Folder: S.F. Streets-Mission-1940's.
Newscopy: "Mission-st has been a long-suffering area. The streetcars gradually became very much unsmooth, the holes snarled and bit at tires more often than a bond issue passed. Thus, buses replaced streetcars and eventually the No. 9 line will use trolley coaches. And smooth asphalt paving will be everywhere. But it's been and will continue to be a rough summer. First, the phone company and P. G. & E. tore up most of the middle of Mission-st to take care of their respective utilities, with new gas mains, new conduits and such-like. They replaced the ditch with a temporary paving. Then came the big dig. All in all, the most fascinating gadget is something called, obviously enough, a concrete spreader. Bring the kids down to Mission between Fifth and Seventh-sts, where it's now at work - they'll love it. This Rube Goldbergian thing rolls on rails which are put down for it and lifted up after it."
Newscopy (continued): "Cement mixers pour their gooey stuff into the big hole and Jack Keating, 2355 26th-av, the operator, goes into action. Everything happens at once. Huge fins, something like those which rotate in your washing machine, go from one side of the ditch to the other, spreading the concrete. Then a solid bar gives it a 'rough' smoothing, and a vibrator, adjusted to provide a 'crown,' jiggles the six inches of concrete into perfect smoothness. The machine can do two blocks a day."
