hose companies and 20,400 feet 
of fire hose. Connected with the department were 138 men, of whom 50 were full 
paid and others "call" men. A new engine house costing $12,000 was built in the 
Golden Gate district. The fire alarm and police telegraph system was in full 
operation and indispensable. N. A. Ball was chief of the fire department.
        The Oakland Chamber of Commerce was partly organized November 11, 1905. 
Among those who made addresses at the meeting were Mayor Mott, George W. Fisher, 
Theodore Gier, F. W. Bilger, H. C. Capwell, H. P. Brown, Charles E. Snook, Frank 
A. Leach, Jr., E. M. Gibson, T. O. Crawford, Edwin Meese, G. W. Langan, William 
J. Laymance and Dr. H. G. Thomas. The object of the chamber was to aid in the 
development of Oakland. Already the board of trade and Merchants' Exchange had 
well commenced the task of expansion and improvement. The chamber was fully 
organized on December 11 by the election of Edson F. Adams for president and a 
full list of other officers and the appointment of committees. At this time 
there were over six hundred active members.
        In January, 1906, the council passed an ordinance calling for an 
election to determine the question of issuing $992,000 in bonds for park 
purposes. The park sites were ten in number which were voted on January 14th. 
The principal one was Adams Point. Others were the marsh land at Twelfth street 
dam, tract at Conservatory park, the Willows property, the DeFremery property, a 
tract adjoining Bushrod park, tract in North Oakland, strip at East Oakland, 
tract east of Lake Merritt, a tract adjoining Prescott school. By the vote of 
2,702 to 566 Oakland carried this big park bond proposition. Adams Point cost 
$500,000; the Willows cost $201,000; the De Fremery tract cost $120,400 and the 
others much smaller sums.
        The Oakland Clearing House went into operation for the first time on 
April 27, 1906; eleven banks joined the association. All banks of the county 
soon cleared here.
 
                CLEARING HOUSE SUMMARY
 
                                          Clearings
                                          omitting centsBalances
      omitting cents
      May     $14,552,984$2,712,618
      June     16,039,4302,879,130
      July      15,826,7073,472,460
      August 15,663,5873,790,100
      September        12,809,4542,990,866
      October           15,890,9853,746,645
      November        14,332,5842,838,272

 
                                                        OAKLAND BANKS
 
                                                                                 
       Deposits April
      Bank                                                                    
      18, 1906
                                                                                 
       Omitting centsDeposits December
      1, 1906
      Omitting cents
      Oakland Bank of Savings          $12,874,181$18,241,539
      Central Bank     4,947,06010,306,542
      First National Bank       1,431,8143,998,287
      Union Savings Bank      4,383,7656,745,221
      Union National Bank    1,359,6013,210,148
      Security Savings Bank              356,857901,368
      California Bank                         585,7831,121,340
      Farmers' and Merchants' Bank. 1,058,4231,412,729
      State Savings Bank       797,8601,094,150
      West Oakland Bank and Trust Company          143,234205,672
      Total                $27,938,583$47,237,000

 
        Late in October, the Oakland building permits numbered in one week 112 
valued at $128,268. There were thirty-three one-story dwellings. From statistics 
prepared by W. B. Fawcett of the board of public works, it was shown that 
Oakland expended $7,660,378 in 1906 for the construction of 4,832 buildings, the 
largest sum for any month being $1,039,228, and 612 permits in October.
        By a unanimous vote in August, the council decided to take preliminary 
steps to establish a salt water street sprinkling and fire extinguishing system; 
the estimated cost was $70,000. In October, the council appropriated $27,000 for 
a salt water pumping plant; $10,000 for West Oakland park; $15,000 for a new 
fire engine house, and fixed the tax levy at $1.28.
        For the first time in the history of Oakland a bond issue for another 
purpose than the public schools was passed September 4th. About two thousand 
five hundred votes were polled of which about three hundred were against the 
proposition, which was to issue $586,000 sewer bonds.
        Oakland was made a full sub-port of entry, a concession due to the 
increased commercial importance of this city. Early in October, the joint 
committee on city and county consolidation for Oakland presented to the council 
a petition signed by about three thousand voters who favored the annexation to 
Oakland of a large section to the eastward and northeastward. The board of 
police and fire commissioners, in order to check the wave of crime sweeping over 
this community ordered the arrest of all suspicious characters, the supply of 
scanty fare only for persons confined in the city prison, and the formation of a 
chain gang of prisoners for work on the streets. Early in November, the council 
passed to print an ordinance calling for an election on January 15, 1907, to 
determine whether Fitchburg, Fruitvale and Elmhurst should be annexed to 
Oakland. Melrose and Allendale were included in Fruitvale. While in a general 
way the citizens of Oakland knew that the city was improving rapidly, it was not 
until 1906 after the earthquake that the full magnitude of the growth was 
realized, largely from the lips of outsiders. In other words, rank outsiders 
assisted in calling attention to the vast strides being made in all the 
industries and all the departments of ethics, morals and education—the thousands 
of beautiful homes built in this community within a few years, the vast increase 
in manufacturing enterprises, the expansion of educational methods and programs, 
the wonderful amplification of religious agencies, the splendid street car and 
ferry service, the blessings and possibilities of modern sanitation, the 
astonishing activities and successes of child care, the persistent philanthropy 
broad enough to grasp all phases of misery and misfortune, the transformation of 
libraries into dispensatories of practical knowledge for expanding youth, the 
multiplication of commercial totals and results, the transformation of streets 
into beautiful pleasure promenades, the combination for betterments, the 
popularity of civic virtue and honesty, the dawn of invariable political purity 
and official integrity, better wages and prospects for working people.
        The wonderful growth of Oakland from April, 1905, to November, 1906, is 
shown by the summary of building permits, as follows:
 
