Transcriber's Note Chapters 27 and 33 both end abruptly in the middle of a sentence. There are no omitted page numbers, so it is likely that this was anerror made by the publisher when the book was in preparation. There are some instances where sections of text are repeated, andthese are preserved as printed. It may be that this book was publishedvery hurriedly following the earthquake, and that these repetitionswere simply missed. Bold text is marked with = signs, =like this=. COMPLETE STORY OF THE San Francisco Horror INTRODUCTION BY RT. REV. SAMUEL FALLOWS, D. D. , LL. D. A Comprehensive and Connected Account of the Terrible Tragedy that Befell the People of Our Golden City--The Metropolis of the Golden Gate, and the Death and Ruin Dealt Many Adjacent Cities and Surrounding Country. Destroying Earthquake Comes Without Warning, in the Early Hours of the Morning; Immense Structures Topple and Crumble; Great Leland Stanford University Succumbs; Water Mains Demolished and Fire Completes Devastation; Fighting Fire With Dynamite. SCENES OF DEATH AND TERROR Thousands Killed, Maimed, or Unaccounted For; Tens of Thousands Without Food or Shelter; Martial Law Declared; Millions Donated for Relief; Congress Makes an Appropriation; Sympathetic Citizens Throughout the Land Untie Their Purse-Strings to Aid the Suffering and Destitute; Property Loss Hundreds of Millions; Appalling Stories by Eye Witnesses and Survivors; The Disaster as Viewed by Scientists, etc. Comprising Also a Vivid Portrayal of the Recent Death-Dealing ERUPTION OF MT. VESUVIUS BY RICHARD LINTHICUM of the Editorial Staff of the Chicago Chronicle. Together with twelve descriptive chapters giving a graphic and detailed account of the most interesting and historic disasters of the past from ancient times to the present day. BY TRUMBULL WHITE Historian, Traveler and Geographer. Profusely Illustrated with Photographic Scenes of the Great Disasters and Views of the Devastated Cities and Their People. [Illustration: =THE AWFUL HORROR OF AN EARTHQUAKE. = Lives, homes and property lost in a few seconds. ] [Illustration: =A PANORAMA OF THE RUINS. = Photographed from Nob Hill--City Hall at the left. ] [Illustration: =BUSINESS DISTRICT IN SAN FRANCISCO. = View from Nob Hill. ] COPYRIGHT 1906 BY HUBERT D. RUSSELL PREFACE In presenting this history of the San Francisco Earthquake Horror andConflagration to the public, the publishers can assure the reader thatit is the most complete and authentic history of the great disasterpublished. The publishers set out with the determination to produce a work thatwould leave no room for any other history on this subject, a task forwhich they had the best facilities and the most perfect equipment. The question of cost was not taken into consideration. The publisherswanted the best writers, the best illustrations, the best paper, printing and binding and proceeded immediately to get them. Theservices of the two best historical writers in the United States weresecured within an hour after the first news of the catastrophe wasreceived. The names and historical works of Richard Linthicum andTrumbull White are known in every household in the United States wherecurrent history is read. They are the authors of many standard works, including histories of recent wars and books of permanent reference, and rank among the world's greatest descriptive writers. A large staff of photographers have supplied illustrations for thisgreat historical work depicting every phase of the catastrophe fromthe first shock of earthquake to the final work of relief. Theseillustrations have special interest and value because they are madefrom actual photographs taken by trained and skilled photographers. This history of the most recent of the world's great disasters isbeyond all comparison the most sumptuously and completely illustratedof any publication on this subject. So numerous are the illustrationsand so accurately do they portray every detail of the quake and firethat they constitute in themselves a complete, graphic andcomprehensive pictorial history of the great catastrophe. The story as told by the authors, however, is one of absorbinginterest that thrills the reader with emotion and depicts the scenesof terror, destruction, misery and suffering as vividly as if thereader were an eye-witness to all the details of the stupendousdisaster. The history of the Earthquake and Fire Horror is told consecutivelyand systematically from beginning to end. "The Doomed City" is a pen picture of San Francisco while itsdestruction was impending. The four days of the conflagration are described each in separatechapters in such a way that the reader can follow the progress of thefire from the time of the first alarm until it was conquered by thedynamite squad of heroes. A great amount of space has been devoted to "Thrilling PersonalExperiences" and "Scenes of Death and Terror, " so that the reader hasa thousand and one phases of the horror as witnessed by those whopassed through the awful experience of the earthquake shock and theordeal of the conflagration. For purposes of comparison a chapter has been devoted to a magnificentdescription of San Francisco before the fire, "The City of a HundredHills, " the Mecca of sight-seers and pleasure loving travelers. The descriptions of the Refuge Camps established in Golden Gate Park, the Presidio and other open spaces depict the sorrow and the sufferingof the stricken people in words that appeal to the heart. The magnificent manner in which the whole nation responded with aidand the conduct of the relief work are told in a way that brings athrill of pride to every American heart. "Fighting the Fire with Dynamite" is a thrilling chapter of personalbravery and heroism, and the work of the "Boys in Blue" who patrolledthe city and guarded life and property is adequately narrated. Chinatown in San Francisco was one of the sights of the world and wasvisited by practically every tourist that passed through the GoldenGate. That odd corner of Cathay which was converted into a roaringfurnace and completely consumed is described with breathless interest. The "Ruin and Havoc in Other Coast Cities" describes the destructionof the great Leland Stanford, Jr. , University, the scenes of horrorand death at the State Asylum which collapsed, and in other ruinedcities of the Pacific coast. "The Earthquake as Viewed by Scientists" is a valuable addition to theseismology of the world--a science that is too little known, but whichpossesses tremendous interest for everyone. The threatened destruction of Naples by the volcano of Vesuviuspreceding the San Francisco disaster is fully described. The chapterson Vesuvius are especially valuable and interesting, by reason of thescientific belief that the two disasters are intimately related. Altogether this volume is the best and most complete history of allthe great disasters of the world and one that should be in the handsof every intelligent citizen, both as a historical and referencevolume. THE PUBLISHERS. CONTENTS Preface 7 Introduction 21 CHAPTER I. THE DOOMED CITY. Earthquake Begins the Wreck of San Francisco and a Conflagration without Parallel Completes the Work of Destruction--Tremendous Loss of Life in Quake and Fire--Property Loss $200, 000, 000 33 CHAPTER II. SAN FRANCISCO A ROARING FURNACE. Flames Spread in a Hundred Directions and the Fire Becomes the Greatest Conflagration of Modern Times--Entire Business Section and Fairest Part of Residence District Wiped Off the Map--Palaces of Millionaires Vanish in Flames or are Blown Up by Dynamite--The Worst Day of the Catastrophe 46 CHAPTER III. THIRD DAY ADDS TO HORROR. Fire Spreads North and South Attended by Many Spectacular Features--Heroic Work of Soldiers Under General Funston--Explosions of Gas Add to General Terror 57 CHAPTER IV. TWENTY SQUARE MILES OF WRECK AND RUIN. Fierce Battle to Save the Famous Ferry Station, the Chief Inlet to and Egress from San Francisco--Fire Tugs and Vessels in the Bay Aid in Heroic Fight--Fort Mason, General Funston's Temporary Headquarters, has Narrow Escape--A Survey of the Scene of Desolation 69 CHAPTER V. THE CITY OF A HUNDRED HILLS. A Description of San Francisco, the Metropolis of the Pacific Coast, Before the Fire--One of the Most Beautiful and Picturesque Cities in America--Home of the California Bonanza Kings 78 [Illustration: =JAMES D. PHELAN. = Former Mayor of San Francisco, and who gave $1, 000, 000 for the relief of the sufferers. Largest sum given by an individual. ] [Illustration: =EUGENE E. SCHMITZ. = Mayor of San Francisco and who rendered great assistance in bringing order out of chaos. ] [Illustration: =LOOKING EAST ON MARKET STREET. =] [Illustration: =VIEW FROM FIFTH AND MARKET STREETS. =] CHAPTER VI. SCENES OF TERROR, DEATH AND HEROISM. Thrilling Escapes and Deeds of Daring--Sublime Bravery and Self-Sacrifice by Men and Women--How the United States Mint and the Treasuries Were Saved and Protected by Devoted Employes and Soldiers--Pathetic Street Incidents--Soldiers and Police Compel Fashionably Attired to Assist in Cleaning Streets--Italians Drench Homes with Wine 103 CHAPTER VII. THRILLING PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. Scenes of Horror and Panic Described by Victims of the Quake Who Escaped--How Helpless People Were Crushed to Death by Falling Buildings and Debris--Some Marvelous Escapes 119 CHAPTER VIII. THRILLING PERSONAL EXPERIENCES--CONTINUED. Hairbreadth Escapes from the Hotels Whose Walls Crumbled--Frantic Mothers Seek Children from Whom They Were Torn by the Quake--Reckless Use of Firearms by Cadet Militia--Tales of Heroism and Suffering 132 CHAPTER IX. THROUGH LANES OF MISERY. A Graphic Pen Picture of San Francisco in Flames and in Ruins--Scenes and Stories of Human Interest where Millionaires and Paupers Mingled in a Common Brotherhood--A Harrowing Trip in an Automobile 141 CHAPTER X. WHOLE NATION RESPONDS WITH AID. Government Appropriates Millions and Chicago Leads All Other Cities with a Round Million of Dollars--People in All Ranks of Life from President Roosevelt to the Humblest Wage Earner Give Promptly and Freely 157 CHAPTER XI. ALL CO-OPERATE IN RELIEF WORK. Citizens' Committee Takes Charge of the Distribution of Supplies, Aided by the Red Cross Society and the Army--Nearly Three-Fourths of the Entire Population Fed and Sheltered in Refuge Camps 162 CHAPTER XII. OUR BOYS IN BLUE PROVE HEROISM. United States Troops at the Presidio and Fort Mason Under Command of General Funston Bring Order Out of Chaos and Save City from Pestilence--San Francisco Said "Thank God for the Boys in Blue"--Stricken City Patrolled by Soldiers 171 CHAPTER XIII. IN THE REFUGE CAMPS. Scenes of Destitution in the Parks Where the Homeless Were Gathered--Rich and Poor Share Food and Bed Alike--All Distinctions of Wealth and Social Position Wiped Out by the Great Calamity 178 CHAPTER XIV. RUINS AND HAVOC IN COAST CITIES. San Jose, the Prettiest Place in the State, Wrecked by Quake--State Insane Asylum Collapsed and Buried Many Patients Beneath the Crumbled Walls--Enormous Damage at Santa Rosa 189 CHAPTER XV. DESTRUCTION OF GREAT STANFORD UNIVERSITY. California's Magnificent Educational Institution, the Pride of the State, Wrecked by Quake--Founded by the Late Senator Leland Stanford as a Memorial to His Son and Namesake--Loss $3, 000, 000 198 CHAPTER XVI. FIGHTING FIRE WITH DYNAMITE. San Francisco Conflagration Eventually Checked by the Use of Explosives--Lesson of Baltimore Needed in Coast City--Western Remnant of City in Residence Section Saved by Blowing Up Beautiful Homes of the Rich 208 CHAPTER XVII. MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND INCIDENTS. Many Babies Born in Refuge Camps--Expressions of Sympathy from Foreign Nations--San Francisco's Famous Restaurants--Plight of Newspaper and Telegraph Offices 214 CHAPTER XVIII. DISASTER AS VIEWED BY SCIENTISTS. Scientists are Divided Upon the Theories Concerning the Shock That Wrought Havoc in the Golden Gate City--May Have Originated Miles Under the Ocean--Growth of the Sierra Madre Mountains May Have Been the Cause 230 CHAPTER XIX. CHINATOWN, A PLAGUE SPOT BLOTTED OUT. An Oriental Hell within an American City--Foreign in Its Stores, Gambling Dens and Inhabitants--The Mecca of All San Francisco Sight Seers--Secret Passages, Opium Joints and Slave Trade Its Chief Features 246 CHAPTER XX. THE NEW SAN FRANCISCO. A Modern City of Steel on the Ruins of the City that Was--A Beautiful Vista of Boulevards, Parks and Open Spaces Flanked by the Massive Structures of Commerce and the Palaces of Wealth and Fashion 255 CHAPTER XXI. VESUVIUS THREATENS NAPLES. Beautiful Italian City on the Mediterranean Almost Engulfed in Ashes and Lava from the Terrible Volcano--Worst Eruption Since the Days of Pompeii and Herculaneum--Buildings Crushed and Thousands Rendered Homeless 267 CHAPTER XXII. SCENES IN FRIGHTENED NAPLES. Blistering Showers of Hot Ashes--The People Frantic--Cry Everywhere "When Will It End?"--Atmosphere Charged with Electricity and Poisonous Fumes 279 CHAPTER XXIII. VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES EXPLAINED. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. The Theories of Science on Seismic Convulsions--Volcanoes Likened to Boils on the Human Body, Through Which the Fires and Impurities of the Blood Manifest Themselves--Seepage of Ocean Waters Through Crevices in the Rocks Reaches the Internal Fires of the Earth--Steam Is Generated and an Explosion Follows--Geysers and Steam Boilers as Illustrations--Views of the World's Most Eminent Scientists Concerning the Causes of the Eruptions of Mount Pelee and La Soufriere 285 CHAPTER XXIV. TERRIBLE VOLCANIC DISASTERS OF THE PAST. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. Destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah and the Other Cities of the Plain--The Bible Account a Graphic Description of the Event--Ancient Writers Tell of Earthquakes and Volcanoes of Antiquity--Discovery of Buried Cities of Which No Records Remain--Formation of the Dead Sea--The Valley of the Jordan and Its Physical Characteristics 303 CHAPTER XXV. VESUVIUS AND THE DESTRUCTION OF POMPEII. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. Most Famous Volcanic Eruption in History--Roman Cities Overwhelmed--Scenes of Horror Described by Pliny, the Great Classic Writer, an Eye-Witness of the Disaster--Buried in Ashes and Lava--The Stricken Towns Preserved for Centuries Excavated in Modern Times as a Wonderful Museum of the Life of 1, 800 Years Ago 309 CHAPTER XXVI. MOUNT ĘTNA AND THE SICILIAN HORRORS. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. A Volcano with a Record of Twenty-five Centuries--Seventy-eight Recorded Eruptions--Three Hundred Thousand Inhabitants Dwelling on the Slopes of the Mountain and in the Valleys at Its Base--Stories of Earthquake Shocks and Lava Flows--Tales of Destruction--Described by Ancient and Modern Writers and Eye-Witnesses 321 CHAPTER XXVII. LISBON EARTHQUAKE SCOURGED. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. Sixty Thousand Lives Lost in a Few Moments--An Opulent and Populous Capital Destroyed--Graphic Account by an English Merchant Who Resided in the Stricken City--Tidal Waves Drown Thousands in the City Streets--Ships Engulfed in the Harbor--Criminals Rob and Burn--Terrible Desolation and Suffering 334 CHAPTER XXVIII. JAPAN AND ITS DISASTROUS EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. The Island Empire Subject to Convulsions of Nature--Legends of Ancient Disturbances--Famous Volcano of Fuji-yama Formed in One Night--More Than One Hundred Volcanoes in Japan--Two Hundred and Thirty-two Eruptions Recorded--Devastation of Thriving Towns and Busy Cities--The Capital a Sufferer--Scenes of Desolation after the Most Recent Great Earthquakes 344 CHAPTER XXIX. KRAKATOA, THE GREATEST OF VOLCANIC EXPLOSIONS. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. East Indian Catastrophes--The Volcano that Blew Its Own Head Off--The Terrific Crash Heard Three Thousand Miles--Atmospheric Waves Travel Seven Times Around the Earth--A Pillar of Dust Seventeen Miles High--Islands of the Malay Archipelago Blotted Out of Existence--Native Villages Annihilated--Other Disastrous Upheavals in the East Indies 353 CHAPTER XXX. OUR GREAT HAWAIIAN AND ALASKAN VOLCANOES. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. Greatest Volcanoes in the World Are Under the American Flag--Huge Craters in Our Pacific Islands--Native Worship of the Gods of the Flaming Mountains--Eruptions of the Past--Heroic Defiance of Pele, the Goddess of Volcanoes by a Brave Hawaiian Queen--The Spell of Superstition Broken--Volcanic Peaks in Alaska, Our Northern Territory--Aleutian Islands Report Eruptions 363 CHAPTER XXXI. SOUTH AMERICAN CITIES DESTROYED. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. Earthquakes Ravage the Coast Cities of Peru and the Neighboring Countries--Spanish Capitals in the New World Frequent Sufferers--Lima, Callao and Caracas Devastated--Tidal Waves Accompany the Earthquakes--Juan Fernandez Island Shaken--Fissures Engulf Men and Animals--Peculiar Effects Observed 373 CHAPTER XXXII. EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND MEXICO. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. A Region Frequently Disturbed by Subterranean Forces--Guatemala a Fated City--A Lake Eruption in Honduras Described by a Great Painter--City of San Jose Destroyed--Inhabitants Leave the Vicinity to Wander as Beggars--Disturbances on the Route of the Proposed Nicaragua Canal--San Salvador Is Shaken--Mexican Cities Suffer 382 CHAPTER XXXIII. CHARLESTON, GALVESTON, JOHNSTOWN--OUR AMERICAN DISASTERS. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. Earthquake Shock in South Carolina--Many Lives Lost in the Riven City--Galveston Smitten by Tidal Wave and Hurricane--Thousands Die in Flood and Shattered Buildings--The Gulf Coast Desolated--Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Swept by Water from a Bursting Reservoir--Scenes of Horror 389 CHAPTER XXXIV. ST. PIERRE, MARTINIQUE, ANNIHILATED BY A VOLCANO. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. Fifty Thousand Men, Women and Children Slain in an Instant--Molten Fire and Suffocating Gases Rob Multitudes of Life--Death Reigns in the Streets of the Stricken City--The Governor and Foreign Consuls Die at Their Posts of Duty--No Escape for the Hapless Residents in the Fated Town--Scenes of Suffering Described--Desolation Over All--Few Left to Tell the Tale of the Morning of Disaster 397 ILLUSTRATIONS The Awful Horror of an Earthquake Frontispiece A Panorama of the Ruins Frontispiece Business District of San Francisco Frontispiece Former Mayor James D. Phelan 11 Mayor Eugene E. Schmitz 11 Looking East on Market Street 12 View from Fifth and Market Streets 12 Market Street, Scene of Ruins 31 United States Guards in Charge of Dead 32 Street Torn Up by Earthquake 41 Stockton Street 42 Grant Avenue 42 Mission Street 43 O'Farrell Street 43 Looking North from Sixth and Market Streets 44 The Orpheum Theatre 44 San Francisco on Fire 53 Destroyed Wholesale Houses 54 Cracks in Earth 63 Ruins of Emporium Building 63 Map--Bird's-Eye View of San Francisco 64 Ruins of Hall of Justice 65 Looking Down Market Toward Call Building 66 From California Street Toward Call Building 66 Market Street Before the Disaster 75 The Devouring Flames 76 Mark Hopkins Institute, Nob Hill 85 United States Mint 86 New Postoffice Building 87 Jefferson Square 88 Chronicle Building 97 St. Francis Hotel (Before the Earthquake) 97 Ferry House 98 Free Water 115 Distributing Clothes 115 Wires Destroyed 116 Military Camp 116 Kitchens in the Street 133 Wing of City Hall, Crumbled 133 Cattle Killed 134 St. John's Church, Ruined 134 Camp Kitchen in Ball Park 151 Shacks in Golden Gate Park 151 Governor Pardee 152 Major General Adolphus Greely 152 Refugees on Telegraph Hill 169 General Funston and Wife 170 Vendome Hotel, San Jose 187 Postoffice, San Jose 188 Corner of Baptist Church 205 Kearney Street, San Francisco 205 Ferry Building 206 Military Quarters 206 Randolph Storage 223 Switchboard Destroyed 223 St. Dominici Church, Freak with Steeple 224 St. Dominici Church, Wrecked 224 Chinese Refugees 241 Flat Building, Sunk 242 Seeking Lost Friends 259 All that Was Left of a Fine Residence 259 Soldiers' Encampment 260 Alameda Park 260 Dolores Mission 277 Wreck and Ruin 278 Wreck and Ruin 278 Crack in Earth 295 Ghoulish Thieves Looting the Dead 296 Effect of Earthquake on Modern Steel Building 313 Vesuvius During Recent Eruption 314 Road Leading to Vesuvius Before Eruption 314 [Illustration: =MAP OF SAN FRANCISCO AND VICINITY. = Showing towns and section of country that suffered the most from effects of earthquake. ] INTRODUCTION BY THE RT. REV. SAMUEL FALLOWS, D. D. , LL. D. A bright, intelligent unbeliever in the Providential government of theworld has just said to me in discussing this greatest of calamitieswhich has occurred in our nation's history, "Where is your benevolentGod?" I answered "He still lives and guides the affairs of men. "Another said, "The preachers would do well not to meddle with thesubject. " But the reply was made, "It is precisely the subject withwhich they, more than others, should concern themselves. " It is for them, when the hearts of men are failing to confidentlyproclaim that God has not abdicated his throne, and that man is notthe sport of malign and lawless forces. All events are ordered for the best; and the evils which we suffer areparts of a great movement conducted by Almighty power, under thedirection of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness. God's creation is a perfectwork. The world in which we live is the best possible world on thewhole; not the best possible to the individual at any given moment, but the best possible on the whole, all creatures considered and allthe ages of man taken into the account. This is the affirmation of atriumphant optimism. John Stuart Mill averred that a better world could have been made andmore favorable conditions for man devised. But before this hypothesiscan be sustained, the skeptic from the beginning of time must havescanned the history of every individual and studied it in its minutestdetails. He must have explored every rill and river of influenceentering into his character. He must have understood every relation ofthe individual to every other person through all the ages. He musthave mastered all the facts and laws of our earth. And as it sustainsa vital connection with the solar system, he must have grasped all themysteries which are involved in it. As this system is related to the still grander one of which it is apart, he must have known the law and workings of its every star andsun. Still more, he must have gone from system to system with theirmillions of worlds and become familiar with every part of the vaststupendous whole. He must have learned every secret of all Nature'sforces, and have penetrated into the interior recesses of the DivineBeing. He must have taken the place of God Himself. A Divine Providence. Amid all our doubts and distresses we must hold fast to the beliefthat there is a God who maketh the clouds His chariot and walketh uponthe wings of the wind--a God who is present in every summer breath andevery wintry blast, in every budding leaf, and every opening flower, in the fall of every sparrow and the wheeling of every world. HisProvidence is in every swinging of the tides, in every circulation ofthe air, in all attractions and repulsions, in all cohesions andgravitations. These, and the varied phenomena of nature are the directexpressions of the Divine Energy, the modes of operation of the DivineMind, the manifestations of the Divine Wisdom and the expressions ofthe Divine Love. The very thunderbolt that rives the oak and by its shock sunders thesoul from the body of some unfortunate one purifies the air thatmillions may breathe the breath of life. The very earthquake which shakes the earth to its center and shatterscities into ruin, prevents by that very concussion the gravercatastrophes which bury continents out of sight. The very hurricane which comes sweeping down and on, prostratingforests, hurling mighty tidal waves on the shore and sending down manya gallant ship with all its crew, bears on its destructive wings, "theincense of the sea, " to remotest parts, that there may be the bloomingof flowers, the upspringing of grass, the waving of all the banners ofgreen, and the carrying away of the vapors of death that spring fromdecaying mold. Man the Conqueror. Pascal said "man is but a reed, the feeblest thing in nature, but heis a reed that thinks. " The elemental forces break loose and for thetime being he cannot control them. Amid nature's convulsions he isutterly helpless and insignificant. It is but for a moment, however, that he yields. He knows that he isthe central figure in the universe of worlds. "He is not one part ofthe furniture of this planet, not the highest merely in the scale ofits creatures but the lord of all. " He is not a parasite but theparagon of the globe. He has faith in the unchangeableness of the lawshe is mastering while suffering from them. He confidently declaresthere is nothing fitful, nothing capricious, nothing irregular intheir action. The greater the calamity the more earnest his effort toascertain its causes and learn the lessons it teaches. Fearlessly man must meet the events of life as they come. Speculationsas to future cataclysms and fearful forebodings as to the immediateend of the world must all be given to the winds. There will be at sometime an end to our globe. It may be frozen out, or burned out, orscattered into impalpable dust by the terrific explosion of steamgenerated by an ocean of water precipitated into an ocean of fire. Butcycles of millenniums will intervene before such an apocalypse takesplace. In the spirit of Campbell's "Last Man" we must live, and act; "Go sun, while mercy holds me up On nature's awful waste To taste the last and bitter cup Of death, that man must taste: Go, say thou saw'st the last of Adam's race On earth's sepulchral clod, The darkening Universe defy, To quench his immortality Or shake his trust in God. " Wickedness not the Cause of Destruction. There are among us men who seem to suppose that they have been letinto the counsels of the Almighty and have the right to aver that thiscalamity so colossal in its proportions and awful in its character isa judgment upon our sister city for its great wickedness. I heardsimilar declarations when Chicago was swept by its tornado of flame. Neither Chicago nor San Francisco could claim to be pre-eminent inrighteousness, but, that Divine Providence should visit the vials ofHis wrath in an especial manner upon them because of their iniquity, is utterly repugnant both to reason and Holy Scripture. Only by aspecial revelation from the Most High, accompanied with evidencecorresponding to that which substantiates the claims of an OldTestament prophet can any warrant be given to any man to declare thata great catastrophe is the consequence of the moral sins of a givencommunity. The Book of Job gives the emphatic denial to the claim that specifichuman misery and suffering are the sure signs of the retribution forspecific guilt or sin. The Great Teacher and Divine Savior of menreaffirmed the truth of the teachings of that ancient poem byasserting that the man born blind was not thus grievously afflictedbecause he himself or his parents had been guilty of some peculiariniquity. He declared that the eighteen persons who had been killed bythe falling of the Tower of Siloam (probably from an earthquakeshock), were not greater sinners than those who were hearing himspeak. The Unity of Humanity. This great disaster has given a new emphasis to our National Unity. Congress for the first time has voted to aid directly a city indistress within the bounds of our country. State Legislatures havefollowed its example, while municipal organizations by the score havepoured out their benefactions. From all quarters of the civilized globe expressions of sympathy havecome and tenders of help made, without parallel in the annals of time. All this has revealed the essential oneness of Humanity. It has shownthat beneath all the artificial distinctions of society man is theequal of his fellow man. All the barriers of nationality, creed, color, social position, riches, poverty have been broken down in thecommon sufferings of the stricken people on our Western Coast. Thechord of brotherhood is vibrating in all our hearts. Its divinemelodies are heard above the roar and rush of business in our streets. We have been amassing wealth too often selfishly, and madly. We havebeen making money our god; and now we see how vain a thing it is inwhich to put our trust. Now we feel "it is more blessed to give thanto receive. " Now, kindness and tenderness melt the hardness of ournatures. Now, as we stretch the helping hand and witness the joy andgratitude evoked, by our God-like deeds, we feel in every fiber of ourbeing the thrill of the poet's rapt exclamation: "O, if there be an Elysium on earth It is this, it is this. " Recovery from Earthquakes. Earthquakes throughout the world have not disturbed the ultimateconfidence of man in the stability of this old and often seeminglywayward earth. All Greece was convulsed centuries ago from center tocircumference and Constantinople for the second time was overturnedwith the loss of tens of thousands of lives. Five hundred yearsafterwards the city was again shaken and a large number of itsbuildings destroyed with an appalling loss of life. Again and againwas the ancient city of Antioch shattered in almost every portion buteach time she arose stronger than before. Fifteen hundred years agoone mighty shock cost the lives of 250, 000 of its people, but Antiochremains, although its grandeur from other causes has departed. Twiceat least has Naples been partly destroyed along with its neighboringtowns and more than 100, 000 people have perished. But Naples is stillon the map of the earth. Lisbon, one hundred and fifty years ago lost 50, 000 of its inhabitantsand had a part of its territory suddenly submerged under 600 feet ofwater. For 5, 000 miles the earthquake extended and shook Scotlanditself, alarming the English people and causing fasting and prayer andspecial sermons in the Scotch and Anglican churches. Two hundred years ago Tokio was almost entirely destroyed. Everybuilding was practically in ruins and more than 200, 000 were numberedamong its mangled dead. Again in 1855 it nearly suffered a similarfate with a decreased though very large loss of life. But Tokio hashelped Japan play its dramatic part in the recent history of theworld. Graphic descriptions have been left us by eye witnesses of thetremendous upheaval in the great Mississippi Valley in 1811, when theflow of the mighty river was stopped, and the land on its banks forvast distances from its current was sunk for a stretch of nearly 300miles. But the Father of Waters still goes on unvexed to the sea. Charleston was sadly shaken twenty years ago, but her streets are notdeserted. Senator Tillman still speaks vigorously as therepresentative of her wide-awake and increasing population. Some of us have not forgotten when we saw Chicago burning in 1871, thedoubts and fears of our own hearts regarding the future of our city. Jeremiads were oracularly and dolefully uttered by many a propheticpessimist that Chicago would never be rebuilt, that it would be burnedagain if it should rise from its ashes. Well! it did rise. It wasagain sadly burned. It again arose. It has been rising and growingever since. And it is now ready to send its millions of dollars andmore if needed to the stricken cities on our Pacific coast. Not in fear then, but in hope, must our homes, our churches, ourschools, our manufactories, our marts of trade, our bank buildings, our office buildings and other needed structures be established. San Francisco will be Rebuilt. The prophets of evil may croak as dismally as they may desire andpredict that the earth will again shudder and quake and imperil if notdestroy any city man may attempt to create on the now dismantled anddisfigured site. But San Francisco will as surely be rebuilt as thesun rises in heaven. No earthquake upheaval can shake the determinedwill of the unconquerable American to recover from disaster. It willsimply serve to make him more rock-rooted and firm in his purpose topluck victory from defeat. No fiery blasts can burn up the asbestos ofhis unconsumable energy. No disaster, however seemingly overwhelming, can