iervation Resources 
 ig-Free® Type 1 
 
HAND BOOK SERIES 
 
 AROUND 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO 
 BAY 
 
 THE CALIFORNIA PROMOTION COMMITTEE 
 
 THE STATE CENTRAL ORGANIZATION 
 
 CALIFORNIA BUILDING. UNION SQUARE 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 1908 
 
CALIFORNIA PROMOTION COMMITTEE^ 
 
 (ORGANIZED 1902) 
 
 "PROMOTION: The act of promoting, 
 'fdvcm cement, encouragement ^ — Century 
 Dictionary. 
 
 The California Promotion Committee 
 has for its object tYiQ j^i'omoting of Cah- 
 fornia as a whole. 
 
 It has nothing to sell. 
 
 Its energies are devoted to fostering 
 all things that have the advancemtnt of 
 California as their object. 
 
 It gives reliable information on every 
 subject connected with the industries of 
 California. 
 
 It gives encouragement to the estab- 
 lishment of new industries and invites 
 desirable immigration. 
 
 It is not an Employment Agency, 
 although it gives information regarding 
 labor conditions. 
 
 It presents the opportunities and needs 
 in all fields of business and professional 
 activity. 
 
 The Committee is supported b^^ popu- 
 lar subscription, and n^akes no charge 
 for any service rend^Fefl. 
 
 Affiliated with the.Ctftnmittee are two 
 hundred commercial organizations of the 
 State, with a membership of over thirty 
 thousand. 
 
 Meetings are held semi-annually in 
 different parts of California where mat- 
 ters of State interest are discussed. 
 
 Headquarters of the Committee are 
 maintained in San Francisco in Califor- 
 nia Building, Union Square. 
 
 Correspondence Invited. 
 
 No. fW-C.M.-F.N.:X.X.-S-20 07. 
 
HANDBOOK SERIES 
 
 AROUND SAN FRANCISCO BAY. 
 
 SAN Francisco Bay, in its infinite va- 
 riety of picturesque magnificence, 
 compels the admiration of all be- 
 holders. In addition to impressing the 
 mind with its prime importance as the 
 greatest harbor in the world, it delights 
 the senses and moves the imagination by 
 scenic charms, unmatched by those of 
 any other body of water. Kaleidoscopic 
 in its natural features of scenic beauty, 
 it yields fresh delight with each passing 
 moment, always changing yet ever con- 
 stant in the dominant outlines of shore 
 and wave, of mountain and mesa, its 
 margin enriched with cities and thriving 
 towns crowding close upon fertile field 
 and fruitful orchard. 
 
 From every viewpoint on the shores 
 of this great bay new scenes are pre- 
 sented. Standing on the crest of Tele- 
 graph Hill, in San Francisco, one has 
 the narrow entrance of the Golden Gate 
 almost at his feet, the fortified hills on 
 either side, and the terraces of Alcatraz 
 Island, frowning upon passing ships. It 
 is said that in early days this island was 
 given to an easy-going inhabitant in con- 
 sideration of his promise to keep a signal 
 lantern burning at night during stormy 
 
weather. He permitted the light to go 
 out, and the government resumed title 
 to an island whose strategic position is 
 such that it now bristles with cannon 
 which in the event of war would be 
 called upon to deliver the coup de grace 
 to any hostile craft strong enough to 
 run the gauntlet of the gate. What 
 these fortifications mean is shown in the 
 remark made by General Funston, com- 
 manding the Department of California, 
 when the United States battleship fleet 
 sailed through the Golden Gate. His 
 significant utterance was, "We could 
 have stopped every one of them." 
 
 Abreast of Alcatraz is the Presidio, 
 the Federal military reservation w^here 
 the main garrison of this department is 
 maintained, and where troops enroute 
 to and from the Philippines are received 
 and despatched. This Presidio has been 
 used for military purposes ever since the 
 earliest Spanish occupation of the penin- 
 sula of San Francisco. 
 
 THE CITrS FRONT 
 
 Beneath the cliff of Telegraph Hill, and 
 sweeping southward, are the docks of 
 the city, the continuity of commercial 
 traffic with seagoing vessels being inter- 
 rupted at Market Street, where the 
 Ferry Building, a spacious structure of 
 gray California sandstone, with spire-like 
 tower, with a clock twenty-three and a 
 half feet in diameter, affords debarkation 
 
point for over a hundred thousand peo- 
 ple every day between the metropolis 
 and the cities and towns across the 
 bay. On to the southward, with a 
 sharp dip to the west, the indentations 
 of the shore line mark the outline of the 
 .peninsula, and then rounding again to 
 the south, as far as eye can reach, the 
 bay extends its placid waters toward 
 the rich fields and orchards of a most 
 favored region, passing along the shores 
 of San ]\Iateo and Santa Clara counties 
 until the trend is again northward. 
 