1905                    Amounts                          1906              
Amounts
April                     $112,440                         January         
$197,161
May                       279,765                         February         
197,487
June                        264,526                        March             
321,000
July                        277,457                         April                
271,281
August                   270,793                         May                 
447,425
September             228,247                         June                 
495.625
October                 235,785                         July                  
535,883
November             262,205                         August              558,244
December             184,618                          September       791,386
                                                                   October       
     939,086
 
        For the third time the voters of Fruitvale, in February, 1907, declared 
against a separate municipality by the vote of 591 to 383. At this time it was 
proposed to annex Fruitvale to Elmhurst. At the election of March 14th, on the 
question of annexing Fruitvale, Melrose, Elmhurst and Fitchburg to Oakland the 
vote in those districts was—for annexation 653, against it 823. Oakland cast 
1,660 for the annexation and 107 against it. At the charter election on April I, 
1907, four amendments were voted on: (1) for a garbage plant; (2 and 3) to 
facilitate street openings; (4) to provide for separate assessments for 
municipal revenue. All of the amendments were carried by substantial majorities.
        The voting of the $992,000 in park bonds in 1907 was sufficient 
authority for the city administration to extend the city parking system to any 
reasonable bounds. It put stimulus into the project of beautifying the city. By 
the close of the year there were about twenty parks, large and small, being 
improved and ornamented. The largest was the water park—Lake Merritt. It 
comprised about eighty acres of salt water. Adams Point park was fast coming 
into form and loveliness. Around Lake Merritt the boulevard and the promenade 
had been materially advanced. The old oaks were preserved. The West Oakland 
park, the Willows, the DeFremery tract, the Mosswood tract, City Hall park and 
many others were fast assuming definite outlines of color and beauty. Late in 
1907 the city secured an option on the ethnological collection of Dr. John Rabe 
with the object of forming therewith the nucleus of a public museum. There were 
shells, coins, minerals, corals and fossils.
        Early in 1909 the council appropriated $50,000 to cover the cost of 
dredging Lake Merritt and raising the Peralta park marsh with the spoils 
thereof. The plan of the administration to annex six square miles of territory 
on the western water front of the city was approved by the voters by the 
emphatic vote of 4,852 for annexation to 545 against annexation. Early in March 
Oakland voted on eight amendments to its charter. They related (1) to the 
appointment of park commissioners; (2) to the appointment of library trustees; 
(3) to the salaries of certain officials; (4) to the initiative, referendum and 
recall; (5) to wharves, docks, slips and warehouses, etc., on the water front; 
(6) to the control of such by the board of public works; (7) to privileges to 
all railroads without discrimination; (8) to extra privileges on the water 
front. Numbers (3) and (4) and (5) were defeated.
        The city of Oakland in the fall of 1909 covered 24.09 square miles. It 
was then proposed to annex 30.33 square miles of Brooklyn township and 6.35 
square miles of Oakland township, which would then give the city 60.77 square 
miles, of which 48.68 were upland and 12.09 tide and submerged lands. At this 
time three important projects were before the people of Oakland: (1) water front 
improvement; (2) city hall bonds; (3) annexation project. The cry was for a 
Greater Oakland. The intense interest in this election was shown by the large 
registration and the unprecedentedly large vote polled during the early part of 
the day. The occasion was momentous and inspiring to all who loved the splendid 
city, the beautiful bay and the Golden state. For weeks the campaign of 
education had gone on until all the grand purposes of the election were 
instilled into every heart. The vote on the bonds was as follows: city hall 
bonds—for 10,104, against 834; water front bonds—for 10,056, against 758; fire 
alarm bonds—for 9,930, against 841. The vote on the annexation project was in 
Oakland 7,933 for and 160 against; in Fruitvale 1,449 for and 678 against; in 
Brooklyn 640 for and 185 against; in Claremont 34 for and 7 against. Brooklyn 
included Elmhurst, Melrose and Fitchburg. The bond vote aggregated $3,500,000.
        During the five years from 1906 to 1910 inclusive over 20,000 building 
permits were issued, representing an expenditure of over $35,000,000. In July, 
