19 



The effect of this event on shipiiint> activity can be judged from the fact that the port 

 tonnage dropped from 426, ()()() in 1.S67 to 176, ()()() in 1869. As a result, harbor develop- 

 ments were held u]), including construction ol the seawall. 



While the completion of the railroad seriously curtailed San Francisco port 

 activity, it created a stimulus to industry on the east side of the Bay, which formed 

 the actual or physical terminus of the road. This resulted in the construction of new 

 whar\es. In the years 1869 to 1871 the Oakland Pier terminal of the Central Pacific 

 Railroad, already referred to, was extended from a length of about 6,900 feet to o\'er 

 11,000 feet, and was thenceforth known as "Long Wharf." Some of the piles used were 

 treated with the Robbins process, and a large portion of the balance w-ere driven 

 with bark on. In 1870 wharves were built in the northern tributaries of the Bay, 

 especialh- in the Carquinez Strait, at Vallejo, Benicia and Port ("osta. During this 



Fig. 8. Shipping in .San Francisco Harlior about 187(1, showing early ferries. Note that the piers 

 in the distance make acute angles with those in the foreground. 



same year cast iron piles and metal sheathed timber piles were introduced in (Govern- 

 ment wharves; some of these having been maintained in service to the present time. 



In 1873 Chief Engineer S. S. Montague, of the Central Pacific Company, in 

 referring to Oakland Long Wharf, recorded the following: ". . . although it cannot be 

 regarded as permanent, its life will greatly exceed that of the San Francisco wharves, 

 where the ravages of the teredo have been so destructi\'e . . . 



"The immunity of the wharves on the eastern side of the Bay from the attacks 

 of the teredo is undoubtedly due to the fresh water from the Strait of Carcjuinez, 

 which at certain states of the tide, flows along the shore. 



"The experiment of using piles treated by the 'Robbins process,' as a preventative 