 BUSY OAKLAND 
 
 Here the low marsh land of Alameda 
 County, where thousands of tons of salt 
 are manufactured every year, spreads 
 away toward the frowning slopes of 
 Mount Diablo and its range of hills. 
 Following on up to the northwestward 
 the shore line passes along the Alameda 
 County shore, past the island on which 
 is situated the thriving home city of 
 Alameda, then swerving into the estu- 
 ary where Oakland's harbor lies, with 
 its many ships lying safe from stress of 
 storm, then on past Oakland's water 
 front, with the long, finger-like moles 
 of the two great ferry systems reaching 
 out into the waters of the bay. Berke- 
 ley, with its great university and its 
 beautiful homes, slopes back from the 
 shore to the heights above, forming the 
 completion of the chain of cities on the 
 eastern shore. 
 
Contra Costa County comes down and 
 bids for notice with its numerous smoke- 
 stacks of manufacturing plants, and the 
 bay line passes on to the turning point 
 into Carquinez Straits and through there 
 to Suisun Bay and the mouth of the 
 Sacramento River, where Sacramento 
 County touches the salt water as it 
 mingles with the fresh of the mountains. 
 Solano County has its shore line on the I 
 northern end of the bay, and then Napa 
 sends down a little corner where Napa 
 River empties its waters into the chan- 
 nel just above the great navy yard at 
 Mare Island. 
 
 Sonoma County's marsh land borders ^ 
 the northwestern portion of the Bay, j 
 giving egress to Petaluma River, whose i 
 traffic is 175,000 tons of merchandise ! 
 annually, valued at nearly $5,000,000. | 
 Then the Marin shore appears, show- ' 
 ing first the low lands of the marshes, \ 
 and then the grim walls of San Quentin | 
 prison. Lying close at hand. Angel 1 
 Island hugs the main land of the north- ' 
 ern peninsula so closely that it is only j 
 by actual circumnavigation that its en- : 
 tity as an island can be determined. The ■ 
 undulating sky line of the Marin hills, 
 topped by majestic Mount Tamalpais, i 
 2,600 feet above the waters of the bay, ' 
 forms background for this entrancing ] 
 picture, and is the fitting end of the j 
 thousand-mile shore line that sweeps out ' 
 again through the Golden Gate, forming i 
 an inland coast but a few miles shorter ' 
 
than that of the entire State of Califor- 
 nia. California's coast line from north 
 to south is twelve hundred miles, while 
 that of San Francisco Bay, with its in- 
 dentations, is more than one thousand 
 miles. 
 
 GOVERNMENl POSSESSIONS 
 
 In the immediate center of this great 
 bay, as viewed from San Francisco, lies 
 Yerba Buena Island, its most prominent 
 facade facing the ocean, while within a 
 sheltered cove, facing the Alameda 
 County shore, is ensconced the Naval 
 Training Station at which young men 
 are prepared for service on the nation's 
 w^arships. 
 
 Situated in a cove on the northeast 
 corner of Angel Island, near the Marin 
 shore, and occupying about ten acres of 
 ground, is the Immigration Station of 
 the Department of Commerce and Labor. 
 A general office building, containing 
 kitchens, dining rooms, and all the 
 modern conveniences, has been con- 
 structed to accommodate a thousand 
 people, and in connection with it is a 
 modern hospital. The station is also 
 equipped with a power house for pump- 
 ing salt and fresh water, generating elec- 
 tricity and running the steam laundry, 
 etc. The value of the wharf, leading out 
 to twenty-five feet of water at low tide, 
 and buildings, which are nearly com- 
 plete, is $200,000, and in addition Con- 
 gress has allowed $90,000 for officers' 
 
quarters, artesian water supply, gardens, i 
 roads, walls, fences, fire-fighting machin- | 
 ery, etc., and $125,000 for building two \ 
 vessels, one for ferry service and the I 
 other as an auxiliary boat for the board- 
 ing officers in meeting incoming vessels. ] 
 In establishing the station, advantage j 
 has been taken of the defects found at | 
 Ellis Island and other stations to elimi- ! 
 nate and avoid them. 
 
 VIEW FROM TAMALPAIS \\ 
 
 It is only when viewed from some 
 such eminence as Mount Tamalpais that 
 the immense size of the harbor is 
 brought out most emphatically. Then 
 is it realized what is meant by the oft- 
 repeated assertion that within the shel- i 
 tering arms of this land-locked haven i 
 all the navies of the world can swing ; 
 at anchor at one time, without crowding ; 
 and with plenty of space to spare for the 
 free and unhampered movements of the j 
 merchant marine. San Francisco Bay, 
 with its two hundred and fifty square 
 miles of navigable water, and with a 
 width varying from seven to twelve 
 miles, is the pride of the whole country, 
 neither San Francisco nor California 
 claiming a monopoly of the national 
 greatness that grows out of its greatness. 
 The upper reaches of the bay are divided 
 into two inner bays — San Pablo and Sui- 
 sun — that of themselves are marvels of 
 depth and convenience in the matter of 
 landing facilities and anchorage for ves- 
 sels of every description. 
 