1910, W. C. Clark, I. H. Clay, C. H. Daly, G. W. Dornin, A. H. Elliott, R. B. 
Felton, John Forrest, R. M. Hamb, Hugh Hogan, Albert Kayser, G. C. Pardee, H. S. 
Robinson, F. L. Shaw, R. H. Chamberlain and J. J. McDonald were elected 
freeholders to frame the proposed new charter for Oakland. On October 21 the
Oakland museum was opened to the public. During the succeeding winter a system 
of school lectures was inaugurated for the benefit of the scholars of the city. 
C. P. Wilcomb was elected curator. The following was the vote on the new charter 
in December, 1910: For the charter, 8,884; against it, 2,884.
        The development of modern residential subdivisions was one of the 
wonders of Oakland's growth in 1909-10. Breed and Bancroft developed Elenwood 
park, the Sante Fe tracts, Steinway terrace and other attractive subdivisions. 
The Frank K. Mott Company evolved Broadmoor, Grand Avenue Heights and Eastlawn. 
The Laymance Company sold many in-properties and handled the Rock Ridge 
properties.
        In 1910 the following improvements were commenced or finished: Seventh 
street pavement and railway tracks; extension of car service to several suburbs; 
side tracks, power stations and car shops; water front terminal of the Western 
Pacific; the Key Route pier; introduction of the hydro-electric power into the 
city from the Sierras; water service supplied with a great distributing 
reservoir with a capacity of 150,000,000 gallons; organization of the United 
Properties Company, second largest corporation in the state; Hotel Oakland well 
advanced —total cost about two millions dollars; work on the Twelfth street dam; 
a municipal electricity building on the lake shore; destruction of the old 
library and other buildings at city hall site; contracts for the municipal 
wharves; great advance in the construction of modern buildings; railroad 
extension; harbor improvement; electric feeders; and long lines of sewer mains.
        Early in 1911 the United Properties Company was organized here with an 
alleged capital of $200,000,000; it was designed to unite several of the largest 
business interests for the purpose of securing larger and better results through 
union and cooperation.  The Key Route System, the Realty Syndicate and the 
Oakland Traction Company were to be involved. Frank M. Smith was at the head of 
this business venture. Early this year Oakland opposed the bill in the 
Legislature providing for the annexation of this city to San Francisco. A 
desperate and determined fight was waged against the passage of the bill and was 
successful.
        In June the Oakland municipal water commission was appointed and at 
first planned the condemnation of the Oakland division of the People's Water 
Company and later in the year proposed a partnership of sevens municipalities to 
go into the water business as a $10,000,000 corporation. The water committee of 
Oakland, Mayor Frank K. Mott, of Oakland, Mayor J. Stitt Wilson of Berkeley, 
City Attorney Long of San Francisco and representatives of many other sections 
of the state, approved this measure about December 1st. This step really amended 
the Acts of 1909 and 1911 and made possible the creation of metropolitan 
inter-urban water districts. The district proposed here included Oakland, 
Berkeley, Alameda, Piedmont, Emeryville, Albany and San Leandro. In 1899 it was 
proposed to form a municipal water district, but the law of eminent domain then 
made it impossible to condemn the properties of the People's Water Company. But 
finally there was evolved a successful method of rate fixing by which the city 
was saved $900,000 and the old litigation which had cost the city $400,000 was 
eliminated. An amendment to the law of eminent domain made it possible for the 
city to bond itself for a large sum to take over a vast public improvement. But 
there were many obstacles which had to be overcome and time was needed; 
commencement of active work on a detailed report as to the advisability of 
forming a public utilities district under the Gates bill was made. Among the 
important gatherings in the city in 1913 were the following: Reception of 
Josephus Daniels, secretary of the navy; Knights Templar Conclave, Native Sons 
celebration, convention of the State Medical Society, state dental convention, 
dedication of the city hall, meeting of the California Press Association; 
meeting of the State Retail Hardware Association; and the banquets and balls 
—all held with the new Hotel Oakland as the central point of interest.
        During 1913, owing to the depression in all parts of the country of the 
stock and bond market, Oakland was obliged to call for a reissue of nearly three 
million dollars in bonds. The reissue was carried by the voters with an 
overwhelming majority, thus supporting with emphasis the admitted and desired 
policy of public improvements being carried into effect. Following is the annual 
record of new buildings constructed in Oakland since 1905, when the issuance of 
building permits was started:
 
