The fire department had been brought to a high state of perfection. The
shallow waters of the bay were being filled up by the rubbish from the
town and by the debris from the operations of the Steam Paddies. New
streets were formed on piles extended out into the bay. Houses were
erected, also on piles and on either side of these marine thoroughfares.
Gradually the rubbish filled the skeleton framework. Occasionally old
ships, caught by this seaward invasion, were built around, and so became
integral parts of the city itself.
The same insistent demand that led to increasing the speed of the
vessels, together with the fact that it cost any ship from one hundred
to two hundred dollars a day to lie at any of the wharves, developed an
extreme efficiency in loading and unloading cargoes. Hittell says that
probably in no port of the world could a ship be emptied as quickly as
at San Francisco. For the first and last time in the history of the
world the profession of stevedore became a distinguished one. In
addition to the overseas trade, there were now many ships, driven by
sail or steam, plying the local routes. Some of the river steamboats had
actually been brought around the Horn. Their free-board had been raised
by planking-in the lower deck, and thus these frail vessels had sailed
their long and stormy voyage--truly a notable feat.
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