So little has been done on the Pacific 
 Coast of the United States for the im- 
 provement of its rivers and harbors that 
 the inhabitants of this v^esternmost re- 
 gion feel justified in their pride in this 
 great harbor, where Nature has been so 
 lavish with her gifts. Human effort has 
 had little to do with making this harbor, 
 for San Francisco has expended for 
 permanent improvements of the harbor 
 but a small amount, some $4,000,000, 
 while Liverpool has expended $200,000,- 
 000; Bremen, $55,000,000; Glasgow, $74,- 
 000,000; Manchester, $75,000,000; Japan, 
 $50,000,000, while in our own country, 
 in addition to the millions that have 
 been expended in New York, there is 
 now in contemplation the expenditure of 
 J $75,000,000 more to make additional 
 1 dockage at one point on Long Island. 
 '-. Expensive dredging processes required 
 * in so many other harbors are practically 
 ^ unknown here, except in the deepening 
 ^ of the harbor on the Oakland side, and 
 I every dollar expended in improving San 
 ^ Francisco's harbor goes into actual dock- 
 age and warehouse room. 
 
 WHERE SHIPS DOCK 
 
 Though not owned by the municipal- 
 ity or the State, there are two stone 
 c dry docks at Hunters Point, San 
 ; Francisco, 493 and 750 feet long, re- 
 [ spectively, equipped with fresh water, 
 electric light, and compressed air, with 
 facilities for docking the largest vessels 
 i on the Pacific Ocean. In addition there 
 
are three floating docks at the foot of 
 Sixteenth Street, 230, 271, and 301 feet 
 in length, respectively. Recently nine 
 of the largest battleships of the Atlantic 
 fleet and three of the cruisers were put 
 in dry dock after the long cruise from 
 Hampton Roads. 
 
 What is considered by the Bureau of 
 Equipment of the Navy Department of 
 the United States as the most important 
 coal depot on the Pacific Coast is the 
 Naval Coal Depot, at California City 
 Point, on the bay shore of Marin county. 
 The plant consists of a wharf 398 feet 
 long and 50 feet wide, with 30 feet of 
 water at mean low tide along the sea 
 face. On the wharf is built a trestle of 
 steel, carrying a track at an elevation of 
 50 feet above mean low tide, upon which 
 can travel a coal-hoisting tower. On 
 shore is an elevated coal bunker of 10,- 
 000 tons capacity, connected by a timber 
 trestle with the wharf trestle. In addi- 
 tion to the storage capacity of the 
 bunker there can be stored outside of it 
 on a concrete platform an additional 10,- 
 000 to 15,000 tons according to storage 
 depth. Coal is carried to and from stor- 
 age by means of cable cars of four tons 
 capacity. All handling of coal from col- 
 liers into storage and from storage to 
 barges or colliers is done by machinery. 
 
 Plans are now afoot to supplement 
 the present advantages of San Francisco 
 harbor by the expenditure of $10,000,000 
 for additional seawall and docks, which 
 plans, when carried to completion, will 
 
place San Francisco in the forefront of 
 the world's great shipping points, with 
 facilities equaling those of any harbor 
 in the world. 
 
 Supplementing the harbor of San Fran- 
 cisco is the land-locked harbor of Oak- 
 land, where rail and water join, the shores 
 of this harbor being the geographical 
 terminal point for transcontinental rail- 
 ways. Oakland's fifteen miles of water 
 front present great opportunities for the 
 manufacturer, who there can receive the 
 raw m.aterial at one door and deliver the 
 finished product through the other with 
 but a single handling from one trans- 
 portation line to the other. Brooklyn 
 Basin, within this harbor of Oakland, 
 has an area of more than three hundred 
 acres. 
 
 THE FUNNEL'S MOUTH 
 
 With ten of California's great pro- 
 ducing counties bordering on the bay, 
 and with all the great interior country 
 tributary to it, it may be likened to the 
 mouth of a funnel through which are 
 constantly pouring the riches of earth. 
 Through this funnel there comes to San 
 Francisco Bay, and thence to the mar- 
 kets of earth, products to the value of 
 $600,000,000 annually. This stream is 
 growing with constantly accelerating in- 
 crease, as the great State becomes more 
 and more developed. 
 
 What the ten counties touching San 
 Francisco Bay represent in the com- 
 merce of the bay can best be told in the 
 
following table, showing the agricultural 
 and manufacturing output. These fig- 
 ures, in most instances, are estimated on 
 calculations made by experts, showing 
 increases since the last official census 
 was taken: 
 County. Manufacturing. Agriculture. 
 
