The municipal employee (Volume v.3 (Jan. - Sept. 1929)) online

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SEIOaClE^EEEiQENCT^CO-OneKJVnQN



Twenty-Five Cents



SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA



Vol. Ill, No. 1





JANUARY
1 9 2 O







3^



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^^.




165 Broadway, New York 39 So. La Salle St., Chicago
210 West 7th Street, Los Angeles



A . E. FITKIN & COMPANY

INCORPORATED



Bonds



<j^



SUITE 2401, RUSS BUILDING

235 Montgomery Street

SAN FRANCISCO



W. S. Dickey Clay Mfg. Co.

604 MISSION STREET

MAKERS OF

Dickey Mastertite
Dickey Face Brick
Dickey Paving Brick

Dickey Step and Walk Brick

Dickey Drain Tile

Dickey Fire Brick

and
Kinarid Burned Clay Products



CALIFORNIA ARMS CO.

995 Market Street

SAN FRANCISCO

Telephone Garfield 1359

Manufacturers and Distributors

OF

ARMS AND EQUIPMENTS

FOR USE OF

CIVIL AND MILITARY GOVERNMENTS




FIREARMS 1 AMMUNITION r MACHINE GUNS

BULLET PROOF VESTS / BULLET PROOF GLASS

ARMORED AUTOMOBILES

*

TEAR GAS & CHEMICAL PROTECTIVE DEVICES
TEAR GAS POLICE CLUBS

*

HAND CUFFS < THUMB CUFFS

TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES

*

SPORTING GOODS

RIFLES , SHOTGUNS , AMMUNITION , FLASHLIGHTS



J



NATIONAL METER
COMPANY

NEW YORK CITY
Manufacturers of

WATER METERS

Since 1870
A METER FOR EVERY KIND OF SERVICE



PACIFIC COAST BRANCHES

SAN FRANCISCO
1048 Folsom Street

LOS ANGELES
645 Santa Fe Avenue



Mention This Magazine When You Patronize Advertisert




PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY ^1 ^'^*w

MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEE PUBLISHING COMPANY ,^ Sa.52^—

1095 Market Street Phone Market 8438 ^i^O 4 XO

Herbert B. Gee, Editor



Philip P. Levy
Business Manager



George H. Allen, General Manager



John D. Gibson
Assistant Business Manager



Volume III



JANUARY, 1929



No. 1



CONTRIBUTING EDITORS



Assessor's Oflfice Louise M. O'Hara

Auditor's Office J. Everett Sharp

Board of Education

D. P. Hardy and Mrs. Harriet Leaman

Board of Heahh Edward M. Coffey

Board of PubHc Works Sid Hester

Bureau of Engineering N. A. Eckart

Bureau of Supplies Ivy Perkins Cerkel

City Attorney's Office Edmond P. Bergerot

Civil Service Commission James J. Maher

Civil Service Association Edward M. Coffey

Coroner's Office Jane Walsh

County Clerk Howard Gudelj

Dept. of Electricity Joseph P. Murphy

District Attorney Henry Goldman

Engineers' Union J. L. Slater, Jr.

