Early Water Supply.

My mind drifts back to the days when our water system was dependent in part upon a well near the corner of Market and First streets.  This was in 1855 when the population of San Francisco was between 40,000 and 50,000.  I was then living on Third street near Mission and got my supply of water from a man named Somers who conveyed water about the city to his various customers in a cart.  I took water from him for about three years at the rate of $1.50 per week.

Many’s the time I have gone out to the Mission hunting rabbits.  All that part of the city was as wild as it ever was, sand dunes and low grounds.  About three years later a company built a plank toll road on Mission street from some point near the water front to the Mission, a distance of about three miles.  This made an opening through the sand dunes and that section filled up rapidly.

Postoffice.

The postoffice was situated on the lot at the northwest corner of Washington and Battery streets.  It was built in 1855.  Previous to the erection of this building the pioneers obtained their mail from the postoffice on Clay street and Waverly Place, and on Clay street near Kearny opposite the Plaza (Portsmouth Square), and afterwards on Clay and Kearny streets.  The great fire of 1852 destroyed these places.  To avoid confusion and facilitate the delivery of the mail on the day the steamer arrived, long lines were formed of people who expected letters from home.

It was a frequent occurrence to see the same people standing in place all day waiting their turn, the delivery windows being arranged alphabetically.  Oft-times persons would sell their places for as much as ten and even twenty dollars.

John Parrott.

John Parrott, the banker, was a good natured man and could take a joke with much grace.  Here is one:  “A broker came to him one day and said:  ’Mr. Parrott, I want to borrow one thousand dollars on a lot of hams in the warehouse.’  ‘All right,’ said Mr. Parrott.  It went on for some time and Mr. Parrott looked around for his ham man, but could not find him, but he found the hams and the greater part of the weight of them was maggots.  Mr. Parrot was very much disgusted.  Time went on for a number of years and another man came to him to borrow money on hams in the warehouse.  Mr. Parrott said to him, shaking his finger before the man’s face, ‘No more hams, no more hams,’ and walked off.”  It was a standing joke on the street for a long time.  This was late in the ’50’s.

In 1858-59 I built two very good houses on the south side of Howard street near Fourth.  I lived in one of them about two years and then bought on the north side of Taylor street between Clay and Washington streets and resided there 17 years.

Pony Express.