 Alameda $ 68,435,352 $15,303,922 
 
 Contra Costa 8,000,000 7,000,000 
 
 Marin 2,500,000 
 
 Napa 4,000,000 2,000,000 
 
 Sacramento 4,000,000 10,000,000 
 
 San Francisco 150,000,000 
 
 San Mateo 2,500,000 1,000,000 
 
 Santa Clara 8,000,000 14,415,000 
 
 Solano 3,000,000 7,000,000 
 
 Sonoma 3,500,000 9,000,000 
 
 Totals $251,435,352 $68,218,922 
 
 Grand total $319,654,274 
 
 According to computations based on 
 the last census of productions, the total 
 value of productions of California fields, 
 forests, mines and factories amounted to 
 about $650,000,000 during the year 1907. 
 This table shows that the counties bor- 
 dering San Francisco Bay come within 
 six million dollars of producing one-half 
 of the total for the State. More than 
 half of the $600,000,000 of the State's 
 products which come to San Francisco 
 Bay is sent by these ten counties and 
 more than half of the State's population 
 lives within the borders of this territory. 
 
 A MAGIC CIRCLE 
 
 Bringing this statement down to a 
 closer circle, so far as the direct ship- 
 ping business of the bay is concerned, 
 
 10 
 
it is found that the counties of San 
 Francisco, Alameda, Marin and Contra 
 Costa are those to be considered in a 
 computation and the table above shows 
 that these four counties have a combined 
 agricultural and manufacturing output 
 valued at $251,239,274, or about three- 
 fourths of the entire output of all of the 
 counties touching the bay, and a little 
 more than one-third of the entire produc- 
 tion of the State. 
 
 An examination of the map of the bay- 
 will show that a circle drawn on a radius 
 of fifteen miles of the City Hall of San 
 Francisco will enclose all of this latter 
 business. Within that circle will be all 
 of San Francisco, Oakland, Alameda, 
 Berkeley, Richmond, with the intermedi- 
 ate towns on the Alameda County side 
 of the bay. All of Marin County south 
 of a line drawn just north of San Rafael, 
 and all of San Mateo County north of a 
 line drawn just south of the city of San 
 Mateo. 
 
 KEY TO THE PACIFIC 
 
 This territory lies within what has 
 long been called the "Gateway of the 
 Pacific," but developments of the past 
 few years have changed this to a more 
 concrete idea, for with the building of 
 the Panama canal, San Francisco Bay 
 will be also the "key" to the Pacific. 
 This point is well brought out in a pam- 
 phlet published by Zoeth S. Eldredge, 
 president of the National Bank of the 
 Pacific, of San Francisco, under the 
 
title, 'The Key to the Pacific." In this 
 he quotes the following from William 
 Barclay Parsons, the eminent engineer 
 and former member of the Isthmian 
 Canal Commission : 
 
 **The shortest distance between any 
 two points on a sphere is by a 'great 
 circle,' that is, a line cut on the surface 
 of the sphere by a plane passing through 
 the two points in question and the cen- 
 ter of the sphere itself. The great circle 
 connecting Panama with Japan and 
 China or any point on the eastern Asi- 
 atic coast passes through the Caribbean 
 Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, Galveston, Den- 
 ver, strikes the Pacific Coast of the 
 United States north of Seattle, and 
 skirts the Aleutian Islands. The navi- 
 gator will keep his ship as close to the 
 above route between the Isthmus and 
 any port of the Far East as land per- 
 mits. That is, after passing through the 
 canal, he will first go south then north- 
 west along the coast of Central America 
 and Mexico, and, after clearing Cape St. 
 Lucas, the southern end of Lower Cali- 
 fornia, he will take the great circle from 
 there to Asia, and this great circle will 
 carry him about 1,700 miles to the east 
 of Hawaii, and only 300 miles west of 
 San Francisco. As the ordinary tramp 
 freight steamer cannot, or will not wish 
 to, carry coal to take her from the Isth- 
 mus to Asia, she will have to stop at 
 the most convenient intermediate point 
 for coal and supplies. This point will 
 be San Francisco, distant 3,277 miles 
 
from Panama and 4,536 miles from Yo- 
 kohama; and in order to make such a 
 call she will be lengthening her passage 
 only 110 miles, or less than half a day 
 in time over the shortest possible course 
 in a total distance of 7,813 miles. The 
 extraordinary result — one apparently not 
 generally understood by the American 
 public — is that San Francisco will be- 
 come the 'key' and gateway of the Pa- 
 cific, where all vessels going to the Far 
 East, not only from the Atlantic sea- 
 board, but Europe as well, will stop for 
 coal and supplies. . . . At no place 
 will the existence of the canal be more 
 in evidence than at San Francisco, where 
 a continuous procession of east and west 
 bound steamers will be stopping daily. 
 These steamers will make San Francisco 
 a great competitive point for through 
 freight shipments." 
 