      YearNo. Permits       Value
      1905                1,836$2,422,837.44
      1906    4,8327,690,195.13
      1907   4,5078,243,983.25
      1908    3,6146,320,562.36
      1909    3,2865,318,512.03
      1910    3,9686,913,643-47
      1911                3,9616,992,262.50
      1912                4,0349,009,733.85
      1913                3,707.9,106,191.40
      Total     $62,017,921.43

 
        Among the important forward steps at Oakland and vicinity in 1913-14 
were the following: Opening for traffic of the Oakland, Antioch and Eastern 
Railroad which gave a short electric rail connection with Sacramento; three 
trans­continental railways; lines running north to Seattle and south to Mexico; 
the transfer of the Terminal railways to George G. Moore; the opening of the 
draw­bridges across the canal; reclamation of the Alameda marshes; work on the 
harbor and the water front; many miles of paved streets; improvement of county 
roads; the construction of many large steel buildings; the wonderful growth of 
the suburban districts; the vast water and rail commerce; large numbers of new 
hotels and apartment houses; the expansion of the retail district; commencement 
of the auditorium; increase on wharf and dock facilities; extensive work on the 
parking systems; construction of the embarcadero; increase in the number of 
ferry boats; completion of a portion of the elevated electric railway; 
completion in part of the country boulevards—Dublin, Niles canyon, Hayward 
connecting with the scenic or foothills boulevard, fine bridges—Niles and 
Hayward. In 1913-14 an efficiency credit system was installed in the municipal 
departments of Oakland. On January 1, 1914, the bonded debt of Oakland was as 
follows:
 
      Refunding bonds of 1897          $84,000
      Sewer bonds of 1907   500,000
      Park bonds of 1907      843,200
      McElroy bonds of 1909            3,110,025
      School and auditorium bonds of 1911   1,058,205
      Improvement bonds of 1913     990,000
      Total    $6,585,430

 
        In January, 1914, the United Properties Company and the F. M. Smith 
advisory committee completed the legal formalities which conveyed to George G. 
Moore and associates the control of the San Francisco-Oakland Terminal Railways. 
Mr. Moore at once assumed control, management and operation of these railways. 
To accomplish this result it was found necessary to separate the railroad 
property from the United Properties Company. At the same time Mr. Moore and his 
associates undertook the re-financing, development and advancement of the United 
Light and Power Company and the Union Water Company as soon as they could be 
separated from the United Properties Company.
        The most important aspect of the Oakland public library is the vast 
extension of its fields of operation. It has become an aggressive medium for the 
dissemination of information—an adjunct to the public schools and the masses as 
well as the classes. More readily and certainly to accomplish this amplification 
the books, pictures and newspapers are placed in ten branch libraries and six 
deposit stations throughout the city, and at all times the library and its 
branches, by means of the telephone and otherwise, are in immediate contact with 
students, scholars and specialists. The public have learned to ask Librarian 
Greene and his courteous assistants for information on any and all subjects and 
are rarely disappointed in securing what they want. Under perfect system and 
with a complete knowledge of what is on the shelves, the staff day and night 
direct searchers after specific information to the particular book or 
illustration required. There is no limit or abridgment of the subjects covered 
by answers to questions. Politics, civics, esthetics, economics, statistics—all 
covered, in several cases with separate and distinct departments. The civics 
department was established when the new city charter was adopted, as a 
consequence of constant inquiry for information bearing upon municipal 
management. Other departments and special purposes are served. The city museum 
is now an adjunct of the library and is equipped to aid in the spread of 
knowledge.