The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 6, 1896, Page 9

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY, JULY 6, 1896. 9 BEAUTIFUL BERKELEY AND SOME OF ITS PROGRESSIVE FEATURES. Berkeley has been a town of remarkably steady growth. Since tne foundation of the University of California and the choice of Berkeley to its site, twenty-seven years ago, the pretty town near the hills of the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay has enjoyed continnous advancement, and it is now in the midstof a period of growth President Meartin Kellogg of the Uni- versity of California. such as certainly very few towns can match. The university itself is permanent. It will last as long as the Republic, and no possible contingency can retard its growth. This affords a solid basis for prosperity in Berkeley, an assurance that the town can- | not retrograde, that none of the ordinary commercial movements which often in- jure a town’s prosperity can influence Berkeley's future. It is a therefore per- tectly safe assertion that real-estate values in the university town can never retro- grade. The present population of Berkeley 1s about 12,000. The last school census Principal Warring Wilkinson of the Cal- ifornia Deaf and Dumb Institute. showed an increase of 9 per cent during the vear just ended. Building statistics of Berkeley show that the beautiful nniversity town emjoys an unmatched popularity among home-seek- ers. Through all depression of business the building trades have remained lively and the sound of the carpenter’s hammer has been continuously heard in all sec- tions of the town. During the year 1896 over $326,275 was expended in building, principally of resi- dences, in Berkeley. About 120 new houses were erected in the town, some of them being splendid and costiy residences such as have added materially to the at- tractiveness of its streets. Berkeleyans confidently predict a con- tinuation of the growth of the past. They review the town’s history ana see thaf from the beginning it has gone forward without pause under the influence oi natural advantages that time has only im- proved and of added charms in the way oi social allurements and educational and literary leadership such as every year are made more and more prominent. The natural advantages are of climate, situa- ticn and scenic attractions. As far as J. W. Richards, President of the Board of Town Trustees. climate is concerned the town can claim for itself all the strongest boasts that have made the name California a byword for climatic Eerfecfion throughout theworld. 1t speaks volumes for thz healthfulness of the town that the only ‘‘epidemic” her Health Officer has to discuss is one of measles. Of the 114 deaths that occurred in Berke- ley during the year ending May 14, 1896, twenty-five were Coroner’s cases, and in no way attributabie to climatic or other ordinary causes. This means that the | cultivated. town may legitimately claim better than the remarkable death rate of 103 per th_guuand. = Le work of sewering in Berkeley i about completed, neurlyg-u parts o:yth: town that need sewers being provided with them. There are 50.13 miles of sewer in the town, constructed at a cost of $220,000, which is about $19 €0 per capita. One of themost beautiful sections of th e town is that known as the Scenic Tract, which is situated just north of the Uni. versity grounds, "The Scenic Tract has natural advantages of sitnation that makes it especially attractive, and added to these are beauties of cultivation and architect- ure. Some of the finest residences in Berkeley are in this tract and their gar- dens are elaborately laid out ard carefully . The Scenic Tract's advantages of situa- tion areitsslight elevation, wnich affordsa magnificent view of the bay, San Fran. cisco and the Golden Gate, as well as of other parts of Berkeley. : Prominent among the several indus- tries located in West Berkeley 1s the starch factory of J. Everding & Co. It is the only starch factory of the kind on the Pacific Coast and has been running for over twenty years, Several other starch fac- tories have been started from time totime in the State, but none have run for any considerable time. In the other factories potatoes and corn were used in the manu- facture, while in tne factory of Everding & Co, cereals are used almost exclusively. West Berkeley awaits with anxiety the | F. K. Shattuck, President of the Com- mercial Bank of Berkeley. day when a wharf is constructed on its shores, allowing the docking of deep- water vessels. Such a wharf will be one of the enterprises of the near future, and it | will be followed by a direct ferry system | between Berkeley and San Francisco. The | wharf will give an incalcalable impetus to ‘West Berkeley’s manufacturing interests. A new, complicated and immensely val- uable addition to Berkeley’s measures of government is a system of sanitary laws by which thé whole town in a single year | bas been brought up to a remarkable | | standard of sanitary perfection. Every | house has been inspected and