1908

NOW IT’S THE WATER METER WARS

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Santa Rosa’s water wars ended in 1907, when post-earthquake upgrades allowed it to provide a reliable (albeit foul-tasting) water supply. But water woes continued because the town screwed up installation of the new water meters.

Santa Rosa introduced water meters in 1905 after years of fumbled efforts to enforce conservation. Policemen, firemen and city inspectors were turned into water cops, empowered to write hefty $2.50 citations for leaky faucets. Lawns could be watered only at certain times of the day announced by a steam whistle, and there were additional monthly fees for every water fixture (having an indoor toilet cost 25ยข and was worth every penny). Once meters were installed, each home was supposed to be billed only for water use over 10,000 gallons/month. In theory.

As it turns out, the city inspectors should have been keeping a close watch on the guys installing the expensive new meters. In one case mentioned below, two homes shared the same meter – an arrangement the owners asked the city council for permission to continue, as it would be expensive and bothersome to install separate water lines for each house (the request was denied).

In a far more outrageous SNAFU, it was revealed that five businesses – including a bakery and one of Santa Rosa’s largest saloons – were connected through a water meter for a private residence. The homeowner understandably refused to pay the excess-use water bill, so the city shut off the meter, and thus the water supply to the home and businesses alike. Two of the businesses agreed to pay the flat business rate, but the other two balked, leaving the water turned off. “Without the necessary water, sinks and toilets go without flushing and the neighbors are wondering ‘how about the sanitary condition’ of the block,” commented the letter’s author.

WATERLESS PLACES

Editor Republican:

Like Banquo’s ghost, Santa Rosa’s free water spook will not down, but comes up to flap its dry cerements around the town. The domestic 10,000 gallons frequently fail to flow, or will flow in a flood, the meters fail to meet the matter and the claims for the excess liquid fall of liquidation. A property owner who is paying his water bond tax had his water shut off and is carrying the question into a court of law. Two citizens appeared before the city council Tuesday night asking that the single meter which marks the gallons of water running into their two separate residences, and into no other, be permitted to do double duty for the present. The petitioners gave as a reason for the request that the change, the laying of extra pipes, the digging of trenches through lawns would cost them fully $30. The extra meter room cost the city about $8. Mr. Ross, one of the petitioners, thought that even if the city would not consider the matter of saving a property owner $30 [in] these rather hard times, by the simple exercise of a little discretion, it might in view of the fact that the public warrants are held up every month by reason of municipal poverty, hold on to that $8.

Notwithstanding the fact of that three practical councilmen were ready to grant the request, it was turned down because the water ordinance called for a meter at each and every residence, and the council proceeded to order $400 worth of meters. Mr. Ross will have a nice new meter in front of his home, which will be $8 off his $30 bill.

On the north side of Fourth Street are five business places–Ketterlin Bros. hardware store, Young Bros. store, Greek-American Candy Kitchen, Santa Rosa Bakery and the Germania saloon, which are all hooked on to the meter in front of the residence on Fifth street occupied by Mrs. Gore. There are no other meters in the bunch of six places. The July excess bill amounting to $14 was sent to Mrs. Gore and the August bill amounting to about $4 went to the same person. She declined to pay the bills on the ground of that she is away from her home all day employed in a restaurant, and her two roomers occupy the building only at night, also that five other places were included. Yesterday the water was turned off at the meter on Fifth street and the six places went dry. Young Brothers and the Germania proprietor finally paid their flat rate bills for the two months, but they are still without water because the other four parties have not settled. The inmates are without the necessary water, sinks and toilets go without flushing and the neighbors are wondering “how about the sanitary condition” of the block. One of the waterless storekeepers says he will stand pat even if the Board of Health takes a hand. So the ghost will not down, the meters will not meet and the free water will not be free.

SANTA ROSAN.

– Letter to the Santa Rosa Republican, October 7, 1908

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DON’T MENTION THE COFFIN FACTORY

Jeff Elliott Leave a comment

Nearly every year, one of the Santa Rosa newspapers produced a promotional supplement on the wonders of Sonoma County: A great place to start a farm, build a factory, or just settle down. Santa Rosa itself was overflowing with churches, secure banks, Luther Burbank, and prosperous businesses; they would praise the leather tanning companies, the fruit canneries, the flour mill, the pharmacies and even the hardware stores. Yet they never, ever, boasted of the town’s casket factory.

Until 1908, Kobes & Huntington provided almost everything a contractor might need to finish a building – or that a downtown business might need for repairs after Saturday night drunken revelries. The shop, which was in Railroad Square at 115-121 Fifth Street (currently the large, white warehouse across from the Last Day Saloon), sold plate glass and art glass, mirrors, bank and saloon fixtures, stairways, refrigerators and all kind of mouldings and other millwork made on the premises. But from 1908 forward, they turned out one thing only: Redwood caskets and coffins.

