The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-08

THE other day was standing in front of
one of the large schoolhouses in the south
ern part of the City, and as L watched the
great number of children that were leav-
ing the building, could not help recalling
the fact that in the early days, say in 1853,
there were not as many pupils in all the
buildings in the seven school districts as
there are now in one school that was
named to me. l was told that it contained
1900 pupils on an average. Now at the
time 1 speak of the attendance at the seven
schools, as l discovered by looking over
some old diaries, was but 1178," said Col
0nel Reuben D. Strong.
"And all this recalls the first public
school picnic given in San Francisco. 1t
was a union picnic held at the old Spring
Valley school that stood on a knoll on
what is now the line of Union street, west
of where Franklin crosses it, and it faced
the Washerwoman's Bay and Black Point.
/ might as well say that when I went out
to see that part of the city missed Wash
erwoman's Bay as well as the old school
house, the oaks that grew around it and
the old trail that led to it from Pacific
street hill. / remember well the old little
schoolhouse, with its frontage of thirty
feet and depth of twenty-five, and
the tall beIfry in the rear, all surrounded by
oaks that had been growing there long
before the adventurous argonauts came to
the country in their search for yellow gold
Before this building was used for school
purposes-it was opened as public school
on the 9th OF February, 1S52-it had been
q church, where the people who lived in
the vicinity of Black Point and of the
Preside attended divine service. When
1t became a school it was the only one in
District No. 6, the City at that time being
divided into seven school districts. It was
opened as mixed school, grammar and
primary, and in the year l have already
mentioned, there were slxty-seven pupils
who were under the charge of one teacher,
who taught both grades. Teachers in those
days did not have very easy time; with
them it was work, and hard work; they
taught and the pupils had to learn. II
they did not learn the teacher did not
spare the rod to save the children. Where
the old schoolhouse stood I saw modern
two-story building, and on it a sign in
forming me that 1t is the Sherman
Primary School,
THAT new building" I said to the
Colonel, twas built on the site of the old
school in 1888, and was completed in June
OF that year. 1t is now in charge of Miss
]. M. A. Hurley, who has been principal
since 1867"
"But to return to the subject of the pic
mic" continued the Colonel. "That there
was to be such was known to the scholars
of the different schools for weeks, and you
may rest assured that during those weeks
the juvenile minds thought more OF May
day than they did of Murray's spelling
book or geography lessons. In each school,
orders were issued to make preparations
for the great event. The girls were re-
r. in rzrhi
were told to dress in their clothes of the
best. In some of the schools the teachers
were in favor OF having the boys appear in
uniform suits, and as a result the boys OF
one of the schools turned cut in linen suits
and uniform hats. Each school adopted
banner and color.
''The great day came at last; it was Mon
day. the I'd of May, and the weather, for
some days previous quite dull, was, as the
newspaper men of to-day say, all that could
be desired AS early as o'clock in the
morning of that day the children OF the
schools south of Washington street, which
at that time was the dividing line, as
Market street is now, under the leadership
OF their teachers, commenced to assemble
in front of the Second Baptist Church on
the north side of Pine street, above Mont
gomery, where the California Market now
stands.
Headed by Lothian and Schmidt's band
the children formed in line and marched
along Kearny street to Broadway up as
far as Dupont where school No. was stu
ated. There the schools of the northern
districts Joined and the little ones, happy
and merry as childhood can be, trudged
over the uneven roadways to PACING street
and over the hills on their way to the
point of assemblage. School No. had It's
siIken banner of red with heavy gold
fringe; No. 2, orange and silver; No 3,
yellow; No. 4, green and gold; No. 3, blue
and gold: No. s, light blue and gold, and
No. Z purple and gold. There were at
least a thousand children in line. the
girls all dressed in white, each wearing the
color of the school she belonged to, IN the
shape of scarf, and each OF the boys wore
a rosette of his school color; then every
child carried bouquet, the cost OF which
in those days was quite an item, but money
was plentiful and people did not care.
recollect what a run there was In the
stores for ribbon of the several colors Sc
lected; why after the demand had been
supplied there was not enough RIBBON OF
the colors have named to trim ponnet.
ssThe May Queen elect, Miss Emma
Sveasey, about II years of age, surrounded
by her maids of honor, occupied the CEN
trail portion of the procession. The young
miss, pretty child, was exceedingly
proud of being the first May Queen OF oan
francisco. As / said before, the process
was known as the Presidio road. 1t turned
off to the north near the line OF Larkln
street, and ran diagonally to near where
Franklin now interseets Union street, ana
continued west to the great gate at the
entrance to the reservation. There was
also a branch of the road that ran north
and led to the lagoon and to l. Hermitage,
q Sunday resort. that was kept by
Frenchman and was quiet nook Tor those
who wished to enjoy a good breakfast ana
a frst-class dinner under an arbor.
eaThere were followers of the procession
and by the time the head halted at the NJ
tie schoolhouse nestled in the midst OF the
oaks and decorated with the colors OF our
country. there must have been 5000 people
around and about the temple OF learning.
A grand stand and throne for the Queen
and her court had been erected, and as the
Young miss advanced the school children
were formed around the stand, while be-
hind them stood the parents and relatives
and friends | have witnessed many pretty
sights since then, but none that to me was
prettier-none that left a more vivid i'm
preston on my mind. 1t is more than
forty-two years since witnessed 1t, yet
see It now as if it had been but half an
hour since looked upon the faces OF those