every case | of defective plumbing in the town has | been corrected. Berkeley is singularly free from the un- | desirable "element of ~ population. Her | criminal courts are almost nseless, except | in the deterrent influence wielded by the | mere existence of such a necessary instita- | tion of modern life. The whole east end of the town, even | beyond the “mile limit,” is without a sa- | loon. The people who have settled in Berkeley have naturally been such as were attracted by the absence of the liquor traffic, hence it is forbidden by local senti- P. R. Boone, President of the Board of Education. ment even in places where there is no law to suppress it. s i The Berkeley High School is second to none in California. It is always under the wing of the great university and constantly feels its influence. Its corps of teachers 15 necessarily up to the very highest standard, for every year the State Univer- sity turns out the very highest talent in the art of teaching and from its graduates are selected teachers for Berkeley's schools. in the Berkeley High School there were 330 students last year. The school has a corps of ten teachers, each of which hasa university degree. Special courses in French and German are given. The principal of the high school and of the grammar schools of East Berkeley is . D. Waterman. Mr. Waterman is a teacher of Iong experience and his record is the proof of his efficiency. Under his management the high school of Berkeley has made an advance in recent years that is not less than remarkable. Three years ago the whole enrollment of the high school was only seventy-two— equal to the number of graduates from the school this year. The wish to live beneath the shadow of a great university, the appreciation of the atmosphere such an institution gives to a community and the desire to enjoy the specially stringent suppression of the un- desiraple features of ciiy life by which the State Legislature protected students of the university from the saloon and its prod- N SR b | by the company. A large sum of money has ucts, combine to cause Berkeley to be- come a center of attraction for the cul- tured and high-minded people of the State. The corps of scientists of the University of California_is in touch with the leaders of the world, and numbers among_ ifs bright lights men who are known wher- ever modern science is revered. The ven- erable Dr. Joseph Le Conte of Berkeley, Specialist in biology and geology, is now in the East, accepting the invitation of leading scientific associations of thé world to address them, amongz them the Amer- ican and the British National Associa- tions for the Advancement of Science. Berkeley has an interesting and impor- tant institution in the State School for the Deafand Dumb and the Blind. The insti- tution is situated close under the hills of | East Berkeley. Its buildings are large and costly, and on a clear day are visible from any part of the town and from the deck of a bay ferry-boat. There are eleven buildings in all, affording accommodations for over 200 pupils every term. The institution has been established since 1860. It has been in charge of its Present principal, Dr. Warring Wilkinson, since 1865. Prior to his engagement as gnn_c:pal of the State institution of Cali- ornia Dr. Wilkinson was for eight years a teacher in the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb at New York City. The Berkeley institution 15 declared by all visitors to be a model of its kind. The big, quiet buildings form a little world by themselves, and there is an orderliness and cleanliness about them and their grounde that cannot fail to favorably im- | press those who view them. _The water supply of Berkeley is from the hills to the east of the town. It is fur- nished by the Alameda Water Com any, which has three large reservoirs fil]edpfrum tunnels on Wildeat Creek. Within the past month a valuable addition to the company’s supply of water has been se- cutrec! in hbe development of two new artesian wells giving a steady flow of near!. 200,000 gallons per day. ¥ i The water, like that in the reservoirs, is clear and pure. Berkeley's health record | is sufficient proof of the purity of her | water supply, for no town can be healthful | whose residents are not furnished with good water. The Alameda Water Company has | g]a_cad four hundred feet of new tunnel in | Wildcat Canyon during the past year. It | has enlarged the Berryman reservoir and newly cemented the big summit reservoir, | and has laid new mains in many streets of | Berkeley. | amounting to over §240,000, and as already stated there are 500 homes in Berkeley that were built by its agency, (! During the year just ended the loan association has matured two series of stock, after a serial duration of a little over nine years, paying about $25,000 to hold- ers of the matured shares, and netting for the owners an interest of from 13 to 14 per cent per annum. The stated objects of the association are as follows: First—To furnish a convenient, safe and profitable method of investing the savings of the working people. Second—To furnish persons who wish to borrow money for any purpose whatever the means of doing so at a reasonable rate of interest. In other words, it is an asso- ciation composed of borrowers and lenders and established for their mutual conve- nience. 