 Mr. Parsons says in conclusion that 
 the "canal will bring the grain fields of 
 the northwestern Pacific States 6,000 
 miles nearer Liverpool, and it will bring 
 the iron and coal of the Gulf States 
 shipped from New Orleans and Pensa- 
 cola 9,500 miles nearer San Francisco; 
 giving to the former a new great market, 
 not now open, and to the latter a cheap 
 supply of raw materials of manufactur- 
 ing." 
 
 CHEAP FUEL 
 
 In commenting on the above, Mr. Eld- 
 redge says : "In writing of the advan- 
 tages that will accrue to San Francisco 
 
 13 
 
-S^'us 
 
 Around San Francisco Bay: Inner circle showing territ^ 
 of 50 miles of tlie City Hall. San Francisco. 
 
1^ ^c-Ti^,^ioi.Teo v.\i>. .„ 
 
 Kt-onJ-i.;.-, vtisw 
 
 ^ain a radius of 15 mi[es and outer circle that within a radius 
 
in the way of manufactures, Mr. Parsons 
 did not enter into the matter of oil pro- 
 duction in California. California is the 
 largest oil-producing State in the Union, 
 and the product is far in excess of con- 
 sumption. But the use of oil as a fuel 
 is in its infancy. The statistics of the 
 Agricultural Department give the use of 
 petroleum as but 3 per cent of the total 
 amount of fuel used. Its use for this 
 purpose is being rapidly extended, and 
 its excellence and cheapness make it 
 most desirable for all manufacturing 
 plants, locomotives, steamships, etc. The 
 Orient is a large importer of cotton and 
 cotton goods, mineral oils, manufactures 
 of iron and steel, flour and meats. The 
 import of cotton goods alone amounts 
 to tv^o hundred and fifty millions a year. 
 There is no reason why San Francisco, 
 with its location and cheap fuel, should 
 not become a great manufacturing cen- 
 ter." 
 
 Cheap power lies also in the numerous 
 mountain streams of the Sierras, which 
 can be utilized for the generation of 
 electricity to an extent that almost ex- 
 ceeds comprehension. It has been esti- 
 mated that the proper conservation of 
 the hydro-electric power of California's 
 mountain streams would make sufficient 
 force to drive all of the engines of the 
 world. With a centering of this power 
 about San Francisco Bay, there will 
 come an additional incentive for the 
 location of factories. There are now 
 2,857 factories located in this district, 
 
 16 
 
and many times this number can be lo- 
 cated and find business. 
 
 Through the pipe lines terminating on 
 the Contra Costa and Alameda County- 
 shores of the bay, hundreds of millions 
 of gallons of crude petroleum are brought 
 annually to refineries and to ships, to be 
 carried to all parts of the world. The 
 fields whence comes this oil are second 
 in extent only to those of the Baku dis- 
 trict of Russia, and are the largest fields 
 in the United States, furnishing what 
 practically may be considered an inex- 
 haustible source of cheap fuel. 
 
 FERRY SYSTEMS 
 
 The seven passenger ferry lines which 
 traverse the bay, affording communica- 
 tion between the various counties bor- 
 dering thereon, transport an average of 
 more than one hundred thousand per- 
 sons every day, and this service is now 
 considered so inadequate for the business 
 that a bridge is being built across the 
 bay for the purpose of relieving the con- 
 gestion of the boats. The completion of 
 this bridge, at Dumbarton Point, will 
 bring transcontinental trains directly into 
 San Francisco, saving the ferriage both 
 across Carquinez Straits and from Oak- 
 land. It is estimated that more than 
 fifty thousand people cross the bay every 
 <^^y> goirig to their business and return- 
 ing to their homes. This vast number 
 of "commuters" is accommodated by a 
 twenty-minute service on each of the 
 three transbay lines, and an hourly serv- 
 
 17 
 
ice on the others. In addition to these, 
 it is estimated that between fifteen and 
 twenty thousand people living on the 
 peninsula side reach San Francisco every 
 day on local trains 
 
 NETWORK OF RAIL 
 
 Covering this territory is a network 
 of steam and electric railroads, with rapid 
 suburban trains, carrying these thou- 
 sands of people to and from their homes 
 and places of business. Reaching out 
 to the northwest, through Marin County, 
 are the steam and electric lines of the 
 Northwestern Pacific, connecting with 
 San Francisco by two lines of ferry 
 boats. At Point Richmond in Contra 
 Costa County the Santa Fe is connected 
 with the city by a ferry line, and its 
 trains traverse the fertile valleys tribu- 
 tary to the bay. The Key Route system, 
 with its rapid transit ferry and network 
 of electric roads in Oakland and Berke- 
 ley, and the Southern Pacific, with three 
 ferry lines and suburban trains travers- 
 ing all of the cities on the eastern shore, 
 give accommodation to the great bulk 
 of the transbay traffic, while the Western 
 Pacific will soon have its road, with sup- 
 plementary ferry, completed, adding its 
 quota to the traffic system of the bay re- 
 gion on that side. Reaching down the 
 peninsula from San Francisco is the 
 coast line of the Southern Pacific, with 
 dozens of suburban trains running as far 
 
as San Jose, fifty miles to the south, 
 through a rapidly building up territory, 
 while the Ocean Shore Railroad is run- 
 ning its suburban trains twenty-eight 
 miles to Farallone City, and is opening 
 up a new territory for the suburban 
 dweller, and developing one of the scenic 
 districts tributary to the bay. 
 
