SOCIETY. 67 



tral Pacific Railroad Company in making it a center for their 

 lines, and building most of their workshops there, has main- 

 tained its prosperity. 



Its population in 1870, according to the Federal Census, was 

 16,283, but 20,000 is the figure generally accepted for the 

 present time. The number of votes cast at the presidential 

 election in 1872, was 3,509. 



45. Oakland. Oakland is the prettiest town in Califor- 

 nia, and (so far as my observation goes) in the United States, 

 and owes its superiority mainly to the luxuriance, variety, 

 and beauty of its vegetation, and the elegance of its 

 dwellings. It is a suburb of San Francisco, and the residence 

 of many wealthy men doing business in the city. Having 

 very little trade, its houses are nearly all dwellings, and land 

 is cheap as compared with the metropolis. Many of the 

 homes are surrounded by fine gardens ; and enough of the 

 indigenous evergreen oaks have been left to almost hide the 

 houses in some parts of the town, and to make the name 

 strikingly appropriate. The site is level ; the streets are well 

 macadamized ; and three horse, and two steam railroads fur- 

 nish convenient and cheap means of access to the neighboring 

 country. The State University, and the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind 

 Asylum, are beautifully situated at the base of the mountains. 

 The population, in 1870, was 10,500, and in 1872, the number 

 of voters was 1,877. 



At Oakland, the track of the Central Pacific Railroad ends; 

 but on account of the lack of harbor facilities, it is not the 

 terminus. The business is done in San Francisco, which is 

 reached by a wharf extending a mile and a half across the 

 mud flat out to deep water, and a ferry boat running two 

 miles and a half. This wharf was built at an expense of more 

 than a million dollars, but is not considered a permanent 

 structure, as the teredo, or shipworm, has commenced to eat 

 the piles. A plan has been proposed for the construction of 

 an artificial harbor in San Antonio Creek, which is the south- 