1t gathers together the savings of the people, which, scattered and mn small sums, could not be invested to advantage, and loans the money thus obtained, on mortgage security and in sums to suit, to other people who want it to build them- selves nomes. to pay off other mortgages, to invest in business, or for any other pur- pose, In pursuance of these objects the associ- ation, which is a sort of co-operative say- ings bank, has succeeded in building up a reputation that will prove of inestimable value to its management in the future. As an indication of the institution’s stability and proof that it has the confidence of in- vestors, the fact that some of its first stockholders are still enrolled upon its books is significant. The president of the Homestead Asso- ciation, M. M. Rhorer, Deputy State In- surance Commissioner of California, has been at the head of the association since its incorporation. He and the other offi- cers and directors have served withontany compensation for the whole ten years of the association’s existence. | The rezent opening of *“Bath Beach” at West Berkeley isan event that promises to resuit in much benefit to the town in gen- eral. Citizens of Berkeley have long dis- cussed the feasibility of establishing a sea- bathing resort on the beach at the West | End, and the enterprise of those who have | constructed bathhouses at Bath Beach is | & move that is popular with all classes, for | the whole town would derive benefit from | the influx of visitors, which it -is hoped | will one_day be the rule when the attrac- | tions of Bath Beach become generally | known, Miss Head’s school for girls on Channing One of the Attractive Residences of Berkeley Belonging to J. L. Barker. Boring for water is still being continued aiready been expended in the search for additional wells, but the company still continues and the recent strike of artesian water shows that it is right in so doing. The company here manifests an enter- prising disposition to keep ahead of the progress of the town, and always be ahead of tie demand for water, no matter how large the demand may be. The Berkeley Electric Lighting Com- pany is one of the largest business firmsin the town, and one whose presence in Berkeley is and has been of most im- portance to the progress of the com- maunity. The company has just completed plans for securing current for its lights from the power-bouse of the Oakland Gas Lightand Heat Company, an arrangement by which the Berkeley company will be ena- bled to furnish lights to the town for 50 cents each less than hitherto, and by rea- son of the saving of expenses of conduct- ing a private plant in Berkeley will be able to expend larger sums upon the ex- tension of the lighting system in the Uni- versity town. Another important advantage of the new arrangement will be that current can be furnished continuously day and night and there will never be danger oi a break down. A break down of one engine be imme- diately remedied in the Cakland plant by use of another, so that there will never be an interim of darkness as has sometimes been the case in the past. The work of connecting the Oakland power-house with the Berkeley lighting system will be begun in thirty daysand will be completed in two months. The line will be brought through Golden Gate, Lorin and Temescal, so as to provide all territorv between Berkeley and Oaklana with lights. An institution which hasbeen the means of adding 500 homes to Berkeley can cer- tainly claim to have been a powerful in- fluence in aid of the town’s growth. The Homestead Loan Association has built more than 500 residences for Berkeleyans durlnf the past ten years. Berkeley, as a residence town and an educational center, depends for its prog- ress upon its attractiveness to homeseek- ers, hence it would be difficult to over- estimate the value to the town of an or- famnhcm which, like the association re- erred to, assists in the buiiding of resi- dences. The Homestead Loan Association was incorporated March 3, 1886, with an authorized capital of $1,000,000. It was prosperous from the first and has grown until to-day its assets are over a quarter of a million dollars; it has loans outstand- ing secured by Berkeley real estate . way has just closed its eighth year with a larger attendance than ever before, the graduating class numbering ten. The school has seemed to supply a long-felt want in Berkeley, giving a sound and thorough mental training from the rimary grade till the graduate is prepared or college, together with a healthy physi- cal dgvelopment and cheerful family life. The large and well equipped gymnasium is under the charge of the instructor in athletics at the State University, and the girls enjoy their games of basket-ball and tennis and their walks ahout Berkeley. The