Golden Gate (1954)

the fog here has a beauty all its own as it drifts and Billows in from the sea thick and Silent here the fog is seldom Sinister or depressing as you may know it elsewhere here the natives boast they have a special kind of fog that befits a special kind of city a city with a fabled landmark that is known the world over the Golden Gate the Golden Gate of San Francisco just a little more than a century ago this Metropolis on the Pacific Ocean was a little Spanish village called yba bua before it was renamed by The Americans today this city is often called the capital of the West the city that was dug from the rugged Hills above the [Music] bay there weren't too many people to help dig it back in 1847 the covered wagons came only in a trickle across the Prairies but a year later San Francisco began to fill out after a Workman at Sutter's Mill stooped down to pick up a dull yellow nugget the wagons came in a rush then as The Lure of gold drew them with promise of great and sudden wealth [Music] the Mission Delores built in 1776 by Spanish missionaries was there to welcome those who came for gold some of whom weren't too careful how they got it and got tripped up by the Vigilante committee's neckti party here too came bizarre men like the self-styled Emperor Norton humored by all as quite a gag for his [Music] day Brett Hart came to Chronicle these early events along with Robert Louis Stevenson those who once waited high at top Telegraph Hill for the first sight of a Clipper completing its Trip Around the Horn never dreamed their City would one day Embrace a truly Cosmopolitan culture San Francisco's Chinatown is the largest Chinese settlement outside of Asia it's a strangely self-sufficient Community with many of its own economic and social services Chinatown has its own theaters it has its own bank and one of the most unique things of all it has its own telephone exchange where subscribers ask for their party by name and want no part of numbers or a dial system many Russians also came here Midway in the 19th century and Italians too it was the latter who were greatly responsible for starting a local fishing industry which brings in a yearly catch worth more than $5 million Fisherman's warp is the center of this activity and you can go down there for Delicacies brought in that very day San franciscans blessed with a yearr round mild climate do a lot of outdoor living Golden Gate Park built from a Wilderness of sand dunes is the largest fully developed Park in the nation the oriental Gardens one small segment of this gigantic Salvage job is a living Monument to Beauty if you prefer the beach the Pacific Ocean provides you with a playground which stretches its invitation for miles one of the most intriguing sites around San Francisco is Seal Rock just a few hundred yards offshore which is the stage for a strange phenomenon of nature like the swallows of capist Rono much further south the seals return to Seal Rock on the same day each year and Delight tourists with their [Music] Antics but of all the things which spell out San Francisco none is more symbolic than the storyed cable cars which clanged into town in 1873 to help solve the Alpine trans Transportation problem over the city's Hills strong steel hooks which grapple the swiftly moving underground cables turn these little cars into mechanical mountain goats at the end of the line an ancient turntable swings the car around for the return run underneath Union Square is a progressive note typical of this vibrant City the world's most modern garage four stories deep but San Francisco has more than just Beauty and charm It rests solidly upon a firm Financial Foundation a famed Stage Coach line was Forerunner of one of its current banking leaders much of the city's commercial success is due to the Port of San Francisco one of the world's busiest and the Western hemisphere's main funnel to the Pacific during the war more military cargo was handled here than in any other port in the world the hunter point navyy yard is an important adrias 2 ocean Navy and features among other things the world's largest overhead crane almost as much Marine refitting goes on at the busy commercial shipping yards which abound in the Bay Area and the always thrilling sight of a new vessel being launched is a familiar one to San franciscans almost 200 steamship lines call at this port today there are new concepts of the ratio between time and distance and it is a tremendous factor in the vast world of the Pacific Ocean now there are skylines to places which only a decade ago were obscure locations on a map San Francisco is the world's busiest springboard for these Pacific regions and the labels and addresses on outward-bound Commerce assume a flavor in keeping with the times in a day or two these will be delivered half a world away truly a dynamic city this Metropolis on the sea few others have come as far in as short a time if any city was ever a product of Destiny this one deserves that distinction San Francisco Golden Gate to the Pacific