Exposition Auditorium James L. Foley

Fire Department Lieut. Fred Jones

Justice Courts Robert W. Dennis



Mayor's Office Sgt. Thomas Walsh

Municipal Railway Eugene W. Clisbee

Municipal Carmen's Union Edward D. Vandeleur

Office Employees' Assn William T. Bonsor

Parks and Museums W. M. Strother

Per Diem Men's Assn F. J. Ferguson

Playground Commission Veda B. Young

Principals' Association Susie A. Ward

Public Library Anne M. Farrell

Public Administrator Henry Boyen

Recorder's Office Daniel McGloin

Registrar's Office George L. Sharp

Retirement Board John W. Rogers

San Francisco Hospital Mrs. Mae H. Noonan

Sealer of Weights and Measures Mrs. M. Dolan

Sheriff's Office W. J. Martenson

Superior Courts Henry J. McGrath

Tax Collector's Office Homer Warren

Treasurer's Office I. A. Richardson



In This Issue



PAGE

Cover Design by Ned Hilton

Editorials 5

City Purchaser of Supplies Leonard S. Leavy... 6

Captain Quinn Wins Promotion 7

Two Faithful Public Servants 8

San Francisco's Wings Are Growing 9

Guardians of a City's Morals 10

Board of Public Works 11

The Engineering Department 12



P.AGE

The City's Playgrounds 13

By Veda Beresford Young

Of Interest to Women 14

By Anita Day Hubbard

Parks and Museums 15

By JF. M. Strother

Educational Activities 19

By J. J. Cloud

Widows and Orphans' Concert and Ball 23

By Corporal Peter R. Maloney

Communitv Chest Drive 29



THE MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEE



January



MARQHETTI



MOTORj^^PATENTS



Transportation Marks the Progress of

Civilization

Horses and dirt roads . . . steam and steel greatest aeronautical enterprises on the
rails . . . automobiles and highways . . . Pacific Coast.



and now, AIRPLANES and SKYWAYS !
-Near^ills Field, Marchetti Motor Pat-



An opportunity to participate in the ex-



.^s^^Jtic., is building the first unit of pected profits of this industry is yours
what will eventually become one of the . . . TODAY!

Write, call or telephone for further information

MARCHETTI MOTOR PATENTS



1204 Russ BIdg.



INCORPORATED
San Francisco



SUtter 1342



United Commercial Company

INCORPORATED

234 Steuart Street r San Francisco

Representing

HYMAN-MICHAELS COMPANY, CHICAGO

Agents for
Western Wheeled Scraper Co. » Davenport Locomotive

Works r Ohio Locomotive Crane
Largest slock used Contractors' and Mining Equipment on the Coast

CARS and LOCOMOTIVES all sizes, all gauges

RAIL — New and used, all sizes carried in stock

STEAM SHOVELS â–  CONCRETE MIXERS

AIR COMPRESSORS - AIR DRILLS - PILE DRIVER HAMMERS

CLAM SHELL and ORANGE PEEL BUCKETS - PIPE, all sizes

PUMPS of all description - ELECTRIC MOTORS

GAS AND STEAM HOISTS - BOILERS • TANKS

SHEET PILING
We will be glad to have our represeittative call on you

PHONE DAVENPORT 2355



B. A. Stephenson



O. L. Stephenson, Jr.



Stephenson Construction
Company

General Contractors

For Repairs to Foundations

Palace of
FINE ARTS

1909 Hobart Bldg. Phone Kearny 273 1



HARRY H. HILP J. FRANK BARRETT


Compliments


BARRETT & HILP


Building Construction


^C


Telephone DOuglas 0700


918 Harrison Street San Francisco



Pacific Tank & Pipe Co.
National Mill & Lumber Go.

Mtnufaclurers
WOOD TANKS, WOOD PIPE, MILL WORK, CROSS
ARMS, PARK BENCHES, FACTORY CUT HOUSES



Telephone Kearny 3620
320 MARKET STREET SAN FRANCISCO



Buy from firms that advertise vfith us



January



THE MUNICIPAL EM P LOYEE



r



EDITORIAL PAGE




^1



STANDING at the threshold of the new
year San Francisco faces a twelvemonth
filled with projects designed to carry this won-
derful city far along the road of its good fortune.
That San Francisco has just completed one
of the most successful and greatest years in a
program of civic improvement is indicated by
the annual reviews of the Board of Public
Works, the office of City Engineer M. M.
O'Shaughnessy, the Board of Education the
Playgrounds and the Park Commissions and the
manv other departments that contribute their
share in the progress of this rapidly growing
metropolis.

On February 1 the municipal government
Avill take over 60,000 acres of Spring Valley
properties, bought at a cost of $41,000,000, so
that the Hetch Hetchy piping system will carry
water through San Francisco's own land to the
Spring Valley lakes. In acquiring the Spring
Valley properties the company's 600 employees
automatically will be welcomed as members of
the city's official family.

