Rosborough, A. A. Moore, W. D. Foote, John Yule, F. L. Krause, John R. Glascock, R. L. McKee, Cary Howard, J. W. Ward, E. H. Stearns, J. H. Brewer, Welles Whitmore, R. E. Hewlett, P. F. Benson, J. C. Martin, G. E. De Golia, H. B. M. Miller, J. A. Johnson, L. S. Church, H, A. Melvin, F. J. Brearty, R. B. Tappan, W. F. Aram, E. O. Crosby, F. C. Clift, H. F. Crane, A. W. Bishop and C. J. H. Palmer.

In February, 1893, Governor Markham appointed Frank B. Ogden a judge of the superior court of Alameda county to preside over the new court created at this time. The county law library was closed to the public and to many of the lawyers who were taxed one dollar for each case filed by them. There were so many rules and regulations that the lawyers expostulated and declared that the library was of little or no use to them. It was managed by a board of trustees and was opened every week day from 9 o'clock to 5 o'clock.

Late in May, 1895, the four superior judges sitting in bank decided that the legislative authority of the city had the power to call an election for the purpose of submitting proposed charter amendments to the qualified voters. The new board of public works was thus sustained in its proceedings. This decision legalized the amendments to the city charter.

The banquet at the Athenian Club in November, 1905, given in honor of Judge T. W. Harris was attended by about forty members of the county bar, among whom were F. B. Ogden, James G. Quinn, J. E. McElroy, G. Nusbaumer, E. S. Page, G. W. Reed, E. C. Robinson, H. S. Robinson, C. E. Snook, J. W. Stetson, George Samuels, Mortimer Smith, E. E. Trefethen, W. H. Waste, L. S. Church, J. J. Allen, F. L. Button, E. J. Brown, Percy Black, J. J. Burke, T. D. Cornell, M. C. Chapman, Clarence Crowell, George E. De Golia, John De Lancey, R. M. Fitzgerald, J. R. Glascock, B. H. Griffins, S. P. Hall, W. H. L. Hynes, T. W. Harris, J. R. Jones, H. Johnson, G. C. Earl, E. M. Gibson, Benjamin Woolner, G. Russ Lukens, E. W. Eugs, Hermon Bell, R. C. Staats, P. M. Walsh, G. W. Langan, H. A. Melvin, D. F. McWade, Stanley Moore, P. J. Crosby, W. H. Donahue and E. G. Ryker. Speeches were made by Messrs. Chapman, Harris, Ogden, Melvin, Hall, Glascock, Fitzgerald, Moore, Lukens, Snook, Earl and Nusbaumer. George Reed, president of the county bar association, was chairman of this meeting.

The Alameda County Law Association gave a banquet on March 4, 1896, and covers were laid for forty persons. The banquet was sumptuous and the speeches short, witty, clever and apropos. Ben F. Woolner was toastmaster. There were present, J. J. Allen, C. E. Crowell, Frank B. Ogden, A. L. Frick, W. R. Davis and others. Several of the most prominent attorneys could not attend.

In January Judge Frick formed a partnership with ex-Judge Henry Goodcell formerly of San Bernardino county, under the firm name of Frick & Goodcell. The young men of the Alameda County Law Association held their first meeting under the new constitution on January 13, 1897. Much of the evening was spent in considering the life and works of Lord Erskine. The young lawyers' meetings were distinctly beneficial to the whole Alameda county bar. At their gatherings they discussed and analyzed many knotty and perplexing cases. Particularly did they discuss to what extent it was best to disregard legal precedent and adopt innovations in procedure that had stood like a wall for cen

turies. At one meeting they considered the subject of vested rights as in the celebrated Dartmouth College case.

Judge Hall in March, 1898, held that the proceedings which annexed Temescal, Golden Gate and portions of Piedmont to Oakland were valid. Thomas Cuff brought the suit and was represented by Fitzgerald & Abbott. The city was represented by W. A. Dow and S. W. Condon. In May the Oakland bar assembled and passed suitable resolutions over the death of J. C. Martin. Speeches were made describing his personal and professional characteristics and qualities. As a lawyer he was witty, keen and brilliant. He was employed by large corporations. He came to Alameda county in 1870 and always sustained a good reputation.

Early in March, 1899, the supreme court rendered the decision confirming the validity of the annexation proceedings. It was the case of Thomas Cuff vs. the City of Oakland. The annexation election of 1897 gave 1,909 for the measure and 667 against it. In May the supreme court affirmed the judgment and order of the superior court of this county in the case of Emilie G. Cohen and three others against the city of Alameda. It was a contest of the Cohen estate over the extension of Lincoln avenue. In 1899 Mrs. Jane J. Sather brought suit against William J. Dingee for $113,068, charging that he had withheld that sum while acting as manager of the estate. Her attorneys were J. A. Sanborn and A. A. Moore.

In 1900 the county board employed W. R. Davis as special counsel to assist in the cases against Henry P. Dalton. Early in 1901, a recommendation signed by about sixty members of the bar, asking that another superior court judge might be appointed for this county was forwarded to the Alameda county members of the Legislature. Judges Greene, Ogden, Hall and Ellsworth concurred in this recommendation.

