University of San Francisco - USF Don Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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the earthquake anti fire of 1906 left hut an em ity shell where nre stood the most modern und well equipped toilette in the H est. the buildings u ere totally uninsured. cation appeared excellent and the tax was cheap. So the decision was made: to pack up and move again. This, however, was not without difficulty. San Francisco was in the throws of a recession (Eisenhower-type), thousands of men were idle, violence and even some panic threatened. The Coolie Question During this tranquil time , Fr. Maraschi asked for bids from the City’s contractors to build the new St. Ignatius Church. A rumor escaped that a Chinese company had hid the lowest: tempers flared, unions protested, collections dwindled. In those days following the reconstruction of the South, San Francisco was the little rock of the West. On July third, the San Francisco Examiner published a crusading-type editorial entitled, “A Question for Those Concerned.” The noble prose of this dissertation read, “. . . the lowest bidder was the Chinese company . . . The Chinese company employs only coolies as a matter of course. With a flare of indignant righteousness, the editorial ended, “The contract ought not to he given to the Chinese company nor to any company that employs coolies to make bricks. It ought to be given to the company that employs white men. Even then, the examiner was obviously a Hearst paper, maintaining an unusually high degree of journalistic endeavor coupled with the sterling logic of an Aristotle. All would have been peachy for the Examiner if their source had been correct, but unfortunately, their source was not correct. So Father Varsi, administrator extraordinary, kindly explained to the paper their mistaken notion. Father Kiordan, author of the S.I. history, notes the conclusion of this little episode as follows, The Examiner threw the blame of misinformation on the Call. . In spite of the newspapers, the new campus was dedicated in February of 1880 and with this commenced the golden era of Saint Ignatius. The college of this era offered only the AH degree. An oral examination in each of the languages of Latin and Greek was required of each graduating student. The classical emphasis of the College was augmented by such elective courses as mineralogy, astronomy and navigation. A Jesuit Boys’ Club was founded: undoubtedly it was one of the first such organizations of its sort in the United States. According to Father Kiordan, the club was better than spending a night on Market Street among low companions and low amusements. The girls were well cared for too. The forerunner of the School of Nursing made its dehut in the I880 s with a girls’ Sunday school under the direction of Father Kenna. At the height of its development, over 700 girls were instructed each Sunday by a stall' of professional lay teachers. A G tn and a Half The million dollar school campus was lauded in every quarter as a magnificent edifice. The San Francisco Call of February 15, 1880, said of the campus auditorium. A more commodious and attractive hall is not to be found in the city. Both ear and eye are gratified — the eye with a delicate display of light and shade upon the pure and subdued white of the walls; the ear with the perfection with which every vibration of even the most delicate sound is distinctly heard Mr. Clarence Eddy, then one of America’s outstanding concert organists said the Saint Ignatius Church organ was the finest and best 27

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Maraschi would see it. I knew, at least. thought I knew that he would comment on my diligence. I waited for his approbation. Waited? Well. yes, I am still waiting for that. He saw the plant? Well, not exactly for such as the present object of my care, for that plant of the glossy leaves was the common poison oak. and it was soon at safe distance withering in the sun. Appearances, even in California, are at times deceitful.” During this first year of its existence, St. Ignatius Academy acquired its first lay teacher, another Irish immigrant, one John Haley. He slept in the classroom that year —evidently, quite comfortable and secure. He was USF’s first boarder. Some S200.00 were paid to him for his year’s work. No other record exists of John from that time on, but legend is that he went back to Ireland. The Steam Engine In 1857, one Thomas Hayes acquired an option to build a steam engine line along the present length of Market Street, passing right in front of St. Ignatius Academy. He was a grand capitalist, an all-American baron. He dug deep moats along his railway tracks to protect them from the hard knocks of traveling wagons. After some rain, his ditches came to be filled with water. The water became stagnant, mosquitoes bred, two passengers drowned, but, above all protests, the railway charged on. Perhaps this was but one of the many factors that slowed S.I.’s first years of growth. In 1861, Market Street was paved: the once lonely little outpost of Jesuit education was now in contact with the big city. Enrollment doubled and tripled many times over. The noble forerunner of USF now had an enrollment of some 140 students and a staff of some 12 professors. Ding-Dong Inspired by this rabbit-like growth, Fr. Maraschi and Fr. Villiger went bell-hunting. After all, they needed something to call