One of the outstanding undertakings this year
will be development of the city's boulevard
system, including extension of Van Ness Avenue
through to Howard Street, work on the latter
having been scheduled to begin immediately
Completion of the Bay Shore Boulevard and
the Great Highway are two of the major
projects in view.

Construction of additional hospital facilities,
with enlargement of Central Emergency Hos-
pital to include a Health Center, and construc-
tion of new sewer systems are only a few of the
year's contemplated achievements.
i i -f

THE matter of a training ship, such as those
in the seaports of the Atlantic Coast, fre-
quently has been proposed for the Pacific Coast,
to be 'located in San Francisco harbor, says a
contributor to the MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEE.

With the impending scrapping and sale of the
historic cutter Bear of Arctic Ocean fame, an
appeal has been made to the Government to
set aside the vessel, now tied up in the Oakland
harbor. ,

It is argued that the Bear would be adaptable
as a school ship. It is a staunch vessel, having



been built to withstand the ice floes and buffet-
ing of the Arctic Sea and it is equipped for navi-
gation under sail or steam.

The sentimental interest attached to this fine
old ship of mercy in having served many years
in salvaging vessels and cargoes, in hfe-saving
and in giving aid in emergencies arising in the
uncharted and troubled waters of the far North,
would seem to entitle the Bear being preserved
for another benevolent purpose— the peaceful
pursuit of training our future seamen of the
Pacific.

i i i

DON'T kick. If somebody is prospering or
getting along a little better than you are,
let him prosper. Don't grunt and grumble;
don't kick. Say a word for him. Look pleased
and let it go at that. If you see your city is getting
along nicely feel good about it; help things
along. Shove a little and try to get some of the
benefits yourself. Don't stand around like a
bump on a log and waste your time feeling sore
because someone had the "sand" to forge ahead.
Do a little hustling yourself. No one ever gave
himself a permanent raise by kicking someone
else down. We are helped when we help our
brothers. Be ready to give a kind word ; give it
liberally; it won't cost you a cent and you may
want one yourself some day. But, don t kick.

i i i

ITN the opinion of Dr. Uel W. Lamkin, pres-
1 ident of the National Education Association,
school teachers need no defense, be they ''flap-
pers" or not. "I plead for humanness of the
School teacher," said Dr. Lamkin. "If some of
them wanted to wear short skirts, use cosmetics,
or do any other perfectly human, or^ at least
feminine thing, it is their own business.
i i i
Nineteen Twenty-Nine



THIS newest step in Time's ascending stair,
may it uplift us into clearer air; give us a
broader vision and renew our faith in all things
good and all things true.

-f -f â– (
It is impossible to overdraw on the Bank of
Hope.



THE MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEE



January




■ — Photo by Boye



CITY PURCHASER OF SUPPLIES LEONARD S. LEAVl

Colonel in charge of Municipal Division, 1929 Community Chest Drive. (See story on Page 29)



Jan nary



THE MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEE



Captain Quim PFins Promotion



THREE Chiefs of Police within two weeks was
San Francisco's novel experience with the close
of 1928.
Chief of Police Daniel J. O'Brien, because of con-
tinued illness and on the advice of his physicians, has
been retired on half pay by the Police Commission
sitting as the Pension and Retiring Board. Chiet
O'Brien has been in office eight years and was con-
sidered one of the most efficient chiefs of police in the
United States.

Temporarily succeeding Chief O'Brien for the
remainder of ihe vear was Detective Sergeant Thomas
P Wahh warm personal friend of Mayor Rolph and
since 1*312 assigned to duty in the Mayor's office.

At the time of accepting Chief O'Brien's retirement
from the Police Department and naming Detective
Sergeant Walsh as chief, the Police Commission an-
nomiced the selection of Captain William J- Qumn,
former chief clerk to Chief O'Brien, as the latter s
successor.