 In connection with this network of 
 suburban railways now in operation, the 
 Western Pacific will soon have its trains 
 running and its ferries in operation, and 
 the projected line to Lake County, an 
 electric system with terminal facilities 
 on the Marin peninsula, and an additional 
 transbay ferry system, will bring an un- 
 developed territory tributary to the bay 
 region and open a new scenic country 
 to those who desire change from old 
 fields. 
 
 DRAWING POPULATION 
 
 This vast network of suburban rail- 
 ways warrants the statement that the 
 adjacent territory will soon be populated 
 by fully as many people as now dwell 
 in the cities on the shores of the bay, 
 and within a short period more than a 
 million people will find their homes 
 within the circle of fifteen miles radius 
 with the City Hall of San Francisco as 
 the center. So pressing has this sub- 
 urban population become on the rail- 
 roads, that arrangements are now under 
 way to electrolize much of the Southern 
 Pacific's Alameda and Oakland system, in 
 
 19 
 
order that better facilities for rapid 
 transit may be had. In San Francisco 
 the United Railroads, with the Califor- 
 nia Street Railway, the Presidio and 
 Ferries line, and the Park and Ocean, or, 
 as it is better known, the Geary Street 
 line, carry tens of thousands of passen- 
 gers every day to and from outlying 
 points to the business districts. But 
 with all these methods of rapid transit, 
 it is found that the systems are inade- 
 quate to meet the increasing demands of 
 a rapidly growing population, and rail- 
 way officials and municipal authorities 
 are trying to solve the problem of caring 
 for the future transportation of the urban 
 and suburban population about San 
 Francisco Bay. 
 
 Conservative estimates of the present 
 population within a radius of fifteen 
 miles of the City Hall of San Francisco 
 place the figure at a grand total of 850,- 
 000. This population is increasing with 
 an accelerating ratio, and a remarkable 
 demonstration of this increase was shown 
 by the compilations of The California 
 Promotion Committee eighteen months 
 after the great fire sent a vast majority 
 of the people away from San Francisco. 
 In the eighteen months following the 
 disaster the total population in the four 
 cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Berke- 
 ley and Alameda increased 75,000 over 
 the number in those cities at the begin- 
 ning of 1906, conclusively disproving the 
 
 20 
 
assertion that the increase in the trans- 
 bay cities came from San Francisco. 
 
 PARK SYSTEM 
 
 In all the cities about San Francisco 
 Bay the necessity for open-air breathing 
 spots has been recognized, and there is 
 a magnificent park system, culminating 
 in Golden Gate Park, one of the largest 
 and finest artificial parks in the country. 
 In addition to this park system there is 
 on Mount Tamalpais the most magnifi- 
 cent natural park in the world, compris- 
 ing 12,000 acres of primal forest, canyon 
 and cliflf, with such scenic views as are 
 to be found in but few places in the 
 world. This mountain with its surround- 
 ing country looks down upon all the bay 
 region, and forms a part of the artistic 
 effect of the littoral. This park effect 
 is continued on the Berkeley and Pied- 
 mont hills, making the bay region the 
 ideal center for homes, as well as for 
 business enterprise. 
 
 IDEAL LOCATION 
 
 Not only in the appealing qualities of 
 the climate of the bay region lies the 
 fact that this is an ideal location for the 
 home, but in addition to the endowments 
 of Nature, man has combined here those 
 institutions which are necessary for the 
 welfare of the home. At Berkeley, amid 
 such luxuriance of semi-tropical foliage 
 as reminds one of scenes in southern 
 lands, is the great University of Califor- 
 nia, one of the famed educational insti- 
 
tutions of the nation, while at Palo Alto, 
 but a few miles away down the penin- 
 sula, is the Leland Stanford, Jr., Univer- 
 sity, the most beneficently endowed in- 
 stitution of learning in the world. These 
 are the top of the great educational facili- 
 ties of the public school system of the 
 bay region, bringing within reach of all 
 every grade from the lowest primary to 
 the highest collegiate course. 
 
