Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, April 28, 1906, Page 3

OUT BY EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE Most Appalling Disaster of Modern Times Lays Waste the Metropolis of the Pacific Coast-— Hundreds of Lives Lost---Property Loss Beyond Calculation. Earthquake Topples Over Big Buildings and Fire Completes Work of Destruction-—-Immense Structures Dynamited in Futile Attempt to Stay Progress of the Flames. San Francisco, April 20.—This city| chimney and cornice of the hotel yesterday was visited by one of the most terrible calamities that has be- fallen any city in modern times. It was 5:13 o’clock yesterday morn- ing when a terrific earthquake shook the whole city and surrounding coun- try. One shock lasted two minutes and there was an almost immediate collapse of flimsy structures in all parts of San Francisco. The water supply was cut off and when fires broke out there was nothing to do but to let the buildings burn. Telegraph and telephone communication was shut off for a time. The Western Union was put out of business com- pletely and the Postal was the only company that managed to get a wire out of the city. 10 o'clock the Postal, too, was forced to suspend in San Francisco. Electric power was stopped and street cars could not run. Railroads and ferryboats also ceased operations. Leveled With Dynamite. The various fires raged all day and many fine buildings were leveled to dust by terrific charges of dynamite in the hopeless effort to stay the fire horror. In this work scores of heroic soldiers, policemen and firemen were maimed or killed outright. The explosions shook the city and added to the terror of the inhabitants. Following the first shock there was another within thirty minutes, but not so severe. Three hours later there was another short quake. Never Was Fate So Disastrous. Nearly every landmark that has made San Francisco famous has been laid in ruins or burned to the ground. Never has the fate of a city been more disastrous. For three miles along the water- front buildings have been swept clean and the blackened beams and great skeletons of factories and o ffices stand silhouetted against a back- ground of flame that is slowly spread- ing over the entire city. The whole commercial and office section of the city on the north side of Market street from the ferry building to Tenth street, has been consumed in the rag- ing hell, while hardly a_ building is standing in the district south of Mar- ket street. Block After Block Licked Up. Block after block of banking houses are now masses of red-hot ruins, and it will be months before the money that was housed in their valuable vaults can be reached. Factories, hotels, wholesale houses and residences, comprising the princi- pal part of the business section, have been destroyed. The city hall, a structure costing $7,000,000, was first wrecked by the earthquake and then destroyed by fire. The Palace hotel, value estimated at $3,000,000, also burned. The beautiful Claus Spreckles building, at Third and Market streets, was gutted. The Rialto building and dozens of other costly structures, were also destroyed. The Hall of Justice is threatened and will undoubtedly go. The Examiner and the Call buildings are gone and the Crocker building, across the street from the Palace ho- tel, is destroyed. Brave Men Lose Their Lives. The earthquake caused the partial wreck of the California hotel on Bush and Kearney streets, and the falling FERRY BUILDING. crashed throught the fire house ad- joining, severely injuring Fire Chief Sullivan so that he was unable to di- rect the work of fire-fighting. He is now in a hospital in a precarious con- dition, " All of San Francisco’s best play- houses, including the Majestic, Colum- | bia, Grpheum and Grand opera house, are a mass of ruins. The earthquake | demolished them for all practical pur- { poses and the fire completed the work of destruction The handsome Rialto and Casserly buildings were burned to the ground, as was everything in that district. and renewed the search for missing relatives. Fire Damage the Greatest. Up to a late hour yesterday after- noon more than 750 persons, seriously injured by the earthquake and the fire, had been treated at the various hos- pitals. Looters Summarily Shot. Mayor Schmitz took prompt meas- ures for the relief and protection of the city. Gen. Funston was communi- cated with at once, and by 9 o’clock 1,000 federal soldiers were guarding | the streets and assisting the firemen in dynamiting buildings. Gen. Funston realized that stern “been swept into the sea. Not a thing remains to tell- where the monster: stone building once stood. It has been levelled to the foundation and only the rock foundation lining the sea coast remains intact. Destruction Seems Complete. San Francisco, April 21—San Fran- cisco now is the city aesolate. It seemed that the acme of its misery was reached at dusk, when flames burst from all sides of the beautiful Hotel Fairmount, thé palace that above every other structure was ap- parently most strongly entrenched against the attack of the all-consum- ing fire. And surrounding that lofty pinnacle of flame, as far as the eyes could see to the south, to the east and far out to the wést lay in cruel fan- tastic heaps charred and smoking all that remains of a prosperous city. Acre After Acre Swept. Yesterday was another day of un- even struggle between man and un- conquerable elements. Acre after acre of buildings have been reduced to em- bers and ashes, despite the despair- ing struggles of the firemen to limit the conflagration. Last night there was a hope that the worst has been nearly reached and that when day dawned the end would be in sight. But hope is faint. If the flames can be halted in their devastation of the western addition, then “finis” will be written to the great disaster. Seek More to Devour. With each succeeding hour the de- vastation and destruction in this pros- trate ruin of a city grows. The