building, which is a large one con- structed according to the latest and most approved system of architecture and in keeping with the best system of sanita- tion, stands on the upland and commands a beautiful view of Berkeley and the bay. The school has always been abreast of the newest and most useful ideas in education and is quick to adopt the best books and the best methods. Many pupils of the institution come every day from Oakland, San Francisco and Fruitvale, as well as the children of a large number of the professors and other prominent citi- zens of Berkeley. Martin Kellogg, A.M., A.B.,, LL.D,, M. M. Rhorer, President of the Home- stead Loan Association. Morning Stene at Such & Nelson’s Extensive Dairy Farm in the Berkeley Hills. the president of the University of Cali- fornia, is a citizen of Berkeley who takes active interest in the welfare of the town and who has many times lent his aid to movements looking to the betterment of municipal conditions and the progress of Berkeley. F. K. Shattuck, one_of the pioneer set- tlers in the university town, is known throughout all Berkeley and Oakland as a leading capitalist and real estate dealer, and in the college town, where he resides, Mr. Shattuck has a reputation for public spirit such as can only be won by a long life full of examples of local patriotism. A recent instance is Mr. Shattuck’s offer of land in Berkeley worth $10,000 as an in- ducement to the regents of the University to locate the Wilmerding School in ihe town. Mr. Shattuck is the owner of the Shat- tuck block,containing Shattuck Hall, where the principal meetings, lectures and enter- tainments of Berkeley are held and a number of stores and offices, the Jargest being the Berkeley Bazaar of H. R. So- rensen. The store of Mr. Sorensen is the only glassware and crock establishment in the place, he having n located in the college town for the past fcur years. -P.EBoone.nmumto!n{onoudo! Thres of the I'rincipal Buildings of the University of California. Education of Berkeley, is one of the town’s | of fellowship with the greater institutions old residents. Mr. Boone was one of the first'voters when the town incorporated in 1878. He was one of the founders of the Berkeley Gymnasium, and in 1831 estab- lished Boone's University School, of which he is at present owner and principal. Boone’s school is a high-class preparatory | institution, select and limited, the num- ber of scholars being about forty-five, It has prepared for the State University from 125 to 150 students. President Boone is known as one of the most progressive citi- zens of Berkeley. J. W. Richards is the president of the Board of Trustees of Berkeley. Mr. Rich- ards’ term of office began about one year ago and since that time the pusiness of the town has been conducted in a sys- tematic, expeditions way that’ bespeaks for Mr. Richards, as the official whose lot it is to bear the brunt of the not very light burden of public needs and business, a splendid business capacity and a deep, patriotic interest in public matters. L. Barker of the lumber firm of Barker & Hunter is a citizen who has had much to do with the town’s development. Mr. Barker’s firm has built about 150 resi- dences in_Berkeley which sold for from $1200 to $5000 each. The advent of the railroad to the university town was brought about to a considerable extent by the efforts of Mr. Barker, who 1s a large holder of Berkeley real estate and has shown the strongest confidence in the | town’s future. Among the residences recently built by Mr. Barker is the one of which'a view is herewith presented. It is a house of seven rooms, new and modern in all re- spects, ocecnpying a lot 4414x135, which is for sale for , $500 cash and the balance at $35 or $40 per month, The house is situated near Berryman station and from its windows one may ob- tain a magnificent view of the bay and the Golden Gate, and eastward of the hills of Berkeley. Mr. Barker also holds for sale a large number of other buildings equall, as well constructed and equally as wefl *| situated. Wiilhiam Carey Jones, profes sor of juris- prudence in the University and one of the ublic-spirited citizens of the town, hav- ing served in the capacity of vresident of J. J. Dunn, Proprietor of the Dunn Basalt Rock Quarry. the Board of Education, president of the Freeholders, and trustee from the Second Ward, bas the standard and_only history of Berkeley and of the University. His “Illustrated Hi!torg of the University of California,’”’ which has received the most flattering criticism from the press and prominent educators throughout the country, gives the earliest history of Berkeley and describes its present charac- teristics. It contains a complete historical account of the founding, rise and expan- sion of the University to its present plane of the United States. Among the prominent citizens of Berke- ley few are better known tthan Walter E. Sell, who has been a resident of the town | since 1877 and who has taken a leading part In many enterprises of general inter- est to Berkeleyans. | __Mr. Sell