April 14, 1906: "A Trip Down Market Street" Is Filmed -- Just In Time

April 14, 1906: A Trip Down Market Street is filmed in downtown San Francisco. It was just in time.

The film was produced by the Miles Brothers -- Harry, Herbert, Joseph and Earl -- who had become known as early producers of boxing films. Harry had mounted a film camera in front of one of San Francisco's already-famous cable cars, which had been running since 1873.

The film shows details of daily life in a major early 20th Century American city, including the transportation, fashions and architecture of the era. The film begins at 8th Street and continues eastward to the cable car turntable, at the Embarcadero, in front of the Ferry Building, built in 1898.

The Ferry Building, with the Bay Bridge in the background

The film records a total of 30 cable cars, 4 horsecars, and 4 streetcars. At first, there also appear to be many automobiles. But a careful tracking shows that almost all of the autos circle the camera many times; one of them does so 10 times. This traffic was apparently staged by the producer to give Market Street the appearance of a prosperous modern boulevard, with many automobiles.

The film was originally thought to have been made in September or October 1905, based on the angles of shadows showing the Sun's position. Film historian David Kiehn noticed that there were puddles of water seen in the street, and after he examined contemporary newspapers and weather reports, he realized that the early estimates were wrong: No rain had fallen in those months.

Kiehn located the February 1906 registration record for a car license plate recorded in the film, and he found that the Sun's angle would be the same in March as it had been in September. In 2009, he suggested that it was filmed in late March or early April 1906, a period with many rainy days reported. He also found a San Francisco newspaper article published on March 29, 1906, describing the Miles Brothers' intent to film aboard a cable car. Other details narrowed down a date: April 14, 1906.

On April 17, Harry and Joseph Miles boarded a train for New York, taking the film with them. On April 18, San Francisco was struck by an earthquake, which, by itself, caused a considerable amount of damage. But it also ruptured the city's water lines, and when fires broke out, there was no way to stop them, and the fires caused more damage than the quake.

While on the train, Harry and Joseph were told by the conductor, who had received word by telegraph at one of the stops. The brothers sent the films to New York by mail, while they boarded another train headed back to San Francisco. The Turk Street house of brother Earl Miles survived the earthquake and the subsequent fire, but their studio did not.

With surviving cameras, the brothers were able to film the devastation, and when copies reached the East, the governmental capital of Washington and the cultural capital of New York, relief began to come in at a rate far beyond what mere newspaper advertising could accomplish -- even with San Francisco's own William Randolph Hearst blasting reports through his New York Journal.

Harry Miles was plagued by epilepsy, and killed himself in 1908, by jumping from his apartment window on the 7th floor. I can find little information on the remaining Miles Brothers after that. Herbert acted in some short films, the last of these in 1915.

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April 14, 1906 was a Saturday. This was also the day that President Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech about investigative journalists, giving them a name that would stick: "The Man With the Muck-Rake." I have a separate entry for this event. And Faisal, King of Saudi Arabia from 1964 to 1975, was born on this day.

These baseball games were played:

* The New York Highlanders beat the Boston Americans, 2-1 at Hilltop Park in Upper Manhattan. This early game in the long rivalry between the teams that will become known, respectively, as the New York Yankees in 1913 and the Boston Red Sox in 1908 is forgotten now, but is worth remembering. The game went 12 innings, with the eventually-disgraced Hal Chase singling home the winning run. Jack Chesbro outpitched Cy Young, and both went the distance. Chesbro had doubled home the proto-Yankees' earlier run, in the 2nd inning.

* The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 at National League Park (later Baker Bowl) in Philadelphia. "Turkey" Mike Donlin singled home the winning run in the top of the 11th inning. English soccer fans, take note: The losing pitcher for the Phillies, despite allowing just 1 run over the 1st 10 innings, was named Harry Kane.

* The Boston Beaneaters beat the Brooklyn Superbas, 1-0 at Washington Park in Brooklyn. Vivan "Vive" Lindaman pitched a 4-hit shutout. Dave Brain singled home the winning run in the top of the 9th inning. In 1911, the Brooklyn team became the Dodgers. The following year, the Boston team became the Braves.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Washington Senators, 4-3 at American League Park in Washington.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 1-0 at The Palace of the Fans in Cincinnati. Cy Seymour hit a home run in the bottom of the 7th. Jake Weimer pitched a 7-hit shutout, beating Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown. It was a rare loss for the Cubs, who set a major league record, since tied but not broken, by winning 116 games, en route to winning the National League Pennant -- but losing the World Series to the crosstown Chicago White Sox.

* Not scheduled: The Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Naps (Indians/Guardians), the Detroit Tigers, the St. Louis Browns, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals.

And in English soccer, Woolwich Arsenal defeated Manchester-area team Bury, 4-0 at the Manor Ground in Plumstead, South-East London.