 SPLENDID BUSINESS 
 
 But it is as a business element that the 
 bay region excites most interest. With 
 all the vast shipping, commerce, manu- 
 facture, and other production, this re- 
 gion commands the respect of the world 
 as a business center. With a combined 
 banking capital of more than forty mil- 
 lion dollars, the people of the region 
 have on constant deposit in the banks 
 nearly three hundred million dollars, 
 more than two hundred and eighty mil- 
 lions of which are in the banks of San 
 Francisco and Oakland. What this busi- 
 ness amounts to is shown by the trans- 
 actions of the clearing houses of the two 
 cities, as the clearings are generally ac- 
 cepted in the financial and commercial 
 world as the best indication of the busi- 
 ness of a community. The combined 
 clearings of San Francisco and Oakland, 
 the two cities having clearing houses in 
 the district, for the year 1907 amounted 
 to $2,271,563,833, this being a total of 
 $41,550,270 more than the combined 
 clearings of all the other cities on the 
 
Pacific Coast. These enormous bank 
 deposits and vast clearing transactions 
 are the product of a territory of less 
 than two thousand square miles in ex- 
 tent, with an assessed valuation of all 
 property of $672,480,462. 
 
 The seagoing commerce of the bay 
 region, which is rapidly increasing with 
 each succeeding year, now amounts to 
 more than $100,000,000 in value a year. 
 All the islands of the Pacific, all the na- 
 tions of the Orient, and all the coast of 
 the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to the 
 southernmost point is tributary to the 
 business of San Francisco Bay, and are 
 all supplied with merchandise by the 
 business men who have their headquar- 
 ters on its shores. 
 
 MILITARY DEPOT 
 
 When San Francisco Bay was discov- 
 ered and occupied by the Spanish, the 
 point of land reaching down to form the 
 southern lintel of the Golden Gate was 
 occupied as a strategic military point, 
 and from that day to the present it has 
 resounded to the tread of armed men. 
 The Government has here its greatest de- 
 pot for troops and supplies, and from 
 this point go the soldiery and the mer- 
 chandise to supply all of the posts of 
 our possessions on the Pacific in all direc- 
 tions. Six great transport ships sail reg- 
 ularly from San Francisco Bay, carrying 
 these troops and supplies, and during the 
 year 1907 they carried a total of 22,842 
 tons of merchandise and 1,485 officers 
 
 23 
 
and 21,279 enlisted men. Adjoining this 
 military reservation at the Presidio of 
 San Francisco is the location of the im- 
 mense warehouses of the Quartermaster's 
 Department, where thousands of tons of 
 merchandise are stored for use of the 
 army. 
 
 THE NAVY YARD 
 
 Under the supervision of the construct- 
 hig quartermaster, the War Department 
 is making many improvements at the 
 various forts and at the Presidio. At 
 Fort Mason woilc will soon begin on the 
 sea wall and transport wharves and 
 sheds, as well as other buildings for the 
 supply depot. Storehouses are being 
 erected at Fort Baker and at Fort Mc- 
 Dowell, Angel Island. Improvements 
 and additions are being made to the 
 Army General Hospital at the Presidio. 
 Contracts have been let for a new sea 
 wall and for road repairs between old 
 Fort Winfield Scott and the new torpedo 
 wharf. On Point Lobos Creek, on the 
 Presidio reservation, a pumping station 
 and reservoir, etc., are to be built. Plans 
 are maturing for other improvements. 
 
 Thirty miles from the docks of San 
 Francisco, sheltered behind Mare Island, 
 is the greatest Navy Yard of the Pacific, 
 where thousands of men are constantly 
 at work building and repairing the ships 
 of the Government, and where are stored 
 thousands of tons of ammunition and 
 supplies for the navy vessels on the Pa- 
 cific Ocean. Here was assembled the 
 
 24 
 
vast amount of food and other supplies 
 for the great fleet which entered San 
 Francisco Bay May 6, 1908, after its 
 memorable cruise around the continent 
 from New York, and here is a capacity 
 sufficient to meet any demand that may 
 be made upon it even during stress of 
 war. 
 
 It is impossible in a pamphlet of the 
 size of this to go into the detail of all 
 of the magnificent possibilities of the 
 San Francisco Bay region, or even to 
 more than touch upon what is being 
 done. Here is the site whereon will one 
 day sit the greatest city of the continent. 
 All of the advantages, environments and 
 possibilities are here, and when the great 
 empire which lies back of the bay, and 
 which constantly pours its products of 
 forest, field and mine out through the 
 funnel of the Golden Gate, shall reach 
 that development predestined for it, the 
 shores of San Francisco Bay will pre- 
 sent one vast hive of human industry, 
 and every throb of this industrial heart 
 will send its impulses across the waves 
 of the Pacific until they meet response 
 from every land, and bring returns from 
 every shore. 
 
 AN INLAND SBA 
 
 San Francisco Bay is a great inland 
 sea that of itself and in itself holds an 
 individual commerce equal to that of 
 many of the nations of earth, and this 
 commerce is strengthened and increased 
 by the ever-increasing population which 
 
is settling on its shores, with interde- 
 pendent interests, and with community 
 of purpose. There is no other such bay 
 in the world, and nowhere else could 
 there be such a spectacle, with such gor- 
 geous and magnificent setting, as that 
 afforded when the great fleet of forty 
 odd warships sailed silently through the 
 Gate to its anchorage. 
 
