The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-11-07

pass this Polk street will have to be COM
pleted to the bay. The completion of Polk
street Will necessitate the reletting of the
contract to cut away forty.five feet of the
SteeP hlll which fills the street between
francisco and Bay streets.
The teamsters claim that Van Ness ave-
nue. IS the only outlet they have to the
water 'front.'" said Mr.. Law. ''With Polk
street graded to the bay this would not be
So Polk street would become a great
artery OF the business of West San Fran
CISCO. A wharf would be built at it's foot
ana TINS neigh borhood become, as it was
hrst planned, the most important portion
OF the municipality
Mr.; Law advocated also the grading OF
van Ness avenue to the baY
Inc soldiers are soon % be moved from
the North Point reservation to the Pre-
slolo, where their new barracks are almost
completed. The sandhilis on the reserva-
I slon are last being shoveled down into the
lois owned by the Fair family. Mr.. Law
pelleVed that the buildings now on the
reservation would then be torn down and
the reservation turned into park.
The view from the end of Van Ness
avenue is the most beautiful of any in the
CITY, ne declared. with the reservation
Turned into a park and the street so
graded that nothing obstructed the view,
the drive to the bay would be one of the
most noted in the world.
There are two things that obstruct the
| mnlShlng OF the grading of the avenue.
The Federal Government owns those last
two blocks on the west side of the street,
and the ruin of the Pioneer Wooden Mills
property occupies the two blocks on
have to get the City to pay the
Government share OF grading, for which
they will be recompensed later. The pri-
vate owners can be handled all right"
The matter of getting the City to con-
tribute toward grading the street has been
tried before. The Supervisors have always
pleaded lack of funds. Another attempt
is to be made soon.
John McGovern, VINO lives at the corner
or LON bard street ana Van Ness avenue,
is another man interested in getting the
/ improvements needed for his neighbor-
| hood. He bought several blocks of prop
! erty, much of which bordered on Van
! Ness avenue, in 1858. Since then he has
| sold some of it, and he is anxious to
assist in any movement to enhance the
/ value of the rest.
Before | bought the land out here, he
| said, Il jumped on my horse and rode all
the way from here over the sandhills to
General Hayes. L made up my mind
then that this was the best residence site
of all and bought here instead of in the
! Mission.
"Other people thought so too, and it was
| almost impossible to buy lot here until
Uncle Sam stepped in in 1868 and took
possession of lot of the territory for his
soldiers. This caused dreadful slump,
and the neigh borhood is just beginning to
get over it,
Mr.. McGovern pointed to where ma
chine was shoveling sand into ravine
and said that the sand left over was to be
put on Fairs inundated lots. Those lots
he thought would be devoted to manufac-
turing. The presence of the reservation
park extending from Laguna street to Van
Ness avenue would, he thought insure q
freedom from factory smut that would
make the avenue the premier residence
portion OF the City. This end was to be
accomplished by the completion OF the
grading of Van Ness avenue, the re-
letting of the contract for grading of Polk
street TO the bay and the acceptance of and
caring for Lombard street from the avenue
to the Presidio
Lombard street is now thirty-eight feet
/ nine inches wide and has fifteen-foot side
walks" he said. Three feet could be
readily taken from the sidewalks and thus
make the street nearly forty-five feet wide.
1.-The Federal Government macadamized
the street nearly five years ago when Gen
eral Miles was here. Now look ut it. The
! City promised to keep it in repair and
! although $4,000 or $4,000 was expended
! by the Government. the City has not done
a thing. Is it any wonder that the road
is not in good condition."