San Francisco

san fran-sis'ko, a city of California. It is the largest city and most important seaport on the American Pacific. The city is built on a peninsula between San Francisco bay and the ocean. The commercial district lies on the eastern or harbor side. Market Street, a broad thoroughfare, leading southeasterly from the Union Depot into the interior of the peninsula, divides the city into north and south sections. The western or ocean side of the peninsula is occupied chiefly by three military reservations and by city parks, boulevards, a cemetery, a life-saving station, and by residence districts. There are several hotels for sightseers. The piazzas of the Cliff House, built on a commanding crag, are a favorite resort of tourists. A full view of the ocean may be had from this point. The gambols of tumbling porpoises and sea lions are a never ending source of pleasure.

The bay is entered from the ocean by a strait called the Golden Gate. It is a mile in width at its narrowest point and is deep enough for the entrance of the largest ships, regardless of tide or season. The bay within forms one of the largest harbors in the world. It is ninety miles in length and from five to fifteen miles in width. It is protected from storms in all directions. Capacious wharves and warehouses have been built to accommodate the seagoing trade. The harbor is visited regularly by about five hundred sailing vessels and nearly half as many steamships. Regular communication is maintained with ports along the coast from Sitka to Valparaiso. Ocean liners run to Hawaii, China, Japan, the Philippines, Samoa, New Zealand, and Australia. Freighters ply by way of Cape Horn to New York and other Atlantic ports and to the cities of western Europe. Some of the distances by water are as follows: To Honolulu, 2,100 miles; Yokohama, 4,525; Manila, 6,250; Singapore, 7,850; Sydney, 7,210; New York, 13,380; Hamburg, 14,076; Seattle, 804; Los Angeles, 393.

The total exports by sea of wheat, flour, barley, canned fruits, dried fruits, California wines, quicksilver, silver, gold, and minor articles are valued at not less than $50,000,000 a year. Imports of tea, coffee, sugar, rice, whale oil, and coal are correspondingly large. The Southern Pacific Railway enters the peninsula from the south. Communication between the Union Pacific and the city and between trains of the Southern Pacific and other eastern and northern routes is maintained by means of enormous railway ferries. They ply between the wharves of San Francisco and the eastern shore of the bay, just as the ferries at New York ply between the city landings and the railway terminals on the Jersey shore of the North River. By rail San Francisco is 2,357 miles distant from Chicago; 3,269 miles from New York; and 2,490 from New Orleans. The articles of import mentioned are shipped eastward by rail to different centers of distribution. The shipments of tea alone in 1900 were 15,000,000 pounds. About three times as much coffee is handled. The principal articles of home production shipped by rail are wool and dried fruits. The fresh fruits of California are shipped from points lying eastward and southward.

The manufacturing interests of the city are very large. There are over 4,000 establishments. Almost the entire sugar and molasses production of the Hawaiian Islands is refined here. Slaughtering and meat packing is the second industry in monetary value. The work of foundries and machine shops comes next. There is considerable shipbuilding. The canning of fruits and vegetables is represented by an output of from $3,000,000 to $4,000,000 a year. There are also manufactures of boots and shoes, saddles, harness, and grain sacks. Gunpowder and dynamite are manufactured in large quantities in the hills far east of the bay. About 2,000,000 cases of salmon from the canneries of Columbia and Alaska are handled by the San Francisco wholesalers.

So far as known, San Francisco was visited by Europeans for the first time in 1769. In 1776 a Spanish fort and mission were established here. Upon the establishment of the Mexican republic in 1821 the city passed with the rest of California under Mexican rule. In 1845 the city was occupied by an American naval force. It was ceded to the United States with California at the close of the war. The discovery of gold in 1848 led to the temporary abandonment of the city. Everybody who could possibly get away left for the gold fields. At one time every official had left town. The newspapers suspended publication and the town was without a vestige of government. The immense trade which sprang up in connection with supplying the mines with the necessities of life brought on a revival of business. The city leaped forward in population rapidly. In 1851 and again in 1856 crime had grown so rampant that the citizens reorganized a vigilance committee formed some years before, and for several months hunted down desperadoes and evil characters with determination. Many were hung in front of headquarters; others were driven from the city.

The waterworks, gas works, electric light system, and street railways belong to private corporations. Among the principal public buildings are the Union Ferry Depot, to which reference has been made, costing a million dollars, the United States Custom House, an imposing building, and the United States Mint, second in importance only to that of Philadelphia. The annual coinage of gold and silver is about $80,000,-000 a year. The City Hall is an imposing structure occupying four acres of ground. It cost about $6,000,000. A central dome rises to a height of 335 feet above the sight-seers. An excellent system of public schools is maintained. The Public Library contains 150,000 volumes.

April 18, 1906, disaster overtook San Francisco. Repeated earthquake movements overthrew or ruined the large buildings in the very heart of the city. Fire broke out. The water mains of the city were broken. The flames spread. Although dynamite was used to blow up entire blocks the conflagration was not arrested until a thickly built up area of eight square miles had been burned over. A quarter of a million people were thrown upon the streets homeless. Aid in the form of clothing, flour, groceries, meats, and money was hurried to the scene of disaster as fast as special trains could speed. The national government gave a million or two; Chicago and New York a million each. Nearly every city, town, and hamlet in the Union sent its contribution. About 350 persons lost their lives. The property loss is estimated at $200,000,000. Soldiers from the military reservations were on hand promptly to keep order. Martial law was declared for a few days. Among minor gains, the Chinese opium dens were wiped out completely.

The population, which is increasing rapidly, was returned in 1900 at 342,782. At the time of the state census there were 375,000 people in the city. The next United States census is expected to show a population of at least 400,000.

See California; Earthquake