daunt his faith or dim his hope, or prevent his progress. San Francisco occupies the imperial gateway of the Pacific. Herharbor, one of the best in the world, still preserves its contour andextends its protecting arms as when Francis Drake found his way intoit nearly four hundred years ago. The finger of Providence stillpoints to it amid wreck and ruin and smoldering ashes as the placewhere a teeming city with every mark of a splendid civilization shallbe the pride of our Western shores. Her wailing Miserere shall beturned into a joyful Te Deum. Not for a moment after the temporary paralysis is past will the workof reconstruction be delayed. We know not when another shock may comeor whether it will come again at all. No matter. The city shall riseagain. And with it, shall the other cities that have suffered from theearth's commotion rise again into newness of life. California will notcease to be the land of fruits and flowers, of beauty and bounty, ofsunshine and splendor from this temporary disturbance. It willcontinue to maintain its just reputation for all that is admirable inthe American character, of pluck and perseverance, of vigor andversatility, and above all of the royal hospitality of its homes andof the welcome it always extends to every new and inspiring thought. Samuel Fallows [Illustration: =MARKET STREET SCENE OF RUINS. = Looking west on Market Street from 5th Street. The man in gutter was probably shot by the soldiers. ] [Illustration: Copyright by R. L. Forrest 1906. =U. S. GUARDS IN CHARGE OF DEAD. = A scene in Jefferson Square where the U. S. Guards are caring for the dead. Note the caskets, dead person laid out on mattress, also guard tents, embalming fluids in demijohns, etc. Name or description of the dead being recorded. ] CHAPTER I. THE DOOMED CITY. =Earthquake Begins the Wreck of San Francisco and a Conflagration without Parallel Completes the Awful Work of Destruction--Tremendous Loss of life in Quake and Fire--Property Loss $200, 000, 000. = After four days and three nights that have no parallel outside ofDante's Inferno, the city of San Francisco, the American metropolis bythe Golden Gate, was a mass of glowing embers fast resolving intoheaps and winrows of grey ashes emblematic of devastation and death. Where on the morning of April 18, 1906, stood a city of magnificentsplendor, wealthier and more prosperous than Tyre and Sidon ofantiquity, enriched by the mines of Ophir, there lay but a scene ofdesolation. The proud and beautiful city had been shorn of itsmanifold glories, its palaces and vast commercial emporiums levelledto the earth and its wide area of homes, where dwelt a happy and aprosperous people, lay prostrate in thin ashes. Here and there in thecharred ruins and the streets lately blackened by waves of flame, laycrushed or charred corpses, unheeded by the survivors, some of whomwere fighting desperately for their lives and property, while otherswere panic stricken and paralyzed by fear. Thousands of lives had beensacrificed and millions upon millions of dollars in property utterlydestroyed. The beginning of the unparalleled catastrophe was on the morning ofApril 18, 1906. In the grey dawn, when but few had arisen for the day, a shock of earthquake rocked the foundations of the city andprecipitated scenes of panic and terror throughout the business andresidence districts. It was 5:15 o'clock in the morning when the terrific earthquake shookSan Francisco and the surrounding country. One shock apparently lastedtwo minutes and there was an almost immediate collapse of flimsystructures all over the former city. The water supply was cut off andwhen fires broke out in various sections there was nothing to do butto let the buildings burn. Telegraphic and telephone communication wasshut off. Electric light and gas plants were rendered useless and thecity was left without water, light or power. Street car tracks weretwisted out of shape and even the ferry-boats ceased to run. The dreadful earthquake shock came without warning, its motionapparently being from east to west. At first the upheaval of the earthwas gradual, but in a few seconds it increased in intensity. Chimneysbegan to fall and buildings to crack, tottering on their foundations. People became panic stricken and rushed into the streets, most of themin their night attire. They were met by showers of falling buildings, bricks, cornices and walls. Many were instantly crushed to death, while others were dreadfully mangled. Those who remained indoorsgenerally escaped with their lives, though scores were hit by detachedplaster, pictures and articles thrown to the floor by the shock. Scarcely had the earth ceased to shake when fires broke outsimultaneously in many places. The fire department promptly respondedto the first calls for aid, but it was found that the water mains hadbeen rendered useless by the underground movement. Fanned by a lightbreeze, the flames quickly spread and soon many blocks were seen to bedoomed. Then dynamite was resorted to and the sound of frequent explosionsadded to the terror of the people. All efforts to stay the progress ofthe fire, however, proved futile. The south side of Market street fromNinth street to the bay was soon ablaze, the fire covering a belt twoblocks wide. On this, the main thoroughfare of the city, are locatedmany of the finest edifices in the city, including the Grant, Parrott, Flood, Call, Examiner and Monadnock buildings, the Palace andGrand hotels and numerous wholesale houses. At the same time the commercial establishments and banks north ofMarket street were burning. The burning district in this sectionextended from Sansome street to the water front and from Market streetto Broadway. Fires also broke out in the mission and the entire cityseemed to be in flames. The fire swept down the streets so rapidly that it was practicallyimpossible to save anything in its way. It reached the Grand OperaHouse on Mission street and in a moment had burned through the roof. The Metropolitan opera company from New York had just opened itsseason there and all the expensive scenery and costumes were soonreduced to ashes. From the opera house the fire leaped from buildingto building, leveling them almost to the ground in quick succession. The Call editorial and mechanical departments were totally destroyedin a few minutes and the flames leaped across Stevenson street towardthe fine fifteen-story stone and iron Claus Spreckels building, whichwith its lofty dome is the most notable edifice in San Francisco. Twosmall wooden buildings furnished fuel to ignite the splendid pile. Thousands of people watched the hungry tongues of flame licking thestone walls. At first no impression was made, but suddenly there was acracking of glass and an entrance was affected. The interiorfurnishings of the fourth floor were the first to go. Then as thoughby magic, smoke issued from the top of the dome. This was followed by a most spectacular illumination. The roundwindows of the dome shone like so many full moons; they burst and gavevent to long, waving streamers of flame. The crowd watched thespectacle with bated breath. One woman wrung her hands and burst intoa torrent of tears. "It is so terrible!" she sobbed. The tall and slender structure whichhad withstood the forces of the earth appeared doomed to fall a preyto fire. After a while, however, the light grew less intense and theflames, finding nothing more to consume, gradually went, leaving thebuilding standing but completely burned out. The Palace Hotel, the rear of which was constantly threatened, was thescene of much excitement, the guests leaving in haste, many only withthe clothing they wore. Finding that the hotel, being surrounded onall sides by streets, was likely to remain immune, many returned andmade arrangements for the removal of their belongings, though littlecould be taken away owing to the utter absence of transportationfacilities. The fire broke out anew and the building was soon a massof ruins. The Parrott building, in which were located the chambers of the statesupreme court, the lower floors being devoted to an immense departmentstore, was ruined, though its massive walls were not all destroyed. A little farther down Market street the Academy of Sciences and theJennie Flood building and the History building kindled and burned liketinder. Sparks carried across the wide street ignited the Phelanbuilding and the army headquarters of the department of California, General Funston commanding, were burned. Still nearing the bay, the waters of which did the firemen goodservice, along the docks, the fire took the Rialto building, ahandsome skyscraper, and converted scores of solid business blocksinto smoldering piles of brick. Banks and commercial houses, supposed to be fireproof though not ofmodern build, burned quickly and the roar of the flames could be heardeven on the hills, which were out of the danger zone. Here manythousands of people congregated and witnessed the awful scene. Greatsheets of flame rose high in the heavens or rushed down some narrowstreet, joining midway between the sidewalks and making a horizontalchimney of the former passage ways. The dense smoke that arose from the entire business spread out like animmense funnel and could have been seen for miles out at sea. Occasionally, as some drug house or place stored with chemicals wasreached, most fantastic effects were produced by the colored flamesand smoke which rolled out against the darker background. When the first shock occurred at 5:15 a. M. Most of the populationwere in bed and many lodging houses collapsed with every occupant. There was no warning of the awful catastrophe. First came a slightshock, followed almost immediately by a second and then the greatshock that sent buildings swaying and tumbling. Fire broke outimmediately. Every able-bodied man who could be pressed into servicewas put to work rescuing the victims. Panic seized most of the people and they rushed frantically about. Toward the ferry building there was a rush of those fleeing to crossthe bay. Few carried any effects and some were hardly dressed. Thestreets were filled immediately with panic-stricken people and thefrequently occurring shocks sent them into unreasoning panic. Fireslighted up the sky in every direction in the breaking dawn. In thebusiness district devastation met the eye on every hand. The area bounded by Washington, Mission and Montgomery streets andextending to the bay front was quickly devastated. That representedthe heart of the handsome business section. The greatest destruction on the first day occurred in that part of thecity which was reclaimed from San Francisco Bay. Much of thedevastated district was at one time low marshy ground entirely coveredby water at high tide. As the city grew it became necessary to fill inmany acres of this low ground in order to reach deep water. TheMerchants' Exchange building, a fourteen-story steel structure, wassituated on the edge of this reclaimed ground. It had just beencompleted and the executive offices of the Southern Pacific Companyoccupied the greater part of the building. The damage by the earthquake to the residence portion of the city, thefinest part of which was on Nob Hill and Pacific Heights, was slightbut the fire completely destroyed that section on the following day. To the westward, on Pacific Heights, were many fine, new residences, but little injury was done to any of them by the quake. The Palace Hotel, a seven-story building about 300 feet square, wasbuilt thirty years ago by the late Senator Sharon, whose estate was inthe courts for many years. At the time it was erected the Palace wasconsidered the best equipped hotel in the west. The offices of the three morning papers, the Chronicle, the Call andthe Examiner, were located within 100 feet of each other. TheChronicle, situated at the corner of Market and Kearney streets, was aten-story steel frame building and was one of the finest buildings ofits character put up in San Francisco. The Spreckels building, in which were located the business office ofthe Call, was sixteen stories high and very narrow. The editorialrooms, composing room and pressroom were in a small three-storybuilding immediately in the rear of the Spreckels building. Just across Third street was the home of the Examiner, seven storieshigh, with a frontage of 100 feet on Market street. The postoffice was a fine, grey stone structure and had been completedless than two years. It covered half a block on Mission street betweenSixth and Seventh streets. The ground on which the building stood wasof a swampy character and some difficulty was experienced in obtaininga solid foundation. The City Hall, which was badly wrecked by the quake and afterwardsswept by the fire, was a mile and a half from the water front. It wasan imposing structure with a dome 150 feet high. The building coveredabout three acres and cost more than $7, 000, 000. The Grand Opera House, where the Metropolitan Opera Company opened atwo weeks' engagement the previous Monday night, was one of the oldesttheaters in San Francisco. It was located on Mission street betweenThird and Fourth streets and for a number of years was the leadingplayhouse of the city. In 1885 when business began to move off of Mission street and to seekmodern structures this playhouse was closed for some time and laterdevoted to vaudeville. Within the past four years, however, numerousfine buildings had been erected on Mission street and the Grand Operahouse had been used by many of the leading independent theatricalcompanies. All efforts to prevent the fire from reaching the Palace and Grandhotels were unsuccessful and both were completely destroyed togetherwith all their contents. All of San Francisco's best playhouses, including the Majestic, Columbia, Orpheum and Grand Opera house were soon a mass of ruins. Theearthquake demolished them for all practical purposes and the firecompleted the work of demolition. The handsome Rialto and Casserlybuildings were burned to the ground, as was everything in thatdistrict. The scene at the Mechanics' Pavilion during the early hours of themorning and up until noon, when all the injured and dead were removedbecause of the threatened destruction of the building by fire, was oneof indescribable sadness. Sisters, brothers, wives and sweetheartssearched eagerly for some missing dear one. Thousands of persons hurriedly went through the building inspectingthe cots on which the sufferers lay in the hope that they would locatesome loved one that was missing. The dead were placed in one portion of the building and the remainderwas devoted to hospital purposes. The fire forced the nurses andphysicians to desert the building; the eager crowds followed them tothe Presidio and the Children's hospital, where they renewed theirsearch for missing relatives. The experience of the first day of the fire was a great testimonial tothe modern steel building. A score of those structures were in courseof erection and not one of them suffered. The completed modernbuildings were also immune from harm by earthquake. The buildings thatcollapsed were all flimsy, wooden and old-fashioned brick structures. On the evening of Wednesday, April 18, the first day of the fire, anarea of thickly covered ground of eight square miles had been burnedover and it was apparent that the entire city was doomed todestruction. Nearly every famous landmark that had made San Francisco famous overthe world had been laid in ruins or burned to the ground in the direcatastrophe. Never was the fate of a city more disastrous. For three miles along the water front buildings had been swept cleanand the blackened beams and great skeletons of factories and officesstood silhouetted against a background of flame that was slowlyspreading over the entire city. The whole commercial and office section of the city on the north sideof Market street from the ferry building to Tenth street had beenconsumed in the hell of flame, while hardly a building was standing inthe district south of Market street. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, despite the heroic work of the firemen and the troops of dynamiters, who razed building after building and blew up property valued atmillions, the flames spread across Market street to the north side andswept up Montgomery street, practically to Washington street. AlongMontgomery street were some of the richest banks and commercial housesin San Francisco. [Illustration: Copyright by R. L. Forrest 1906. =STREET TORN UP BY EARTHQUAKE. = A photograph of street in front of new Postoffice. Note how the car tracks are thrown up and twisted. ] [Illustration: =STOCKTON STREET FROM UNION SQUARE. =] [Illustration: =GRANT AVENUE FROM MARKET STREET. =] [Illustration: =MISSION STREET, SAN FRANCISCO. = Photographed from Fourth Street. ] [Illustration: =O'FARRELL STREET. = A new steel building which was being erected shown at the right. ] [Illustration: =LOOKING NORTH FROM SIXTH AND MARKET STREETS. =] [Illustration: =THE ORPHEUM THEATER ON O'FARRELL STREET. =] The famous Mills building and the new Merchants Exchange were stillstanding, but the Mutual Life Insurance building and scores of bankand office buildings were on fire, while blocks of other houses werein the path of the flames and nothing seemed to be at hand to staytheir progress. Nearly every big factory building had been wiped out of existence anda complete enumeration of them would look like a copy of the citydirectory. Many of the finest buildings in the city had been leveled to dust bythe terrific charges of dynamite in hopeless effort to stay the horrorof fire. In this work many heroic soldiers, policemen and firemen weremaimed or killed outright. At 10 o'clock at night the fire was unabated and thousands of peoplewere fleeing to the hills and clamoring for places on the ferry boatsat the ferry landing. From the Cliff House came word that the great pleasure resort and showplace of the city, which stood upon a foundation of solid rock, hadbeen swept into the sea. This report proved to be unfounded, but itwas not until three days later that any one got close enough to theCliff House to discover that it was still safe. One of the big losses of the day was the destruction of St. Ignatius'church and college at Van Ness avenue and Hayes street. This was thegreatest Jesuitical institution in the west and built at a cost of$2, 000, 000. By 7 o'clock at night the fire had swept from the south side of thetown across Market street into the district called the Westernaddition and was burning houses at Golden Gate avenue and Octavia. This result was reached after almost the entire southern district fromNinth street to the eastern water front had been converted into ablackened waste. In this section were hundreds of factories, wholesalehouses and many business firms, in addition to thousands of homes. CHAPTER II. SAN FRANCISCO A ROARING FURNACE. =Flames Spread in a Hundred Directions and the Fire Becomes the Greatest Conflagration of Modern Times--Entire Business Section and Fairest Part of Residence District Wiped Off the Map--Palaces of Millionaires Vanish in Flames or are Blown Up by Dynamite--The Worst Day of the Catastrophe. = Marius sitting among the ruins of Carthage saw not such a sight aspresented itself to the afflicted people of San Francisco in the dimhaze of the smoke pall at the end of the second day. Ruins starknaked, yawning at fearful angles and pinnacled into a thousandfearsome shapes, marked the site of what was three-fourths of thetotal area of the city. Only the outer fringe of the city was left, and the flames which sweptunimpeded in a hundred directions were swiftly obliterating whatremained. Nothing worthy of the name of building in the business district andnot more than half of the residence district had escaped. Of itspopulation of 400, 000 nearly 300, 000 were homeless. Gutted throughout its entire magnificent financial quarters by theswift work of thirty hours and with a black ruin covering more thanseven square miles out into her very heart, the city waited in astupor the inevitable struggle with privation and hardship. All the hospitals except the free city hospital had been destroyed, and the authorities were dragging the injured, sick and dying fromplace to place for safety. All day the fire, sweeping in a dozen directions, irresistiblycompleted the desolation of the city. Nob Hill district, in whichwere situated the home of Mrs. Stanford, the priceless Hopkins ArtInstitute, the Fairmount hotel, a marble palace that cost millions ofdollars and homes of a hundred millionaires, was destroyed. It was not without a struggle that Mayor Schmitz and his aides letthis, the fairest section of the city, suffer obliteration. Beforenoon when the flames were marching swiftly on Nob Hill, but were stillfar off, dynamite was dragged up the steep debris laden streets. For adistance of a mile every residence on the east side of Van Ness avenuewas swept away in a vain hope to stay the progress of the fire. After sucking dry even the sewers the fire engines were eitherabandoned or moved to the outlying districts. There was no help. Water was gone, powder was gone, hope even was afiction. The fair city by the Golden Gate was doomed to be blottedfrom the sight of man. The stricken people who wandered through the streets in pathetichelplessness and sat upon their scattered belongings in cooling ruinsreached the stage of dumb, uncaring despair, the city dissolvingbefore their eyes had no significance longer. There was no business quarter; it was gone. There was no longer ahotel district, a theater route, a place where Night beckoned toPleasure. Everything was gone. But a portion of the residence domain of the city remained, and thejaws of the disaster were closing down on that with relentlessdetermination. All of the city south of Market street, even down to Islais creek andout as far as Valencia street, was a smouldering ruin. Into thewestern addition and the Pacific avenue heights three broad fingers offire were feeling their way with a speed that foretold the destructionof all the palace sites of the city before the night would be over. There was no longer a downtown district. A blot of black spread fromEast street to Octavia, bounded on the south and north by Broadwayand Washington streets and Islais creek respectively. Not a bankstood. There were no longer any exchanges, insurance offices, brokerages, real estate offices, all that once represented thefinancial heart of the city and its industrial strength. Up Market street from the Ferry building to Valfira street nothing butthe black fingers of jagged ruins pointed to the smoke blanket thatpressed low overhead. What was once California, Sansome, andMontgomery streets was a labyrinth of grim blackened walls. Chinatown was no more. Union square was a barren waste. The Call building stood proudly erect, lifting its whited head abovethe ruin like some leprous thing and with all its windows, dead, staring eyes that looked upon nothing but a wilderness. The proudFlood building was a hollow shell. The St. Francis Hotel, one time a place of luxury, was naught but abox of stone and steel. Yet the flames leaped on exultantly. They leapt chasms like awaterfall taking a precipice. Now they are here, now there, alwayspressing on into the west and through to the end of the city. It was supposed that the fire had eaten itself out in the wholesaledistrict below Sansome street, and that the main body of the flameswas confined to the district south of Market street, where the oilworks, the furniture factories, and the vast lumber yards had givenfodder into the mouth of the fire fiend. Yet, suddenly, as if by perverse devilishness, a fierce wind from thewest swept over the crest of Nob Hill and was answered by leapingtongues of flames from out of the heart of the ruins. By 8:30 o'clock Montgomery street had been spanned and the greatMerchants' Exchange building on California street flamed out like thebeacon torch of a falling star. From the dark fringe of humanity, watching on the crest of the California street hill, there sprang thenoise of a sudden catching of the breath--not a sigh, not agroan--just a sharp gasp, betraying a stress of despair near to theinsanity point. Nine o'clock and the great Crocker building shot sparks and addedtongues of fire to the high heavens. Immediately the fire jumped toKearney street, licking at the fat provender that shaped itself forconsuming. Then began the mournful procession of Japanese and poor whitesoccupying the rookeries about Dupont street and along Pine. Tugging atheavy ropes, they rasped trunks up the steep pavements of Californiaand Pine streets to places of temporary safety. It was a motley crew. Women laden with bundles and dragging reluctantchildren by the hands panted up the steep slope with terror stamped ontheir faces. Men with household furniture heaped camelwise on their shoulderstrudged stoically over the rough cobbles, with the flame of the firebronzing their faces into the outlines of a gargoyle. One patrioticson of Nippon labored painfully up Dupont street with the crayonportrait of the emperor of Japan on his back. While this zone of fire was swiftly gnawing its way through Kearneystreet and up the hill, another and even more terrible segment of theconflagration was being stubbornly fought at the corner of Golden Gateavenue and Polk street. There exhausted firemen directed the feeblestreams from two hoses upon a solid block of streaming flame. The engines pumped the supply from the sewers. Notwithstanding thisdesperate stand, the flames progressed until they had reached Octaviastreet. Like a sickle set to a field of grain the fiery crescent spread aroundthe southerly end of the west addition up to Oak and Fell streets, along Octavia. There one puny engine puffed a single stream of waterupon the burning mass, but its efforts were like the stabbing of apigmy at a giant. All the district bounded by Octavia, Golden Gate avenue, and Marketstreet was a blackened ruin. One picked his way through the fallenwalls on Van Ness avenue as he would cross an Arizona mesa. It was anabsolute ruin, gaunt and flame lighted. From the midst rose the great square wall of St. Ignatius college, standing like another ruined Acropolis in dead Athens. Behind the gaunt specter of what had once been the city hall ablizzard of flame swept back into the gore between Turk and Marketstreets. Peeled of its heavy stone facing like a young leek that isstripped of its wrappings, the dome of the city hall rose spectralagainst the nebulous background of sparks. From its summit looked down the goddess of justice, who had kept herpedestal even while the ones of masonry below her feet had beentoppled to the earth in huge blocks the size of a freight car. Through the gaunt iron ribs and the dome the red glare suffusing thewhole northern sky glinted like the color of blood in a hand held tothe sun. At midnight the Hibernian bank was doomed, for from the framebuildings west of it there was being swept a veritable maelstrom ofsheet flame that leaped toward it in giant strides. Not a fireman wasin sight. Across the street amid the smoke stood the new postoffice, one of thefew buildings saved. Turk street was the northern boundary of thisV-shaped zone of the flames, but at 2 o'clock this street also wascrossed and the triumphant march onward continued. At midnight another fire, which had started in front of Fisher's MusicHall, on O'Farrell street, had gouged its terrible way through toMarket street, carrying away what the morning's blaze across thestreet had left miraculously undestroyed. Into Eddy and Turk streets the flames plunged, and soon the magnificentFlood building was doomed. The firemen made an ineffectual attempt to check the ravages of theadvancing phalanx of flames, but their efforts were absolutely withoutavail. First from across the street shot tongues of flames whichcracked the glass in one of the Flood building's upper story windows. Then a shower of sparks was sent driving at a lace curtain whichfluttered out in the draft. The flimsy whipping rag caught, a tongueof flame crept up its length and into the window casement. "My God, let me get out of this, " said a man below who had watched themassive shape of the huge pile arise defiant before the flames. "Ican't stand to see that go, too. " Shortly after midnight the streets about Union Square were barred bythe red stripes of the fire. First Cordes Furniture Company's storewent, then Brennor's. Next a tongue of flames crept stealthily intothe rear of the City of Paris store, on the corner of Geary andStockton streets. Eager spectators watched for the first red streamers to appear fromthe windows of the great dry goods stores. Smoke eddied from underwindow sills and through cracks made by the earthquake in thecornices. Then the cloud grew denser. A puff of hot wind came from thewest, and as if from the signal there streamed flamboyantly from everywindow in the top floor of the structure billowing banners, as a poppycolored silk that jumped skyward in curling, snapping breadths, afearful heraldry of the pomp of destruction. From the copper minarets on the Hebrew synagogue behind Union squaretiny green, coppery flames next began to shoot forth. They grewquickly larger, and as the heat increased in intensity there shonefrom the two great bulbs of metal sheathing an iridescence thatblinded like a sight into a blast furnace. With a roar the minarets exploded almost simultaneously, and thesparks shot up to mingle with the dulled stars overhead. The UnionLeague and Pacific Union clubs next shone red with the fire that wasglutting them. On three sides ringed with sheets of flame rose the Dewey memorial inthe midst of Union square. Victory tiptoeing on the apex of the columnglowed red with the flames. It was as if the goddess of battle hadsuddenly become apostate and a fiend linked in sympathy with thedevils of the blaze. On the first day of the catastrophe the St. Francis escaped. On thesecond it fell. In the space of two hours the flames had blotted itout, and by night only the charred skeleton remained. As a prelude to the destruction of the St. Francis the fire swept thehomes of the Bohemian, Pacific, Union, and Family clubs, the best inSan Francisco. With them were obliterated the huge retail stores along Post street;St. Luke's Church, the biggest Episcopal church on the Pacific coast, and the priceless Hopkins Art Institute. From Union square to Chinatown it is only a pistol shot. By noon allChinatown was a blazing furnace, the rickety wooden hives, where thelargest Chinese colony in this country lived, was perfect fuel for thefire. Then Nob Hill, the charmed circle of the city, the residentialdistrict of its millionaires and of those whose names have made itfamous, went with the rest of the city into oblivion. The FairmountHotel, marble palace built by Mrs. Oelrichs, crowned this district. Grouped around it were the residences of Mrs. Stanford, and a score ofmillionaires' homes on Van Ness avenue. One by one they were buried inthe onrushing flames, and when the fire was passed they were gone. Here the most desperate effort of the fight to save the city was made. Nothing was spared. There was no discrimination, no sentiment. Richmen aided willingly in the destruction of their own homes that some ofthe city might be saved. [Illustration: Copyright 1906, by American-Journal-Examiner. Allrights reserved. Any infractions of this copyright will be prosecutedto the full extent of the law. =VIEW FROM VALLEY STREET. = This is a view from Valley Street looking down Kearney toward Market. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906, by American-Journal-Examiner. Allrights reserved. Any infractions of this copyright will be prosecutedto the full extent of the law. =DESTROYED WHOLESALE HOUSES. = This photograph shows the wreck and ruin wrought by the earthquake and fire in the wholesale district. ] But the sacrifice and the labor went for nothing. No human power couldstay the flames. As darkness was falling the fire was eating its waythrough the heart of this residential district. The mayor wasforced to announce that the last hope had been dashed. All the district bounded by Union, Van Ness, Golden Gate, to Octavia, Hayes, and Fillmore to Market was doomed. The fire fighters, troops, citizens, and city officials left the scene, powerless to do more. On the morning of the second day when the fire reached the municipalbuilding on Portsmouth square, the nurses, helped by soldiers, got outfifty bodies in the temporary morgue and a number of patients in thereceiving hospital. Just after they reached the street a building wasblown up and the flying bricks and splinters hurt a number of thesoldiers, who had to be taken to the out of doors Presidio Hospitalwith the patients. Mechanics' pavilion, which, after housing prize fights, conventions, and great balls, found its last use as an emergency hospital. When itwas seen that it could not last every vehicle in sight was impressedby the troops, and the wounded, some of them frightfully mangled, weretaken to the Presidio, where they were out of danger and found comfortin tents. The physicians worked without sleep and almost without food. There wasfood, however, for the injured; the soldiers saw to that. Even thesoldiers flagged, and kept guard in relays, while the relieved menslept on the ground where they dropped. The troops shut down with iron hands on the city, for where one manwas homeless the first night five were homeless the second night. Withthe fire running all along the water front, few managed to make theirway over to Oakland. The people for the most part were prisoners onthe peninsula. The soldiers enforced the rule against moving about except to escapethe flames, and absolutely no one could enter the city who once hadleft. The seat of city government and of military authority shifted withevery shift of the flames. Mayor Schmitz and General Funston stuckclose together and kept in touch with the firemen and police, thevolunteer aids, and the committee of safety through couriers. There were loud reverberations along the fire line at night. Suppliesof gun cotton and cordite from the Presidio were commandeered and thetroops and the few remaining firemen made another futile effort tocheck the fiery advance. Along the wharves the fire tugs saved most of the docks. But thePacific mail dock had been reached and was out of control; and finallyChina basin, which was filled in for a freight yard at the expense ofmillions of dollars, had sunk into the bay and the water was over thetracks. This was one of the greatest single losses in the wholedisaster. Without sleep and without food, crowds watched all night Wednesday andall day Thursday from the hills, looking off toward that veil of fireand smoke that hid the city which had become a hell. Back of that sheet of fire, and retreating backward every hour, weremost of the people of the city, forced toward the Pacific by theadvance of the flames. The open space of the Presidio and Golden Gatepark was their only haven and so the night of the second day foundthem. CHAPTER III. THIRD DAY ADDS TO HORROR. =Fire Spreads North and South Attended by Many Spectacular Features--Heroic Work of Soldiers Under General Funston--Explosions of Gas Add to General Terror. = The third day of the fire was attended by many spectacular features, many scenes of disaster and many acts of daring heroism. When night came the fire was raging over fifty acres of the waterfront lying between Bay street and the end of Meiggs and Fisherman'swharf. To the eastward it extended down to the sea wall, but had notreached the piers, which lay a quarter of a mile toward the east. The cannery and warehouses of the Central California CanneriesCompany, together with 20, 000 cases of canned fruit, was totallydestroyed, as also was the Simpson and other lumber companies' yards. The flames reached the tanks of the San Francisco Gas Company, whichhad previously been pumped out, and had burned the ends of the grainsheds, five in number, which extended further out toward the point. Flame and smoke hid from view the vessels that lay off shore vainlyattempting to check the fire. No water was available except from thewaterside and it was not until almost dark that the department wasable to turn its attention to this point. At dusk the fire had been checked at Van Ness avenue and Filbertstreet. The buildings on a high slope between Van Ness and Polk, Unionand Filbert streets were blazing fiercely, fanned by a high wind, butthe blocks were so sparsely settled that the fire had but a slenderchance of crossing Van Ness at that point. Mayor Schmitz, who directed operations at that point, conferred withthe military authorities and decided that it was not necessary todynamite the buildings on the west side of Van Ness. As much of thefire department as could be collected was assembled to make a stand atthat point. To add to the horrors of the general situation and the general alarmof many people who ascribed the cause of the subterranean trouble toanother convulsion of nature, explosions of sewer gas have ribbonedand ribbed many streets. A Vesuvius in miniature was created by suchan upheaval at Bryant and Eighth streets. Cobblestones were hurledtwenty feet upward and dirt vomited out of the ground. This situationadded to the calamity, as it was feared the sewer gas would breeddisease. Thousands were roaming the streets famishing for food and water andwhile supplies were coming in by the train loads the system ofdistribution was not in complete working order. Many thousands had not tasted food or water for two and three days. They were on the verge of starvation. The flames were checked north of Telegraph hill, the western boundarybeing along Franklin street and California street southeast to Marketstreet. The firemen checked the advance of flames by dynamiting twolarge residences and then backfiring. Many times before had thefiremen made such an effort, but always previously had they metdefeat. But success at that hour meant little for San Francisco. The flames still burned fitfully about the city, but the spread offire had been checked. A three-story lodging house at Fifth and Minna streets collapsed andover seventy-five dead bodies were taken out. There were at leastfifty other dead bodies exposed. This building was one of the firstto take fire on Fifth street. At least 100 people were lost in theCosmopolitan on Fourth street. The only building standing between Mission, Howard, East and Stewartstreets was the San Pablo hotel. The shot tower at First and Howardstreets was gone. This landmark was built forty years ago. The RisdonIron works were partially destroyed. The Great Western Smelting andRefining works escaped damages, also the Mutual Electric Light works, with slight damage to the American Rubber Company, Vietagas EngineCompany, Folger Brothers' coffee and spice house was also uninjuredand the firm gave away large quantities of bread and milk. Over 150 people were lost in the Brunswick hotel, Seventh and Missionstreets. The soldiers who rendered such heroic aid took the cue from GeneralFunston. He had not slept. He was the real ruler of San Francisco. Allthe military tents available were set up in the Presidio and thetroops were turned out of the barracks to bivouac on the ground. In the shelter tents they placed first the sick, second the moredelicate of the women, and third, the nursing mothers, and in theafternoon he ordered all the dead buried at once in a temporarycemetery in the Presidio grounds. The recovered bodies were cartedabout the city ahead of the flames. Many lay in the city morgue until the fire reached that; then it wasPortsmouth square until it grew too hot; afterwards they were taken tothe Presidio. There was another stream of bodies which had lain inMechanics' pavilion at first, and had then been laid out in Columbiasquare, in the heart of a district devastated first by the earthquakeand then by fire. The condition of the bodies was becoming a great danger. Yet thetroops had no men to spare to dig graves, and the young and ablebodied men were mainly fighting on the fire line or utterly exhausted. It was Funston who ordered that the old men and the weaklings shouldtake this work in hand. They did it willingly enough, but had theyrefused the troops on guard would have forced them. It was ruled thatevery man physically capable of handling a spade or a pick should digfor an hour. When the first shallow graves were ready the men, underthe direction of the troops, lowered the bodies several in a grave, and a strange burial began. The women gathered about crying; many of them knelt while a Catholicpriest read the burial service and pronounced absolution. All theafternoon this went on. Representatives of the city authorities took the names of as many ofthe dead as could be identified and the descriptions of the others. Many, of course, will never be identified. So confident were the authorities that they had the situation incontrol at the end of the third day that Mayor Schmitz issued thefollowing proclamation: "To the Citizens of San Francisco: The fire is now under control and all danger is passed. The only fear is that other fires may start should the people build fires in their stoves and I therefore warn all citizens not to build fires in their homes until the chimneys have been inspected and repaired properly. All citizens are urged to discountenance the building of fires. I congratulate the citizens of San Francisco upon the fortitude they have displayed and I urge upon them the necessity of aiding the authorities in the work of relieving the destitute and suffering. For the relief of those persons who are encamped in the various sections of the city everything possible is being done. In Golden Gate park, where there are approximately 200, 000 homeless persons, relief stations have been established. The Spring Valley Water Company has informed me that the Mission district will be supplied with water this afternoon, between 10, 000 and 12, 000 gallons daily being available. Lake Merced will be taken by the federal troops and that supply protected. "Eugene E. Schmitz, Mayor. " Although the third day of San Francisco's desolation dawned withhope, it ended in despair. In the early hours of the day the flames, which had raged forthirty-six hours, seemed to be checked. Then late in the afternoon a fierce gale of wind from the northwestset in and by 7 o'clock the conflagration, with its energy restored, was sweeping over fifty acres of the water front. The darkness and the wind, which at times amounted to a gale, addedfresh terrors to the situation. The authorities considered conditionsso grave that it was decided to swear in immediately 1, 000 specialpolicemen armed with rifles furnished by the federal government. In addition to this force, companies of the national guard arrivedfrom many interior points. In the forenoon, when it was believed the fire had been checked, thefull extent of the destitution and suffering of the people was seenfor the first time in near perspective. While the whole city wasburning there was no thought of food or shelter, death, injury, privation, or loss. The dead were left unburied and the living wereleft to find food and a place to sleep where they could. On the morning of the third day, however, the indescribabledestitution and suffering were borne in upon the authorities withcrushing force. Dawn found a line of men, women, and children, numbering thousands, awaiting morsels of food at the street bakeries. The police and military were present in force, and each person wasallowed only one loaf. A big bakery was started early in the morning in the outskirts of thecity, with the announcement that it would turn out 50, 000 loaves ofbread before night. The news spread and thousands of hungry personscrowded before its doors before the first deliveries were hot from theoven. Here again police and soldiers kept order and permitted eachperson to take only one loaf. The loaves were given out without cost. These precautions were necessary, for earlier in the day bread hadsold as high as $1 a loaf and two loaves and a can of sardines broughtin one instance $3. 50. Mayor Schmitz took prompt and drastic steps to stop this extortion. Byhis order all grocery and provision stores in the outlying districtswhich had escaped the flames were entered by the police and theirgoods confiscated. Next to the need for food there was a cry for water, which untilFriday morning the authorities could not answer. In spite of all efforts to relieve distress there was indescribablesuffering. Women and children who had comfortable, happy homes a few days beforeslept that night--if sleep came at all--on hay on the wharves, on thesand lots near North beach, some of them under the little tents madeof sheeting, which poorly protected them from the chilling oceanwinds. The people in the parks were better provided in the matter ofshelter, for they left their homes better prepared. Thousands of members of families were separated, ignorant of oneanother's whereabouts and without means of ascertaining. The police onFriday opened up a bureau of registration to bring relatives together. [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =CRACKS CAUSED BY EARTHQUAKE. = Front new Postoffice. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =EMPORIUM BUILDING. = Largest department store west of Chicago. ] [Illustration: =BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF SAN FRANCISCO. = A general view of city looking west toward the Pacific Ocean, also showing locations such as Nob Hill, business district, Market Street, Golden Gate and the famous Cliff House. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906, by American-Journal-Examiner. Allrights reserved. Any infractions of this copyright will be prosecutedto the full extent of the law. =HALL OF JUSTICE. = As photographs are true to life, they also convey to the eye correct views of this vast destruction. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =LOOKING DOWN MARKET STREET. = Call Building in the distance. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =VIEW FROM CALIFORNIA STREET. = The Call Building also shown in background. ] The work of burying the dead was begun Friday for the first time. Outat the Presidio soldiers pressed into service all men who came nearand forced them to labor at burying the dead. So thick were thecorpses piled up that they were becoming a menace, and early in theday the order was issued to bury them at any cost. The soldiers wereneeded for other work, so, at the point of rifles, the citizens werecompelled to take the work of burying. Some objected at first, but thetroops stood no trifling, and every man who came in reach was forcedto work at least one hour. Rich men who had never done such worklabored by the side of the workingmen digging trenches in the sand forthe sepulcher of those who fell in the awful calamity. At the presentwriting many still remain unburied and the soldiers are stillpressing men into service. The Folsom street dock was turned into a temporary hospital, theharbor hospital being unable to accommodate all the injured who werebrought there. About 100 patients were stretched on the dock at one time. In theevening tugs conveyed them to Goat Island, where they were lodged inthe hospital. The docks from Howard street to Folsom street had beensaved, and the fire at this point was not permitted to creep farthereast than Main street. The work of clearing up the wrecked city has already begun at thewater front in the business section of the town. A force of 100 menwere employed under the direction of the street department clearing upthe debris and putting the streets in proper condition. It was impossible to secure a vehicle except at extortionate prices. One merchant engaged a teamster and horse and wagon, agreeing to pay$50 an hour. Charges of $20 for carrying trunks a few blocks werecommon. The police and military seized teams wherever they requiredthem, their wishes being enforced at revolver point if the ownerproved indisposed to comply with the demands. Up and down the broad avenues of the parks the troops patrolled, keeping order. This was difficult at times, for the second hystericalstage had succeeded the paralysis of the first day and people weredoing strange things. A man, running half naked, tearing at hisclothes, and crying, "The end of all things has come!" was caught bythe soldiers and placed under arrest. Under a tree on the broad lawn of the children's playground a baby wasborn. By good luck there was a doctor there, and the women helped out, so that the mother appeared to be safe. They carried her later to thechildren's building in the park and did their best to make hercomfortable. All night wagons mounted with barrels and guarded by soldiers drovethrough the park doling out water. There was always a crush aboutthese wagons and but one drink was allowed to a person. Separate supplies were sent to the sick in the tents. The troopsallowed no camp fires, fearing that the trees of the park might catchand drive the people out of this refuge to the open and windsweptsands by the ocean. The wind which had saved the heights came cold across the park, driving a damp fog, and for those who had no blankets it was aterrible night, for many of them were exhausted and must sleep, evenin the cold. They threw themselves down in the wet grass and fellasleep. When the morning came the people even prepared to make the camppermanent. An ingenious man hung up before his little blanket sheltera sign on a stick giving his name and address before the fire wipedhim out. This became a fashion, and it was taken to mean that thespace was preempted. Toward midnight a black, staggering body of men began to weave throughthe entrance. They were volunteer fire fighters, looking for a placeto throw themselves down and sleep. These men dropped out all alongthe line and were rolled out of the driveways by the troops. There was much splendid unselfishness there. Women gave up theirblankets and sat up or walked about all night to cover exhausted menwho had fought fire until there was no more fight in them. CHAPTER IV. TWENTY SQUARE MILES OF WRECK AND RUIN. =Fierce Battle to Save the Famous Ferry Station, the Chief Inlet to and Egress from San Francisco--Fire Tugs and Vessels in the Bay Aid in Heroic Fight--Fort Mason, General Funston's Temporary Headquarters, has Narrow Escape--A Survey of the Scene of Desolation. = When darkness fell over the desolate city at the end of the fourth dayof terror, the heroic men who had borne the burden of the fight withthe flames breathed their first sigh of relief, for what remained ofthe proud metropolis of the Pacific coast was safe. This was but a semi-circular fringe, however, for San Francisco was acity desolate with twenty square miles of its best area in ashes. Inthat blackened territory lay the ruins of sixty thousand buildings, once worth many millions of dollars and containing many millions more. The fourth and last day of the world's greatest conflagration had beenone of dire calamity and in some respects was the most spectacular ofall. On the evening of the third day (Friday) a gale swept over thecity from the west, fanned the glowing embers into fierce flames andagain started them upon a path of terrible destruction. The fire which had practically burnt itself out north of TelegraphHill was revived by the wind and bursting into a blaze crept towardthe East, threatening the destruction of the entire water front, including the Union ferry depot, the only means of egress from thedevastated city. The weary firemen still at work in other quarters of the city werehastily summoned to combat the new danger. Hundreds of sailors fromUnited States warships and hundreds of soldiers joined in the battle, and from midnight until dawn men fought fire as never fire had beenfought before. Fire tugs drew up along the water front and threwimmense streams of water on to the flames of burning factories, warehouses and sheds. Blocks of buildings were blown up with powder, guncotton, anddynamite, or torn down by men armed with axes and ropes. All nightlong the struggle continued. Mayor Schmitz and Chief of Police Dinan, although without sleep for forty-eight hours, remained on the sceneall night to assist army and navy officers in directing the fight. At 7 o'clock Saturday morning, April 21, the battle was won. At thathour the fire was burning grain sheds on the water front about half amile north of the Ferry station, but was confined to a comparativelysmall area, and with the work of the fireboats on the bay and thefiremen on shore, who were using salt water pumped from the bay, prevented the flames from reaching the Ferry building and the docks inthat immediate vicinity. On the north beach the fire did not reach that part of the water frontlying west of the foot of Powell street. The fire on the water frontwas the only one burning. The entire western addition to the citylying west of Van Ness avenue, which escaped the sweep of flame onFriday, was absolutely safe. Forty carloads of supplies, which had been run upon the belt linetracks near one of the burned wharves, were destroyed during thenight. A survey of the water front Saturday morning showed that everythingexcept four docks had been swept clean from Fisherman's wharf, at thefoot of Powell street, to a point around westerly, almost to the Ferrybuilding. This means that nearly a mile of grain sheds, docks and wharves wereadded to the general destruction. In the section north of Marketstreet the ruined district was practically bounded on the west by VanNess avenue, although in many blocks the flames destroyed squares tothe west of that thoroughfare. The Van Ness avenue burned line runsnortherly to Greenwich street, which is a few blocks from the bay. Then the boundary was up over Telegraph Hill and down to that portionof the shore that faces Oakland. Practically everything includedbetween Market, Van Ness avenue, Greenwich, and the bay was in ashes. On the east side of Hyde street hill the fire burned down to Baystreet and Montgomery avenue and stopped at that intersection. Fort Mason was saved only by the most strenuous efforts of soldiersand firemen. It stands just north of the edge of the burned district, the flames having been checked only three blocks away at Greenwichstreet. All south of Market street except in the vicinity of the Pacific Maildock, was gone. This section is bounded on the north by Market streetand runs out to Guerrero street, goes out that street two blocks, turns west to Dolores, runs west six blocks to about Twenty-second, taking in four blocks on the other side of Dolores. The fire then tookan irregular course southward, spreading out as far as Twenty-fifthstreet and went down that way to the southerly bay shore. Maj. C. A. Devol, depot quartermaster and superintendent of thetransport service, graphically described the conquering of the fire onthe water front, in which he played an important part: "This fire, which ate its way down to the water front early Fridayafternoon, was the climax of the whole situation. "We realized at once that were the water front to go, San Franciscowould be shut off from the world, thus paralyzing all transportationfaculties for bringing in food and water to the thousands of refugeeshuddled on the hillsides from Fort Mason to Golden Gate Park. It wouldhave been impossible to either come in or go out of the city save byrow boats and floats, or by the blocked passage overland southward. "This all-important section of the city first broke into flames in ahollow near Meiggs wharf, about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. The tugsof our service were all busy transporting provisions from Oakland, butthe gravity of the situation made it necessary for all of them to turnto fire-fighting. "The flames ate down into the extensive lumber district, but had notcaught the dock line. Behind the dock, adjacent to the Spreckels sugarwarehouse and wharf, were hundreds of freight cars. Had these beenallowed to catch fire, the flames would have swept down the entirewater front to South San Francisco. "The climax came at Pier No. 9, and it was here that all energies werefocused. A large tug from Mare Island, two fire patrol boats, theSpreckels tugs and ten or twelve more, had lines of hose laid into theheart of the roaring furnace and were pumping from the bay to thelimit of their capacities. "About 5 o'clock I was told that the tugs were just about holdingtheir own and that more help would be needed. The Slocum and theMcDowell were at once ordered to the spot. I was on board the formerand at one time the heat of the fire was so great that it wasnecessary to play minor streams on the cabin and sides of the vesselto keep it from taking fire. We were in a slip surrounded by flames. "Our lines of hose once laid to the dockage, we found willing hands ofvolunteers waiting to carry the hose forward. I saw pale, hungry men, who probably had not slept for two days, hang on to the nozzle andplay the stream until they fell from exhaustion. Others took theirplaces and only with a very few exceptions was it necessary to useforce to command the assistance of citizens or onlookers. "All night the flames raged through the lumber district, and the firereached its worst about 3:30 o'clock Saturday morning. Daylight foundit under control. " All that was left of the proud Argonaut city was like a Crescent moonset about a black disk of shadow. A Saharan desolation of blackened, ash covered, twisted debris was all that remained of three-fifths ofthe city that four days ago stood like a sentinel in glittering, jeweled armor, guarding the Golden Gate to the Pacific. Men who had numbered their fortunes in the tens of thousands camped onthe ruins of their homes, eating as primitive men ate--gnawing;thinking as primitive men thought. Ashes and the dull pain of despairwere their portions. They did not have the volition to helpthemselves, childlike as the men of the stone age, they awaitedquiescent what the next hour might bring them. Fear they had none, because they had known the shape of fear forforty-eight hours and to them it had no more terrors. Men overworkedto the breaking point and women unnerved by hysteria dropped down onthe cooling ashes and slept where they lay, for had they not seen thetall steel skyscrapers burn like a torch? Had they not beheld thecataracts of flame fleeting unhindered up the broad avenues, and overthe solid blocks of the city? Fire had become a commonplace. Fear of fire had been blunted by theirterrible suffering, and although the soldiers roused the sleepers andwarned them against possible approaching flames, they would only yawn, wrap their blanket about them and stolidly move on to find some otherplace where they might drop and again slumber like men dead. As the work of clearing away the debris progressed it was found thatan overwhelming portion of the fatalities occurred in the cheaprooming house section of the city, where the frail hotels were crowdedat the time of the catastrophe. In one of these hotels alone, the five-story Brunswick rooming-houseat Sixth and Howard streets, it is believed that 300 people perished. The building had 300 rooms filled with guests. It collapsed to theground entirely and fire started amidst the ruins scarcely fiveminutes later. South of Market street, where the loss of life was greatest, waslocated many cheap and crowded lodging houses. Among others the cavingin of the Royal, corner Fourth and Minna streets, added to the horrorof the situation by the shrieks of its many scores of victims imbeddedin the ruins. The collapsing of the Porter House on Sixth street, between Missionand Market, came about in a similar manner. Fully sixty persons wereentombed midst the crash. Many of these were saved before the fireeventually crept to the scene. Part of the large Cosmopolitan House, corner Fifth and Missionstreets, collapsed at the very first tremble. Many of the sleeperswere buried in the ruins; other escaped in their night clothes. At 775 Mission street the Wilson House, with its four stories andeighty rooms, fell to the ground a mass of ruins. As far as known veryfew of the inmates were rescued. The Denver House on lower Third street, with its many rooms, sharedthe same fate and none may ever know how many were killed, themajority of the inmates being strangers. A small two-story frame building occupied by a man and wife at 405Jessie street collapsed without an instant's warning. Both werekilled. To the north of Market street the rooming-house people fared somewhatbetter. The Luxemburg, corner of Stockton and O'Farrell streets, athree-story affair, suffered severely from the falling of many tons ofbrick from an adjoining building. The falling mass crashed through thebuilding, killing a man and woman. At the Sutter street Turkish baths a brick chimney toppled over andcrashing through the roof killed one of the occupants as he lay on acot. Another close by, lying on another cot, escaped. [Illustration: =VIEW OF MARKET STREET, THE CENTRAL POINT OF THEDISASTER. = The tall building on the right is the Claus Spreckels building, in which the plant of the San Francisco Call is located; the next building beyond is the Examiner building and the last large building on the right is the Palace Hotel. The tall building on the left is a new sky scraper, erected on the old Baldwin Hotel site. