Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-04-23
San Francisco That Was

| locality having tho peculiar conditions
of san Francisco are responsible foi
the fact that III 1900 there We're So ~
franrc ana only 1851 stone and brick
buildings.
The tendency to use the more durable
mat rial has been growing rapidly
I'll, occasional occurrence of earth
tremors for long time restrained the
propensity to build skyscrapers. in 1890
however. the proprietors of the
cn,nnic:" erected 4 tcn-stnry moderI
Gret roof building. This example wa!
soon followed by other property
owners. and the city has now its share
of tail str,Ictnrcs. the highest Of which
Is eigbtecn stories high.
The NEST conspicuous building is the
CITY Hall. Surmuunted by a dome 49,
feet high. il cost more than $G.ooO.ODO
and took tWcntv-tivc years to erect IT.
II is very ecl;dly constructed, and its
w,IIs cf brick ar" covered with cement
Architccturaliy il il composite. The
interior of the demo is decorated with
native marbles. II" structure houses
ad11ir;e:ratiys Gel'artment2 81 til" cty
.,o,nrnni.1t and several civil courts.
TIN crimin;l and Eolico Courts an'
tho Police Department occupy .
mn.,ern hu;liinE known as th" fItll pt
Iugtic, I. l., ,rn5 tTuotcd Of brick ana
stona and i eurInountnI by a clock
tower.
The postofficc. inst completch. i
substantial structure Of granite ana
cost moro than b1G0f 900. II is not y
striking arChito"tUr;'i production. hut
irn,,rneSes che by its riaSaiv"n"t%. ~
addition 10 the rort"i;icc. tn" F''d"' al
Government maintains mint and
uh-t-caSurv
ON the water frunt the stat"
ruaintainn the Ferry Fuild:ng, a
structure more than $50 feet in length.
hullt Of II light -colorcd sandstone ana
surrnounted by a graceful clock tower.
Through this building most of the
strangers entering the city are obliged
TO pass. It contains lofty nave
running through its entire length,
which is frequently used for exhibiting
the productions Of the state.
II oiSo houses = permanent exhibit
illustrative of the resources Of Cali
forna and a fine Alaskan chronological
collection, which is maintained by the
State Board of Trade.
A complete display of the mineral re-
sources of California is also made in
TIE Ferry Building by the State Mining
Bureau The Academy Of Science,
endowed by James Lick. is ii sub
stant;al structure. 1t holes a growing
museum devoted to the natural
sciences.
In Golden Cate Park is situated the
Memorial Museum, founded to com
memCrate a successful International
fair held in 1894. The Hopkins Art
Institute, situated on Mob Hill. con-
tains the nucleus of a fine art collec-
tion. The building and its contents
were presented to the University of
California to be maintained for the
public.
The Public Library of San Francisco
contains more than 100000 volumes.
The cost of maintaining the library and
its branches is about $4,000 Il year.
In addition to the Public Library
there are seven other libraries of some
IMPORTANCE That of the Mechanics
Institute is the most useful of these
the collection covering the range of the
applied sciences. 1t has more than
10000 volumes and property valued at
81, 900, 900
The Sutro Library is a heterogene-
Gus collection of more than 100000
volumes. 1t contains a large number
of rare books and manuscripts. The
California Historical Society. San
Francisco Medical Society. the San
Francisco Law Library. the French
Library. and the Mercantile Library
all have collections exceeding 100000
volumes.
One of the churches is a conspicu-
Gus example Of ecclesiastical archi-
lecture The Roman Catholic cathe-
dral is a brick structure. The Jesuit
church of Saint Ignatiu@. with its ac-
companying college buildings. covers a
full block.
Many of the older church buildings
are Of frame The Mission Dolores is
"A survival from the days of the Span
ish occupation. 1t is built of adobe.
and care is taken to preserve it as a
landmark. although it has some of the
attractive features of the churches
built by the friars.
There are AZ hospitals. public and
private. and many of them are of re-
cent construction. The emergency
system has been we'll developed. and
few cities are better provided with the
means to care for the victims of acci-
dents. OF literary, scientific and other
societies there is an unusual number.
Among the most prominent may be
mentioned the Academy of Science.
Astronomical Society Geographical
Society. Mechanics Institute, Pioneers
Of California and Technical Society
There are 9S public schools. includ-
ing four high schools. The average
attendance in 1905 reached 51,603. In
addition there are numerous private
educational institutions. The Roman
Catholics maintain system of paro-
chial schools. The attendance at pri-
vate schools in 1905 was 14,O02.
The leading playhouses are the CO.
lumbia. the California. the Alcazar and
the Grand Opera House. The Orphe-
um and Fischer's Theatre are devoted
to vaudeville. The Tivoli presents op-
era in some form every night in the
year. There are several low priced
theatres. the most conspicuous being
the Central and Grauman's.