The daily sentinel., 1902-07-10
A JAY IN OLD FRISCO
The SentineI's Special Correspond
ent Gives History not Found in
Books. -.--lnteresting Letter.


Noisy because it's streets are paved with
stone set in edgeways. Then, with two
lines Of street cars so thick that they al
most form a train, with those great truck
and transfer wagons and every other
kind of vehicle rafting over those stones,
street cars and some wagons ringing
their bells, you have to hollow to ono at
your elbow to make him hear. The
other day, amidst this great throng. when
it seemed unsafe to attempt to CROSS
Market street on foot the fire alarm was
sounded and then came the engines and
carts. The street cars stopped and the
crowds of people gave way. 1t was won
derful to me to see how the business Of a
great city is handled by those who un-
derstand it.
The streets of San Francisco are jun
bled up in the worst sort Of way. Mar
ket street, the principal thoroughfare OF
the city, is 100 feet wide and cute the en-
tire city diagonally, giving odd shapes to
adjacent blocks upon which are built
business blocks the architecture OF which
do not admire. On each side of Mar
ket street there is a sidewalk 25 feet
wide and, as you elbow your way along.
you wonder where the people all come
from and where they are going. The
people dress in all sorts Of styles, from
the thinnest summer apparel to the
heaviest winter cloaks and overcoats,
and ladies' in carriages on the Fourth OF
July actually wore the very heaviest Of
fur cloaks.
San Francisco is we'll and compactly
built, most residences occupying one Do
foot lot and built two or three stories
above their Easements Most Of the de-
eirable territory ID occupied. Beyond
there are sand hills, and in places seeds
from a bush from Australia have been
sown, which is growing and forms COW
ering over the sands, which prevents the
sand from drifting into territory now i'm
proved On the bay they have filled in
until they have fine streets and business
blocks where once there was water.
Remember that San Francisco is an
old town In 1850 they had a fire that
destroyed 400 buildings and caused loss
of S50O,00O. San Francisco, like New
York, is reaching out across the bay
Already Berkeley has 10000. Alameda,
Is, 900, Oakland 10000 people, and San
Jose, with it's $1,000 people just around
the bay, is connected by boat and cleo
tr;p in olaptric rQ liDaa n r
connecting every portion OF this state.
The other day l rode through Berkeley,
Oakland and Alameda, distance OF ten
miles, on an electric car, for five cents.
Throughout the entire distance the
streets are macadamized and the side
walks everywhere are Of concrete, show
| ing that this immense territory is rapid
| ly becoming a city. One would think
so, to see the immense passenger traffic
upon the great ferry boats between Oak
land and San Francisco.
The people in San Francisco and the
surrounding country seem to be the old
time Californians, while at Los Angeles
they are more recently from the east,
and the difference is easily noted. AS l
have spent 30 years upon the frontier OF
Colorado, prefer the former class.
Modern architecture, as seen in dwell
iugs in Berkeley and Los Angeles, is very
attractive, while up on California Hill in
San Francisco. where some years ago
they attempted to build fine residences,
must say l could not distinguish the
| difference between public buildings and
| residences.
The Palace hotel ia one OF the largest
and most magnificent stsuctures ever
dedicated to the needs Of the travelling
public. yet failed to see in it the COM
forts for guests that there are in the An
gelus, a new and modern hotel at Los
Angeles, opened last December, and
which did not cost one.fourth the mon.
ey.
San Francisco is on peninsula and or
the Bay of San Francisco, which is one
OF the largest, deepest and safest har
bors in the world. 1he entrance to the
bay is through the Golden Gate, &c
named by John O. Fremont. 1t is one
and one-flfth miles wide and sixty faith
oms deep and very strongly fortified. As
l was always anxious to know how they
N