Chief O'Brien was born in San Francisco August h,
1875. and was appointed to the Police Department
December 31. 1908. He was promoted to corporal
Tune 1. 1911. and made a sergeant August 24, 1914.
On October 2 1916, he was promoted to heutenant,
and on the same date was made chief clei-k m the
office of Chief of Police. On December 1. 1920, he was
appointed Chief of Police, having suc-
ceeded David A. White. He was made
a captain February 8, 1924. Chief O'Brien
had slightly more than three years yet to
serve under his last appointment on
February 6. 1928, for a four-year term.

The new Chief, Captain Quinn, was
born in San Francisco April 22>, 1883, and



was appointed to the Police Department November 20,
1906. He was promoted to corporal August 1, 1923,
the rank he still holds under Civil Service. He was
appointed a detective sergeant August 23, 1917, and
on December 2, 1920, was made chief clerk under
Chief O'Brien. On the same date he was made a
brevet captain of police, with the pay of captain.

Sergeant Walsh, who is one of the best known and
most popular policemen in San Francisco, is 67 years
old. He is one of the "old guard" and ranks ninth in
point of service.

The retired Chief, O'Brien, had been ill for two
years. A year ago he apparently had recovered his
health and was reappointed for another four-year term.
Several months ago he suffered another breakdown,
aggravated by a fall, and recently was granted an
indefinite leave of absence.

A.S the new year was rung in, the city's new Chief
of Police, William J. Quinn, received his badge ot
office— a gold star— from Mayor Rolph and Commis-
sioner Andrew F. Mahoney of the Police Commis-
sion. Captain Michael Riordan is the newly appointed
chief clerk to Chief Quinn.

Captain Reardon joined the Police Department on
March 31, 1913, having stood fifth on a civil service
examination list. His advance has been one of the
most remarkable in the Department. Captain Reardon
â–  is a member of the San Francisco Bar.
San Francisco's Police Department
is recognized as one of the most ef-
ficiently managed in the United States.
The Municipal Employee congratu-
lates the members of the Police Com-
mission in promoting those splendid
officers who, through years of note-
worthy service, merited promotion.






EX-CHIEF DANIEL J. O'BRIEN



— Photos by Courtesy The Chronicie

upper— Police Chief William J. Quinn
Loii-er— Police Chief Thomas P. Walsh



— Police Dept. Photo
CAPTAIN MICHAEL REARDON



THE MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEE



January



Two Faithful Public Servants




WILLIAM SPROULE



INTENSELY interesting to San Francisco's big
official family came the news that, at the close of
the year, two of its most faithful, outstanding
members were making history in railroad circles ; the
one, William Sproule, having completed the final
chapter in the book of his business life; the other,
Paul Shoup, having opened the most momentous
chapter of his life. With arrival of the new year,
Mr. Sproule
resigned as
president of the
Southern Pa-
cific Company,
and was suc-
ceeded by Mr
Shoup, who had
been the com-
pany's execu-
tive vice-presi-
dent.

Mr. Sproule
is a member of
the San Fran-
cisco Park
C o m m ission.
one of the trus-
tees of the M.H.
de Young Me-
morial Museum
and the Califor-
nia Palace of
the Legion of
Honor. He was
appointed to the Park Commission in 1921 and to the
Memorial Museum and Palace of the Legion of
Honor trusteeship in 1925. Mr. Shoup was appointed
a trustee of the California Palace of the Legion of
Honor in 1925.

Mr. Sproule entered service of the Southern Pacific
Company as a freight clerk in 1882. Within five years
he was appointed assistant general freight agent at
San Francisco, and then was known as the youngest
official in the service. In 1897 he was made general
freight agent, and a year later was promoted to gen-
eral traffic manager. In that capacity he served until
1906, when he became associated with the American
Smelting and Refining Company and its affiliated
interests as traffic manager, director and member of
the company's executive committee in New York.