Almost immediately the company was the second-largest coffin maker in the state, their assembly line building up to 700 caskets a month under exclusive contract to a San Francisco dealer. It was certainly one of the most successful Santa Rosa businesses and was in the process of expanding rapidly, all good reasons for the newspapers to tout the company in their annual supplements and town boosters to point at it with considerable pride. Yet except for one small article about the changeover – which only appeared in the Press Democrat on a slow news day – locals were quiet about the busy factory on Fifth street. Quiet as a tomb, you could even say.

BIG BUSINESS AT THE CASKET FACTORY

Between 400 and 700 Caskets Are Made at Kobes & Huntington’s Establishment on Fifth Street Monthly

Few residents of Santa Rosa are aware that the second-largest manufacturing plant for caskets in California is located in the city, and is turning out from 400 to 700 coffins of various sizes monthly. Such is the fact.

Kobes & Huntington, who for a number of years conducted a planing mill and cabinet shop on Fifth street, some months ago secured a contract from the San Francisco Casket Co., of San Francisco, to furnish them caskets and boxes for the next eight years, and the plant was remodeled to make it suitable for the new purpose for which it was to be used. Over $2,000 worth of additional machinery was installed and for some time past now shipments of a car of caskets has been made weekly, and two cars of boxes monthly.

The manufacture of such quantities of caskets requires 40,000 feet of lumber per month, and the firm has now on hand 250,000 feet. The lumber must be bone dry, the steps are being taken to secure a steady supply from one mill during the lifetime of the contract. A steam plant is to be installed this fall for the purpose of having a place to kiln dry lumber, and also furnish a steam room where the boards maybe bench to be used the making of coffins. In trade parlance there is a difference between caskets and coffins.

The firm makes at present four styles of caskets, the square, which is the cheapest grade; the octagon, the elliptical and the chancellor. These all take their names more or less from their shapes. The “coffin” is different from any of them in that it takes the peculiar shape given it while the material is heated by steam before being put together.

The redwood lumber to be used in the manufacture of caskets is cut into various lengths before being taken into the shop and loaded on hand trucks. It is then wheeled to the various parts of the shop where it is to be used and machinery cuts it into the desired shapes, makes the moldings, cuts holes for the various attachments, and then it is taken to the assembling room. Here skilled men put it together rapidly.

There is little or no waste. The smaller pieces are all used in making the small sections and even sticks not larger than good kindling are used in forming the rounded head board confined between two veneer boards and glued in place. In all nine men are employed in the shop and each one does only his part of the work as it passes along from bench to bench.

The caskets when completed are shipped to San Francisco where they are covered and finished into the handsome products seen in many undertaking parlors. The question is often asked what becomes of the caskets made? The State Board of Health reported 2900 deaths for June, and there had to be a casket for each body. The Santa Francisco dealers furnish a large share of the supply for the Islands and Oriental trade, so it will be seen there is a large demand.

– Press Democrat, July 28, 1908

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THE EMPIRE BUILDING AND THE CLOCK TOWER

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Next time you’re walking in downtown Santa Rosa, take an eyeful of the “Empire Building,” and notice that something’s wrong. The building itself is quite 20th century – but the clock tower harks back to America in the years after the Civil War. What were they thinking? Slapping an old-fashioned clock tower on an elegant new building does not fine architecture make.

Now the most well-recognized structure downtown, it was originally the Santa Rosa Bank Building, built at the same location of the bank destroyed by the Great Earthquake of 1906. John Galen Howard, one of the top architects on the West Coast, designed the new building at the same time as he was creating the campus for University of California/Berkeley and most of its key buildings and landmarks (Sather Gate, the Greek Theatre, the Campanile, California Hall, Doe Library, for ex).

Howard’s drawings of his original design appeared in both local papers in 1908 (the copy at right was taken from the May 16 Santa Rosa Republican – click to enlarge). It shows a building very much in his Beaux Arts style; it would have looked quite at home at the university, and in fact, his exterior for the Santa Rosa Bank resembles an office building version of the Hearst Mining Building, which he had completed the previous year. On the ground floor is rusticated masonry with ornamented keystones above each arch. The roof line has a wide overhanging eave that sits on the top like a crown. The primary difference with what they built was that the overhang was scaled back considerably and simplified. And, of course, a clock tower was added.

To anyone schooled in architecture at that time, the clock tower must have been jarring. John Galen Howard’s building was classically-inspired modern architecture, with strong clean lines; the clock tower was in the too-busy Second Empire style from about forty years earlier. Almost identical clock towers can still be found on courthouses and government buildings built 1870s-1880s, particularly in the South and Midwest; the one here in Santa Rosa might well have been ordered from a factory that prebuilt the things. (UPDATE: The mechanism was made by E. Howard & Co. but they did not provide the enclosure.) And, of course, Santa Rosa even added the garish touch of a gilded dome with a weather vane on the peak. All in all, it was a bit like the Beverly Hillbillies plopping a double-wide on the roof of their nice mansion to house Jethro’s less sophisticated kin.

