The morning call., 1893-07-23

and held against all the world whatever
they could obtain withou: an infractiop of
the statutory laws, and it naturally fol-
lowed that what men owned could be- dis.
posed OF as they saw fit and proper.
For the benefit of those unfamiliar with
the tenets and dogmas prevalent at this
period it ought to be stated that there was
a single exception or restriction placed
upon the universally accepted belief in
private ownership. 1t was that no man
could maintain nuisance on his roperty,
or use his property in such a Way as to
interfere with the comfort or safety of his
ueighbors. Thus even Andrew Mapder.
son. with all his millions. could not have
maintained glue factory or other obpox-
ious business in the center of the city.
This restriction. however, counted for
very little, and the enforcement Of the
theory held in those days that the liberty
of one man must not interfere with the
liberty OF his neighbor was largely mat
ter of arbitrary dscernment infiuenced
greatly by the wealth of the parties inter-
ested.
Ina case like that of Andrew Mander.
sons tennis court or his adobe nut on
Mob Hill there was no remedy. either Ia
law or morals. Though the loss of the
Mills building TO ancient San Francisco
was deplored by tile entire civilized world
and the city itself never recovered from its
depressing effects. the most learned people
OF the times could at first see no way out
of the difficulty.
And in the colloquial phrases of that
period they "botted their wrath as we'll as
they could" and ''grinned and bore it,"
OF course there did come time when
the people of San Francisco found their
way out of the darkness. else the common
wealth of our day would have been i'm
possible. But to outline their paths of
thought and action would be to anticipate
the events of this narrative and | have
yet much TO tell Of the ways and doings
of Andrew Henderson, the richest man
in the world.
Scarcely a month after his conversion of
the magnificent Mills building into pri-
vate tennis court all San Francisco was
startled by the news that Andrew Man
derson had purchased the Crocker block.
Next to the Mills building. there was
not in San Francisco in those days a finer
business structure than tho mammoth
granite and pressed brick building that
adorned the triangular site at the junction
Of Market, Post and Montgomery streets,
known as the Crocker block. Now An
drew Manderson possessed it.
San Francisco was terror stricken. One
Of the more sensational newspapers of the
period turned It's column rules and ap-
peared In deep mourning the day after the
transfer was made.
What will he do with ito was the uues-
tion in everybody's mouth until the answer
came in action rather than words. Like
its twin beauty. the Mills building. the
Crocker block was soon mass of debris
out on the sand dunes.
Then came the gravel and the sand and
the sod again. Came next trees and
shrnbbery and rustic seats. Last of all
came plain Andrew Manderson, with book
newspaper. There he would sit md read
by the hour. though all around him was
the din and worry and hurry OF great
city-or rather of n city that once was
great and still tried to keep up its COM
mercal spirit.
1t WAS pretty little green spot that An
drew Manderson made Of this triangular
lot. and he spent good many hours there
in a weeks lime. Folks wondered why he
did not go out to the park to read. but the
reason was quite PLAIN Andrew Mander-
son had been used to the noise and hustle
OF great cities all his life, and could not
rest we'll in absolute quiet. He wanted
just such spot as this, right in the heart
of busy city, in which>1o rest hs eyes and
bra in and i'm rove his MIND bv reading.
His favOrite book was Andrew Carne-
gie's "Triumphant Democracy" He read
it very often sitting there IN his little
green spot. When it was cold he took one
of the seats that was unsheltered from the
sun. On warm days he sat and read under
the trees. 1t was his little park. An ar
tisticaly designed iron fence shut it off
from the outside world and rendered his
seclusion com pete. II seemed to enjoy it
very much, and he once remarked to a
friend that he thought he had done good
thing for the people of San Francisco ln
giving them this pretty green park in the
very midst of their busy city. The trees
and shrubbery must be refreshing to the
eyes OF busy men as they passed to and
from their daily tasks, he said.
But the people of San. Francisco could
not see the matter in this light. They
mOurned the lass OF their two beautiful
business structures INCREASINGLY. and took
the matter as much to heart in personal
way as though the buildings which Prev
ousy adorned these sites had been theirs
in common rather than the property Of but
two individuals.
They reflected that the public had al
ways been welcome to use these structures