busi- ness and wholesale district is now only a glowing furnace, while the giant tongues of fire have reached the westward far beyond Van Ness ave- nue, and are wiping out buildings and seeking more to devour. All efforts to check the spread of the flames at Van Ness avenue by blowing up a mile of buildings on the reached Eighteenth street, but it is making little headway toward the hills to the west, where thousands of. people are camped. The third and most dangerous fire is that threatening the western sec- tion. This is really a continuation of the Nob Hill fire. It is wedge-shaped, with the apex pushing forward. Awful Havoc Wrought. The magnitude of the calamity that has befallen San Francisco became ap- parent yesterday morning when a red sun arose above the horizon and dis- sipated the pall of darkness that hung over the stricken districts. Looking eastward from the heights int the central portion of the metropo- lis, everything attested to the awful havoc wrought by earthquake and flame. Where once rose noble buildings in serried column now stand nothing but frail walls, isolated, tottering chim- neys, heaps of twisted iron and huge piles of brick and mortar. Death and Disaster. On miles of streets the front walls of ruined buildings still stand, sway- ing with the concussions of distant dynamite explosions and the rising winds. Frequently a crash of stone and brick, followed by a cloud of dust. gave warning to pedestrians of the unsafety of travel. All manners of reports of death and disaster are coming to the temporary headquarters of the authorities, but they are received with dut allowance for the excitement of the occasion. Fleeing by Thousands. Thousands upon thousands of peo- ple are fleeing from the fire. They are flocking to the ferries, to the parks, to the military reservation and to the suburbs. Residents of the hillsides in the central portion of the city seemingly were safe from the roaring furnace that was consuming the business section. They watched the towering mounds of flames and 3 G DISTRICT NOW LAID TO WASTE. Busineess section looking southeast from an eminence in Union Square. Wind Spreads Fire. | ‘The flames were kept confined to the | south of Market street in the business section until about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, when the wind carried sheets of flame into the richest part of the city. Sisters, brothers, wives and sweet- hearts searched eagerly for some miss- | ing dear one. Thousands of persons hurriedly went through the building, inspecting the cots on which the suf- ferers lay, in the hope that they would find some loved one that was missing. The dead were placed in one portion of the building, and the rest of it was used as a hospital. After the fire forced the nurses from the building, the eager crowds followed them to the Presidio and the Children’s hospital The gateway to San Francisco.. Building at the foot of Market street, ‘where the ferry boats land from acchoss the bay. The terminals of the jtranscontinental are on the other side of the bay, and passengers are jbrought to San Francisco on ferry boats. Nearly all of the people entering ‘the city come’through the Ferry house. measures were necessary and gave or- ders that looters were to be shot at sight. Four men were summarily exe- cuted before 3 o’clock yesterday after- noon. At a meeting of fifty citizens called by the mayor it was announced that 1,400 tents will be pitched in Golden Gate Park and arrangements have been made to feed the destitute in the public squares. One of the first orders issued by Chief of Police Dinan was to close every saloon in the city, to prevent drink-crazed men from rioting. Sweeps Everything in Path. The fire swept the streets so rapidly that it was practically impossible to save anything in its path. The dense smoke that arose from the entire business district spread out like an immense funnel and could have been seen for miles out at sea. Occasionally, as some drug house or place stored with chemicals was reached, most fantastic effects were produced by the colored flames and smoke which rolled out against the | darker background. Other Places Suffer. Reports from outside districts indi- cate widespread damage. San Jose, fifty miles south, lost many buildings, and between fifteen and “twenty per- sons were killed. The annex of the Vendome hotel collapsed and fires broke out. Stanford university and Palo Alto suffered. At Stanford many of the handsome buildings were de- molished, and two people were killed. Suburbs in Ruins. The court house at Redwood City and other buildings collapsed.. Menie Park, Burlingame and other fashion- able suburban towns suffered. Santa Rosa, to the north; Napa, Vallejo and all towns around the bay were dam- aged. These reports, alarming as they were, created little interest in San Francisco, where the people were so frantic that they rushed into the streets in night garments. Cliff House Slides Into Sea. From the Cliff house comes word that the great pleasure resort and show place of the city, which stood east side of Van Ness avenue have proved fruitless. The fire has spread across the broad thoroughfare, and from present indications the entire western addition, which contains the homes of San Francisco’s millionaires and people of the wealthier class, is! The destruction of the | now doomed. Western addition of the city practical- ly completes the work of the ravaging flames and marks the devastation of the entire city. Relief Work Begun. But San Francisco is not discour- aged. Its best and highest citizens have already begun to plan restora- tion and to care for the stricken ones, and the relief will be immediate and effective. Total subscriptions of $180,- 000 were announced and arrange- ments made for the immediate succor of the needy. The baking of 50,000 loaves of bread daily will begin to- day. Free transportation will be pro- vided by the Southern Pacific to desti- tute persons desiring to go to