In December Judge Ellsworth handed down a decision holding the Contra Costa Water Company responsible for the loss of property by the fire which destroyed the planing mill and furniture factory of Niehaus Brothers of West Berkeley in August, 1901, amounting to about $164,000. It was shown that although that company was paying for the use of seven special hydrants, the water pressure at the time of the fire was so light that the efforts of the fire department were futile. Early in 1902 an effort to revive the bar association was made. George E. De Golia and George W. Reed were the leaders in the movement. At a meeting early in February it was provided that all attorneys of good standing in the county could become members by signing the constitution, paying a fee of $2.50 and receiving a recommendation from the special bar committee. The meeting adjourned to convene at a subsequent date for fuller organization.

The first juvenile court bill was introduced into the Legislature in 1891, but failed to become a law. In February, 1903, another was presented and became a law. The superior judges and the women's clubs of this county had much to do with the success of the bill. Mrs. Anna M. Cushing was notably active in securing the passage of this measure with its accompanying probation regulations. The first judge to open and preside over this court was Frank B. Ogden. He was succeeded by Judges Ellsworth, Melvin, Harris, Brown and Wells. During the balance of 1903 fifteen children were presented for admin

ures.

istration by the court, twenty-five in 1904, twenty-three in 1905, and thirteen in 1906. The scope of the court was not broad enough whereupon in 1907 a probation officer working full time was put on with the result that ninety-four delinquents were taken care of in 1907 and 153 in 1908. The next year the county assumed the control of the court, employed more deputies, when the number of petitions for probation increased to 175 and the following year to 283. In 1910 was established also the Child's Welfare League which aimed at preventive measThe leaders in this organization were Miss Bessie J. Wood, Dr. Susan J. Fenton and Mrs. Eleanor Carlisle. The petitions for probation since 1910 have numbered annually about the last figures and the majority of cases do not appear in court at all-are settled in the probation office. Miss Anita Whitney was appointed the first probation officer and was assisted by Miss Helen Swett, Charles E. Merwin, Ezra Decoto and others. It was an experiment largely and nearly all the details of court procedure were required yet to be unfolded. Miss Whitney was secretary of the Associated Charities, well qualified for the duties, and was a niece of Stephen J. Field of the United States supreme court. The juvenile court law took effect April 27, 1903, and until the appointment of Judge Ellsworth, all the superior judges planned the initial steps. The fundamental principle upon which the court was based was reformation instead of punishment. In 1905 the first probation committee was appointed by all the superior judges in bank; they were Dr. Sarah I. Shuey, Mrs. Anna N. Chamberlain, J. B. Richardson, George C. Pardee, Mrs. Frances H. Gray, Mrs. Anna M. Cushing and R. H. E. Espey. To this committee was assigned the duty of making all nominations to the probation staff and detention home employes. Under this committee Mr. Decoto was appointed first probation officer and was paid with money raised by the Oakland Club. He was succeeded in 1907 by Christopher Ruess who continues to serve down to the present time. Dr. Sarah I. Shuey was instrumental in raising the money to pay expenses. In 1909 the county began. to pay the probation officer's salary and during that year a staff of five members. was appointed to assist him. No sooner were the benefits and wisdom of the measure assured than the workers widened its fields of operations. At once all cases possible went no further than the probation office. About two-thirds of all felony or penitentiary cases are referred to the probation office and about two-thirds of these are reported unfavorable and thus go no farther. Soon the probation office became departmental in its scope of operations. Miss Beatrice A. McCall, Miss Theresa W. Rich, Olie F. Snediger, Charles A. Wood, Robert Tyson and others were workers under the new delinquent system. Leonard D. Compton is at the head of the adult probation department. At first the detention home occupied a small room in the emergency hospital, but in 1909 moved into its present building. A large juvenile court building is one of the necessities of the near future.

Judge William E. Greene died early in August, 1905. He was born in Maine, graduated in 1863 from Bowdoin College and arrived in San Francisco on August 17th of that year. In the fall of 1864 he stumped San Joaquin county. for Abraham Lincoln and the following year was elected to the Legislature. In the meantime he had studied law and been admitted to the bar and in 1867 was elected county judge and thereafter until his death occupied the bench,

Vol. I-12

except for a short period in 1874-75. The courts of this county paid appropriate tribute to his memory.

In October, 1905, Governor Pardee appointed T. W. Harris judge of the Alameda county superior court to succeed Judge W. E. Greene, deceased. The judges of the superior court and many members of the bar joined in a petition recommending the appointment of Mr. Harris. He had lived and practiced many years in Pleasanton, but was then residing in Oakland.

In March, 1907, the bill providing for an extra judge-the sixth-for the Alameda county superior court passed the Assembly. Everett J. Brown became superior judge in September, 1908. Judge Henry A. Melvin, of the superior court, was a candidate for supreme judge in the fall of 1908. He was nominated at the republican state convention. In 1908, the two public courts of Oakland earned $70,000 at a total expense of $12,000. These courts were presided over by Judges Samuels and Smith. The principal items of revenue were the lottery cases. In all about nine thousand cases were tried.