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906, by American-Journal-Examiner. Allrights reserved. Any infractions of this copyright will be prosecutedto the full extent of the law. =LOOKING TOWARD THE FERRY FROM VALLEJO STREET. =] Two hundred bodies were found in the Potrero district, south ofShannon street in the vicinity of the Union Iron works, were crematedat the Six-Mile House, on Sunday by the order of Coroner Walsh. Someof the dead were the victims of falling buildings from the earthquakeshock, some were killed in the fire. So many dead were found in this limited area that cremation was deemedabsolutely necessary to prevent disease. The names of some of the deadwere learned, but in the majority of cases identification wasimpossible owing to the mutilation of the features. A systematic search for bodies of the victims of the earthquake andfire was made by the coroner and the state board of health inspectorsas soon as the ruins cooled sufficiently to permit a search. The body of an infant was found in the center of Union street, nearDupont street. Three bodies were found in the ruins of the house on Harrison streetbetween First and Second streets. They had been burned beyond allpossibility of identification. They were buried on the north beach atthe foot of Van Ness avenue. The body of a man was found in the middle of Silver street, betweenThird and Fourth streets. A bit of burned envelope was found in thepocket of the vest bearing the name "A. Houston. " The total number of bodies recovered and buried up to Sunday night was500. No complete record can ever be obtained as many bodies wereburied without permits from the coroner and the board of health. Whenever a body was found it was buried immediately without anyformality whatever and, as these burials were made at widely separatedparts of the city by different bodies of searchers, who did not evenmake a prompt report to headquarters, considerable confusion resultedin estimating the number of casualties and exaggerated reportsresulted. CHAPTER V. THE CITY OF A HUNDRED HILLS. =A Description of San Francisco, the Metropolis of the Pacific Coast Before the Fire--One of the Most Beautiful and Picturesque Cities in America--Home of the California Bonanza Kings. = San Francisco has had many soubriquets. It has been happily called the"City of a Hundred Hills, " and its title of the "Metropolis of theGolden Gate" is richly deserved. Its location is particularlyattractive, inasmuch as the peninsula it occupies is swept by thePacific Ocean on the west and the beautiful bay of San Francisco onthe north and east. The peninsula itself is thirty miles long and thesite of the city is six miles back from the ocean. It rests on theshore of San Francisco Bay, which, with its branches, covers over 600square miles, and for beauty and convenience for commerce is worthy ofits magnificent entrance--the Golden Gate. San Francisco was originally a mission colony. It is reported that"the site of the mission of San Francisco was selected because of itspolitical and commercial advantages. It was to be the nucleus of aseaport town that should serve to guard the dominion of Spain in itsvicinity. Most of the other missions were founded in the midst offertile valleys, inhabited by large numbers of Indians. " Both of thesefeatures were notably absent in San Francisco. Even the few Indiansthere in 1776 left upon the arrival of the friars and dragoons. Lateron some of them returned and others were added, the number increasingfrom 215 in 1783, to 1, 205 in 1813. This was the largest number everreported. Soon after the number began to decrease through epidemicsand emigration, until there was only 204 in 1832. The commercial life of San Francisco dates from 1835, when William A. Richardson, an Englishman, who had been living in Sausalito since1822, moved to San Francisco. He erected a tent and began thecollection of hides and tallow, by the use of two 30-ton schoonersleased from the missions, and which plied between San Jose and SanFrancisco. At that time Mr. Richardson was also captain of the port. Seventy-five years ago the white adult males, apart from the Missioncolony, consisted of sixteen persons. The local census of 1852 showeda population of 36, 000, and ten years later 90, 000. The last generalcensus of 1900 credits the city with a population of 343, 000. Theincrease in the last six years has been much greater than for theprevious five, and it is generally conceded that the population at thetime of the fire was about 425, 000. California was declared American territory by Commodore Sleat, atMonterey, on the 7th of July, 1846, who on that day caused theAmerican flag to be raised in that town. On the following day, underinstructions from the commodore, Captain Montgomery, of the war sloopPortsmouth, performed a similar service in Yerba Buena, by which namethe city afterwards christened San Francisco was then known. Thisceremony took place on the plot of ground, afterward set apart asPortsmouth Square, on the west line of Kearney street, between Clayand Washington. At that time and for some years afterwards, the watersof the bay at high tide, came within a block of the spot where thisservice occurred. This was a great event in the history of the UnitedStates, and it has grown in importance and in appreciative remembrancefrom that day to the present, as the accumulative evidence abundantlyshows. Referring to the change in name from Yerba Buena to San Francisco, in1847, a writer says: "A site so desirable for a city, formed by naturefor a great destiny on one of the finest bays in the world, lookingout upon the greatest, the richest, and the most pacific of oceans--inthe very track of empire--in the healthiest of latitudes--such a sitecould not fail to attract the attention of the expanding Saxon race. Commerce hastened it, the discovery of gold consummated it. " Modern San Francisco had its birth following the gold discoverieswhich led to the construction of the Central Pacific railway, andproduced a vast number of very wealthy men known by the general titleof California Bonanza Kings. San Francisco became the home andheadquarters of these multi-millionaires, and large sums of theirimmense fortunes were invested in palatial residences and businessblocks. The bonanza king residence section was Nob Hill, an eminence near thebusiness part of the city. In the early days of San Francisco's growth and soon after the CentralPacific railroad had been built by Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, Collis P. Huntington and the others who devoted the bestpart of their lives to the project of crossing the mountains by railthis hill was selected as the most desirable spot in the city for theerection of homes for the use of wealthy pioneers. The eminence is situated northwest of the business section of the cityand commands a view of the bay and all adjacent territory with theexception of the Pacific Ocean, Russian Hill, Pacific Heights andseveral other high spots obscuring the view toward the west. Far removed above the din and noise of the city Charles Crocker wasthe first to erect his residence on the top of this historic hillwhich afterward became known as Nob Hill. The Crocker home was builtof brick and wood originally, but in later years granite staircases, pillars and copings were substituted. In its time it was looked uponas the most imposing edifice in the city and for that reason thebusiness associates of the railroad magnate decided to vie with him inthe building of their homes. Directly across from the Crocker residence on California street LelandStanford caused to be built a residence structure that was intendedto be the most ornate in the western metropolis. It was a veritablepalace and it was within its walls that the boyhood days of LelandStanford, Jr. , after whom the university is named, were spent inluxurious surroundings. After the death of the younger Stanford amemorial room was set apart and the parents permitted no one to enterthis except a trusted man servant who had been in the family for manyyears. But the Stanford residence was relegated to the background as anobject of architectural beauty when Mark Hopkins invaded the sacredprecincts of Nob Hill and erected the residence which he occupied forthree or four years. At his death the palatial building was deeded tothe California Art Institute and as a tribute to the memory of thesturdy pioneer the building was called the Hopkins Institute of Art. Its spacious rooms were laden with the choicest works of art on thePacific coast and the building and its contents were at all times asource of interest to the thousands of tourists who visited the city. The late Collis P. Huntington was the next of the millionaires of SanFrancisco to locate upon the crest of Nob Hill. Within a block of theCrocker, Stanford and Hopkins palaces this railroad magnate of thewest erected a mansion of granite and marble that caused all theothers to be thrown in the shade. Its exterior was severe in itssimplicity, but to those who were fortunate to gain entrance to theinterior the sight was one never to be forgotten. The palaces ofEurope could not excel it and for several years Huntington and hiswife were its only occupants aside from the army of servants requiredto keep the house and grounds in order. Not to be outdone by the railroad magnates of the city the next toacquire property on the crest of the hill was James Flood, the"bonanza king" and partner with William O'Brien, the names of bothbeing closely interwoven with the early history of California and theComstock lode. After having paid a visit to the east the millionairemine owner became impressed with the brown stone fronts of New Yorkand outdone his neighbors by erecting the only brown stone structurein San Francisco. It was in this historic hilltop also that James G. Fair laid thefoundation of a residence that was intended to surpass anything in thesacred precincts, but before the foundations had been completeddomestic troubles resulted in putting a stop to building operationsand it is on this site that Mrs. Hermann Oelrichs, daughter of thelate millionaire mine owner, erected the palatial Fairmont hotel, which was one of the most imposing edifices in San Francisco. The old San Francisco is dead. The gayest, lightest hearted, mostpleasure loving city of this continent, and in many ways the mostinteresting and romantic, is a horde of huddled refugees living amongruins. But those who have known that peculiar city by the Golden Gateand have caught its flavor of the Arabian Nights feel that it cannever be the same. It is as though a pretty, frivolous woman hadpassed through a great tragedy. She survives, but she is sobered anddifferent. When it rises out of the ashes it will be a modern city, much like other cities and without its old flavor. The city lay on a series of hills and the lowlands between. Thesehills are really the end of the Coast Range of mountains which liebetween the interior valleys and the ocean to the south. To its rearwas the ocean; but the greater part of the town fronted on two sideson San Francisco Bay, a body of water always tinged with gold from thegreat washings of the mountains, usually overhung with a haze, and ofmagnificent color changes. Across the bay to the north lies MountTamalpais, about 5, 000 feet high, and so close that ferries from thewater front took one in less than half an hour to the little towns ofSausalito and Belvidere, at its foot. It is a wooded mountain, with ample slopes, and from it on the northstretch away ridges of forest land, the outposts of the great Northernwoods of Sequoia semperrirens. This mountain and the mountainouscountry to the south brought the real forest closer to San Franciscothan to any other American city. Within the last few years men have killed deer on the slopes ofTamalpais and looked down to see the cable cars crawling up the hillsof San Francisco to the north. In the suburbs coyotes still stole androbbed hen roosts by night. The people lived much out of doors. Therewas no time of the year, except a short part of the rainy season, whenthe weather kept one from the woods. The slopes of Tamalpais werecrowded with little villas dotted through the woods, and those minorestates ran far up into the redwood country. The deep coves ofBelvidere, sheltered by the wind from Tamalpais, held a colony of"arks" or houseboats, where people lived in the rather disagreeablesummer months, going over to business every day by ferry. Everythinginvited out of doors. The climate of California is peculiar; it is hard to give animpression of it. In the first place, all the forces of nature work onlaws of their own in that part of California. There is no thunder orlightning; there is no snow, except a flurry once in five or sixyears; there are perhaps a dozen nights in the winter when thethermometer drops low enough so that there is a little film of ice onexposed water in the morning. Neither is there any hot weather. Yetmost Easterners remaining in San Francisco for a few days rememberthat they were always chilly. For the Gate is a big funnel, drawing in the winds and the mists whichcool off the great, hot interior valleys of the San Joaquin andSacramento. So the west wind blows steadily ten months of the year andalmost all the mornings are foggy. This keeps the temperature steadyat about 55 degrees--a little cool for comfort of an unacclimatedperson, especially indoors. Californians, used to it, hardly everthought of making fires in their houses except in the few exceptionaldays of the winter season, and then they relied mainly uponfireplaces. This is like the custom of the Venetians and theFlorentines. But give an Easterner six months of it and he too learns to existwithout a chill in a steady temperature a little lower than that towhich he is accustomed at home. After that one goes about with perfectindifference to the temperature. Summer and winter San Francisco womenwore light tailor-made clothes, and men wore the same fall weightsuits all the year around. There is no such thing as a change ofclothing for the seasons. And after becoming acclimated these peoplefound the changes from hot to cold in the normal regions of the earthhard to bear. Perhaps once in two or three years there comes a daywhen there is no fog, no wind and a high temperature in the coastdistrict. Then there is hot weather, perhaps up in the eighties, andCalifornians grumble, swelter and rustle for summer clothes. Theserare hot days were the only times when one saw on the streets of SanFrancisco women in light dresses. Along in early May the rains cease. At that time everything is greenand bright and the great golden poppies, as large as the saucer of anafter dinner coffee cup, are blossoming everywhere. Tamalpais is greento its top; everything is washed and bright. By late May a yellowtinge is creeping over the hills. This is followed by a golden Juneand a brown July and August. The hills are burned and dry. The fogcomes in heavily, too; and normally this is the most disagreeableseason of the year. September brings a day or two of gentle rain; andthen a change, as sweet and mysterious as the breaking of spring inthe East, comes over the hills. The green grows through the brown andthe flowers begin to come out. As a matter of fact, the unpleasantness of summer is modified by thecertainty that one can go anywhere without fear of rain. And in allthe coast mountains, especially the seaward slopes, the dews and theshelter of the giant underbrush keep the water so that these areas aregreen and pleasant all summer. [Illustration: =MARK HOPKINS INSTITUTE, NOB HILL. = This Institute which crowned Nob Hill in San Francisco was originally the residence of Mark Hopkins of Central Pacific fame. Nob Hill was noted for Palatial Homes. They were destroyed by the fire. ] [Illustration: =UNITED STATES MINT AND SUB-TREASURY, SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. = This building, which had some $39, 000, 000 stored in it, remained intact. ] [Illustration: =NEW POSTOFFICE BUILDING. = This costly and handsome structure was destroyed by fire. ] [Illustration: =JEFFERSON SQUARE. = All of the buildings shown in the background were destroyed. Tents were erected in this square to shelter the homeless. ] In a normal year the rains begin to fall heavily in November; therewill be three or four days of steady downpour and then a clearand green week. December is also likely to be rainy; and in this monthpeople enjoy the sensation of gathering for Christmas the mistletoewhich grows profusely on the live oaks, while the poppies arebeginning to blossom at their feet. By the end of January the rainscome lighter. In the long spaces between rains there is a temperatureand a feeling in the air much like that of Indian summer in the East. January is the month when the roses are at their brightest. So much for the strange climate, which invites out of doors and whichhas played its part in making the character of the people. Theexternals of the city are--or were, for they are no more--just ascurious. One usually entered the city by way of San Francisco Bay. Across its yellow flood, covered with the fleets from the strange seasof the Pacific, San Francisco presented itself in a hill panorama. Probably no other city of the world could be so viewed and inspectedat first sight. It rose above the passenger, as he reached dockage, ina succession of hill terraces. At one side was Telegraph Hill, the end of the peninsula, a height soabrupt that it had a 200 foot sheer cliff on its seaward frontage. Further along lay Nob Hill, crowned with the Mark Hopkins mansion, which had the effect of a citadel, and in later years by the great, white Fairmount. Further along was Russian Hill, the highest point. Below was the business district, whose low site caused all thetrouble. Except for the modern buildings, the fruit of the last ten years, thetown presented at first sight a disreputable appearance. Most of thebuildings were low and of wood. In the middle period of the '70s, whena great part of San Francisco was building, there was some atrociousarchitecture perpetrated. In that time, too, every one put bow windowson his house, to catch all of the morning sunlight that was comingthrough the fog, and those little houses, with bow windows and fancywork all down their fronts, were characteristic of the middle classresidence district. Then the Italians, who tumbled over Telegraph Hill, had built as theylisted and with little regard for streets, and their houses hungcrazily on a side hill which was little less than a precipice. For themost part, the Chinese, although they occupied an abandoned businessdistrict, had remade the houses Chinese fashion, and the Mexicans andSpaniards had added to their houses those little balconies withoutwhich life is not life to a Spaniard. Yet the most characteristic thing after all was the coloring. For thesea fog had a trick of painting every exposed object a sea gray whichhad a tinge of dull green in it. This, under the leaden sky of a SanFrancisco morning, had a depressing effect on first sight andafterward became a delight to the eye. For the color was soft, gentleand infinitely attractive in mass. The hills are steep beyond conception. Where Vallejo street ran upRussian Hill it progressed for four blocks by regular steps like aflight of stairs. It is unnecessary to say that no teams ever came upthis street or any other like it, and grass grew long among the pavingstones until the Italians who live thereabouts took advantage of thisto pasture a cow or two. At the end of the four blocks, the pavers hadgiven it up and the last stage to the summit was a winding path. Onthe very top, a colony of artists lived in little villas of houseswhose windows got the whole panorama of the bay. Luckily for thesepeople, a cable car climbed the hill on the other side, so that it wasnot much of a climb to home. With these hills, with the strangeness of the architecture and withthe green gray tinge over everything, the city fell always into vistasand pictures, a setting for the romance which hung over everything, which always hung over life in San Francisco since the padres came andgathered the Indians about Mission Dolores. And it was a city of romance and a gateway to adventure. It openedout on the mysterious Pacific, the untamed ocean, and most of China, Japan, the South Sea Islands, Lower California, the west coast ofCentral America, Australia that came to this country passed in throughthe Golden Gate. There was a sprinkling, too, of Alaska and Siberia. From his windows on Russian Hill one saw always something strange andsuggestive creeping through the mists of the bay. It would be a SouthSea Island brig, bringing in copra, to take out cottons and idols; aChinese junk with fanlike sails, back from an expedition after sharks'livers; an old whaler, which seemed to drip oil, back from a year ofcruising in the Arctic. Even the tramp windjammers were deep chestedcraft, capable of rounding the Horn or of circumnavigating the globe;and they came in streaked and picturesque from their long voyaging. In the orange colored dawn which always comes through the mists ofthat bay, the fishing fleet would crawl in under triangular lateensails, for the fishermen of San Francisco Bay were all Neapolitans whobrought their customers and their customs and sail with lateen rigsshaped like the ear of a horse when the wind fills them and stained anorange brown. Along the water front the people of these craft met. "The smelting potof the races, " Stevenson called it; and this was always the city ofhis soul. There are black Gilbert Islanders, almost indistinguishablefrom Negroes; lighter Kanakas from Hawaii or Samoa; Lascars inturbans; thickset Russian sailors; wild Chinese with unbraided hair;Italian fishermen in tam o' shanters, loud shirts and blue sashes;Greeks, Alaska Indians, little bay Spanish-Americans, together withmen of all the European races. These came in and out from among thequeer craft, to lose themselves in the disreputable, tumbledown, butalways mysterious shanties and small saloons. In the back rooms ofthese saloons South Sea Island traders and captains, fresh from thelands of romance, whaling masters, people who were trying to get uptreasure expeditions, filibusters, Alaskan miners, used to meet andtrade adventures. There was another element, less picturesque and equallycharacteristic, along the water front. For San Francisco was the backeddy of European civilization--one end of the world. The drifters camethere and stopped, lingered a while to live by their wits in a countrywhere living after a fashion has always been marvellously cheap. Thesepeople haunted the water front or lay on the grass on PortsmouthSquare. That square, the old plaza about which the city was built, Spanishfashion, had seen many things. There in the first burst of the earlydays the vigilance committee used to hold its hangings. There in thetime of the sand lot riots Dennis Kearney, who nearly pulled the towndown about his ears, used to make his orations which set the unruly torioting. In these later years Chinatown laid on one side of it and theLatin quarter and the "Barbary Coast" on the other. On this square men used to lie all day long and tell strange yarns. Stevenson lay there with them in his time and learned the things whichhe wrote into "The Wrecker" and his South Sea stories, and in thecenter of the square there stood the beautiful Stevenson monument. Inlater years the authorities put up a municipal building on one side ofthis square and prevented the loungers, for decency's sake, from lyingon the grass. Since then some of the peculiar character of the oldplaza had gone. The Barbary Coast was a loud bit of hell. No one knows who coined thename. The place was simply three blocks of solid dance halls, therefor the delight of the sailors of the world. On a fine busy nightevery door blared loud dance music from orchestra, steam pianos andgramophones and the cumulative effect of the sound which reached thestreet was at least strange. Almost anything might be happening behindthe swinging doors. For a fine and picturesque bundle of namescharacteristic of the place, a police story of three or four years agois typical. Hell broke out in the Eye Wink Dance Hall. The troublewas started by a sailor known as Kanaka Pete, who lived in the WhatCheer House, over a woman known as Iodoform Kate. Kanaka Pete chasedthe man he had marked to the Little Silver Dollar, where he turned andpunctured him. The by-product of his gun made some holes in the frontof the Eye Wink, which were proudly kept as souvenirs, and wereprobably there until it went out in the fire. This was low life, thelowest of the low. Until the last decade almost anything except the commonplace and theexpected might happen to a man on the water front. The cheerfulindustry of shanghaiing was reduced to a science. A stranger taking adrink in one of the saloons which hung out over the water might bedropped through the floor into a boat, or he might drink with astranger and wake in the forecastle of a whaler bound for the Arctic. Such an incident is the basis of Frank Norris's novel, "Moran of theLady Letty, " and although the novel draws it pretty strong, it is notexaggerated. Ten years ago the police and the foreign consuls, workingtogether, stopped this. Kearney street, a wilder and stranger Bowery, was the mainthoroughfare of these people. An exiled Californian, mourning over thecity of his heart, said recently: "In a half an hour of Kearney street I could raise a dozen men for anywild adventure, from pulling down a statue to searching for the CocosIsland treasure. " This is hardly an exaggeration. These are a few of the elements which made the city strange and gaveit the glamour of romance which has so strongly attracted such men asStevenson, Frank Norris and Kipling. This lay apart from the regularlife of the city, which was distinctive in itself. The Californian is the second generation of a picked and mixed stock. The merry, the adventurous, often the desperate, always the brave, deserted the South and New England in 1849 to rush around the Horn orto try the perils of the plains. They found there already grown old inthe hands of the Spaniards younger sons of hidalgos and many of themof the proudest blood of Spain. To a great extent the pioneersintermarried with Spanish women; in fact, except for a proud littlecolony here and there, the old Spanish blood is sunk in that of theconquering race. Then there was an influx of intellectual Frenchpeople, largely overlooked in the histories of the early days; andthis Latin leaven has had its influence. Brought up in a bountiful country, where no one really has to workvery hard to live, nurtured on adventure, scion of a free and merrystock, the real, native Californian is a distinctive type; so far fromthe Easterner in psychology as the extreme Southerner is from theYankee. He is easy going, witty, hospitable, lovable, inclined to beunmoral rather than immoral in his personal habits, and above all easyto meet and to know. Above all there is an art sense all through the populace which sets itoff from any other part of the country. This sense is almost Latin inits strength, and the Californian owes it to the leaven of Latinblood. The true Californian lingers in the north; for southernCalifornia has been built up by "lungers" from the East and middleWest and is Eastern in character and feeling. With such a people life was always gay. If they did not show it on thestreets, as do the people of Paris, it was because the winds made opencafes disagreeable at all seasons of the year. The gayety went onindoors or out on the hundreds of estates that fringed the city. Itwas noted for its restaurants. Perhaps the very best for people whocare not how they spend their money could not be had there, but for adollar, 75 cents, 50 cents, a quarter or even 15 cents the restaurantsafforded the best fare on earth at the price. If one should tell exactly what could be had at Coppa's for 50 centsor at the Fashion for, say, 35, no New Yorker who has not been therewould believe it. The San Francisco French dinner and the SanFrancisco free lunch were as the Public Library to Boston or the stockyards to Chicago. A number of causes contributed to this consummation. The country all about produced everything that a cook needed and thatin abundance--the bay was an almost untapped fishing pond, the fruitfarms came up to the very edge of the town, and the surroundingcountry produced in abundance fine meats, all cereals and allvegetables. But the chefs who came from France in the early days and liked thisland of plenty were the head and front of it. They passed on their artto other Frenchmen or to the clever Chinese. Most of the French chefsat the biggest restaurants were born in Canton, China. Later theItalians, learning of this country where good food is appreciated, came and brought their own style. Householders always dined out one ortwo nights of the week, and boarding houses were scarce, for theunattached preferred the restaurants. The eating was usually betterthan the surroundings. Meals that were marvels were served in tumbledown little hotels. Mostfamous of all the restaurants was the Poodle Dog. There have been noless than four restaurants of this name, beginning with a frame shantywhere, in the early days, a prince of French cooks used to exchangeragouts for gold dust. Each succeeding restaurant of the name hasmoved further downtown; and the recent Poodle Dog stood on the edge ofthe Tenderloin in a modern five story building. And it typified acertain spirit that there was in San Francisco. For on the ground floor was a public restaurant where there was servedthe best dollar dinner on earth. It ranked with the best and theothers were in San Francisco. Here, especially on Sunday night, almosteverybody went to vary the monotony of home cooking. Every one who wasany one in the town could be seen there off and on. It was perfectlyrespectable. A man might take his wife and daughter there. On the second floor there were private dining rooms, and to dinethere, with one or more of the opposite sex, was risque but notespecially terrible. But the third floor--and the fourth floor--andthe fifth. The elevator man of the Poodle Dog, who had held the jobfor many years and never spoke unless spoken to, wore diamonds and wasa heavy investor in real estate. There were others as famous in theirway--the Zinka, where, at one time, every one went after the theatre, and Tate's the Palace Grill, much like the grills of Eastern hotels, except for the price; Delmonico's, which ran the Poodle Dog neck andneck in its own line, and many others, humbler but great at the price. The city never went to bed. There was no closing law, so that thesaloons kept open nights and Sundays, at their own sweet will. Most ofthem elected to remain open until 3 o'clock in the morning at least. Yet this restaurant life did not exactly express the careless, pleasure loving character of the people. In great part their pleasureswere simple, inexpensive and out of doors. No people were fonder ofexpeditions into the country, of picnics--which might be brought offat almost any season of the year--and often long tours in the greatmountains and forests. And hospitality was nearly a vice. [Illustration: =CHRONICLE BUILDING. = (An old landmark. )] [Illustration: =ST. FRANCIS HOTEL, SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. = (Destroyed by fire. )] [Illustration: =FERRY HOUSE, WHERE INJURED ARE LEAVING CITY. = This is the station of the greatest ferry in the world, just outside the fire belt in San Francisco. Hundreds of refugees have been taken from it to Oakland and other points. ] As in the early mining days, if they liked the stranger the peopletook him in. At the first meeting the local man probably had him putup at the club; at the second, he invited him home to dinner. As longas he stayed he was being invited to week end parties at ranches, tolittle dinners in this or that restaurant and to the houses of his newacquaintances, until his engagements grew beyond hope of fulfillment. There was rather too much of it. At the end of a fortnight a strangerwith a pleasant smile and a good story left the place a wreck. Thistendency ran through all grades of society--except, perhaps, thesporting people who kept the tracks and the fighting game alive. These also met the stranger--and also took him in. Centers of men of hospitality were the clubs, especially the famousBohemian and the Family. The latter was an offshoot of the Bohemian, which had been growing fast and vieing with the older organization forthe honor of entertaining pleasing and distinguished visitors. The Bohemian Club, whose real founder is said to have been the lateHenry George, was formed in the '70s by a number of newspaper writersand men working in the arts or interested in them. It had grown to amembership of 750. It still kept for its nucleus painters, writers, musicians and actors, amateur and professional. They were a gay groupof men, and hospitality was their avocation. Yet the thing which setthis club off from all others in the world was the midsummer HighJinks. The club owns a fine tract of redwood forest fifty miles north of SanFrancisco, on the Russian River. There are two varieties of big treesin California: the Sequoia gigantea and the Sequoia sempervirens. Thegreat trees of the Mariposa grove belong to the gigantea species. Thesempervirens, however, reaches the diameter of 16 feet, and some ofthe greatest trees of this species are in the Bohemian Club grove. Itlies in a cleft of the mountains; and up one hillside there runs anatural out of door stage of remarkable acoustic properties. In August the whole Bohemian Club, or such as could get away frombusiness, went up to this grove and camp out for two weeks. And on thelast night they put on the Jinks proper, a great spectacle with poeticwords, music and effects done by the club, in praise of the forest. Inlate years this had been practically a masque or an opera. It costabout $10, 000. It took the spare time of scores of men for weeks; yetthese 700 business men, professional men, artists, newspaper workers, struggled for the honor of helping out on the Jinks; and the wholething was done naturally and with reverence. It would hardly bepossible anywhere else in this country; the thing which made itpossible is the art spirit which is in the Californian. It runs in theblood. Some one has been collecting statistics which prove this point. "Who'sWho in America" is long on the arts and on learning and comparativelyweak in business and the professions. Now some one who has taken thetrouble has found that more persons mentioned in "Who's Who" by thethousand of the population were born in Massachusetts than in anyother State; but that Massachusetts is crowded closely by California, with the rest nowhere. The institutions of learning in Massachusettsaccount for her pre-eminence; the art spirit does it for California. The really big men nurtured on California influence are few, perhaps;but she has sent out an amazing number of good workers in painting, inauthorship, in music and especially in acting. "High Society" in San Francisco had settled down from the rather wildspirit of the middle period; it had come to be there a good deal as itis elsewhere. There was much wealth; and the hills of the westernaddition were growing up with fine mansions. Outside of the city, atBurlingame, there was a fine country club centering a region ofcountry estates which stretched out to Menlo Park. This club had agood polo team, which played every year with teams of Englishmen fromsouthern California and even with teams from Honolulu. The foreign quarters were worth a chapter in themselves. Chief ofthese was, of course, Chinatown, of which every one has heard who everheard of San Francisco. A district six blocks long and two blockswide, when the quarter was full, housed 30, 000 Chinese. The dwellingswere old business blocks of the early days; but the Chinese had addedto them, rebuilt them, had run out their own balconies and entrances, and had given it that feeling of huddled irregularity which makes allChinese built dwellings