interior points. Maj. McKeever was appointed com- mandant of the camps of the home- less. It was announced that to-day daily delivery into the city of 10,000,- 000 gallons of water will begin. Telegraph Reopened. Last night for the first time direct telegraphic communication was_ re- established with the outside world, and this message is the first to be sent. By energetic efforts the Postal Telegraph company succeeded in re- storing one of its lines, and its man- agers hope to bring its service back to normal in a day or two. The Postal office is in a little wooden structure erected on piles at the water front. Fires are now burning in three dis- tricts. One is in that portion that ex- tends from Nob Hill easterly toward the water front. Flames May Die Out. It is traveling slowly northward to- ward the Telegraph Hill section. It may die out for lack of material or may again sweep toward the extreme water front. The second center is in the Mission district. Here the fire has speculated as to the extent of the ter- ritory that was doomed. Suddenly there was whispered alarm up and down the long line of watchers and they hurried away to drag clothing, cooking utensils and scant provisions through the streets. From Grant avenue the procession moved west- ward. Men and women dragged trunks, packed huge bundles of blan- kets, boxes of provisions—everything. Wagons could not be hired except by paying the most exorbitant rates. But there is no panic. People Are Stunned. The people are calm, stunned. They seem not to realize the extent of the calamity. They hear that the city is destroyed in so far as business plants are concerned; they tell each other Groceries Are Seized. Every grocery in San Francisco has been seized by the authorities and each family is being sold only one article at a time. The police and mil- itary prohibit overcharging. Gen. Funston announced yesterday morning that rations would soon reach the city and then the people would be supplied from the Presidio. Bakeries have al ready been built within the reserva- tion and the bread supply, therefore, has not failed completely. The gov- ernor also has been asked to aid in getting refugees to Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda. In Smoky Nakedness. Tug boats and steamers are being pressed into service for this purpose and thousands are on the way to the ferries. From the water front the burned city can be seen in all its smoky nakedness. From the Pacific Mail docks to Val- lejo street on the West side, a dis- tance of two miles, wreckage and ruin is the rule. Although the fire did not jump East street, the damage has been enormous. The filled-in land facing the ferry building is a succes sion of gullies from four to six feet deep. City Is Mass of Ruins. Looking up Market street, the city is a smouldering mass of ruins. Great factories, mercantile houses, banks and railroad office buildings are gone and only in spots is there a tower, a monument of some burned structure. There is scarcely any water to relieve the thirst of the suffering. The heat is threatening danger, for the dead in many instances are lying in the streets and ruins. in Fear of Pestilence. The authorities are doing all in their power to remove the corpses before pestilence appears. It has been neces- sary repeatedly to move the injured from places where they had sought refuge, for the fire spread with alarm- ing rapidity. Water is the incessant cry of the firemen and the people— one wants it to fight with, the other to drink—but there is only a scant drink- ing supply. Under Martial Law. At 9 o’clock, under a special mes- sage from President Roosevelt, the city was placed under martial law. Hundreds of troops patrolled the streets and drove the crowds back, while hundreds more were set at work assisting the fire and police depart ments. The strictest orders were is- sued and in true military spirit the - soldiers obeyed. During the afternoon three thieves met their death by rifle bullets while at work in the ruins. The curious were driven back at the breasts of the horses that the cavalry- men rode and all the crowds were forced from the level district to the hilly section of the north. Water Supply Cut Off. The most lamentable feature of the conflagration is the utter absence of means to stay its progress. There is not a sound water main east of Van Ness avenue, and west of that street the supply has been made scanty by numerous breaks in the pipes, due to earthquake. A few scattered suburbs is about all that remains of San Francisco. It is to these latter places, and especial ly the ones nearer the ocean beach, that the bulk of the homeless are seeking safety, although the rush for the ferries, too, was in the nature of a panic. Everything Wiped Out. In the fire zones the destruction was complete. Therein were locate St. Ignace’s school and church, of which only the walls remain. Mechanics’ Pavilion, the scene of hundreds of great political, social and sporting events, is in ruins. Opposite it was the St. Nicholas hotel, and it is now simply a pile of ruined bricks, a ruin among many of a similar nature. From this point down to the Oak- land ferry an Associated Press man made his way through the menacing wall frontages and climbing over hillocks of masonry and junk of all sorts in the middle of the city’s great est thoroughfare. Appalling Scene. The journey was _heartrending,— the scene appalling. On either side was ruins, nothing but ruins. South- ward, in hundreds of blocks, hardly a building remained. The United States mine escaped al- most unscathed on account of its iso- lated environments and the fireproof construction, but the force of the rend THE OCTAGONAL HOUSE Rn in the most natural tones that their) ing power of the earthquake could be résidences are wiped out by flames, outcry, no criticism. the | seen in the cracked walls of the post. but there is no hysteria, no | office on Seventh and Mission streets; the ground sunk for several feet.