has been vice-president of the Homestead Loan Association of Berkeley since its organization in 1886, and since - George Schmidt, One of Berkeley’s Lead- | ing Real Estate Dealers. the establishment of the Commercial Bank of Berkeley has been one of the directors of that institution. | _Heis also at the head of the Claremont, University and Ferries Railroad Com- pany, which has a street-car line between East and West Berkeley. The line is at present one of horsecars, but preparations are already under way for the introduc- tion on the cars of new motors, which furnished with power by compressed air and electricity will give the same speed as the regular trolley system of electric-cars. Mr. Sell’s company owns a franchise for a street railway that will some day give Per&xeley another connection with™ Oak- and. The franchise extends from the termi- nus of the present road down Shattuck avenue to Bancroit way, thence to College avenue and along the latter to the south boundary of the town. Probably the most prominent contractor and builderin thecollege town is Frederick Esty, who has constructed nearly as many houses in the college town as all the other contractors now in business here com- bined. At the present time he has seven houses in process of construction, several of which are to cost upwards of $5000. There are included in the number of houses he has built some of the finest homes in Berkeley. Mr. Esty is both an architect as weil as a contractor. Among the houses which he has built this year, some of which sare now in pro- cess of construction, are those of Mrs. Alice Edwards, on Haste street; Mrs, Mary Colt, on Haste street: Mrs. Mary E. Alexander, on Bowditch street; Arihur Young, at the corner of Euclid avenue and Le Conte street; Mrs. Rose Chappie, on Dana street; William Kelley, on Ellsworth and Bancroft; Mrs. F. Farley, on Choate and Channing; L. E. Hunt, on Ridge road; H. W. Ailen, on Shattuck avenue, and W. W. Clark, in the Daly Scenic Tract, besides completing many smalier contracts. George Schmidt is one of the progressive and ingnential landowners and real estate dealers of the town, and is also one of its most active business men. Mr. Schmidt has recently opened for sale a tract of land in the West End | houses, known as Schmidi’s village. The land has been divided into residence lots, which are rapidly being sold to home- seekers. Schmidt’s viliage is situated near the water front of West Berkeley. It is with- in a twenty-tive minutes’ drive of the State University and is reached by splendid roads on which a bicycle rider may with- out exertion reach the central part of the town or the High School in fifteen minutes. Homes in Schmidt’s village thus possess all the advantages that Berkeleyans boast of—the climate and scenery and the edu- cational opportunities—and the lots into which the Schmidt tract has been divided are offered on such easy terms that the sale is rapid and the near future promises to see the entire tract taken up by resi- dence builders. 5 The real-estate firm of 0. G. May & Co., 2123 Center street, is one_of the most re- liable and enterprising in Berkeley. This spring they have sold twenty lots, ranging in price from $1775 down to $100. They have rented about as many dwellings at from $50 down to $8, besides building two vlacing considerable insurance and loans and selling some outside prop- erty. They always have a great, variety of vroperty for sale and for rent, which they are glad to show to all interested. Just now they are offering several fine lots and two or three houses at amazingly low prices and easv terms. Joseph J. Mason is one of Berkeley's leading real-estate dealers. His office is on the west side of Shattuck avenue, near the corner of Center street. Mr. Mason transacts a general real estate and in- surance business, in which line he is one of the successful men of the town. J. J. Dunn, the well-known street con- tractor and owner of the Dunn basalt rock quarry, has been a prominent citizen of the town for many years, and has been an important figure in bringing the town to the position it now holds. Besides own- ing the extensive rock quarry, he is a large land holder, having realty of more or less value scattered throughout the town. The photographic art work for this edi- tion on Berkeley was done by George Wilcox, senior member of the Wil- cox Photographing Company. Their large establishment, which is located at J. L. Barker, One of Berkeley’s Most Progressive Citizens. the corner of Shattuck avenue and Center street, is equippea with all the latest and most approved apphances for doing high- grade work. That Berkeley will progress on and on in a rapid and healthy growth there seems to be ro reason for doubt, not only from the fact that it possesses so many physi- cal aavantages, butalso from the reason that it is the site of the State’s great uni- versity, which, according to the principles of its foundation, will continue in per- petuity. o= | ST o e She ttuck Block, Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley. i