In the modified superlative so dear to the West Coast, the Central Bank of Oakland is the "largest California bank outside of San Francisco and Los Angeles" (resources: $43,000,000). Its 15-story building at Broadway and 14th Street, where 15 Oakland trolley lines converge, is described by the bank as "sublimated and refined Italian Romanesque." Last week Amadeo Peter Giannini, who if not precisely sublimated or Romanesque is at least refined Italian, reached out across the Bay from San Francisco, firmly grasped the stoutly independent Central Bank of Oakland.*
For Banker Giannini's move...