In 1910 Mr. Sproule was called to the presidency
of Wells Fargo & Company, but resigned the follow-
ing year to become a director and president of the
Southern Pacific Company, having held that office
without interruption, except for a year and a half,
when he acted as District Director in the war period.

During the early days of the war he was chairman
of the Western Department of the Railroad War
Board. From July 1, 1918, to January 1, 1920, he was
District Director for the central western region of the
United States Railroad Administration.

Mr. Sproule has played at golf, but he prefers the
stimulant of walking as the exercise that has kept him,
with slight exception, in excellent physical trim. He
has served in numerous public capacities, is now a



PAUL SHOUP



Class "C" director of the Federal Reserve Bank of the
Twelfth Federal Reserve District, and is a supporter
of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. He has
served as president of the Bohemian Club and later as
president of the Pacific Union Club, both leading
organizations in the male life of San Francisco.

Among the men who have made ways to command-
ing positions in the realms of business and transporta-
tion, none is
more outstand-
ing than Mr.
Shoup.

Born in 1874
at San Bernar-
dino, Mr. Shoup
received his
education in
the public
schools and the
university of
experience.
From the start
of his business
career he has
been associated
with railroads,
having joined
the mechanical
forces of the
Santa Fe in his
seventeenth
year, after a
short but suc-
cessful experience as a newspaper reporter.

AT 18, Mr. Shoup entered the employ of the Southern
^ Pacific Company, manifesting such a capacity for
railroad work that, within nine years, he climbed by
successive stages from ticket clerk to district freight
and passenger agent at San Jose. Popular, because of
approachability and friendliness, and valued for his
mastery of men and conditions, Mr. Shoup's steady
advance continued.

In 1905 Mr. Shoup, then thirty-one years of age,
was appointed assistant general freight agent at Port-
land, and it was then that he undoubtedly gained a
large part of his foundational knowledge of conditions
in Oregon and the Northwest. However, he was
recalled to San Francisco in April, 1906, when the dis-
aster here necessitated rearrangement of railroad offi-
cials to meet reconstruction problems.

In 1910, Mr. Shoup was appointed assistant general
manager of the Southern Pacific Company. Two years
later he became president of the Pacific Electric Com-
pany, at the same time retaining charge of the South-
ern Pacific's electric lines in Fresno, Stockton, San
Jose and Oakland.

Mr. Shoup wields an able pen, so able, in fact, that
the only temptation to depart from his chosen career
came when there opened to him the prospect of a bril-
liant future as journalist and short story writer. In his
early work for the Southern Pacific in San Francisco,
Mr. Shoup found scope for this talent. He helped
create ''Sunset Magazine," a railroad house organ so

(Turn to Page 27)



January



THE MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEE




San Francisco's fVings are Growing



Illustrated by Thomas G. Jacques



REFLECTING the unprecedented progress of
commercial aviation during 1928 the annual
business report of San Francisco's municipal airport
at Mills Field, covering the last twelve months, shows
19,457 flights, with 33,545 passengers in aircraft of all
types, traveling to and from all parts of the United
States.

In the eight previous months since the airport
opened in May, 1927, there were 2895 flights and 4560
passengers, making a total of 22,352 flights and 38,105
passengers. For the same months in 1928 there was
a business increase of approximately 600 per cent.

The airport's annual business report was filed at
the end of the year with the Board of Supervisors by
Supervisor Milo F. Kent, chairman of the city's air-
port committee, and was compiled by Superintendent
Frank A. Flynn of Mills Field.

The monthly tabulation follows :

Flights

January 918

February 1,156

March 1,168

April 1,940

May 1,271

June 1,298



July 1,906

August 1,931

September 2,006

October 2,189

November 1,923

December 1,751



Flights Passengers



3,709
3.763
3.941
4.023
3.112
2,890



Passengers
1.162
1.704
1,652
3,272
2.114
2,203



Total 19,457 33,545

THE report shows that during 1928 four major air
transport lines, operating daily schedules along
the Pacific Coast, with connections for Eastern points,
leased terminal space at Mills Field, as did six flying
schools, four airplane agencies and five oil companies.