But why the clock tower at all? In “Santa Rosa’s Architectural Heritage,” Geraldine and Dan Peterson write that “…community sentiment toward the clock tower of the earlier building on the site was strong enough that the roof line was redesigned…” If there was any discussion of this in the papers, I’ve overlooked it – but it’s certain that the earlier building did not have a clock tower. The image below is an enlargement of a section from a postcard showing pre-earthquake Santa Rosa, and the old place clearly had neither a tower nor clock.

More likely adding the clock tower was another manifestation of the town’s love/hate attitude towards progress, as has been often discussed here. Some Santa Rosans were undoubtedly ecstatic that a world-class modern architect was designing the tallest building in town; but I imagine a few of the powerful good ol’ boys looked at the plans and remarked, “put a clock tower up there, like we have back in Missouri – you will see it for miles when the sun hits its glory.”

Today no one notices that the building and clock tower clash in style and scale; all focus is on the quaint old tower, and John Galen Howard’s building has become simply its base. There are dozens of photographs found on the Internet but none are of the building itself with the tower cropped out; however there are many closeups of the tower alone. And whoever thought of painting the dome gold was inspired – nothing shouts “what a classy place!” like bling.

Obl. Comstock House connection: One of the first tenants to move into the pretty new building was lawyer James Wyatt Oates. A 1914 view of his offices at rooms 300-301 can be seen here in a photograph of junior partner Hilliard Comstock at his desk.

(Right: Detail of postcard showing the Empire Building c. 1917, when it was the Bank of Italy. Both postcard views courtesy the Larry Lapeere Collection)

 

Colonel Oates’ New Offices

Colonel J. W. Oates has moved his law offices into an elegant suite of three offices in the third story of the handsome Santa Rosa Bank Building. The furnishings will be very artistic and everything will be very neat.

– Press Democrat, June 3, 1908

SANTA ROSA BANK QUARTERED IN NEW BUILDING

Handsome Structure Completed and Occupied

The Santa Rosa Bank has moved into its magnificent new building on Exchange Avenue, a structure that rises four stories high and ranks among the best constructed buildings in the state, a credit to the well-known and old established financial institution, a monument to enterprise and a prominent landmark in the new and greater Santa Rosa.

The progress of construction of the new bank building has been watched with interest during the months that work has been under way. It is a “Class A” steel structure, and at once appears to everybody on account of its solidity and massiveness. And now that the finishings have been installed, the effect is most pleasing.

The bank’s quarters in the new building are ideal for the transaction of business–care having been taken that this should be so. It is admirably lighted and the tiled floor, the fixtures and all other points are in pleasing accord. The work of moving into the new building was begun last night so that everything could be in readiness for the commencement of business on Monday morning.

The handsome furnishings, including the desks, chairs and the furniture are all solid mahogany. The fixtures and finish, also of mahogany, were made by P. H. Kroncke of this city. It is a compliment to Mr. Kroncke and Santa Rosa that such work could be turned out here. Lomont & Co. did the painting and decoration work.

In the right hand corner of the main building is the president’s office, attractively arranged and furnished for the purpose to which it will be put. Next in line is the receiving teller’s window, then the paying teller’s window. The cashier’s office and then the bookkeeper’s department are all provided. All these departments are thoroughly equipped with everything necessary.. There is a handsome frontage of heavy plate glass. The directors have a nice room. Taken severally and as a whole the furnishings could not have been selected with more taste in order that they should be in keeping with the general appearance of a very fine modern bank building.

The safe deposit department is complete in its arrangement, and the double burglar and fire-proof vaults, and the new book vault cannot be excelled. A personal inspection imposes one with the strength of the vaults.

From the entrance doors on Exchange avenue one steps into the main room, and while the requirements of the bank officials have been looked after in every particular, the comfort and convenience of the bank patrons has not been lost sight of. There are desks and seats and other accessories for their use. An elevator runs from the ground floor to the roof. The three upper stories are fitted up as offices for professional men, and others, and many of them have already been taken, and are occupied. The building throughout is well ventilated and has all modern conveniences in the way of heating apparatus, lighting, etc.

Nearing completion on top of the immense structure is a great clock, whose dial can be seen for miles all around the city. This will be lighted at night and will be the finishing touch to a building of which many larger cities would be just justly feel proud.

The directors of the Santa Rosa Bank are…

[..]

Frank E. Cherry was the superintendent of construction, and he naturally feels proud of the results obtained. The building has been completed under the estimated cost by the architects, Howard & Galloway. In fact, at considerable less cost than the original estimate.

It has been suggested to the officials that in view of the fact that the bank building is one the publicly generally would like to inspect that they set apart some evening for this purpose.

– Press Democrat, July 26, 1908

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