fall naturally into pictures. Not only this, they had burrowed to a depth equal to three stories under the ground, and through this ran passages in which the Chinese transacted theirdark and devious affairs--as the smuggling of opium, the traffic inslave girls and the settlement of their difficulties. There was less of this underground life than formerly, for the Boardof Health had a cleanup some time ago; but it was still possible to gofrom one end of Chinatown to the other through secret undergroundpassages. The Chinese lived there their own life in their own way. TheChinatown of New York is dull beside it. And the tourist, who alwaysincluded Chinatown in his itinerary, saw little of the real life. Theguides gave him a show by actors hired for his benefit. In reality theplace had considerable importance in a financial way. There wereclothing and cigar factories of importance, and much of the tea andsilk importing was in the hands of the merchants, who numbered severalmillionaires. Mainly, however, it was a Tenderloin for the houseservants of the city--for the San Francisco Chinaman was seldom alaundryman; he was too much in demand at fancy prices as a servant. The Chinese lived their own lives in their own way and settled theirown quarrels with the revolvers of their highbinders. There were twotheaters in the quarter, a number of rich joss houses, threenewspapers and a Chinese telephone exchange. There is a race feelingagainst the Chinese among the working people of San Francisco, and nowhite man, except the very lowest outcasts, lived in the quarter. On the slopes of Telegraph Hill dwelt the Mexicans and Spanish, in lowhouses, which they had transformed by balconies into a resemblance ofSpain. Above, and streaming over the hill, were the Italians. Thetenement quarter of San Francisco shone by contrast with that of NewYork, for while these people lived in old and humble houses they hadroom to breathe and a high eminence for light and air. Their shantiesclung on the side of the hill or hung on the very edge of theprecipice overlooking the bay, on the edge of which a wall kept theirbabies from falling. The effect was picturesque, and this hill wasthe delight of painters. It was all more like Italy than anything inthe Italian quarter of New York and Chicago--the very climate andsurroundings, wine country close at hand, the bay for their lateenboats, helped them. Over by the ocean and surrounded by cemeteries in which there are nomore burials, there is an eminence which is topped by two peaks andwhich the Spanish of the early days named after the breasts of awoman. At its foot was Mission Dolores, the last mission planted bythe Spanish padres in their march up the coast, and from these hillsthe Spanish looked for the first time upon the golden bay. Many years ago some one set up at the summit of this peak a sixty footcross of timber. Once a high wind blew it down, and the women of theFair family then had it restored so firmly that it would resistanything. As it is on a hill it must have stood. It has risen forfifty years above the gay, careless, luxuriant and lovable city, infull view from every eminence and from every alley. It must stand nowabove the desolation of ruins. CHAPTER VI. SCENES OF TERROR, DEATH AND HEROISM. =Thrilling Escapes and Deeds of Daring--Sublime Bravery and Self-Sacrifice by Men and Women--How the United States Mint and the Treasuries Were Saved and Protected by Devoted Employes and Soldiers--Pathetic Street Incidents--Soldiers and Police Compel Fashionably Attired to Assist in Cleaning Streets--Italians Drench Homes with Wine. = The week succeeding the quake was a remarkable one in the history ofthe country. For a day or two the people had been horror-stricken bythe tales of suffering and desolation on the Pacific coast, but as thetruth became known they arose equal to the occasion. And not all the large amounts contributed were confined to thoseranked as the great and strong of the nation. The laborers, too, banded together and sent large contributions. The members of theUnited Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of Indianapolis realizedtheir brethren would be in dire need and they sent $10, 000. The UnitedMineworkers sent $1, 000, and several other labor organizations wereequally generous. During even the most awful moments of the catastrophe men and womenwith sublimest heroism faced the most threatening terrors and dangersto assist, to rescue and to save. Everywhere throughout the cityscenes of daring, self-sacrifice and bravery were witnessed andthrilling escapes from imminent death aroused enthusiasm as well ashorror. A landmark of San Francisco which escaped destruction, though everybuilding around it was destroyed, is the United States Mint at thecorner of Fifth and Mission streets. Harold French, an employe of themint, gave a graphic account of how the flames were successfullyfought. "Nearly $200, 000, 000 in coin and bullion, " said Mr. French, "is storedin the vaults of the mint and for the preservation of this prize adevoted band of employes, re-enforced by regular soldiers, foughtuntil the baffled flames fled to the conquest of stately blocks ofso-called fireproof buildings. "For seven hours a sea of fire surged around this grand old federaledifice, attacking it on all sides with waves of fierce heat. Itslittle garrison was cut off from retreat for hours at a time, had sucha course been thought of by those on guard. "Iron shutters shielded the lower floors, but the windows of the upperstory, on which are located the refinery and assay office, wereexposed. "When the fire leaped Mint avenue in solid masses of flames therefinery men stuck to their windows as long as the glass remained inthe frames. Seventy-five feet of an inch hose played a slender streamupon the blazing window sill, while the floor was awash with dilutedsulphuric acid. Ankle deep in this soldiers and employes stuck to thefloor until the windows shattered. With a roar, the tongues of firelicked greedily the inner walls. Blinding and suffocating smokenecessitated the abandonment of the hose and the fighters retreated tothe floor below. "Then came a lull. There was yet a fighting chance, so back to theupper story the fire-fighters returned, led by Superintendent Leach. At length the mint was pronounced out of danger and a handful ofexhausted but exultant employes stumbled out on the hot cobblestone tolearn the fate of some of their homes. " * * * * * A number of men were killed while attempting to loot the United StatesMint, where $39, 000, 000 was kept, while thirty-four white men wereshot and killed by troops in a raid on the ruins of the burned UnitedStates Treasury. Several millions of dollars are in the treasuryruins. * * * * * Among the many pathetic incidents of the fire was that of a woman whosat at the foot of Van Ness avenue on the hot sands on the hillsideoverlooking the bay east of Fort Mason with four little children, theyoungest a girl of 3, the eldest a boy of 10. They were destitute of water, food and money. The woman had fled withher children from a home in flames in the Mission street district andtramped to the bay in the hope of sighting the ship, which she saidwas about due, of which her husband was the captain. "He would know me anywhere, " she said. And she would not move, although a young fellow gallantly offered his tent back on a vacantlot in which to shelter her children. In a corner of the plaza a band of men and women were praying, and onefanatic, driven crazy by horror, was crying out at the top of hisvoice: "The Lord sent it--the Lord!" His hysterical crying got on the nerves of the soldiers and bade fairto start a panic among the women and children. A sergeant went overand stopped it by force. All night they huddled together in this hell, with the fire making it bright as day on all sides, and in themorning, the soldiers using their sense again, commandeered a supplyof bread from a bakery, sent out another water squad, and fed therefugees with a semblance of breakfast. A few Chinese made their way into the crowd. They were trembling, pitifully scared, and willing to stop wherever the soldiers placedthem. * * * * * The soldiers and the police forced every available man in the downtowndistrict to work, no matter where they were found or under whatconditions. One party of four finely dressed men that came downtown inan automobile were stopped by the soldiers and were ordered out of themachine and compelled to assist in clearing the debris from Marketstreet. Then the automobile was loaded with provisions and sent out torelieve the hungry people in the parks. One young man who was pressed into service by the soldiers, came cladin a fashionable summer suit, straw hat and kid gloves. * * * * * An incident of the fire in the Latin quarter on the slope of TelegraphHill is worthy of note. The only available water supply was found in awell dug in early days. At a critical moment the pump suddenly suckeddry and the water in the well was exhausted. "There is a last chance, boys!" was shouted and Italian residentscrashed in their cellar doors with axes and, calling for assistance, began rolling out barrels of red wine. The cellars gave forth barrel after barrel until there was fully 500gallons ready for use. Then barrel heads were smashed in and thebucket brigade turned from water to wine. Sacks were dipped in thewine and used for beating out the fire. Beds were stripped of theirblankets and these were soaked in the wine and hung over the exposedportions of the cottages and men on the roofs drenched the shinglesand sides of the house with wine. Past huddled groups of sleepers an unending stream of refugees wasseen wending their way to the ferry, dragging trunks over the unevenpavement by ropes tethered to wheelbarrows laden with the householdlares and penates. The bowed figures crept about the water and ruinsand looked like the ghosts about the ruins of Troy, and unheeding savewhere instinct prompted them to make a detour about some still burningheap of ruins. At the ferry the sleepers lay in windrows, each man resting his headupon some previous treasures that he had brought from his home. No onewas able to fear thieves or to escape pillage, because of absolutephysical inertia forced upon him. Mad, wholly stark mad, were some of the unfortunates who had not fledfrom the ruins. In many instances the soldiers were forced to tear menand women away from the bodies of their dead. Two women were stoppedwithin a distance of a few blocks and forced to give up the deadbodies of their babes, which they were nursing to their bosoms. A newsgatherer passing through Portsmouth square noticed a mothercowering under a bush. She was singing in a quavering voice a lullabyto her baby. The reporter parted the bushes and looked in. Then he sawwhat she held in her arms was only a mangled and reddened bit offlesh. The baby had been crushed when the shock of earthquake came andits mother did not know that its life had left it thirty hours before. * * * * * When law and order were strained a crew of hell rats crept out oftheir holes and in the flamelight plundered and reveled inbacchanalian orgies like the infamous inmates of Javert in "LesMiserables. " These denizens of the sewer traps and purlieus of "TheBarbary Coast" exulted in unhindered joy of doing evil. Sitting crouched among the ruins or sprawling on the still warmpavement they could be seen brutally drunk. A demijohn of wine placedon a convenient corner of some ruin was a shrine at which theyworshiped. They toasted chunks of sausage over the dying coals of thecooling ruin even as they drank, and their songs of revelry wereechoed from wall to wall down in the burnt Mission district. Some of the bedizened women of the half world erected tents andchampagne could be had for the asking, although water had its price. One of these women, dressed in pink silk with high heeled satinslippers on her feet, walked down the length of what had been Natomastreet with a bucket of water and a dipper, and she gave the preciousfluid freely to those stricken ones huddled there by their householdgoods and who had not tasted water in twenty-four hours. "Let them drink and be happy, " said she, "water tastes better thanbeer to them now. " * * * * * Soon after the earthquake San Francisco was practically placed undermartial law with Gen. Fred Funston commanding and later Gen. Greely. The regiment has proven effective in subduing anarchy and preventingthe depredations of looters. A detail of troops helped the police toguard the streets and remove people to places of safety. The martial law dispensed was of the sternest. They have no recordsexisting of the number of executions which had been meted out tooffenders. It is known that more than one sneaking vandal suffered fordisobedience of the injunction given against entering deserted houses. There was a sharp, businesslike precision about the American soldierthat stood San Francisco in good stead. The San Francisco water ratthug and "Barbary Coast" pirate might flout a policeman, but hediscovered that he could not disobey a man who wears Uncle Sam'suniform without imminent risk of being counted in that abstractmortuary list usually designated as "unknown dead. " For instance: When Nob Hill was the crest of a huge wave of flame, soldiers were directing the work of saving the priceless art treasuresfrom the Mark Hopkins institute. Lieut. C. C. McMillan of the revenue cutter Bear impressed volunteersat the point of a pistol to assist in saving the priceless arttreasures which the building housed. "Here you, " barked Lieutenant McMillan to the great crowd of dazedmen, "get in there and carry out those paintings. " "What business have you got to order us about?" said a burly citizenwith the jowl of a Bill Sykes. The lieutenant gave a significant hitch to his arm and the burly mansaw a revolver was hanging from the forefinger of the lieutenant'sright hand. "Look here, " said the lieutenant. "You see this gun? Well, I think itis aimed at your right eye. Now, come here. I want to have a littletalk with you. " The tough stared for a moment and then the shade of fear crept overhis face, and with an "All right, boss, " he started in upon the laborof recovering the art treasures from the institute. "This is martial law, " said the determined lieutenant. "I don't likeit, you may not like it, but it goes. I think that is understood. " * * * * * John H. Ryan and wife of Chicago after spending their honeymoon inHonolulu and Jamaica reached San Francisco just before the earthquake. They were stopping at the St. Francis Hotel, which was destroyedpartially by the earthquake and totally by the fire following theshock. They lost many of their personal effects, but are thankful thatthey escaped with their lives. "When the first shock came, " said Mr. Ryan, "I was out of bed in aninstant. I immediately was thrown to the floor. Arising, I held on bya chair and by the door knob until I could get around the room to thewindow to see if I could find out what was the matter. I saw peoplerunning and heard them in the corridors of the hotel. I also heardwomen screaming. I hastily called one of my friends and he and myselfthrew on our overcoats, stuck our feet into our shoes and randownstairs. I ran back to tell my wife, when I found her coming downthe stairs. "The first shock lasted, according to a professor in the university, sixty seconds. I thought it lasted about as many days. "At the second shock all the guests piled into the streets. We stoodin the bitter cold street for fully a quarter of an hour with nothingabout us but our spring overcoats. I said 'bitter cold. ' So it was. People there said it was the coldest spell that has struck Frisco inyears. "After standing in the streets for a while my friend and myself, withmy wife, started back into the hotel to get our clothes. The guard wasat the foot of the stairs and he told us that we would not be allowedto go to our rooms. I told him we merely wanted to get some clothes onso we would not freeze to death and he told us to go up, but to comeright down as soon as possible, for there was no telling what wouldhappen. We rushed into our rooms and hurriedly threw on our clothes, and started out to reconnoiter. We stopped near a small building. Justthen a policeman on guard came up and ordered everybody to assist inrescuing the persons within. We did not hesitate, but rushed into thebuilding heedless of the impending falling of the walls. We foundthere a man lying unconscious on the floor. He revived sufficiently tomake us understand that his wife and child were in the building andthat he thought they were dead. We looked and finally found them, dead. "We saw ambulances and undertakers' wagons by the score racing downMarket street. They were filled with the bodies of the injured and inmany cases with dead. The injured were piled into the wagonsindiscriminately without respect for any consequences in the future ofthe patients. " * * * * * R. F. Lund of Canal Dover, O. , was asleep in apartments when the shockrent the city. "I awoke to find myself on the floor, " said Mr. Lund. "The building to me seemed to pitch to the right, then to the left, and finally to straighten itself and sink. I had the sensation ofpitching down in an elevator shaft--that sudden, sickening wave thatsweeps over you and leaves you breathless. "I got into my clothes and with some difficulty wrenched open the doorof my room. Screams of women were piercing the air. Together with adozen other men, inmates of the apartments, I assembled the womenguests and we finally got them into the streets. Few of them tarriedlong enough to dress. We went back again and then returned with morewomen. "In one room particularly there was great commotion. It was occupiedby two women and they were in a state of hysterical terror becausethey could not open their door and get out. The sudden settling of thebuilding had twisted the jambs. "Finally I put my two hundred and thirty pounds of weight against thepanels and smashed them through. I helped them wrap themselves inquilts and half led, half carried them to the street. "While passing through a narrow street in the rear of the Emporium Icame upon a tragedy. A rough fellow, evidently a south of Marketstreet thug, was bending over the unconscious form of a woman. She wasclothed in a kimono and lay upon the sidewalk near the curb. His backwas toward me. He was trying to wrench a ring from her finger and heheld her right wrist in his left hand. A soldier suddenly approached. He held a rifle thrust forward and his eyes were on the wretch. "Involuntarily I stopped and involuntarily my hand went to my hippocket. I remember only this, that it seemed in that moment a goodthing to me to take a life. The soldier's rifle came to his shoulder. There was a sharp report and I saw the smoke spurt from the muzzle. The thug straightened up with a wrench, he shot his right arm abovehis head and pitched forward across the body of the woman. He diedwith her wrist in his grasp. It may sound murderous, but the feeling Iexperienced was one of disappointment. I wanted to kill him myself. "Along in the afternoon in my walking I came upon a great hulkingfellow in the act of wresting food from an old woman and a young girlwho evidently had joined their fortunes. No soldiers were about and Ihad the satisfaction of laying him out with the butt of my pistol. Hewent down in a heap. I did not stay to see whether or not he came to. " "Strange is the scene where San Francisco's Chinatown stood, " saidW. W. Overton, after reaching Los Angeles among the refugees. "No heapof smoking ruins marks the site of the wooden warrens where theslant-eyed men of the orient dwelt in thousands. The place is pittedwith deep holes and seared with dark passageways, from whose depthscome smoke wreaths. All the wood has gone and the winds are streakingthe ashes. "Men, white men, never knew the depth of Chinatown's undergroundcity. They often talked of these subterranean runways. And many ofthem had gone beneath the street levels, two and three stories. Butnow that Chinatown has been unmasked, for the destroyed buildings wereonly a mask, men from the hillside have looked on where its innersecrets lay. In places they can see passages 100 feet deep. "The fire swept this Mongolian section clean. It left no shred of thepainted wooden fabric. It ate down to the bare ground and this liesstark, for the breezes have taken away the light ashes. Joss housesand mission schools, grocery stores and opium dens, gambling hells andtheaters--all of them went. The buildings blazed up like tissue paperlanterns used when the guttering candles touched their sides. "From this place I, following the fire, saw hundreds of crazed yellowmen flee. In their arms they bore their opium pipes, their money bags, their silks, and their children. Beside them ran the baggy trouseredwomen, and some of them hobbled painfully. "These were the men and women of the surface. Far beneath the streetlevels in those cellars and passageways were many others. Women whonever saw the day from their darkened prisons and their blinkingjailors were caught like rats in a huge trap. Their bones were eatenby the flames. "And now there remain only the holes. They pit the hillside like amultitude of ground swallow nests. They go to depths which the policenever penetrated. The secrets of those burrows will never be known, for into them the hungry fire first sifted its red coals and thenlicked eagerly in tongues of creeping flames, finally obliteratingeverything except the earth itself. " "The scenes to be witnessed in San Francisco were beyond description, "said Mr. Oliver Posey, Jr. "Not alone did the soldiers execute the law. One afternoon, in frontof the Palace Hotel, a crowd of workers in the ruins discovered amiscreant in the act of robbing a corpse of its jewels. Without delayhe was seized, a rope was procured, and he was immediately strung upto a beam which was left standing in the ruined entrance of the PalaceHotel. "No sooner had he been hoisted up and a hitch taken in the rope thanone of his fellow criminals was captured. Stopping only to secure afew yards of hemp, a knot was quickly tied and the wretch was soonadorning the hotel entrance by the side of the other dastard. " Jack Spencer, well known here, also returned home yesterday, and hadmuch to say of the treatment of those caught in the act of rifling thedead of their jewels. "At the corner of Market and Third streets on Wednesday, " said Mr. Spencer of Los Angeles, "I saw a man attempting to cut the fingersfrom the hand of a dead woman in order to secure the rings. Threesoldiers witnessed the deed at the same time and ordered the man tothrow up his hands. Instead of obeying he drew a revolver from hispocket and began to fire without warning. "The three soldiers, reinforced by half a dozen uniformed patrolmen, raised their rifles to their shoulders and fired. With the first shotsthe man fell, and when the soldiers went to the body to dump it intoan alley eleven bullets were found to have entered it. " Here is an experience typical of hundreds told by Sam Wolf, a guest atthe Grand Hotel: "When I awakened the house was shaken as a terrier would shake a rat. I dressed and made for the street which seemed to move like waves ofwater. On my way down Market street the whole side of a building fellout and came so near me that I was covered and blinded by the dust. Then I saw the first dead come by. They were piled up in an automobilelike carcasses in a butcher's wagon, all over blood, with crushedskulls and broken limbs, and bloody faces. "A man cried out to me, 'Look out for that live wire. ' I just had timeto sidestep certain death. On each side of me the fires were burningfiercely. I finally got into the open space before the ferry. Theground was still shaking and gaping open in places. Women and childrenknelt on the cold asphalt and prayed God would be merciful to them. Atlast we got on the boat. Not a woman in that crowd had enough clothingto keep her warm, let alone the money for fare. I took off my hat, puta little money in it, and we got enough money right there to pay alltheir fares. " W. H. Sanders, consulting engineer of the United States geologicalsurvey, insisted on paying his hotel bill before he left the St. Francis. He says: "Before leaving my room I made my toilet and packed my grip. The otherguests had left the house. As I hurried down the lobby I met the clerkwho had rushed in to get something. I told him I wanted to pay mybill. 'I guess not, ' he said, 'this is no time for settlement. ' "As he ran into the office I cornered him, paid him the money, and gothis receipt hurriedly stamped. " Dr. Taggart of Los Angeles, a leader of the Los Angeles relief bureau, accidentally shot himself while entering a hospital at the corner ofPage and Baker streets, Saturday, April 21. He was mounting thestairs, stumbled and fell. A pistol which he carried in his insidecoat pocket was discharged, the bullet entering near the heart. Herose to his feet and cried, "I am dying, " and fell into the arms of aphysician on the step below. Death was almost instantaneous. Mrs. Lucien Shaw, of Los Angeles, wife of Judge Shaw of the StateSupreme Court, disappeared in the war of the elements that raged inSan Francisco. At day dawn Thursday morning, April 19, the Shaw apartments, on Popestreet, San Francisco, were burned. Mrs. Shaw fled with the refugeesto the hills. Judge Lucien Shaw went north on that first special on Wednesday thatcleared for the Oakland mole. [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =FREE WATER. = The most welcome visitor to the Mission district. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =DISTRIBUTING CLOTHES. = Handing out clothes to all who need them. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =WIRES DOWN. = The earthquake shook down wires and poles. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =MILITARY CAMP. = View in Golden Gate Park. Too much praise cannot be given our soldiers. ] Thursday morning at daybreak he reached his apartments on Popestreet. Flames were burning fiercely. A friend told him that his wifehad fled less than fifteen minutes before. She carried only a fewarticles in a hand satchel. For two days and nights Judge Shaw wandered over hills and through theparks about San Francisco seeking among the 200, 000 refugees for hiswife. During that heart-breaking quest, according to his own words, he had"no sleep, little food and less water. " At noon Saturday he gave upthe search and hurried back to Los Angeles, hoping to find that shehad arrived before him. He hastened to his home on West Fourth street. "Where's mother?" was the first greeting from his son, Hartley Shaw. Judge Shaw sank fainting on his own doorstep. The search for themissing woman was continued but proved fruitless. One of the beautiful little features on the human side of the disasterwas the devotion of the Chinese servants to the children of thefamilies which they served. And this was not the only thing, for oftena Chinaman acted as the only man in families of homeless women andchildren. Except for the inevitable panic of the first morning, whenthe Chinese tore into Portsmouth square and fought with the Italiansfor a place of safety, the Chinese were orderly, easy to manage, andphilosophical. They staggered around under loads of household goodswhich would have broken the back of a horse, and they took hard theorder of the troops which commanded all passengers to leave theirbundles at the ferry. A letter to a friend in Fond du Lac, Wis. , from Mrs. Bragg, wife ofGeneral E. S. Bragg, late consul general at Hong Kong, and one-timecommander of the Iron Brigade, gave the following account of theescape of the Braggs in the Frisco quake. Mrs. Bragg says under dateof April 20: "We reached San Francisco a week ago today, but it seems a month, somuch have we been through. We were going over to Oakland the verymorning of the earthquake, so, of course, we never went, as it is asbad there as here. "General Bragg had to wait to collect some money on a draft, but thebanks were all destroyed. The chimneys fell in and all hotels wereburned as well as public buildings. There was no water to put out thefires which raged for blocks in every square and provisions wererunning low everywhere. Eggs were $5 a dozen, etc. ; no telegraph, nonothing. "We went from the Occidental to the Plymouth and from there to thePark Nob hill, where we lay, not slept, all Wednesday night, the dayof the earthquake. From there we took refuge on the Pacific withfriends who were obliged to get out also and we all came over togetherto Fort Mason, leaving there last night. We came from there to theflagship Chicago, the admiral having sent a boat for us. "General Bragg is very well and we have both stood it wonderfully. TheChicago fire was bad enough, but this is worse in our old age. May welive till we reach home. So many here have lost everything, homes aswell, we consider ourselves quite fortunate. May I never live to seeanother earthquake. "The General had a very narrow escape from falling plaster; neverthought to leave the first hotel alive. Many were killed or burned. God is good to us. Our baggage was rescued by our nephews alone. Noone else's was to be got out for love or money. The baggage was sentto the Presidio, not four miles from us. " CHAPTER VII. THRILLING PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. =Scenes of Horror and Panic Described by Victims of the Quake Who Escaped--How Helpless People Were Crushed to Death by Falling Buildings and Debris--Some Marvelous Escapes. = The stories of hundreds who experienced the earthquake shock butescaped with life and limb constitute a series of thrilling storiesunrivalled outside of fiction. Those that contain the most marvellousfeatures are herewith narrated: * * * * * Albert H. Gould, of Chicago, describes the scene in the Palace Hotelfollowing the first quake: "I was asleep on the seventh floor of the Palace Hotel, " he said, "atthe time of the first quake. I was thrown out of my bed and half wayacross the room. "Immediately realizing the import of the occurrence, and fearing thatthe building was about to collapse, I made my way down the six flightsof stairs and into the main corridor. "I was the first guest to appear. The clerks and hotel employes wererunning about as if they were mad. Within two minutes after I hadappeared other guests began to flock into the corridor. Few if any ofthem wore other than their night clothing. Men, women, and childrenwith blanched faces stood as if fixed. Children and women cried, andthe men were little less affected. "I returned to my room and got my clothing, then walked to the officeof the Western Union in my pajamas and bare feet to telegraph to mywife in Los Angeles. I found the telegraphers there, but all the wireswere down. I sat down on the sidewalk, picked the broken glass out ofthe soles of my feet, and put on my clothes. "All this, I suppose, took little more than twenty minutes. Withinthat time, below the Palace the buildings for more than three blockswere a mass of flames, which quickly communicated to other buildings. The scene was a terrible one. Billows of fire seemed to roll from thebusiness blocks soon half consumed to other blocks in the vicinity, only to climb and loom again. "The Call building at the corner of Third and Market streets, as Ipassed, I saw to be more than a foot out of plumb and hanging over thestreet like the leaning tower of Pisa. "I remained in San Francisco until 8 o'clock and then took a ferry forOakland, but returned to the burning city an hour and a half later. Atthat time the city seemed doomed. I remained but for a few minutes;then made my way back to the ferry station. "I hope I may never be called upon to pass through such an experienceagain. People by the thousands and seemingly devoid of reason werecrowded around the ferry station. At the iron gates they clawed withtheir hands as so many maniacs. They sought to break the bars, andfailing in that turned upon each other. Fighting my way to the gatelike the others the thought came into my mind of what rats in a trapwere. Had I not been a strong man I should certainly have been killed. "When the ferry drew up to the slip, and the gates were thrown openthe rush to safety was tremendous. The people flowed through thepassageway like a mountain torrent that, meeting rocks in its path, dashes over them. Those who fell saved themselves as best they could. "I left Oakland at about 5 o'clock. At that time San Francisco washidden