In a condemnation suit over a tract of land at Twelfth and Fallon streets, in the fall of 1908, the owners were awarded $53,862; they had demanded $168,322. The Oakland Moot court consisted of two divisions in 1910: (1) The supreme governing body consisting of practicing attorneys and (2) a division including young men who were just commencing the practice of law and those who intended. to do so or were studying law. The membership was about one hundred and meetings were held Monday evenings. B. B. Jones was president in 1910.

In February, 1911, the Alameda Bar Association, in mass meeting assembled, protested against the bill before the Legislature providing for the recall of the judiciary. The resolutions were presented by Mr. Fitzgerald. In October, Governor Johnson spoke to a large audience at the Macdonough theatre on the initiative, referendum and recall, dwelling particularly on the latter. He favored the recall of the judiciary because "Judges are but men who are sometimes good and often quite bad."

In December, 1912, the Alameda County Bar Association, at the annual banquet, paid formal tribute to reting Superior Judge Ellsworth and Superior Judge-elect W .H. Donahue. After twenty-four years of faithful and creditable service Judge Ellsworth left the bench, to the great regret of the lawyers. Among the speakers were Henry A. Melvin, R. M. Fitzgerald, B. F. Woolner, Samuel P. Hall, W. H. L. Hynes, George S. De Golia and others. About seventy-five lawyers and judges were present.

On November 23, 1913, Rev. R. S. Eastman said, "The legal profession is a dignified profession and one that needs the best of men. It needs Christian men. I know of no profession wherein Christian men are more needed than in the legal. I rank it, in this regard, next to the ministry itself." Late in November, 1913, the county board appealed to the supreme court the judgment rendered against them in the superior court in favor of the Spring Valley Water Company for the refund of $89,000 paid in taxes on riparian assessments in Washington township for the year 1911-12. Similar taxes for 1912-13 were paid under protest.

CHAPTER XI

FARMING, FRUIT-GROWING, STOCK-RAISING, ETC.

Alameda county has passed through four stages of soil and animal production: (1) The cattle period ending about 1862; (2) the grain period extending to about 1882 and later; (3) the fruit period reaching up to the present; (4) the intensive or scientific period since about 1892. These periods, of course, are not exact, but overlap more or less during the whole period since the first settlement. At first the live stock of the old Spanish and Mexican residents, mostly cattle and horses, roamed at large over this part of the state and were gathered and divided at annual rodeos. The early American settlers, not believing that the soil generally was fit for the cultivation of field and garden products, imitated the live-stock practices of their predecessors, but at the same time sowed wheat, barley and oats and planted potatoes and onions. Enormous crops of potatoes were grown as early as 1851, and wheat and barley showed wonderful returns soon afterward. Generally speaking the farmers and fruit growers of the '50s were successful. About 1857 the orchards of Messrs. Rhoda, Hopkins, Webster and Schumaker of Brooklyn township were among the finest in the state. early as 1852 John M. Horner and E. L. Beard received about one hundred thousand dollars for their potato crop-raised on the old Alvarado Ranch. Colonel Vallejo's experience in raising potatoes in 1852 is narrated elsewhere in this volume. Others had similar successes and failures, all depending on the markets.

In 1854 there were 61,000 acres of land under cultivation in the county, to wit: Barley, 24,000; wheat, 20,000; oats, 6,000; potatoes, 5,000; nursery trees, 1,000; vegetables, 2,000; beans, 3,000. The yield of wheat per acre was 36 bushels. There were in the county 110,000 head of cattle; 60,000 horses; 20,000 sheep; 13,000 hogs; 350 goats.

On July 24, 1858, the Alameda County Agricultural Society was formed, the gentlemen signing the constitution being H. C. Smith, Dr. H. Gibbons, A. H. Myers, Harry Linden, W. W. Moore, J. M. Moore, R. Blacow, Alfred Lewelling, P. J. Campbell, Frank F. Fargo, H. Lewelling, G. W. Fountain, Mark T. Ashley, F. K. Shattuck, S. Shurtleff, Isaac B. Rumford, E. Wilson, Hiram Keeney, J. Blacow, W. H. Davis, John B. Ward, J. L. Wilson, D. E. Hough, E. S. Chipman, C. C. Breyfogle, J. A. Lent. It was decided to hold semi-annual fairs, one in the spring for the display of flowers, early grains and products of the horticulturist, and the other in the autumn for the exhibition of stock, general farming produce, late fruits, and vegetables, and such other articles as could be shown to greater advantage at this season of the year. The first officers were A. H. Myers, president; H. C. Smith, F. K. Shattuck, vice presidents; E. S. Chipman, secretary; Frank F. Fargo, treasurer.

On October 7, 1862, the Bay District Fair was commenced in Oakland, and was well attended, the exhibit of animals of all kinds, as well as of produce,