Part 15 (1/2)
Will those who left it after the fire ever get back to their old city again? We have already expressed our doubt of this. The old San Francisco is probably gone, never to return. The new San Francisco will be a cleaner, saner and safer city, dest.i.tute of its rookeries, its tenements and its Chinatown. It will be a greater and more sightly city than that of the past, but to those who knew and loved the old San Francisco--San Francisco the captivating, the maddest, gayest, liveliest and most rollicking in the country--there must be something impressibly sad to its old inhabitants in the reflection that the new city of the Golden Gate can never be quite the same as the haven of their early affections.
CHAPTER XIII.
Plans to Rebuild San Francisco.
Almost as soon as the terrible conflagration had been checked and gotten under control by the heroic efforts of the soldiers and firemen, a little group of the leading citizens of the desolated city had met in the office of Mayor Eugene E. Schmitz and had begun to plan the restoration of their munic.i.p.ality. It was an admirable courage, bred in the stock of those men who in 1849 left comfortable homes in the East to seek their fortune in the Golden State, that inspired the loyal leaders of the present day citizens to provide with far-seeing eyes for the rebuilding of their homes and business houses with more orderly precision after the fire than had been possible during the hustle of early days in a new city.
The old San Francisco was no more, and never could be recalled save as a memory. The local color, atmosphere, that which might be termed the feeling of the old city, vanished with the cl.u.s.tered houses, as rich in tradition as the ancient missions in whose cloisters wors.h.i.+ped the Spanish padre ”before the Gringo came.” Heartrending as it was to the citizens who loved their homes and haunts to see them disappear into smoke, there was an attraction about the city of the Golden Gate which endeared it to all Americans.
One of San Francisco's charms was in its defiance of precedent. There were hills to be conquered, and San Francisco' s expanding traffic hurled itself at the face of them. It went up and up, with no thought of finding a way around. So it happened that on some of the streets the steepness was too great for horses. In the centre there are cable roads, and on either side of the rails gra.s.s grows through the cobbles. The earlier structures on the level were put together in haste. For the most part they remained essentially unchanged until they fell with a crash. True, they had become stained by time, unkempt, dwarfed by new neighbors, but n.o.body desired to efface them. Away from the business section houses appeared on the various hills, perched precariously near the brink; houses reached by long flights and grown over with roses. The bathing fogs touched them with gray. Moss grew on their roofs. In the little, lofty yards calla lilies bloomed with the profusion of weeds.
The natural beauty of the site, the quaintness of the commercial and social development of which it became the centre, attracted the poet and the artist. It incited them to paint the attractions and to sing the praises of their chosen home.
But the loyal sons of those brave pioneers who founded the metropolis were not in the least daunted by the problem of raising from its ruins the whole vast number of dwellings and business houses. The leaders of the people, the men who had been identified with San Francisco since its early days, and whose great fortunes were almost swept away by the cataclysm, lent courage to all the wearied thousands by firm statements of their optimism.
James D. Phelan, former Mayor of the city and one of its richest capitalists, immediately announced his intention of rebuilding his properties at Market and O'Farrell Streets, in the heart of the ruined business district. William H. Crocker, one of the heaviest losers, a nephew of Charles Crocker, who founded the Central Pacific Railroad with Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford and others, stated emphatically that he would put his shoulder to the wheel. On receiving the first news of the disaster, and before he knew what his losses would amount to, he said:
”Mark my words, San Francisco will arise from these ashes a greater and more beautiful city than ever. I don't take any stock in the belief of some people that investors and residents will be panicky and afraid to build up again. This calamity, terrible as it is, will mean nothing less than a new and grander San Francisco. It is preposterous to suggest the abandonment of the city. It is the natural metropolis of the Pacific coast. G.o.d made it so. D. O. Mills, the Spreckels family, everybody I know, have determined to rebuild and to invest more than ever before.
Burnham, the great Chicago architect, has been at work for a year or more on plans to beautify San Francisco. Terrible as this destruction has been, it serves to clear the way for the carrying out of these plans. Why, even now we are figuring on rebuilding. More than that, I am confident that, except for what fire has absolutely laid waste, it will be found that the buildings are less injured than was supposed.
Plastering, ornamental work, gla.s.s and more or less loose material has been shaken down, but the framework, I am sure, will be found intact in many big buildings.”
