Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • Page 3

SUNDAY MORNING erfbuttr SEPTEMBER 21, 1919. TT TT) I i lyDj I r- ft. .1 1 11 r7 overjijiy years ago at the present site of Mosswood I'ark. At the le the Moss residence, with MR.and MRS. MOSS in the quaint dress of the times, and the little trees set out by Moss, which now make the sylvan shade i r7 ueure wetf wne ana more iurs.

moss tree pets in pots. These potted plants are now large palms in Mosswood. At right is another, view of the residence shortly after completion, ,6 oih w6 ikuw. uvurw, a typical scene at modern Mosswood, where hundreds or cnuaren romped on Admission 1 II I II i Art's '-ki-ne- i A a Building of Home Half Centurv As Unlike Speed Of Today k. I sdl a i IK 'ft WW iw w-jk," v' Urn 'Jf mn.o, a X7 HUbtv -1; fc pr kinds to be of the very best quality v-' in the market.

The rough framing lumber to be ef Puget Sound fir, sleepers and ground sills of redwood. All the inside trimming 'lumber for the principal story not. otherwise 4 specified to be of clear, thoroughly seasoned Port Oxford cedar, the bal- ance of clear" redwood, steps of private stairs of hard pine. The frame to be raised within one month' after end all-, the planed lumber of every description that can-not be had at that time thoroughly seasoned to be brought upon t.he premises and pole racked, and the whole, together with the frame, to be left exposed and to be sea- i soned at least two months; no unsea- aoned lumber to be used for any por- tlon of the planed work." i V- So on February 23, 1884, was the contract sealed." The structure was to be completed before October 20 of the same year. But I.

F. Heston did not complete the house by that date. On December 8 Moss served notice upon him tbat S. H. Williams, his -architect, would superintend the last of the work and that costs for the same would be from the aK How ParK Grew Out Of Woman' Love for 1 1 -V 11M5-Hfc fey Edna B.

Kinard Joseph Mora Moss and his wife Julia are remembered by the things yiey have done. Mosswood with Its brilliant flower beds snuggling under tall trees, its sweep of lawns and rocky creek beds, its rare old shrubs and and growing things brought from the ends of the earth, was once' a great meadow of wild flowers, an orchard, a. far-away piece ofujand going to waste. V. man and a woman with faith in their love, made for themselves a home, wrenched from the wilderness their igarden and builded themselves a mansion, set In the midst of a broad w'ountryside where solitude reigned.

OAKLAND'S II KIUTA K. Long years ago it was that. Joseph (Mora Moss and his wife, Juliarcatne Ito Oakland to live. Vision gave them (many things, but vision never showed tthem the thousands of little children each year would romp and play and grow rosy under. fthey planted with such tender care by their owri hands, nor the hundreds who would gather in the old mansion from the little homes to take cora-iort In the broad sunlit Verandas, and the spacious rooms turned into, club iuarters and shower baths.

The man and hia wife who were pioneers died. Oakland has the fruit of 4Jier lives, the little 'haven of green of which tlioy were the creators and guardians. Near the. "city of Oak land he nthl rnttasre w.as built. The Civil War was still raging.

Even- In the far west he' emphasis had swung from battlefields to home. So Joseph Moss and" his Wife, Julia, In 1864, built the house where the end of their, days were to. be spenv HAD THIRTY' ACKKS. Full thirty acres of land, they had, extending from what is how Tele- gfraph avenue to a line parallel with roadway and about 250 feet west, i 1 'If P-W 7 two coats of- oil color and one flat finishing coat, tinted such color as the owner may direct; all the. doors Of the principal story of the main building to be grained In imitation of black walnut.

Butler's pantry and closets, as also tho woodwork of basement chamber, to be grained as above; the steps and to be grained up to the carpet lines; the veranda floors and roof both sides, as also the outside stes and risens, to tjo painted three coats; all the outside work except the floors and roof to have two good coats of clean wtjite work to be wll sand papered, previous to receiving the last coat; all the cedar and oak work to have good coats of boiled linseed oil. All the fcrrained work to have two gwoa coats-ef Or-pa! varnicli: imperfect parts and nail holes' to be smoothly puttied all to be doit with the very best stock, and at proper times; the glass to be well cleaned from all Bpattering or daubing with paint or varnish; the depth of time or color to be approved by' the own'ef1n all cases; the tin roof o-f the deck and inside "of gutters and metal leaders to be painted same as main house and' the metal work under verandah floors painted also; the whole work warranted against blistering." Lest the kind of material be not definitely it is sot. forth explicitly, tn-witr 'All the matarisJii ofstHIr several contract price of $14,500. Such things as, fixtures, grates and, trimmings were iniportedfrom Eng- land. Mosswood today is one of thg city's richest heritages.

Children play by -the hundreds In the shade ot the friendly trees that Mrs. Moss planted when they were shrubs. On Admls-. sion Day there were thousands gath- ered at tRe bark for picnics. And hundreds of thousands will," spend gladsome 'days In Mosswood in the future years.

in honor of her husband, and "Wood" in memory of her father, a gallant officer Sn the Mexican "War, whom the state of rnnsylvania had presented with a sword of honor in recognition of hia services. It was looked upon as their country estate. The Moss family were living in San Francisco. Oakland was in those early days a little settlement nestled between. Seventh street and.

the estuary. It is so that in the elder days to builders wrought with greatest care and even so the specifications were nuid.f which Jo.soHi Mom Mo: a' en- "red into witn i. t. weston, con- Accordins.to -the Qt Si It. Williams, arch4tfS, for 1 the building of his Gothic Cottage, at Mosswood in the year 1864.