in a pall of smoke. The sun shone brightly upon it without anyseeming penetration. Flames at times cleft the darkness. This cloudwas five miles in height, and at its top changed into a milk white. " * * * * * Mrs. Agnes Zink, Hotel Broadway, said: "I was stopping at 35 Fifth street, San Francisco. The rear of thathouse collapsed and the landlady and about thirty of her roomers werekilled. I escaped simply because I had a front room and because I gotout on the roof, as the stairway had collapsed in the rear. Out in thestreet it was impossible to find a clear pathway. I saw anotherlodging house near ours collapse--I think it must have been 39 Fifthstreet--and I know all the inmates were killed, for its wreck wascomplete. In ten minutes the entire block to Mission street was inflames. " * * * * * Mr. J. P. Anthony, a business man who escaped from the doomed city inan automobile tells a graphic story: Mr. Anthony says that he was sleeping in his room at the Romona hotelon Ellis street, near Macon, and was suddenly awakened at 5:23 in themorning. The first shock that brought him out of bed, he says, wasappalling in its terrible force. The whole earth seemed to heave andfall. The building where he was housed, which is six stories high, waslifted from its foundation and the roof caved in. A score or more ofguests, men and women, immediately made their way to the street, whichwas soon filled with people, and a perfect panic ensued. Debrisshowered into the street from the buildings on every side. As a result, Mr. Anthony says, he saw a score or more of peoplekilled. Women became hysterical and prayed in the streets, while mensat on the curbing, appearing to be dazed. It was twenty minutesbefore those in the vicinity seemed to realize the enormity of thecatastrophe. The crowds became larger and in the public squares of thecity and in empty lots thousands of people gathered. It was 9 o'clock before the police were in control of the situation. When they finally resumed charge, the officers directed their energytoward warning the people in the streets away from danger. Buildingswere on the brink of toppling over. Mr. Anthony says he was walking on Market street, near the Emporium, about 9 a. M. , when a severe shock was felt. At once the street filledagain with excited persons, and thousands were soon gathered in thevicinity, paralyzed with fear. Before the spectators could realizewhat had happened, the walls of the building swayed a distance ofthree feet. The thousands of bystanders stood as if paralyzed, expecting every moment that they would be crushed, but another tremorseemed to restore the big building to its natural position. Mr. Anthony said that he momentarily expected that, with thousands ofothers who were in the neighborhood, he would be crushed to death in afew moments. He made his way down Market street as far as the Callbuilding, from which flames were issuing at every window, with theblaze shooting through the roof. A similar condition prevailed in theExaminer building, across the street. He then started for the depot, at Third and Townsend streets, determined to leave the city. He found a procession of severalthousand other persons headed in the same direction. All south of Market street about that time was a crackling mass offlames. Mr. Anthony made his way to Eighth and Market, thence downEighth to Townsend and to Third street, and the entire section whichhe traversed was afire, making it impossible for him to reach hisdestination. He attempted to back track, but found that his retreathad been cut off by the flames. He then went to Twelfth street andreached Market again by the city hall. San Francisco's magnificentmunicipal building had concaved like an egg shell. The steel dome wasstill standing, but the rest of the $3, 000, 000 structure was a mass ofcharred ruins. It was not yet noon, but the city's hospitals were already filled withdead and injured, and all available storerooms were being pressed intoservice. Dead bodies were being carried from the streets in garbagewagons. In every direction hysterical women were seen. Men walkedthrough the streets, weeping, and others wore blanched faces. Transfermen were being offered fabulous sums to remove household goods, evenfor a block distant. Horses had been turned loose and were running atlarge to prevent their being incinerated in the burning buildings. Women had loaded their personal belongings on carts and were pullingthem through the city, the property being huddled in the publicsquares. "The Grand Hotel tossed like a ship at sea. There was a wavelikemotion, accompanied by a severe up and down shake, " said J. R. Hand ofthe Hand Fruit Company of Los Angeles. "The shock was accompanied by aterrific roar that is indescribable. An upright beam came through thefloor of my room and the walls bulged in. I thought I should not getout alive. All my baggage was lost, but I still have the key to myroom as a souvenir, No. 249. "I was on the third story of the hotel and got the last vacant room. No one in any of the stronger built hotels was killed, to the best ofmy knowledge. These hotels were destroyed by fire after being severelywrecked. I reached the ferry station by a trip of about six milesaround by the Fairmount Hotel and thence to the water front. "The Examiner Building went up like a flash. I was standing in frontof the Crocker Building and saw the first smoke. Just then thesoldiers ran us out. We went around two blocks and the next view wehad the building was a mass of flames. The burning of the Palace was abeautiful sight from the bay. " F. O. Popenie, manager of the Pacific Monthly, was asleep in theTerminus hotel, near the Southern Pacific ferry station, when thefirst tremble came. "The Terminus hotel did not go down at the first shock, " he said. "Wewere sleeping on the third floor when the quake came. The walls of thehotel began falling, but the guests had time to run outside before thebuilding fell in. "I started for San Jose on foot. When I reached the Potrero I lookedback and saw the business section a furnace. Fires had started up inmany places and were blazing fiercely. Finally a man driving a singlerig overtook me. He was headed for San Jose and he took me in. After adistance of fifteen miles we took the train and went on. " The Terminus hotel was a six-story structure with stone and bricksides. It collapsed soon after the first shock. Among the refugees who found themselves stranded were John Singleton, a Los Angeles millionaire, his wife and her sister. The Singletonswere staying at the Palace hotel when the earthquake shock occurred. Mr. Singleton gives the following account of his experience: "Theshock wrecked the rooms in which we were sleeping. We managed to getour clothes on and get out immediately. We had been at the hotel onlytwo days and left probably $3, 000 worth of personal effects in theroom. "After leaving the Palace we secured an express wagon for $25 to takeus to the Casino, near Golden Gate Park, where we stayed Wednesdaynight. On Thursday morning we managed to get a conveyance at enormouscost and spent the entire day in getting to the Palace. We paid $1apiece for eggs and $2 for a loaf of bread. On these and a little hamwe had to be satisfied. " "I was asleep in the Hotel Dangham, Ellis and Mason streets, when theshock came, " said Miss Bessie Tannehill of the Tivoli Theatre. "Therewere at least 100 persons in the building at the time. At the firstshock I leaped from the bed and ran to the window. Another upheavalcame and I was thrown off my feet. I groped my way out of the room anddown the dark stairway. Men, women and children, almost withoutclothing, crowded the place, crying and praying as they rushed out. "When outside I saw the streets filled with people who rushed aboutwringing their hands and crying. Proprietor Lisser of the hoteloffered a cabman $50 to take himself and his wife to the Presidioheights, but he refused. He wanted more money. We finally secured acarriage by paying $100. Fire was raging at this time and people werepanic-stricken. "After getting outside of the danger region I walked back, hoping toaid some of the unfortunates. I have heard about big prices chargedfor food. I wish to testify that the merchants on upper Market streetand in nearby districts threw open their stores and invited the crowdsto help themselves. The mobs rushed into every place, carrying out allthe goods possible. "I saw many looters and pickpockets at work. On Mason street a gang ofthieves was at work. They were pursued by troops, but escaped in anauto. " The members of the Metropolitan opera company of New York were allvictims of the great disaster, including Mme. Sembrich, Signor Caruso, Campanari, Dippel, Conductor Hertz and Bars. All of the splendid scenery, stage fittings, costumes and musicalinstruments were lost in the fire which destroyed the Grand OperaHouse, where their season had just opened. No one of the company was injured, but nearly all of them lost theirpersonal effects. Mme. Sembrich placed the loss by the destruction ofher elegant costumes at $20, 000. She was fortunate enough to save hervaluable jewels. The total loss to the organization was $150, 000. On the morning of the earthquake the members of the company weredistributed among the different hotels. The sudden shock brought all out of their bedrooms in all kinds ofattire. The women were in their night dresses, the men in pajamas, none pausing to dress, all convinced that their last hour had come. Ten minutes later Caruso was seen seated on his valise in the middleof the street. Many of the others had rushed to open squares or otherplaces of supposed safety. Even then it was difficult to avoid thedebris falling from the crumbling walls. Several of those stopping at the Oaks were awakened by plaster fromthe ceilings falling on their bed and had barely time to flee fortheir lives. One singer was seen standing in the street, barefoot, andclad only in his underwear, but clutching a favorite violin which hecarried with him in his flight. Rossi, though almost in tears, washeard trying his voice at a corner near the Palace hotel. * * * * * A. W. Hussey, who went to the Hall of Justice on the morning of thedisaster, told how at the direction of a policeman whom he did notknow, he had cut the arteries in the wrists of a man pinioned undertimbers at St. Katherine hotel. According to the statement made by Hussey the man was begging to bekilled and the policeman shot at him, but his aim was defective andthe bullet went wide of the mark. The officer then handed Hussey aknife with instructions to cut the veins in the suffering man'swrists, and Hussey obeyed orders to the letter. * * * * * A story was told of one young girl who had followed for two days thebody of her father, her only relative. It had been taken from a housein Mission street to an undertaker's shop just after the quake. Thefire drove her out with her charge, and it was placed in Mechanics'Pavilion. That went, and it had rested for a day at the Presidio, waitingburial. With many others she wept on the border of the burial area, while the women cared for her. That was truly a tragic and patheticfuneral. In the commission house of C. D. Bunker a rescuer named Baker waskilled while trying to get a dead body from the ruins. Other rescuersheard the pitiful wail of a little child, but were unable to get nearthe point from which the cry issued. Soon the onrushing fire ended thecry and the men turned to other tasks. Hundreds of firemen and rescuers were prostrated, the strain of thecontinued fight in the face of the awful calamity proving more thanany man could stand. In the crowds at many points people fainted andin some instances dropped dead as the result of the reaction followingthe unprecedented shock. At Mechanics' Pavilion scenes of heroism and later of panic wereenacted. The great frame building was turned into a hospital for thecare of the injured and here a corps of fifty physicians rendered aid. Nurses volunteered their services and also girls from the Red Crossship that steamed in from the government yards at Mare island andcontributed doctors and supplies. While the ambulances and automobiles were unloading their maimed andwounded at the building the march of the conflagration up Marketstreet gave warning that the injured would have to be removed at once. This work was undertaken and every available vehicle was pressed intoservice to get the stricken into the hospitals and private houses ofthe western addition. A few minutes after the last of the wounded hadbeen carried through the door, some on cots, others in strong arms andon stretchers, shafts of fire shot from the roof and the structureburst into a whirlwind of flame. One of the most thrilling of all stories related of adventures instricken San Francisco during the days of horror and nights of terroris that of a party of four, two women and two men, who arrived at LosAngeles April 20, after having spent a night and the greater portionof two days on the hills about Golden Gate Park. This party was composed of Mrs. Francis Winter, Miss Bessie Marley, Dr. Ernest W. Fleming, and Oliver Posey, all of Los Angeles. "I was sleeping in a room on the third floor of the hotel, " said Dr. Fleming, "when the first shock occurred. An earthquake in SanFrancisco was no new sensation to me. I was there in 1868, when a boyten years old, when the first great earthquake came. But that was agentle rocking of a cradle to the one of Wednesday. "I awoke to the groaning of timbers, the grinding, creaking sound, then came the roaring street. Plastering and wall decorations fell. The sensation was as if the buildings were stretching and writhinglike a snake. The darkness was intense. Shrieks of women, higher, shriller than that of the creaking timbers, cut the air. I tumbledfrom the bed and crawled, scrambling toward the door. The twisting andwrithing appeared to increase. The air was oppressive. I seemed to besaying to myself, will it never, never stop? I wrenched the lock; thedoor of the room swung back against my shoulder. Just then thebuilding seemed to breathe, stagger and right itself. "But I fled from that building as from a falling wall. I could notbelieve that it could endure such a shock and still stand. "The next I remember I was standing in the street laughing at theunholy appearance of half a hundred men clad in pajamas--and less. "The women were in their night robes; they made a better appearancethan the men. "The street was a rainbow of colors in the early morning light. Therewas every stripe and hue of raiment never intended to be seen outsidethe boudoir. "I looked at a man at my side; he was laughing at me. Then for thefirst time I became aware that I was in pajamas myself. I turned andfled back to my room. "There I dressed, packed my grip, and hastened back to the street. Allthe big buildings on Market street toward the ferry were standing, butI marked four separate fires. The fronts of the small buildings hadfallen out into the streets and at some places the debris had brokenthrough the sidewalk into cellars. "I noticed two women near me. They were apparently without escort. Onesaid to the other, 'What wouldn't I give to be back in Los Angelesagain. ' "That awakened a kindred feeling and I proffered my assistance. I putmy overcoat on the stone steps of a building and told them to sitthere. "In less than two minutes those steps appeared to pitch everythingforward, to be flying at me. The groaning and writhing started afresh. "But I was just stunned. I stood there in the street with debrisfalling about me. It seemed the natural thing for the tops ofbuildings to careen over and for fronts to fall out. I do not evenrecall that the women screamed. "The street gave a convulsive shudder and the buildings somehowrighted themselves again. I thought they had crashed together above myhead. "The air was filled with the roar of explosions. They were dynamitinggreat blocks. Sailors were training guns to rake rows of residences. "All the while we were moving onward with the crowd. Cinders werefalling about us. At times our clothing caught fire, just littleembers that smoked and went out. The sting burned our faces and weused our handkerchiefs for veils. "Everybody around us was using some kind of cloth to shield theireyes. It looked curious to see expressmen and teamsters wearing thoseveils. "Quite naturally we seemed to come to Golden Gate Park. It seemed asif we had started for there. By this time the darkness was settling. But it was a weird twilight. The glare from the burning city threw akind of red flame and shadow about us. It seemed uncanny; the figuresabout us moved like ghosts. "The wind and fog blew chill from the ocean and we walked about tokeep warm. Thousands were walking about, too, but there was nodisturbance. "Families trudged along there. There was no hurry. All appeared tohave time to spare. The streets, walks, and lawns were wiggling withlittle parties, one or two families in each. The men had broughtbedding and blankets and they made impromptu shelters to keep off thefog. "The cinders still kept falling. They seemed at times to come downright against the wind. They stung my face and made me restless. "All night we moved about the hills. Thousands were moving with us. Asthe night wore on the crowd grew. "Near daylight the soldiers came to the park. They were still movingin front of the fire. "I had brought a little store of provisions before nightfall andsomehow we had kept them. It seemed easy to keep things there. Iwalked over to the fire made by one squad of soldiers and picked up atin bucket. They looked at me but made no move. I went to a faucet andturned it on. Water was there. Not much, but a trickling littlestream. There was water in the park all night. I boiled some eggs andwe ate our breakfast. Then we concluded to try to make our way back tothe water front. We did this because the soldiers were driving us fromthat part of the hills. The flames were still after us. "The dumb horror of it seemed to reach right into one's heart. Walkingand resting, we reached the ferry near sunset. We had come backthrough a burned district some four miles. I do not understand how thepeople stood it. "Other parties staggered past us. They were reeling, but not fromwine. It was here that the pangs of thirst caught us. But the end cameat last. We reached the ferry and the boats were running. The soldierswere there, too. They seemed to be everywhere. They were offering milkto the women and children. "We are in Los Angeles now. It hardly seems real. If it were not forthe sting of the cinders that still stick to my face and eyes I mightthink it was all a nightmare. " * * * * * Adolphus Busch, the St. Louis brewer, gave this account of hisexperiences in the earthquake: "The earthquake which shook 'Frisco made all frantic, and wasundoubtedly the severest ever experienced in the United States. TheSt. Francis hotel swayed from south to north like a tall poplar in astorm; furniture, even pianos, was overturned, and people thrown fromtheir beds. "I summoned my family and friends and urged them to escape toJefferson square, which we did. "An awful sight met our eyes. Every building was either partly orwholly wrecked, roofs and cornices falling from skyscrapers on lowerhouses, crushing and burying the inmates. "Fires started in all parts of the city, the main water pipes burstand flooded the streets, one earthquake followed another, the peoplebecame terrified, but all were wonderfully calm. Over 100, 000 personswithout shelter were camping on the hills. There was no light, water, nor food. Regular soldiers and the militia maintained order anddiscipline, otherwise more horrors would have occurred and riots mighthave prevailed. Then the worst happened. The fire spread overthree-fourths of the city and could not be controlled, no water tofight it, no light, and the earth still trembling. "Building after building was dismantled to check the progress of theflames, but all of no avail. We were fortunate to secure conveyancesand fled to Nob Hill, from which we witnessed the indescribable drama. Block after block was devastated. The fires blazed like volcanoes, andall business houses, hotels, theaters--in fact, the entire businessportion--lay in ruins, and two-thirds of the residences. " CHAPTER VIII. THRILLING PERSONAL EXPERIENCES--CONTINUED. =Hairbreadth Escapes from the Hotels Whose Walls Crumbled--Frantic Mothers Seek Children from Whom They Were Torn by the Quake--Reckless Use of Firearms by Cadet Militia--Tales of Heroism and Suffering. = For two weeks or more tragedy, romance and comedy crowded the lives ofwomen and children survivors homeless in the city of ashes and inOakland, across the bay, the city of refuge. In this latter placethousands separated from their loved ones were tearfully awaitingdevelopments, and every hour in the day members of families wererestored to each other who had been lost. On record in the Chamber of Commerce at Oakland, which was theheadquarters of the Oakland Relief Committee, some queer stories weretold. Not a day passed but there were from two to eight marriages inthat office. Homeless young couples met each other, compared notes andfinally agreed to marry. At the registry bureau in Oakland scores of women, young and old, worked gratis. One applied for work to relieve her mind. She said shehad seen her husband and eldest son killed and had fled with her baby. During the rush of people she lost her baby. One of her first duties was to copy names of the lost and found. Inone of the lists she believed she recognized the description of herbaby. An investigation was made and the child proved to be hers. [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =COOKING IN THE STREET. = A familiar scene in San Francisco after the disaster. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =WING OF CITY HALL. = Two policemen were buried under walls. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =CATTLE KILLED. = A view showing a drove of cattle killed by falling walls. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =ST. JOHN'S CHURCH. = Mission Street looking west. ] A grief-stricken mother came in crying for her child, which she hadnot seen since the day of the disaster. A member of the reliefcommittee was detailed on the case and he found the baby. The sameday, while walking on the street, he saw a woman carrying a baby ina pillow slip thrown over her shoulder. Two hours later he again metthe woman. The pillow slip had ripped and the baby had fallen outunknown to the mother. When her attention was called to this fact themother fainted. Again the young man set to work and found the baby two blocks away, but upon returning could not find the mother. One man escaped with his two babes as he saw his wife killed in afalling building. He seized two suit cases and placed a baby in eachand started for the ferry. When he reached Oakland he found bothsmothered. He became violently insane and was put in a strait-jacket. Hermann Oelrichs of New York, ten times a millionaire and husband ofthe eldest daughter of the late Senator Fair of California, arrived inChicago on a scrap of paper on which was written a pass over allrailroad lines. The scrap of paper was roughly torn, was two inchessquare, but upon it in lead pencil were written these magic words: "Pass Hermann Oelrichs and servant to Chicago upon all lines. Thispaper to serve in lieu of tickets. --E. H. Harriman. " Mr. Oelrichs described some of his experiences after he was drivenfrom his quarters in the St. Francis Hotel by the earthquake. He said: "It was heaven and hell combined to produce chaos. I have a bad foot, but I forgot it and walked twenty miles that day, helping all I could. Mayor Schmitz had a meeting in the afternoon at the shaking Hall ofJustice and appointed a committee of fifty, of which I was one. Hegave me a commission as a member of the Committee of Law and Order, which, together with my policeman's star and club, I shall hand downto my son as heirlooms. " "I am proud of that, " said Mr. Oelrichs. "That is the Mayor's ownsignature and he has proved himself every inch a man. Lots of peoplethought the Mayor was just a fiddler, but they think differently now. "The regulars saved San Francisco. The militia got drunk and killedpeople. The hoodlums south of Market street were all burned out andthey swarmed up in the swell quarter. The report was that they meantto fire the houses of the rich which had not been destroyed. Everynight a west wind blows from the Pacific, and they meant to start thefire at the west end. That had to be guarded against. " Mr. Oelrichs had fitted up apartments in the St. Francis, packed withcurios and rarities to the extent of $20, 000. These were all burned. The operators and officials of the Postal Telegraph Company remainedin the main office of the company at the corner of Market andMontgomery streets, opposite the Palace Hotel, until they were orderedout of the building because of the danger from the dynamite explosionsin the immediate vicinity. The men proceeded to Oakland, across thebay, and took possession of the office there. Before the offices of the telegraph companies in hundreds of citiesexcited crowds of men and women surged back and forth the morning ofthe catastrophe, all imploring the officials to send a message throughfor them to the stricken city to bring back some word from dear onesin peril there. It was explained that there was only one wire inoperation and that imperative orders had been received that it was tobe used solely for company purposes, press dispatches and generalnews. Mr. Sternberger of New York was on the fourth floor of the St. Francis, with his wife, son and a maid. After hurriedly dressing heand his family rushed into Union square. "We had hardly got seated, " said Mr. Sternberger, "when firemen camealong asking for volunteers to take bodies from the ruins just abovethe hotel. There was a ready and willing response. It was a lowbuilding on which had toppled a lofty one, and all in the former wereburied in the debris. We heard the stifled cries and prayers, 'ForGod's sake, come this way, ' 'O, lift this off my back, ' 'My God, I'mdying, ' and others, nerving us to greater efforts. "Finally we got to some of them. Bruised, bleeding, blinded by smokeand dust, terrified past reason, the poor fellows who fell in thestreet fell from utter exhaustion. Those that were penned away belowwe could not reach, and their seeming far-off cries for mercy and lifewill ring in my ears till death. " Henry Herz, a New York traveling man, after a terrible experience, made his escape and constituted himself a traveling relief committee. At Sacramento he organized a shipment of eggs. At Reno he set thehousewives to baking bread, and in Salt Lake City he had raised apotato fund of $400. Mr. Herz crossed the bay in a launch. The boatmanasked him how much money he had, and when he replied, with a mentalreservation, $46. 60, the boatman charged him $46. 60 and collected themoney in advance. Worn by the exposure, hardships, and terrors of a two days' effort toescape from the stricken city, Mrs. D. M. Johnson of Utica, N. Y. , andMiss Martha Stibbals of Erie, Pa. , passed through Denver. "The first that we knew of the earthquake was when we were awakened inour room at the Randolph Hotel by a terrific shaking which broke loosefragments of the ceiling, " said Miss Stibbals. "There followed atremendous shock which shook the building sideways and tossed it aboutwith something like a spiral motion. When we reached the street peoplewere running hither and thither. "Fire was breaking out in hundreds of places over the city and thestreets were becoming crowded with hurrying refugees. Where they wereunable to procure horses, men and women had harnessed themselves tocarriages and were drawing their belongings to places of safety. As wepassed through the residence district where wealthy people lived wesaw automobiles drawn up and loaded down before houses. Their ownersremained until the flames came too near, and then, getting into themachines, made for the hills. "We saw one man pay $2, 000 for an automobile in which to take hisfamily to a place of safety. " "I climbed over bodies, picked my way around flaming debris, and wentover almost insurmountable obstacles to get out of San Francisco, "said C. C. Kendall, a retired Omaha capitalist, upon his arrival home. "I arrived in San Francisco the night previous to the earthquake. Iwas awakened about 5:15 in the morning by being thrown out of my bedin the Palace Annex. I rushed to the window and looked out. The houseswere reeling and tumbling like playthings. I hurried on clothing andran into the street. Here I saw many dead and the debris was piled upalong Market street. "I went to the office of the Palace Hotel and there men, women, andchildren were rushing about, crazed and frantic in their nightclothes. The first shock lasted only twenty-eight seconds, but itseemed to me two hours. "A few minutes after I reached the Palace Hotel office the secondshock came. It was light, compared with the first, but it brought tothe ground many of the buildings that the first shock had unsettled. "Fires were breaking out in every direction. Market street had sunk atleast four feet. I started for the ferry. It is only a few blocks fromthe Palace Annex to the ferry, but it took me from 6 a. M. To 10:15a. M. To cover the space. "Men and women fought about the entrance of the ferry like a band ofinfuriated animals. "I made my escape--I do not remember how, for I was as desperate asany of them. As the boat pulled over the bay the smoke and flame rosesky high and the roar of falling buildings and the cries of the peoplerent the air. " J. C. Gill, of Philadelphia, told his experiences as follows: "Mrs. Gill and myself were in a room on the third floor of the hotel. Wewere awakened by the rocking of our beds. Then they seemed to belifted from their legs, suspended in the air, and as suddenly dropped, while the plaster began cracking and falling. We arose and left ourroom after putting on a few clothes. We felt that with every step wewere treading on glass and that the ten stories above us would fall, not allowing us to escape alive. But once outside the building andwith our friends I began to realize what had happened. "I made my way back to the room and carefully packed our suit cases. Icame across a valuable necklace and pearls that my wife in her hastehad left behind. "With hundreds of others we roamed in the park in front of the hotelseveral hours. When we saw the fire was hemming in the lower part ofthe city we walked toward the outskirts. Early next morning we decidedto leave the city, and started to the ferry. Policemen would stop us, and it was with difficulty and much trepidation that we walked throughthe burned district, and arrived at the wharf at 5:15, just fifteenminutes before the boat left. "The scenes we passed through were sickening and indescribable. Ifancy that scores of men, wharf rats, who had looted wholesale liquorhouses and were maudlin drunk, were burned to death without being thewiser, because of their condition. " "I had been stopping at the Metropole in Oakland, " said FrederickLemon of New York, "and Tuesday night went to Frisco, where I stoppedat the Terminal hotel, at the foot of Market street. The first shockthrew all the loose articles around my room and I attempted to rununclad from the hotel. Just as I walked out the door I was struck bysome heavy beams. I was stunned and while I lay there some one fromthe hotel brought me my clothing. "At that time the streets were like bedlam. Soldiers were in control, and while the regulars were almost perfect in their attempts tomaintain order the militia men lost their heads. They shot some menwithout provocation, and never thought to cry 'halt' or 'who comesthere?'" Henry Kohn of Chicago told of a horrible experience he had. "I had aroom on the fifth floor of the Randolph Hotel, Mason and O'Farrellstreets, " he said. "The first quake threw me out of bed. By the time Ireached the second floor the building had ceased shaking, and I wentback, got my clothes, and went into the street. In the building acrossthe street twelve persons were killed. About 11 o'clock in the morningwe were in the public square, with about 1, 500 other refugees, when asevere shock was felt. People became panic stricken; some prayed, women fainted, and children shrieked and cried. "The stream of people going up Nob and Telegraph hills all Wednesdaywas a pitiful sight. Many were barefooted and lightly clad. There wasnothing to