D. Ogden Mills, of New York, who owned enormous properties in the stricken city, was equally confident.
”We will go ahead,” said he, ”and build the city, and build it so that earthquakes will not shake it down and so fire will not destroy it, and we will have a water system which will enable us to draw water from the sea for fire extinguis.h.i.+ng service and other munic.i.p.al purposes. We will thus have less to fear from the destruction of the land mains. The whole point with all of us who own property down there is that we have to build. To let it lie idle, piled with its ruins, would mean the throwing away of money, and I am sure none of us intends to do that. The city will go up like Baltimore did, and Galveston, and Charleston, and Chicago, and there will be no lack of capital. California spirit and California enterprise, which are always a.s.sociated with the State of California, will rise superior to this calamity.”
George Crocker, elder brother of William H. Crocker; Archer M.
Huntington, son of Collis P. Huntington; Mrs. Herman Oelrichs, Mrs. W.
K. Vanderbilt, Jr., members of the wealthy Spreckels family and others all expressed, before the great conflagration had ceased burning, the confident expectation that the city would rise, Phoenix-like, from its ashes and become more beautiful and prosperous than it had ever been in the past.
So complete was the calamity that the Government of the United States lent a hand in the earliest work of restoration. On April 20th, two days after the earthquake, Congress took immediate steps to repair or replace all the public buildings damaged or destroyed in San Francisco. The willingness of Congress to a.s.sist those in need of work by immediately beginning the reconstruction of the Federal buildings was indicated when Senator Scott, chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, introduced a resolution calling upon the Secretary of the Treasury for full information as to the exact condition of the various government buildings in San Francisco, and instructing him to submit an estimate showing the aggregate sum needed to repair or rebuild them.
The resolution suggested that steel frames be used in any new buildings.
This resolution was adopted. It was soon learned that the new Post Office, the Mint and the old Customs House were practically undamaged.
The branch of the United States Mint, on Fifth Street, and the new Post Office at Seventh and Mission Streets, were striking examples of the superiority of workmans.h.i.+p put into Federal buildings. The old Mint building, surrounded by a wide s.p.a.ce of pavement, was absolutely unharmed. The Mint made preparations to resume business at once.
The Post Office building also was virtually undamaged by fire. The earthquake shock did some damage to the different entrances to the building, but the walls were left standing in good condition. President Roosevelt also sent a message to Congress asking that $300,000 be at once appropriated to finish the Mare Island Navy Yard, in order that employment might be given to the many workmen who were in extreme need of money for the necessities of life.
It was a most fortunate circ.u.mstance that the property records in the Hall of Records were unharmed either by earthquake or fire. Endless disputes and litigation over the questions of owners.h.i.+ps would undoubtedly have otherwise impeded the work of those sincerely anxious to repair their shattered fortunes and opened the way for the unscrupulous to take unfair advantage of the general chaos.
But the temper of the people was such that only the boldest would have dared to use trickery for his own ends. Every man stood at the side of his neighbor working for himself and for the good of all. Before the embers were cool the owners of some of the damaged skysc.r.a.pers gave commands to proceed instantly with their reconstruction. The Spreckels Building, the Hayward Building, the St. Francis Hotel, the Merchants'
Exchange and structures that permitted it were ordered rushed into shape as quickly as possible. And already contracts had been drawn up for other steel-frame buildings to be erected with all speed. Many substantial business men and property owners of San Francisco were in consultation with the architects within a few days. While the work of clearing away the debris went forward, a corps of draughtsmen was busily occupied preparing plans for the new buildings to adorn the city.
Mayor Schmitz telegraphed to the Mayors of all leading cities, inquiring how many architects or architectural draughtsmen could be induced to leave for San Francisco at once, and hundreds of young men immediately responded to the call. Experts of the several great contracting companies hurried to the scene and were ready to deposit material and labor on the ground for the work of restoration. Daniel H. Burnham, a leading architect of Chicago, who had previously drawn plans for beautifying the city, was summoned to superintend the work.
All the horses, mules and wagons obtainable were immediately pressed into service to remove the debris and clear the streets so that traffic could be resumed. Within a week after the first earthquake shock trolley cars were running in the princ.i.p.al streets, telephone communication had been re-established in the most needed quarters, electric lights were available and business had begun again on a limited scale.