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Email This Article More than a century after a quirky San Francisco character who called him self Emperor Norton I ordered a bridge be built spanning the bay, a move is under way to name the later-day Bay Bridge in his honor. The drive was publicized by Chronicle cartoonist Phil Frank in his strip "Farley" -- perhaps a fitting forum for a man who walked the streets of San Francisco in the late 1800s with a plume in his hat and a sword in h is hand, issued his own currency and declared that calling the city "Fri sco" was a High Misdemeanor. Norton, who occupied a 10-by-6-foot front room of a Sacramento Street lod ging house, would have been a present-day constituent of Supervisor Aaro n Peskin. And so it was Peskin who picked up Frank's idea, molded it int o a resolution and brought it to the Board of Supervisors, where it was approved Tuesday 8-2, with Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier absent. Superv isors Sean Elsbernd and Fiona Ma cast the dissenting votes. The resolution, if approved by Mayor Gavin Newsom, next will travel to th e Oakland City Council and on to the California Legislature. Frank, who also is a historian, said he came up with the bridge-naming id ea while working on cartoons illustrating how students these days know l ittle about California history. "Several readers had told me that (the ice cream parlor at) Ghirardelli S quare had dropped its Emperor Norton sundae. Since the bridge has been i n the news almost every day, I remembered there was an effort several ye ars ago to have the bridge named for him," Frank said. "It just seemed t hat naming it for a character as interesting as Emperor Norton would be very fitting. We're probably the only place in the country that would co nsider doing such a thing." According to the Emperor Norton Bridge Committee -- whose membership coun ts a number of historians -- the naming of the bridge is unrelated to th e controversy surrounding the cost and design of the seismic retrofit of the bridge's eastern span. Joshua Abraham Norton -- who, according to his Chronicle obituary, hailed from Scotland -- was a businessman who came to San Francisco by way of South Africa in 1849 to try his luck in the Gold Rush. It is said that h e lost his fortune -- and his mental stability -- after making a bum inv estment in the rice market a few years later. In 1859, he proclaimed himself Emperor of the United States and, shortly thereafter, the Protector of Mexico. For the next 20 years, he issued pr oclamations defending minorities and championing civil rights, which wer e reproduced in local newspapers. Meanwhile, a number of merchants honor ed Norton's own specially printed paper money. In 1872, Norton ordered "a bridge be built from Oakland Point to Goat (Ye rba Buena) Island and thence to Telegraph Hill." Though his proclamation received little notice at the time, such a bridge would open in 1936, d escribed by President Herbert Hoover as "the greatest bridge ever erecte d by the human race." Another of Norton's noted proclamations decreed that "Whoever after due a nd proper warning shall be heard to utter the abominable word 'Frisco,' which has no linguistic or other warrant, shall be deemed guilty of a Hi gh Misdemeanor." Peskin pointed out that people visit San Francisco because of its natural beauty and colorful social history. "Emperor Norton was a model San Franciscan, extolling the virtues of tole rance, compassion and embracing diversity in our community," he said. "E mperor Norton is an important figure worthy of this distinction." According to the obituary, Norton dropped dead at California and Dupont ( now Grant Avenue) streets while taking a stroll around 8:15 pm on Jan. Back in the tiny room he had occupied for 17 years -- while the Masons pa id his rent -- were found a variety of hats, including a stovepipe, a de rby, a red-laced Army cap and another cap suited to a martial band-maste r In Norton's pockets were found a smattering of gold and silver pieces -- among cablegrams from the crowned heads of Europe and Asia, including th e czar of Russia. The resolution WHEREAS, we issued our decree ordering the citizens of San Francisco and Oakland to appropriate funds for the survey of a suspension bridge from Oakland Point via Goat Island; and whereas the said citizens have hitherto neglec ted to notice our said decree; and whereas we are determined our authori ty shall be fully respected; now, therefore, we do hereby command the ar rest by the army of both the Boards of City Fathers if they persist in n eglecting our decrees. Given under our royal hand and seal at San Francisco, this 17th day of Se ptember, 1872.
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