eat or drink. " Sol Allenberg, a New York bookmaker, was with Kohn at the St. FrancisHotel. "I was sick in my room when the shock struck us, " he said, "andmy friend helped me out to a boarding house on the hill. There I hadto pay $7 for a room for the rest of the day. "It was two miles from the fire and I thought I was safe enough when Igot into my bed at noon, but about two hours later they awoke me totell me that the fire was only two blocks away, and we got out only ashort time before the house went up in flames. "No exaggeration of the horrible scenes on the street is possible. There was one poor fellow pinned to earth with a great iron girderacross his chest. It in turn was weighted down by a mass of wreckagethat could not be moved. He could not be saved from the flames thatwere sweeping toward him, and begged a policeman to shoot him. "The officer fired at him and missed him, and then an old man crawledthrough the debris and cut the arteries in the man's wrists. The crowdhurried on and left him to die alone. " CHAPTER IX. THROUGH LANES OF MISERY. =A Graphic Pen Picture of San Francisco in Flames and in Ruins--Scenes and Stories of Human Interest where Millionaires and Paupers Mingled in a Common Brotherhood--A Harrowing Trip in an Automobile. = Among the most graphic and interesting pen pictures of scenes withinand without the stricken city were those of Harry C. Carr, a newspaperphotographer and correspondent of Los Angeles. This is his personalnarrative: I started from Los Angeles for the stricken city on that pitiful firsttrain whose passengers were nearly all San Francisco men tryingfrantically to get back to their wives and children, whose fate theycould only imagine. All one terrible day I walked about through the lanes of the charredruins that had once been San Francisco. I was one of the hungry whorobbed grocery stores for their food; one of the parched thousands whoeagerly drank water out of the gutter leakage of the fire engines. After hours of discouraging failure, of being turned back by thesentries, with the sound of dynamited houses ringing in my ears, Imanaged at last to join the long caravan of homeless families carryingall the property left to them in the world in sheets. Sometimes I walked with the daughter of a Van Ness avenue millionairelugging a bundle over her shoulder, and again with a Chinaman moaningpiteously over the loss of his laundry. I came out of San Francisco on that broken-hearted first traincarrying refugees, whose faces streamed with tears as they took thelast look from the Pullman windows at the weirdly beautiful red fringeof fire creeping along the ridges of the distant hills, burning theremnants of San Francisco. An hour after the first word reached Los Angeles on that fatefulWednesday morning our train pulled out of the depot. There was anominous number of reservations for Santa Barbara on the chair car. Most of the San Francisco men came on board there. Beyond San Luis Obispo, two big freight trains were stalled by acave-in caused by the earthquake. They crawled out just intime--before every one went mad. At Salinas, about dark, the conductor came back, shaking his head; afreight train ahead at Pajaro had been completely buried by a mountainof earth hurled in the quake. The men said it was likely to be a week before any train went through. Three or four of us hurried into the town looking for an automobile. One of the passengers on the train was Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson, and the news had been kept from her until this delay. Strange to say, there were a number of automobiles in town, but nonewere to be had. One man was hurrying through from Los Angeles in hisown touring car with his three boys to find his wife, their mother, who was somewhere in the burning city. We were getting ready to hire saddle horses when the twin lights of anautomobile came glaring down the street. There were two New Englandspinsters aboard. They had been in the Palace Hotel when the clerktelephoned to their rooms to tell them the city was burning and thatthe hotel was about to be blown up by dynamite by the soldiers of theEngineer Corps. They hired an auto to San Jose at an outrageous price and paid $75 tobe taken from there to Salinas. Had it not been for a bridge whichkind Heaven smashed, I guess they would have been going yet. As itwas, we persuaded them that the train was the place for them andmanaged to hire the automobile back to San Jose. The cost was $20 aseat. Men came to us and begged like frightened children to be taken; but wedared not risk a breakdown and had to refuse. But never shall I forgetthe look that was in their eyes. We started at 10:30 and rode all night. It was bitterly cold and wesuffered terribly, not having overcoats. The chauffeur had been usinghis auto all that morning taking medicines to the demolished insaneasylum at Agnews. His story of the scenes there was horrible. Scores of dead were lyingstretched on the lawns and others were walking about hideouslywounded. Amid this scene an insane woman was wandering, blithelysinging little songs of her own improvision about the earthquake andthe killing. One giant maniac had broken his shackles and rescued one of the guardsfrom the building. He had just one sane moment; long enough to be ahero. Then he fled howling into the hills. It was just dawn when we got to San Jose. Sentries from the militiaand special officers were patrolling the streets. A dead line had beenestablished to keep persons away from wrecked buildings. There werejewelry stores whose fronts had been entirely torn off; these wouldhave been plundered. All through the city we saw people seated on beds on their frontlawns, their houses having tumbled. On the front lawn of the HotelVendome was a bonfire about which were gathered twenty or thirtypeople. Every guest of the house had spent the night there with ablanket apiece. We were just in time to catch the first train to go through to SanFrancisco. All along the route through such towns as Palo Alto andBelmont, we saw shattered buildings, warehouses with whole sidesneatly cut off as though with a knife. One big warehouse of brick hadcompletely buried a freight train standing on a siding. During the night we could see the dull red glow that came from theburning city. Now we could see the huge copper-colored clouds thatalmost hid the sun. As we came nearer the city we could hear thedistant explosions of the dynamite with which the soldiers werewrecking the buildings. They came to us in dull but quick thumps. The train got no further than Valencia street. As soon as we got offwe saw the first stragglers of the great army of the homeless andruined. Sentries stopped us before we had gone a block, so a cheerfulgood-looking young fellow, who had seen first his home and his tailorshop utterly destroyed that morning, offered to be our guide. He took us past the Hotel Valencia, which was the worst sufferer fromthe earthquake. The big building had been literally poured out intothe street in a stream of splintered wood. No one knows how manypeople perished in it. On the corner next the Valencia was a new set of three-story flats, just completed, and most of the flats not yet occupied. As though someone had struck it on top with a giant hammer, the entire building hadsunk one story into the ground; you could walk right in at the secondstory. Turning down into Steiner street, we were caught in the flood of thestrangest tide the world ever saw. There never was anything like thisbefore. These were people warned to leave their homes from some district newlydoomed to the Fire God. They were trekking, in a long, motley procession, to find some parknot already crowded to overflowing. One of the first that I met was a little family beginning life overagain. What they had been able to rescue before the flames came waspacked in a little express wagon. The elderly husband was drawingthis. Behind him came his wife. With the forethought of a woman, shehad either bought or stolen two packages of breakfast food--all thatstood between them and starvation. They looked drawn and anxious; andwere rather peculiar in this regard. Most of the refugees leaving their homes were cheerful. I saw a pretty "tailor-made girl" meeting her friend on the street. One of them had a little bundle of things tied in a handkerchief. "That's everything I own in this world, " she said, grinning--positively grinning. "That's nothing, " said the other girl, smiling back, "I haven't a ragto my back or a cent of money, and I've lost track of my familysomewhere in this crowd. " "Oh, well, what's the use of worrying?" And with that they parted. Another touching little group was led by the father, who carried asheet tied up with what he could carry. The young mother was dragginga child's express wagon laden mostly with provisions. Behind hertrooped two sweet little girls. One was wrapped up in a big shawl(this was just after sunrise. ) A kitten, which she held in her arms, was poking its nose protestingly out from the shawl. Bringing up therear was the other little tot, hugging a doll under each arm. A fine looking young fellow in khaki trousers and a fashionable coatwas packing an enormous clothes bundle. His young wife was clinging tohis arm. It was everything they had left in the world, probably out ofyears of hard saving, but they were both almost going along with goodspirits. A little further up the street, I saw a refined looking young girlcooking breakfast in the gutter. She wore a handsomely made but badlytorn skirt and had a remarkably fine bracelet on one wrist. Her ovenwas made of two bricks and a toasting grill. A young man was bringingher bits of fire wood and they were consulting together over thefrying of bacon. Further on were two other women doing the same thing and having funout of it between themselves. "Is it so very much farther?" was the only complaint that came fromone tired little woman who looked ready to faint. She was staggeringunder the weight of a huge bundle. She looked unused to work and herlips were white and trembling with exhaustion. She rested just aminute, then staggered on without another word of complaint. Men spoke kindly to her, but none offered to help her, because Woe wasthe great leveler and all were on the same footing. All the day Ispent in San Francisco, I only heard one person speak unkindly toanother. I wish I had that young man's name, just as a curiosity. Hehad been hired by a woman to drag a big Roman chair filled withtreasures up the street. "There, " he said, insolently, "I have earned all the money I got forthat; now take it along yourself. " Without a word, the woman took the chair from him and wheeled it onherself. One rather amusing group was wheeling an immense and very handsomedining-room table. The young man who was pulling from the front wasprotesting vigorously; but the two young girls who shoved from behind, digging their stubby fashionable little oxford ties in the dirt forfoothold, urged him peremptorily on. Following them was a half-grownhobbledehoy boy, strong enough to have packed an ox, who was doing hisheavy share by carrying a little glass vase. In a doorway half way up the hill, I saw an old Chinaman sitting withhis bundle, which was all he had been able to save. He was justsaying, "Oh, oh, oh, " in a curious, half-sobbing moan that neverseemed to cease. The young tailor with me said the Chinaman had lost his laundry andwas terror-stricken lest the white people should make him pay fortheir clothes. While his own tailor shop was burning, the young tailor said that hewas out trying to rescue the trapped victims in the burning HotelBrunswick. He could only get hold of one living man. He seemed to be caught inthe wreckage, the smoke being too thick to permit one to see just how. Strong hands caught his feet and pulled desperately. When they draggedhim out at last, they found that he had been caught under the chin. Inpulling him out they cut his throat almost from ear to ear. As we gained the top of the hill on Steiner street, a San Franciscoman who came in with me on the train stopped dead still. "My God; lookthere!" he said, his voice catching with a sob. Through the rift of the buildings we caught our first glimpse of thedying city. "That was Market street, " said the San Francisco man, softly. He pointed across a vast black plain, hundreds of acres in extent, toa row of haggard, gaunt specters that did seem to be in two lines likea street. "There's the City Hall, " he said, tremulously, pointing to a largedome surmounting a pile of ruins and surrounded like some hellishisland with vast stretches of smouldering ashes and twisted irongirders. The San Francisco man found a tottering, blackened pile of wall thathe said was Mechanic's Pavilion, and a sort of thin peak of brick thathe said was the new Bell Theater. He would go over the town from thetop of the hill and torture himself trying to locate San Francisco'ssplendid landmarks in these acres of ash heaps. Down in the middle of the city I found two young men in a violentargument over the location of Market street in the ashes. At the pretty little park, Fell and Steiner streets, we came upon oneof the strange little cities of refugees. I should pronounce this oneof the most select residence districts of San Francisco now. It is theonly home of hundreds upon hundreds of once well-to-do San Franciscopeople now ruined. It was heart-rending to see the women tidying things up and trying toinvent new ideas for attractive homes--trying to make their homeslook better than their neighbors', just as they did before. Some women made odd little bowers of two blankets and a sheet tent. I passed one tent where a young mother was lying at ease with herlittle girl, under a parasol. Just as I was going by, the little girldemanded "another. " The mother laughed happily and began, "Well, onceupon a time----" As though one of the stories of all the ages was not going on down thehill below her! To one of the groups on the lawn came a young man grinning all overand positively swaggering. He was received with shrieks of joy. He hadsix cans of sardines. He brought them to people who would have beeninsulted at the idea two days ago. The San Francisco man invited me into his house, where we saw thewreck of his cut glass and library. But he forgot it all over a rarepiece of good fortune that had befallen. The maid had managed to get awhole tea kettle of water. It was vile and muddy; but it was water. The young tailor told me that he had gone from daylight until 11:30, parching for a drink. The saloons were closed by order of Gen. Funston, but he managed to get beer from a saloon man. In some parts of the city there is plenty of water. But I saw peoplerushing eagerly with buckets to catch the water out of gutters whereit had leaked from a fire hose. In the first terrible water famine, the firemen broke into sewers and threw sewer water on the fires. The dramatic moments came as one neighborhood after another was toldto pack up and move out. It was the sounding of doom. I saw several ofthese sorrowful dramas. One was in an old-fashioned street where old southern houses with irondogs planted about the lawns had been pressed in upon bylodging-houses and corner groceries. It seemed mockery to think howthe people in the aristocratic old houses must have raged at theintrusion of the corner stores. How futile it seemed now! Came a dapper young cavalry lieutenant into the street. From theirporches people watched him with pathetic anxiety. They could see thesentry's heels click together and his carbine snap down to a present. With a few words the officer would hurry on. Making a megaphone of his hands, the sentry would turn and bawl thesewords up the otherwise silent street: "This street is going to bedynamited; if you want anything in the grocery store, go to it!" The balance of his remarks, if there were any, would be lost in ashout of applause from the crowds that seemed to smell such things. Arush for the grocery store would follow. Men would come out laden to staggering with loot--canned goods, flour, bacon, hams, coffee--as much as they could possibly pack. I saw one little girl not over four. This was the day she always hadbeen dreaming of. Hugged to her heart was an enormous jar of stickcandy, big enough to give her stomach-ache for the rest of her life. She could hardly lift it; but she put it down to rest, then wentpanting on. At the warning of the sentry, the whole family in each house wouldrush back through the front door to rescue whatever treasure laynearest their hearts. They only had four or five minutes. Men wouldcome dragging bureaus and lounges. Often a man would be pulling alongthe family pride, the woman shoving from behind. In one thrilling rescue I had the distinction of participating. Anelderly woman grabbed me excitedly by the arms and gasped, "Catch it. " She pointed to a dejected canary perched on a window sill. I shinnedgallantly up the side of a dead wall; just touched the canary birdwith the tips of my fingers. It flew and a lady caught it triumphantlylike a baseball as it came down. She went away "mothering" it. Presently, the sentry would shout another warning and the people wouldscurry away, peeking out from behind safe corners. As if by magic, thestreets would be thick with soldiers. The engineers would place thedynamite and they would all hurry out of danger. Bang! And the grocery store would go scattering into the air. It must be confessed that the dynamiting did very little good. Itseemed to provide fine splintered timber as kindling for fiercerflames which jumped the gap supposed to check them. The sound of the explosions was to be heard all day long almost likeminute guns. Let a word be interjected here about those splendid boys in blueuniform hurried into the city from the forts about San Francisco. Theymake one proud of the army. No more superbly policed city ever existedthan the burning and stricken San Francisco. Soldiers seemed to be everywhere. Almost at every street corner withfixed bayonet and ominous cartridge belt. Infantry, cavalry (somemounted infantry) and engineers, all doing sentry duty. Gen. Funston was in personal command--not from his office, either. Hewent plowing around the most perilous streets soaked to the skin fromthe fire engines. San Francisco in this time of panic and distress was more quiet andorderly than ever before. I saw not a single disturbance of the peace. With it all, the soldiers were polite, and seemed to try in every wayto show courtesy and consideration. When they had to order peopleback, they did it in a quiet and gentlemanly way. [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =CAMP KITCHEN. = Cooking in Baseball Park. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =SHACKS ERECTED IN A FEW HOURS. = Another view in Golden Gate Park. ] [Illustration: =GOVERNOR PARDEE OF CALIFORNIA. = The prompt help in relief work rendered by Gov. Pardee stamps him as one of the greatest humanitarians of the present day. ] [Illustration: Copyright, Clinedinst, Washington. =MAJOR GENERAL ADOLPHUS W. GREELY. = Commander of the Pacific Division of the U. S. Army in the earthquake district. General Greely is well known for his Arctic expedition. ] I met men who claimed to have seen men shot down by the soldiersfor defying orders for unlicensed looting. Also there is a story of anegro being shot dead by a policeman for robbing a dead body. One story I would like to believe--that a poor wretch pinned in amongthe blazing ruins roasting to death begged to be shot and some cavalrytrooper had the moral courage to send a bullet through his brain. Although I walked probably fifteen miles back and forth through thecity, I saw very little unlicensed looting. Many grocery stores whichdid not seem to be in immediate danger, were thrown open; one veryoddly. The proprietor nailed up one window with slats about fourinches wide. He made the refugees line up, and each was privileged totake all he could reach through the window slats. Some grocers and tradesmen were not so charitable. In other places Isaw them demanding from people in danger of starving, 75 cents a loaffor bread. Bread was the scarcest article except water. The last of the tragedy that I witnessed was not only the mostdramatic but the most tremendous. It should be called the "Exodus, " for it was a Biblical scene. It wasthe headlong flight of those who were most terror-stricken to get outof the doomed city. All day long a procession of almost countless thousands was to be seenhurrying with all the possessions they could carry. There were peoplewith bundles, packs, laden express wagons, hacks bulging with plunder, brewery wagons pressed into service, automobiles, push carts, evenfire hose wagons. I happened along at a crucial moment. One of the lieutenants whosepeculiar and melancholy function seemed to be to pronounce the doom ofone section after another, had just sent warning to Nob Hill, thecenter of fashion in San Francisco. For hours I had been working my way toward the Oakland ferries. As alast hope, some one told me I might get there by going over thesehills and following the line of the water front. I got there after the warning had been given. It was San Francisco'swealthiest and most exclusive society who had to pack and sling theirbundles over their shoulders. And they did it with just as good grace and courage as the others. Allwere making a frantic attempt to hire expressmen with any kind ofvehicle that would move, and most of them were failing. During the first of the fire, some young society women with very poortaste, went autoing around the stricken districts as though it were acircus. They were stopped by a sentry and were made to get out oftheir car and hand it over to a posse of special officers beinghurried to some district in new peril. As I gained the top of Nob Hill and turned to look back, it was clearwhy the warning had been given. In one direction, hospitals wereburning south of Market street. In the center distance the big car barns were on fire and roaring withflames. Ordinarily this would have been a sensation of a week. Now itwasn't even considered worth while to send fire engines and nobodystopped to look as they walked by. The main streets, where the business part of the city had been, wereblack with an immense throng of people who were walking up and downamong the ruins. Looking toward the ferries, I could count nine big skyscrapers, allcrowned with fire, outlined in a lurid row against the sky line. Theflames were creeping slowly, but with deadly persistence, toward NobHill, with several lesser fires blazing in between. It was high time Nob Hill was moving. One old man had chartered an express wagon, and was on top of thewagon frantically interfering with the work of removing the goods froma big, aristocratic-looking house. "The books!" he shrieked, "Why in heaven's sake don't you bring thebooks?" A swagger young woman came to the door with a handsome mantel clockand walked calmly down the stairs. "Please put this in some especiallysafe place, please, " she said, as composedly as though this werenothing more than any ordinary moving day. Down the street I saw a woman with the bearing of a patrician shovingat the rear of a push cart, loaded with all of the few things shecould save; a servant was drawing it. Behind came a young girl, who half turned for a last look at thehouse, and burst out crying. Her mother left the load for a moment andcomforted her. "Never mind, dear, " she said. "Don't cry! See, mammaisn't crying. " "Mamma" knew that in a few minutes her home and all the property shehad in the world would die in the fire just as her husband's businesshad already done; but mamma wasn't crying. On the corner of Van Ness avenue and Broadway, I saw a girl welldressed, who had evidently been driven out from there. All she hadsaved was a bed tick filled with something. As it was very hot, andshe was very tired, she had spread it on the pavement, and waswatching the throng from under her parasol. I saw another girl in a trig outing suit and little patent-leathershoes, toss a bundle, done up in a sheet, over her shoulder and walkaway in the procession with the most fascinating nonchalance. One woman I saw going away in an elegantly-fitted private carriage. Itwas drawn by two horses with tails about two inches long and soaring;so she must have been near the top of the Upper Crust. She, too, joined in the flight. Just as she got to the bottom of thehill she had the driver stop. I saw her turn and take a last wistfullook from her carriage window at her doomed home. She was notattempting to take anything with her. Like many others, she had simplylocked her door and gone. Many of these people, rich one day, are practically paupers on themorrow. Many of them slept outdoors in the parks under a blanket, afraid to sleep in their own palatial homes. What I call the "Exodus" fled down Van Ness avenue to the water front, thence along the Barbary Coast and tough water front by an enormouslylong detour to the ferries; it was the only way, the town streetsbeing on fire and closed by the military. The farther you went along the more conglomerate the throng became. The inhabitants of the foreign quarters began pouring out to join theflight. I was so tired with a long day spent walking about the burning citythat it seemed an impossibility that I should keep on. Every step wasactual physical pain. Twenty passing cabs, returning from the ferries, I stopped and triedto charter. The drivers, after bigger game, would wave me aside andsay "Nothin' doin'. " One cabby said that he had to hurry out to the other end of the cityto rescue his own family who were in danger. Another young autocrat onthe cabby's box took a long puff on his cigarette before he replied tomy appeal. "Fellow, you couldn't hire this hack for a million dollars, " he said. There was one amusing feature in the terrible procession. She was ahaughty dame from Van Ness avenue. All that she could save she hadstuffed into a big striped bed tick. She was trying to drag thisalong, and at the same time trying to maintain the dignity of aperfect lady. Candidly, it was not a success. One can stick prettynearly everything into a striped bed quilt, but not dignity. All along the way were women who had dropped out from exhaustion andwere sitting there with their bundles in utter despair. CHAPTER X. WHOLE NATION RESPONDS WITH AID. =Government Appropriates Millions and Chicago Leads All Other Cities with a Round Million of Dollars--People in All Ranks of Life from President Roosevelt to the Humblest Wage Earner Give Promptly and Freely. = The fiery destruction of the beautiful city and the pitiable plight ofthe survivors who escaped annihilation from quake and fire only toface death in the equally horrible forms of starvation and exposuretouched the heartstrings of humanity. The response to the needs of thestricken city and its people was so prompt, so universal and sogenerous that forever it will appeal to the admiration of mankind. Itwas a response that did not wait to be asked but in the moment whenthe need became known voluntarily turned the tide of the abundance ofthe unstricken to the help of the unfortunate before they had evenbreath to voice their need. All over our own land, from every state and city and hamlet, from thepresident and the assembled congress, dropping all else to turn thenation's resources generously to the rescue, through all grades of thepeople the response broke forth spontaneously, generously, warmly, without stint and with such practical promptness that relief forunexampled distress was already on the way before the close of thefirst fateful day. From all the seeming sordidness of daily life one turns to this asproof incontestable that humanity is at heart infinitely kinder andbetter and less selfish than it esteems itself. Even other lands andother peoples when the horror of the calamity became known to them, added to the stream of gold, which had its beginning in thesympathetic hearts of the American people and its ending in thestricken and despairing city. Once more were the lines of thegeographer and politician obliterated and there was in the lurid lightof the awful hours no north, no south, no east, no west. Once more didthose in charge of the coffers of the municipalities raise high thelid and contribute to relieve the woe. And Chicago, as became the Queen City of the Lakes, and which once inan almost equally dire calamity was, herself, the recipient ofgenerous aid, was among the very first which recognized the need ofprompt and generous aid. Almost as soon as the news of the direfulplight of the city by the Golden Gate had been flashed over the wires, the Merchants' Association of Chicago telegraphed to the authoritiesof San Francisco that it would be responsible for a relief fund of$1, 000, 000, and that any portion of that sum could be drawn upon atonce. Then Mayor Dunne issued a call for a special relief meeting atwhich a big committee of the leading men of the city was formed andimmediately went to work. Fraternal organizations, the newspapers andthe clubs became also active solicitors for aid. For several days the streets of the city presented a peculiarappearance. Upon the street corners stood boxes showing that fundsdeposited within would reach the homeless of the Pacific coast. Smaller boxes stood in the hotels that the strangers in the city mighthave an opportunity to contribute. Within the large stores in thebusiness center were other boxes that the shoppers might have anopportunity of displaying their sympathy in something more tangiblethan words. Upon other corners stood the men and women of theVolunteers of America and the inscriptions above their boxes told thatall pennies, nickels and dimes would eventually find their way to thestricken of San Francisco. But while Chicago was the first of distant cities to pledge a bigcontribution, other cities throughout the country were not far behind. In Faneuil Hall, Boston, a meeting which overcrowded that historictemple of liberty was held, and Bishop Mallalieu of the Methodistchurch, at the close of an eloquent address, had a motionenthusiastically passed that the state of Massachusetts raise$3, 000, 000 for the relief of the earthquake and fire victims of thePacific coast. In the meantime the city of Boston had already pledged$500, 000 of that amount. The city of Philadelphia at a formal meeting of its council voted$100, 000, while the relief committee of the people there had secured$125, 000 for the sufferers of the stricken city. And the congress of the United States, as became it, was prompt inaction. In the lower house a bill appropriating $1, 000, 000 wasintroduced and passed at once, and a few days later a similar measureof relief was adopted, making the contribution of the government$2, 000, 000 altogether. This was about one-third as much as wasrequired to care for the thousands who were made homeless by theChicago disaster of 1871. President Roosevelt also sent a message tocongress urging a further contribution of $500, 000, and in an addressto the public urged that they send contributions to the National RedCross society as the readiest means by which the afflicted could bereached. Governor Deneen of Illinois also issued a proclamation to thelike effect. Secretary of War Taft, in his capacity of President ofthe American National Red Cross society, issued a proclamation inwhich he announced that the necessary work of organization to feed andshelter the people was placed in the hands of the Red Cross society, under the direction of General Funston, Commander of the Department ofthe Pacific. In this way matters were made systematic andauthoritative and assurances given that the contributions of thenation would be honestly and economically distributed to those inneed. Among other states and cities not already mentioned, whosecontributions were generous enough to deserve permanent record, werethe following--and the amounts named may be in most cases set down assomewhat below the real final figures: Texas $100, 000 Connecticut 30, 000 St. Louis, Mo. 100, 000 Sacramento 100, 000 Seattle, Wash. 90, 000 Victoria, B. C. 25, 000 Spokane, Wash. 30, 000 Milwaukee 30, 000 City of Mexico 30, 000 Des Moines 10, 000 Jacksonville, Fla. 10, 000 Los Angeles 200, 000 Cincinnati 75, 000 Omaha 10, 000 Providence, R. I. 20, 000 Davenport, Iowa 20, 000 Stockton, Cal. 20, 000 Portland, Ore. 130, 000 Sacramento, Cal. 100, 000 Columbus, O. 20, 000 Among individuals in this and other countries who promptly sent intheir contributions were the