Two years before, a bill had been lobbied through the Legislature providing for what became famous later on as the “Second Street Cut.” It was a rascally project, a sordid bit of real estate roguery, carried through without a moment’s thought of other people’s rights. But it was an accomplished feat, and one of the results was to ruin the finest haunt of good breeding San Francisco ever had. Families were scattering from Rincon Hill to various sections of the city. The old high-priced residence property was going for a song. As the “Hill” had ceased to be either beautiful or useful, Ralston and I calmly proposed to cut it down. We planned to have the city buy the property, which could be purchased for $5,000,000 according to arrangement with the owners, and grade it to the Market-street level. Many million cubic yards of excavated material were used to fill in a 150-acre tract of tide land, offered to the city by the State at a nominal price, lying between the Pacific Mail docks and Islais Creek; also to reclaim China Basin, at least in part. The cost of grading and reclamation work was estimated at $7,000,000; in fact, contractors were willing to undertake it at that price. In other words, the city was asked to issue its bonds for $12,000,000 and receive in payment over 200 blocks of choice property, to say nothing of great advantage to the appearance of the town and the facilities for doing business. Two separate bills were introduced in the Legislature. One provided for the opening of New Montgomery street to the bay, and created a commission to carry out its purpose as above defined. This would probably have slipped through without any serious opposition; but coupled with it, in a way, was the great constructive bill for acquiring Rincon Hill, for filling the tideland acreage and China Basin and running all the streets from First to Third, including an extension of Sansome street, on a nearly level grade, southward to the waterfront. For the extension of Sansome street Michael Reese, Lloyd Tevis and myself had bought a solid block from Market to Folsom street. [Illustration: THE AUTHOR Taken during his active career in San Francisco] I was very much a novice in politics, but Mr. Ralston insisted that I should have full charge of the program and take up my residence in Sacramento pending the session of the Legislature. So among other things I gathered quite an exact idea of how wires used to be manipulated underground.