The 1928 important Mills Field happenings listed
included several visits by Colonel Charles Lindbergh,
who uses the airport as his Western headquarters ; the
Western Aircraft Show, arrival of the Ford reliability
tour, San Francisco-Los Angeles air race, a celebra-
tion that honored the Wright Brothers on the twenty-
fifth anniversary of their first successful flight, and
completion of two new hangars and a drainage system.

It was estimated that approximately 750,000 persons
visited "America's Greatest Airport" during the year
just closed.



10



THE MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEE



January






KATE O'CONNOR



KATHERYENE EISENHART

— Photo by Bushnell



KATHLYN SULLIVAN



Guardians of a City's Morals



MORE than fifteen years ago, as an experiment
three women were enrolled as members of the
San Francisco Police Department. They were
assigned to the Detective Bureau.

Ofificially they were designated as Women Protec-
tive Officers. Since then they have come to be known,
politely, as "policewomen."

The appointments were made during the early years
of the feminist movement when women, save those
of the lurid night life, seldom came in contact with the
criminal law machinery — before women voted and sat
on juries.

From the start the Women Protective Officers
proved a success. They now occupy offices on the
fourth floor of the Hall of Justice.

The volume of work they do and the kind may be
judged by the throngs of men, women and children
who daily come and go from their offices.

Two of those women — Mrs. Kate O'Connor and
Mrs. Katheryene Eisenhart — have held their positions
since the bureau was established. The third, Mrs.
Kathlyn Sullivan, has been there nearly as long. She
was appointed to succeed the late Miss Margaret
Higgins.

The work of a policewoman is tedious, exacting and,
at times, extremely dangerous. It requires more
courage and physical endurance than often is pos-
sessed by women.

A policewoman must be prepared to go any place
her services may be required. It is not unusual for
her to be called upon to pay a visit to a disreputable
place — a low-down dive — long past midnight, perhaps,
to rescue an unfortunate girl lured from home by a
young ruffian.

Policewomen, of course, are afforded the protection
of uniformed policemen, especially when trouble is
anticipated.

Trouble comes unexpectedly in the life of a police-
woman. The three women protective officers fre-
quently have been seriously injured in physical en-
counters.

There is plenty of excitement in a policewoman's
life!

Mrs. O'Connor was detailed many nights to sit for
hours in a darkened automobile parked on a lonely
road, where "petting party" bandits were making
invasions. She was protected by two policemen ; one
in the front seat in plain clothes, the other in uniform
in the rear seat, each with a revolver ready for use.



The officers caught their man after an exciting ex-
perience.

ONE of the interesting trials of the policewomen
was the case of the Countess. An actual Count-
ess, mind you. She disappeared from the South Sea
Islands, while on the way to her home in Holland.
She debarked from a boat in San Francisco and
dropped from sight. An entire foreign consular ser-
vice was frantic in its search for the visitor.

Mrs. Eisenhart discovered and restored the Countess
to her friends.

Can you imagine where Mrs. Eisenhart discovered
the Countess? Working as a domestic in the home
of one of San Francisco's well-to-do families. The
Countess was on her knees scrubbing a floor when
Mrs. Eisenhart obtained from her an admission as to
her identity. And that, in the presence of the aston-
ished mistress of the home.

It remained for Mrs. Sullivan to hear a sixteen-
year-old girl pour out the revolting story of how the
girl shot to death her mother after the mother forbade
her to go to a dance. That was the tragic story of
Dorothy Ellingson, now a convict in San Quentin
prison. No one heard that story until Mrs. Sullivan
broke through, finally, the details of the jazz-crazed
girl.

It is a jolly life, that of being a policewoman, if
your heart isn't inclined to beat too fast.

The important part of a policewoman's work is
humdrum, more or less. Her duties are occupied in
finding missing and delinquent girls, to restore them