the students to school. Providence smiled upon them. A bell, originally cast for the San Francisco Fire Department by a company in Sheffield, England was left unpurchased by the city because it had no mone '. Actually, neither did Fathers Maraschi or Villiger. Hut it was such a good bargain — only 1,300 dollars. A few weeks later the bell was hung in the tower of the church of USF’s first campus. The largest steel bell ever cast in England was the property of the sanddune college. The firebell is still with the USF of today, hanging in the campanile of Saint Ignatius Church. That same year, in response to the demands placed upon the college, S.I. commenced its first building program: a new church was built, the largest in the State, with a capacity of some 3,000 persons. Another “class room” was built, this time three stories high —with windows and corridors, and all the modern conveniences. This was termed S.I.'s second campus, since these buildings were constructed on some newly acquired property bordering on Jessie Street. The old buildings were converted to storage rooms. S.I. made some amazing contributions to the city during these early years. Even without government aid. the college Edison, Father Joseph Nery, managed to successfully design and demonstrate an incandescent lamp. Under his guidance, the college obtained the largest electric generator in the United States. Yet although to the casual observer the S.I. of the 1860’s and the 1870's had reached an apex of development, an insidious tyrant was all the while undermining the foundations of this proud institution. Property tax had been invented. The old S.I. property, was, by this time, quite valuable; in fact taxes on the old campus alone were in excess of 12,000 dollars a year. USF' had to be moved to be saved. The administration acquired some property on Van Ness and Hayes Streets. The lo- thc campus at Hayes and Van Ness, one of the glittering lights of pre-fire San Francisco, here the University reached its peak: scientific laboratories, a gymnasium and suimming pool, a campus integral with the city of San Francisco—a product of fifty years of devoted labor and sacrifice. 26

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in the world” The S.I. Van Ness gymnasium was a prime example of the foresight and understanding of the early Jesuits. Fr. Riordan writes of the building, “From the right of the vestibule, a stairway descends to the locker-room, bowling alley. billiard-room, reading room. and plunge ... A physician's office adjoins the main entrance. it being intended that the students submit to examinations at the beginning and during their course, that the work of physical culture may be gone at wisely, and no part that is structurally weak be exposed to undue strain . . . In the West end is the bicycle room.” The graduations of the days of yore rivaled the decor of Queen Victoria. A newspaper of the day described the graduation banquet as a delightful affair, there was music by a stringed orchestra throughout the evening. The formal program opened with a toast to Pope Pius X, the company standing while the toast was drunk. In the same manner, there was a toast to the President of the United States” The Third Campus of Old S. I. with its classical academic program, its outstanding facilities, its rich traditions, marked the high point of the development of the L'.S.F. to be. April 18, 1906. Father Vincent Testa was celebrating an early Mass at 5:15. The earthquake dislodged the candlesticks on the altar. Father was struck on the nose by a falling candle: fortunately, he was not seriously hurt. At 6:15 the Jesuit fathers celebrated public Mass for an overflowing crowd of people who were anxious to receive the sacraments; indeed, every time a priest stepped into the street, he was instantly beseiged by persons eager to receive absolution. Although the college did sustain earthquake damage, the destruction was not so serious as to be irrepairable. However, what the earthquake spared, the fire destroyed. The holocaust is attributed to a housewife who was cooking ham and eggs for her family. The fire spread to some unused outhouses on the school lot west of the church. The west tower of the church caught fire, was extinguished and later took fire again. This time the fire could not be reached. There was no water available, and the whole church was gutted. Father Minister was able to save only a few insurance policies, coins, and jewels, which lie carried in his pillow case. Father Testa cryptically noted in his day book, ’ Church, residence, and college on fire- all gone” F'ather John Friedan, echoing Virgil, tersely wrote to Rome, Ignatius fuit.” The Radium and The Bicycle A legend of the earthquake tells of the fate of the ounce of radium entrusted to St. Ignatius College. The college was one of the three institutions in America—the other two were Harvard and Yale—which had been presented with an ounce of the newly discovered radium. The reason for the choice of a college for so great a gift is manifest when one recalls that St. Ignatius College had the finest assaying and surveying equipment on the West Coast, provided electric lights for Market Street, had the only telegraph equipment in San Francisco, and, in 1885, had been commended by the Smithsonian Institute for the excellence of its scientific collection. ihr L'SF swimming toot fin 1905. that held over 100.000 gallons . . . teas open student body.