It is this building which still stands, a commodious club house for 'the citizens of Oatcktnd. A CREKK.OV TRACT. The estate had its own water supply delivered Jrnm as the nineties the stream hich ran back of the present Claremont Coun- try Club. made the creek which passed through the grpupds a raging torrent. A gas plant was Installed on the place.

With the exception of the oaks and the laurels, along the ravine, every tree on the place was planted by Mrs. Moss. Many of them, now considered common in California, were in the middle sixties very rare. Some were the first specimens of their kind ever brought to the coast. A fernery adjoining the parlor to the north was the pride of Its owner's heart.

If was torn down some years ago. WAS I.FI'T A FORTUNE. ipjSPPh.JIJLora.Moss came. to. California in 1S54 a ft-c-r" financial ups and- downs.

His father, Who was English, had left hlm'a con siderable fortune which was "wiped" but irt the panic of 1837. His mother was a member of an oTd Colonial family. Moss was born in I'hila-dephlia in 1809, His first position was as a clerk with the Bank of Pioche Bayerque and Company." He had a. genius for being president of any organization with which he was (Jhnnected and held the chief executive offices In the first gas company ih'San Francisco, Kings River Canal and Irrigation Company, Union Ice Company, the American-Russian Commercial Company and the Deaf, Dumb and Blind Institution, He" was a regent of the University of California. 'Moss was the first telegraph com pany In California, He died in 1880.

Mrs. Moss lived until 1904. It was after he, death that "Mosswood" came into the possession of the city and has become one of the famed playgrounds Rrtd recreation centers in Oakland. NO CAMOUFLAGE BUILDING. It is a long way from 1864 and -1 1919.

Other wars have ended andJ costs havegone skyrocketing. But the house at Mosswood was built for $14,500. No camouflage was there, no substitutes, Every, nail and bit of cement and silver-plated fixture must be the best. It Was so specified. Moreover when the building should "have been completed the contractor agreed-that Jthe premises shall be cleared' ofr all refuse and implements." So was the house builded: "The mortar for the foundations must Be composed of -lime and best Benicia cement, cask-for cask.

All the ceil-ings, sidewalls and parjltibns throughout the entire building must be finished with best three-coat work, laths set' full -inch apart) 1 i angles all wrought perfectly straight and even and all fiat surfaces fin ished' perfectly straight and even, the mortar to be made up at least two Weeks previous to beinjr used an the whole work to be.1 warranted against bliste or blemish of any The white coat must not be put on until the sashes are fitted in All exposed-faces of the foundation, area walls and piers must fce neatly postered with cement and 1 GOTHIC ARC Ml There are Gothic? arches minutely described In the original speculations, Italian marble demanded for the butler's pantry, and particulars as to the placing of the eight cast imn ventilators. The manner of the: principal and second story floors was in- effect hard wood. The. front doors were to he made folding 5x8xa inches with richly moulded panels and hardwood, re bated bntten In the center. All the inside doors of the principal story were to bo 3x8x14 inches thick.

Windows, wainscoating and stairs were weil looked out after. The pantries were Important They were specified thus: "The butler's pantry to be fitted up with Italian marble counter sunk and sink with' backs" with folding and beneath, two side closets to be built "with double sets of folding doors with wide shelves in the lower parts and narrow ones above each with plain cornices around the top, the kitghen closets enclosed with 14 -inch four paneled doors with four shelves each Inside; the linen closets in second-story passage to have four shelves each; the chamber closets each to.have ono shelf and one dozen brass laquered double-hooked clothes pins put-up oh neat-beaded Spanish cedar rails where directed; the closets In second story over kitchen trhave one row of sieves all around and one row pf double-hooked Iron pins; threo dozen- of this kind of pins put up on neat rails where directed; all the jdielyefi.to be of clear white fir lumlic-r planed smooth on all sides -and' front edges; 'the cleats af to of the same lumber; the kitchen closets fitted up as the owner may direct; the closfT doors in the butler's pantry all maMe to slide." I KIV PL A IT, l'M RIMft Italian martile and silver plate figure-in the Air the. door fixtures were -silver plate trlmftied except In the' cellar and kitchen. The rear hall door had a silver plate flush bolt and silver plated bars were, used throughout the house. The front onr had a bell with- a large silver platen pull.

The speaking tubes had silver plated inouthpieTBT 1'aintlng- was an art, Ko It" was directed: "All the woodwork inside and out side usually painted to ha-ve. three good, coats of pine, Atlantic white lead and linseed oiI.exeei)t the in- slde trimmings, which are to have (TATER BY M(41T. A furious.form.of water-hole is found In the deserts of western Aus- tralia, dryby day but yielding an i abundant supply of water by night. The flow of water Is preceded by weird hissing and sounds, of rushing air. On examining one it was found that the water supply occurred in.

a -long narrow trench, at the torn of which was thin plate of t- he" north, and south boundaries through the ravine drained a water-wer'e the same as at i'lcsi'iit. In aished "more than a mile back in the land boonv a portiun of ilia -niiginal hills, its source being-somewhere gneiss. separated by a cavity from the main rock mass beneath. Apparently the heat of the day causes this plate to expand in the form of a depres-sion, in which the water retreats. When It cools and contracts at night It forces first "alr and' theu water stata.was sold off.

Tho entire ropeUy cost J3000. The purchase vs was mi out or TDiids belonging to i Mrs. Moss. i new: places was called back Into the trench..