 The mercantile spectacle of hundreds 
 of ships sailing in and out of the bay 
 to all parts of the world has become so 
 familiar to the people that it no longer 
 excites comment, but that spectacle is of 
 more import to the future of San Fran- 
 cisco Bay region than the marine pa- 
 geant which brought to our gates the 
 great navy. 
 
 The following tables will give an idea 
 of the enormous business that is carried 
 on in the territory about San Francisco 
 Bay: 
 
 Banking Business. 
 
 City. Capital. Deposits. 
 
 San Francisco $38,275,307 $242,027,602 
 
 Oakland 3,445,100 38,561,051 
 
 Berkeley 750,000 6,450,000 
 
 Alameda 300,000 3,108.516 
 
 San Rafael 250,000 1,107,399 
 
 San Mateo 75,000 626,133 
 
 Richmond 55,000 269.854 
 
 Outside banks 50,000 200,000 
 
 Total. $43,200,407 $292,350,555 
 
 26 
 
Area and Property Value. 
 
 Assessed 
 County. Square Miles. Value. 
 
 San Francisco 40 $429,866,609 
 
 Alameda 840 176,817,591 
 
 Contra Costa 877 27,122,288 
 
 Marin 516 15,125,334 
 
 San Mateo 477 23,548,640 
 
 Total 3,750 $672,480,462 
 
 Railway Transportation. 
 
 Miles Miles 
 
 County. Steam Ry. Electric Ry. 
 
 San Francisco 103 250.70 
 
 Alameda 134.74 158 
 
 Contra Costa 141.33 15 
 
 Marin 102.42 16.02 
 
 San Mateo 25.10 14 
 
 Total 508.59 453.72 
 
 Miscellaneous. 
 
 Total factories 2,857 
 
 Seagoing commerce, annual $ 100,000,000 
 
 Manufacturing output 251,135,352 
 
 Agricultural output 68,205,747 
 
 Combined clearings 2,271,573,833 
 
 Total population 900,000 
 
 Merchandise shipped on transports 
 
 (tons) 22,842 
 
 27 
 
®I|i? daltfontta ^^rnmotwit (HammltUt 
 
 ADVISORY COMMITTEE 
 
 James N. Gillett 
 Governor of California 
 
 Warren R. Porter 
 Lieutenant-Governor and President State Senate 
 
 W. H. Beatty 
 Chief Justice Supreme Court 
 
 Benjamin Ide Wheeler President University of California 
 
 David Starr Jordan. .President Leland Stanford Jr. University 
 
 Luther Burbank Santa Rosa 
 
 W. G. K-ERCKhoff Los Angreles 
 
 William E. Smythe. San Diego... Counties South of Tehachapi 
 M.\rsh.\ll DiGGS, Sacramento Sacramento Valley Counties 
 
 F. M. Smith. Oakland San Francisco Bay Counties 
 
 P. L Lancaster. Willits North of Bay Counties 
 
 Return Roberts, Madera San Joaquin Valley Counties 
 
 C. P. SouLE. Eureka North Coast Counties 
 
 Ellwood Copper. Santa Barbara South Coast Counties 
 
 Victor A. Scheller. San Jose Central Coast Counties 
 
 Elias Squires. Gihsonville Sierra Counties 
 
 Nathaniel Ellery State Engineer 
 
 Lewis E. Aubury State Mineralogist 
 
 J. W. Jeffery State Horticultural Commissioner 
 
 G. B. Lull State Forester 
 
 Charles S. Fee Pass. Traffic Mgr. Southern Pacific Co. 
 
 W. A. BissELL Asst. Traffic Mgr. A. T. and S. F. Ry. Sys. 
 
 W. J. Shotwell Traffic Agt. Western Pacific Railway Co. 
 
 T. C. Peck Gen. Pass. Agt. S. P.. L. A. and S. L. R. R. Co. 
 
 J.J. Geary Gen. Pass. Agt. Northwestern Pacific R. R. 
 
 S. H. Smith Gen. Pass. Agt. Sierra Railway Co. 
 
 E. T. Ch.\rlton Traffic Mgr. Ocean Shore Railway Co. 
 
 A. G. D. KERRELL...Gen. Pass. Agt. Pacific Mail Steamship Co. 
 
 L. F. Cockroft Gen. Pass. Agt. Oceanic Steamship Co. 
 
 C. D. DuNANN Gen. Pass. Agt. Pacific Coast Steamship Co. 
 
HAND BOOK SERIES 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 021 929 710 5 % 
 
 AROUND 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 BAY 
 
 THE CALIFORNIA PROMOTION COMMITTEE 
 
 THE STATE CENTRAL ORGANIZATION 
 
 CALIFORNIA BUILDING, UNION SQUARE 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 1908