following: Russell Sage $ 5, 000 London Americans 12, 500 Clarence H. Mackay 100, 000 Mrs. John W. Mackay 5, 000 Robert Lebaudy 10, 000 W. W. Astor 100, 000 President Roosevelt 1, 000 Senator Knox 500 C. J. Burrage, Boston oil dealer 100, 000 President Diaz, Mexico 100, 000 E. H. Harriman (for his railroads) 200, 000 Andrew Carnegie 100, 000 Charles Sweeney, New York 10, 000 W. K. Vanderbilt 25, 000 "Friend of Humanity, " New York 25, 000 H. C. Frick 10, 000 Gordon Blanding 10, 000 H. M. Bowers, Boston 10, 000 Robert Schandy, France 10, 000 Among the corporations and organizations which lost no time in goingto the rescue of the afflicted and helpless were the following: Bank of Commerce, Toronto $ 25, 000 Columbus Board of Trade 20, 000 National Carpenters' union 10, 000 United States Steel Corporation 100, 000 Kuhn, Loeb & Co. , New York 25, 000 United Mineworkers of America 1, 000 Standard Oil Company 100, 000 North German Lloyd Steamship Company 25, 000 Wisconsin Masons 5, 000 Carnegie Hero Fund 25, 000 Heidelback-Ickleheimer, New York 10, 000 National Park bank, New York 5, 000 New York Stock Exchange 250, 000 Citizens' Relief Association, Philadelphia 100, 000 Detroit Board of Commerce 10, 000 N. K. Fairbank Co. 1, 000 National Biscuit Co. 5, 000 Hamburg-American Steamship Line 25, 000 Canadian Parliament 100, 000 CHAPTER XI. ALL CO-OPERATE IN RELIEF WORK. =Citizens' Committee Takes Charge of the Distribution of Supplies, Aided by the Red Cross Society and the Army--Nearly Three-Fourths of the Entire Population Fed and Sheltered in Refuge Camps. = President Roosevelt inaugurated the organized and systematic reliefwork through the National Red Cross Society. Before the embers of theconflagration had cooled he issued the following statement: Washington, D. C. , April 22. --The following statement was issued fromthe White House this afternoon: "To the public: After full consultation with Secretary Taft, thepresident of the American National Red Cross Association, who also assecretary of war is controlling the army work and the expenditure ofthe money, probably two millions and a half, appropriated and to beappropriated by congress for the relief of San Francisco, I wish tomake the following suggestion: "Contributions both in money and in kind are being given mostgenerously for the relief of those who have suffered through thisappalling calamity. Unless there is a proper organization for handlingthese contributions they will in large part be wasted and will inlarge part fail to reach the people to whom it is most to be desiredthey should reach. "The American National Red Cross Association has sent out to takecharge of the relief work Dr. Edward Devine, general secretary of theCharity Organization Society of New York, whose experience has beenlarge in work of this kind. Dr. Devine will work in conjunction withJudge Morrow, United States Circuit judge of the Ninth circuit, andthe head of the California Red Cross Association. Gen. Funston alreadyhas been directed to co-operate with Dr. Devine, and has advised thesecretary of war that he will do so. "Secretary Metcalf, who is on his way to the Pacific slope, will atonce put himself in touch with Dr. Devine, as well as with the judge, the governor of California, and the mayor of San Francisco, to see ifthere is anything else the administration can do, and he will assistin all possible ways the effort to systematize what is being done. "I recommend that all charitable and relief organizations andindividuals who desire to contribute do so through the Red CrossAssociation, and that where provisions and supplies be sent they beconsigned to Dr. Devine, Red Cross, San Francisco, and that Dr. Devinebe notified by telegraph of the consignments. At the same time JacobH. Schiff, the treasurer of the New York Red Cross Association, in NewYork, may be notified that the consignments have been sent to Dr. Devine, or else the notification can be sent to Charles H. Keep, assistant secretary of the treasury, Washington, D. C. , and treasurerof the American National Red Cross Association. "I also suggest that all contributions that already have beenforwarded be brought to the attention of Dr. Devine by telegraph, which telegram should state the name and address of the consignee andthe amount and nature of the consignment. It is better to send allmoneys to Mr. Keep or Mr. Schiff; they will then be telegraphed to Dr. Devine as the money is needed. "The White House, April 22, 1906. Theodore Roosevelt. " * * * * * At the time the foregoing was issued the President was not aware thatthe Citizens' Committee of San Francisco headed by ex-Mayor James D. Phelan was completely organized for relief work and was at the timedirecting the succor of the victims. Upon learning this fact he speedily endorsed the committee and itswork, and instructed the Red Cross Society to co-operate with theCitizens' Committee. President Roosevelt aroused criticism in some directions by decliningaid from foreign countries. The first tenders of aid from abroad camefrom foreign steamship companies and later several foreign governmentsexpressed a desire to contribute. The President took the ground thatthe United States was able to provide all the relief necessary. Thejustification for his attitude was expressed in an address by GeneralStewart L. Woodford, former minister to Spain, speaking with theauthority of the President. He said: "The President, in the midst of the horrors of San Francisco kindlybut firmly declined the assistance offered by the other nations, andespecially, through St. George's society, the assistance of England. The President meant simply that, bowed as the American people wereunder their load, it was his wish that the American people show to theworld that under such an adversity the United States would take careof its own; would rise equal to the terrible occasion; would feedtheir own hungry, would clothe their own naked, and, spurred on by theindomitable courage which this people always have exhibited understress of distracting calamity, set up their flag and move to theassistance of 'the city that once was, ' and build a new city, eventhough the earth shook beneath its foundations. "In doing this--in refusing your great beneficence, the Presidentstill feels that he is greatly honored, as the American people are, inthat England and the other great nations not only sent messages ofregret, but offers of substantial material aid. He felt that thenation, as a nation, would set an example to other nations. " All funds and supplies were dispensed through the Citizens' Committeeor general relief committee as it was known, with the co-operation ofthe army and the Red Cross. Money, food, shelter and clothing pouredin from every quarter. On the Monday succeeding the fire the foodproblem had been solved and its distribution reduced to a system. Thepeople were fed thereafter in a thoroughly businesslike manner. Fromthe water front, where the boatloads of provisions docked, there wasan endless procession of carts and drays carrying food to the scoresof substations established throughout the city and the parks. At thesestations food and drink, comprising bread, prepared meats, and cannedgoods, milk, and a limited amount of hot coffee, was served to allthose who applied. About 1, 500 tons of provisions were being moveddaily from the water front. The food supply committee had fifty-two food depots in operation. Plain food of every description was plentiful. The troops who dispensed the food played no favorites. Sometimes ittook two or three hours to get through the lines, and with three mealsa day a man living in the parks passed a good part of his timestanding for his food. The Red Cross saw that weak women and children were provided forwithout waiting in line. Even the people living in houses had to taketheir chances with the rest of the crowd in the parks near by. Fully 30, 000 refugees were fed by the government at the Presidio andNorth beach. Provisions were bountifully supplied to all who madeapplication, and there was no suffering from hunger. Over 10, 000 tentswere given and the authorities distributed them as long as the supplylasted. Barracks were erected in Golden Gate Park to accommodate 15, 000persons. The buildings contained thirty rooms, in two room apartments, with kitchen arranged so as to suit a family or be divided for the useof single men. By great luck a lot of lumber yards along the water front escaped. Their stock was appropriated and used for barracks. Two or threelumber schooners arriving from the northern forest country were seizedand the stocks used for the same purpose. Further, the Red Cross, with the approval of Funston, went throughthe standing residence district and made every householder give overhis spare room to refugees. Here, generosity was its own reward. Thoseresidents of the western addition who took in burned out friends orchance acquaintances on the first day had a chance to pick theircompany. Those who were selfish about it had to take whomsoever theRed Cross sent, even Chinese and new arrivals from Hungary. The Red Cross people enjoyed the grim joke of this. They trotted tenrefugees up to the door of a Pacific Heights residence. The woman ofthe house came to the door. The sergeant in charge made briefexplanation. "Heavens, " she said, looking them over. "You have brought me two of mydischarged cooks. " "See that the guests are quartered in the parlor, " said the sergeantbriefly to his high private. What with tents, barracks, the exodus to other parts of California, the plan of concentration in the standing houses of the westernaddition, there was shelter for everyone. The water supply improved every day. Nearly everywhere the order toboil drinking water was enforced. All vacant houses in the unburned district were seized. Many vacantflats were taken where the homeless are housed and the sick found goodaccommodations. Churches, and other buildings, including schoolhouses, were turned into living rooms for the homeless. In some of the provisional camps established for refugees near thefoot of Van Ness avenue and near Fort Mason it was difficult todistinguish men from women. The supply of women's clothing had beenexhausted, and many women could be seen dressed in ordinary softshirts and overalls. In that garb they walked about their tentsunconcernedly. It was no time for false modesty and those who were able to makethemselves comfortable in any sort of clothing were indeed fortunate. Within a week conditions had improved so rapidly that there wasenough water in the mains to justify the removal of the restrictionson washing. Up to that time the only way to get a bath was to dip intothe bay. Lights, only candles, of course, were allowed up to 10 p. M. An idea of the Titanic task of feeding the refugees may be gained fromthe figures of the number of hungry people fed in one day. Throughoutthe city rations for 349, 440 persons were distributed. At one pointprovisions were given out to 672 people in an hour for ten hours. Two thousand persons were fed daily at St. Mary's cathedral on VanNess avenue, a relief station organized by the Rev. Father Hanniganand headed by him as chairman of the committee. This was perhaps thebest organized and most systematically conducted private station inthe city. The committee has a completed directory of the fifty squareblocks in the district, and so perfect was the system that there is noduplicating and wrangling. Nine substations gave out orders, and itwas arranged for those stations to give out food also. Fourteenmembers of the clergy were in charge of the various branches of thework. The emergency hospitals were well organized under direction of armymedical officers, and there were plenty of doctors and nurses afterthe second day. The only complaint that really existed at that time was the lack ofbedding. Though the army and navy were called upon for blankets, quilts, and the like, the supply furnished by those departments wasnot enough to relieve immediate needs. Only 30 patients were quartered in the territory that comprised thepark emergency hospital at the end of the first week. Considering thatover 500 injured people received attention at the park during thattime the record was remarkable. More than 100 physicians and attendants were serving in the parkwithin forty-eight hours after the first shock. Among the many pathetic scenes connected with the work of relief wereothers that illustrated the saving sense of humor which keeps peoplefrom going insane in times of great calamity and mental stress. In the vestibule of a church they were giving away clothes. Oneshivering woman was being fitted out. "Here, dear, " said the woman incharge, "here is a nice, good warm waist. " "Oh, I couldn't wear it, "she answered. "You know, I'm in mourning. " Another girl near by said: "Yes, please, I want a waist. I want pinkand white, you know; they're my favorite colors. " Quite suddenly the smile died on our lips. A little mother came up. "Iwant clothes for my baby; it's cold, " she said. They took the baby from her, and a man near by said to another: "Thechild is dead. " We went down to Broadway to look for friends. Some people were sodazed they would make no effort to reach the homes of their friends. On the corner was a dapper youth whom we have long known. A helpful feature of the relief work was the establishment by theSouthern Pacific company of a chain of information kept by bureaus, which was served by relays of pony riders carrying the latestbulletins and instructions relative to transportation facilities, provided to relieve the congestion in San Francisco. A committee sent by the Japanese consul, representing the Japaneserelief society, cared for many of the stricken Japanese who stillremain in the city. They rendered assistance to white people whereverrequired. They wired to every large city on the coast asking forsupplies to be sent by the Japanese. It was the desire of President Roosevelt that the work of the RedCross in alleviating the distress in San Francisco should be donewholly without regard to the person and just as much for the Chineseas for any others. [Illustration: Copyright by R. L. Forrest 1906. =REFUGEES ON TELEGRAPH HILL. = These people sought a safe place and are watching their houses and the city burning. Many of them carried bedding, pictures, relics, etc. , with them--all they could carry and get to a safe place with their lives. ] [Illustration: =GENERAL FUNSTON AND WIFE. =] CHAPTER XII. OUR BOYS IN BLUE PROVE HEROISM. =United States Troops at the Presidio and Fort Mason Under Command of General Funston Bring Order Out of Chaos and Save City from Pestilence--San Francisco Said "Thank God for the Boys in Blue"--Stricken City Patrolled by Soldiers. = "Thank god for the Boys in Blue!" was the ardent and praisefulexclamation of the people of San Francisco during and after theterrible days that rent by shock and consumed by fire their beautifulcity. And as their courage and devotion to save and protect, and theirtenderness towards the dying and the dead became known the entirecountry re-echoed the tribute. For it was the soldiers of Uncle Sam, untiring and unafraid amidst horrors and dangers seen and unseen, thatstood between half-crazed refugees from the quake and the fire anddownright starvation and anarchy. When the catastrophe occurred Major General A. W. Greely, in commandof the military department of the Pacific, was on his way east toattend the marriage of his daughter, and so the command of the troopsand of the department devolved on Brigadier General Frederick Funston;and as on previous occasions when pluck and wise decision wererequired he showed himself equal to the emergency. The first thingthat was done was to divide that portion of the city where order andprotection were most needed into six districts, four of them beingguarded by the military, one by the marine and one by the navy. Otherportions of the city were patrolled by the National Guard and by thecity's police force. Because of these arrangements there wasthereafter but little trouble, and practically no more looting. During the fire General Funston established his headquarters at FortMason on the cliffs of Black Point, and at once it became the busiestand most picturesque spot in San Francisco. There was an awe-inspiringdignity about the place, with its many guards, military ensemble andthe businesslike movements of officers and men. Few were allowed toenter within its gates, and the missions of those who did find theirway within were disposed of with that accuracy and dispatch peculiarto government headquarters. Scores of automobiles rushed in and out ofthe gate, and each car contained an armed guardsman in the front seatfuriously blowing a sentry whistle to clear the roadway. At the soundof that tremolo the crowds scattered as if by magic. San Francisco wasvirtually under martial law, and order was wrought from chaos. After the quake the President and Secretary Taft were chieflyconcerned at first with getting supplies, and that work was performedwith extraordinary expedition and thoroughness. At the same time theywere rushing troops, marines, and sailors to guard the devastatedcity. The marvelous work done by the soldiers, from General Funston down tothe newest recruit, won the admiration and congratulations of theentire country. The sentiment everywhere was and is that the army hasdemonstrated its splendid capacity not only to preserve peace in theface of armed resistance, but to take charge of affairs in a strickencity at a time when intelligent discipline was more needed thaneverything else. Secretary Taft expressed the belief that congress would have to givehim absolution for the violence he had done the constitution in thoseterrible days. He ordered General Funston to take complete command ofthe city, to put martial law into effect, and to enforce sanitaryregulations without regard to the wishes of the people. The war department had been morally responsible for the unhesitatingway in which the troops shot down looters and the people who refusedto understand that great situations must be controlled without regardto law. It was the soldiers apparently who brought order out of chaos. Theyheaded the unfortunate refugees farther and farther on ahead of theflames, until finally they had located the vast homeless mob in thePresidio, in the Golden Gate Park, and in other wide expanses. GeneralFunston had not exceeded his orders. He was given full discretion toemploy his forces as he saw fit. He turned loose the soldiers underhim with general instructions to act as their own good sense dictated, and it is to the eternal credit of the noncommissioned officers andthe privates that every report sent to the war department and all thedescriptions in the press reports indicated that the army had savedthe situation in San Francisco. When a sturdy sergeant brought down the butt of his musket on thecounter of a bake shop where they were beginning to sell bread at 75cents a loaf, and announced that bread thereafter in that concernwould be sold at 10 cents a loaf or there would be one less baker inthe world, he was guilty of an act which in any other time might havelanded him in prison. If he is punished for it now, it will only be after the Secretary ofWar and the President are impeached, because he was only obeying thespirit if not the letter of their instructions to General Funston. Soldiers guarded the water wagons, which were driven about thestreets, and this show of force was necessary, so that the scantysupplies might be distributed with even-handed justice. In the sameway, when General Funston issued orders as the result of which thesoldiers compelled citizens to dig graves for the temporary intermentof the dead, he violated the law most flagrantly, but he acted as theemergency demanded, and the incident contributed with other things tomake the army organization of the United States a little bit the mostpopular thing in the country in these days. When the army was reduced at the close of the Philippineinsurrection, the machinery was left intact. In this way, although thequartermasters' stores in San Francisco were wiped out of existence, it was possible to hurry supplies to San Francisco. They beganarriving there promptly and the danger of famine was averted. It is the purpose of the war department to continue practical martiallaw in San Francisco. It is believed the greatest work of the soldiers, in which term ofcourse are to be included the marines and sailors as well, was in theprevention of pestilence. Practically all of the house to house sewagesystem of San Francisco had been destroyed. An army of two or threehundred thousand men encamped in the suburbs of a great city wouldordinarily die like flies unless it provided itself with properfacilities for the removal of garbage and the general sanitarycleansing of the immense camp. Even with trained soldiers under strictdiscipline it was an extremely difficult thing to enforce sanitaryregulations. Immense supplies of medical necessities already had been forwardedfrom the bureau at St. Louis, and General Funston organized at once aseries of camps on military lines. The refugees were compelled to liveup to sanitary rules whether they liked it or not. Those who refusedfelt the pick of a bayonet. Furthermore, out of the tens of thousands of homeless people thesoldiers forced as many as were needed to go to work for the commongood, putting up shelters, erecting tents, devising store-houses, and, above all, creating the necessary sanitary appliances and safeguardsto prevent the outbreak of pestilence. It required the utmost vigilance on the part of the army officers andthe most constant attention by the medical corps to prevent anoutbreak of typhoid, dysentery, and the ordinary train of nearly fataldiseases which are common to large military camps, and which arealmost inevitable when dealing with an unorganized and unintelligentmob. Efforts were made to compel every man, woman, and child to obeyconstantly the strict sanitary regulations which the army provides forits own protection. Every medical officer and every man in the hospital corps within awide range of San Francisco had been ordered to report at once forduty under General Funston. With the flames practically under controland with millions of army rations on the grounds or actually in sightof the people, the efforts of the War Department became directed tothe preservation of health and in a secondary degree to the locationand registration of the dead, the wounded, and the saved. Following close upon the heels of the rations and the tents there cametons upon tons of disinfectants unloaded at Oakland and every possibledevice was being employed by the medical bureau to make as good arecord in this regard as the quartermaster and commissary departmentshad already produced in supplying food and shelter. Meanwhile the ever-ready American private soldier and his splendidexecutive officer, the American noncom. , were really the rulers at SanFrancisco. They defied the law every minute, but evidently they actedwith characteristic good sense. The price of bread was kept down, themob was being systematized and taught to respect authority, and enoughthieves had summarily been shot in San Francisco to render looting adangerous and an unprofitable avocation. People who went through the great fire at Chicago in 1871 rememberthat when Gen. Sheridan brought in regular soldiers he establishedorder within a brief period of time, and there was a feeling of reliefwhen men under his command began to blow up houses in the vicinity ofWabash avenue and Congress street. The laws of the United States had been violated every minute. Supplieswere purchased in the open market, government property had been handedout without receipts to anybody who seemed to have authority toreceive it, and the distribution of supplies had been wholly freefrom the slightest suspicion of red tape. In spite of these facts, the President and Secretary Taft felt proudof the fact that the army organization had proved itself able towithstand the sudden strain put upon it, while the enlisted man showedhis ability to act at a distance from his commissioned officer with anintelligence and an initiative which would be impossible in theEuropean armies. As during the days of disaster and terror stricken San Francisco wasabsolutely under the control of General Funston, a few facts about hiscareer will be appropriate here. Red-headed, red-blooded; a pygmy instature, a giant in experience; true son of Romany in peace and ofErin in war--the capture of Aguinaldo in the wilds of North Luzon andhis control of affairs in San Francisco fairly top off the adventurouscareer of Frederick Funston, fighter. General Funston was born in Ohio, but when he was two years old hisfamily moved to Kansas. After passing through the high school heentered the University of Kansas. His father had been a congressmanfor a number of years. His ambition was to enter West Point, but hefailed to pass its examination. He later broke into the newspaperbusiness, but his career in that field was short. In 1900 his fathersecured him an appointment as botanist in the Department ofAgriculture. After a trip to Montana and the Dakotas he was attachedto the party which made the first Government survey of Death Valley, the famous California death-trap. Seven months were spent in thiswork, and Funston is the only man of the party alive and sane today. In 1891-92 the Government sent him to make a botanical survey ofcertain parts of the Alaskan coast, and in 1893 he returned to theArctic and made a similar survey of the Yukon. He negotiated ChilkootPass, then an untrodden pathway. After trying to start a coffeeplantation in Central America and to fill a job with the Santa Ferailroad, the torch of the Cuban revolution became a beacon to hisadventurous spirit. He joined a filibustering party which theDauntless landed at Camaguay in August, 1896. He was assigned byGarcia to the artillery arm of the insurgent service. Twenty-three battles in Cuba was his record with his guns. Once he wascaptured and sentenced to death, but escaped. Later still asteel-tipped Mauser bullet pierced his lungs. This healed, but thefever struck him down, and compelled his return to the United States. As he was preparing to return to Cuba the Maine was blown up and inhis certainty that war with Spain would result he awaited the issue. Governor Leedy, of Kansas, telegraphed for him, and he became Colonelof the Twentieth Kansas. He went with General Miles to Cuba in June, 1898, and sailed with his regiment for Manila in October. Three weeksbefore he sailed Colonel Funston met Miss Ella Blankhart of Oakland. As impetuous in love as in war he wooed and won her, the marriagetaking place the day before the transport sailed. Of his daring risks and feats in the Philippines and of his capture ofAguinaldo the general public is so familiar as not to needrecapitulation here. Of his qualities as a fighting man pure andsimple, there can be no two opinions. Says General Harrison G. Otis:"Funston is the greatest daredevil in the army, and would rather fightthan eat. I never saw a man who enjoyed fighting so much. " Anotherfriend of his once said that Funston was a sixteenth-century hero, born four hundred years or so too late, who had ever since beenseeking to remedy the chronological error of his birth. CHAPTER XIII. IN THE REFUGE CAMPS. =Scenes of Destitution in the Parks Where the Homeless Were Gathered--Rich and Poor Share Food and Bed Alike--All Distinctions of Wealth and Social Position Wiped Out by the Great Calamity. = Next to viewing the many square miles of ruins that once made SanFrancisco a city, no better realization of the ruin can be gained thanfrom the refugee camps located in the districts which were untouchedby the flames. Golden Gate park was the mecca of the destitute. Thisimmense playground of the municipality was converted into a vastmushroom city that bore striking resemblance to the fleeting townslocated on the border of a government reservation about to be openedto public settlement. The common destitution and suffering wiped out all social, financialand racial distinctions. The man who before the fire had been aprosperous merchant occupied with his family a little plot of groundthat adjoined the open-air home of a laborer. The white man ofCalifornia forgot his antipathy to the Asiatic race and maintainedfriendly relations with his new Chinese and Japanese neighbors. The society belle of the night before the fire, a butterfly of fashionat the grand opera performance, assisted some factory girl in thepreparation of humble daily meals. Money had little value. The familywho had foresight to lay in the largest stock of foodstuffs on thefirst day of the disaster was rated highest in the scale of wealth. A few of the families who could secure willing expressmen possessedcooking stoves, but over 95 per cent of the refugees had to do theircooking on little camp fires made of brick or stone. Kitchen utensilsthat a week before would have been regarded with contempt werearticles of high value. Many of the homeless people were in possession of comfortable clothingand bed covering. The grass was their bed and their daily clothingtheir only protection against the penetrating fog of the ocean or thechilling dew of the morning. Fresh meat disappeared the first day ofthe catastrophe and canned foods and breadstuffs were the onlyvictuals in evidence. Not alone were the parks the places of refuge. Every large vacant lotin the safe zone was preempted and even the cemeteries were crowded. A well-known young lady of social position when asked where she hadspent the night replied: "On a grave. " Throughout the entire western portion of the peninsular county of SanFrancisco these camps were located. Major McKeever of the United States Army was appointed commandant ofthe camps and, with his staff of assistants, brought system and orderout of the chaotic situation. His first thought was to supply food andwater and then to arrange sanitary measures. The throngs of people whocrowded elbow to elbow in the open lots and fields withoutconveniences that are naturally demanded were constantly threatenedwith an epidemic of disease. Good order and fellowship prevailed in these impromptu settlements andthe common ruin and poverty made all of the unfortunates akin. In buildings close to the camps the police stored available foodstuffsand bed clothing for convenient delivery. No distinctions were drawnand but few favors shown in the distribution of supplies. Although efforts of the various relief committees were bent to appeasethe gnawing hunger of the destitute thousands--efforts that were in alarge measure entirely successful--there were many persons withoutsufficient food or entirely without it. The government officials took charge of every grocery store in thatpart of the city still standing and gave out foodstuffs to all thosewho were hungry. Broad lines were established at Fillmore and Turkstreets, at Golden Gate park and at the Presidio and every person whostood in line was given a whole loaf. The line at Fillmore and Turkstreets was four blocks long all one afternoon and those at the parkswere even longer. A large supply of milk was received from Oakland inthe morning and this was distributed to women and children wheneverthey were found in need. A great deal of this milk was used for theexhausted women. The breadlines at the parks furnished striking instances of theabsolute patience and fortitude that has marked the behavior of thepeople throughout their trying experience. There were no disorderswhen the hungry thousands were told to form a line and receive theirbread and canned goods. All were content to wait their turn. Silk-hatted men followed good naturedly behind Chinese and took theirloaves from the same hand. Soup kitchens were established in the streets of the unburned section, no fires whatever being allowed indoors, and many hungry persons werefed by these individual efforts. At the ferry station there were some pathetic scenes among the hungrypeople. When the boat came in from Stockton with tons of supplies anumber of small children were the first to spy a large box ofsandwiches with cries of delight. They made a rush for the food, seized as much as they could hold and rushed to their mothers withshouts of "Oh, mamma, mamma, look at the sandwiches!" Seated around the ferry buildings sat hundreds of people suckingcanned fruits from the tins. Some were drinking condensed cream andsome were lucky enough to have sardines or cheese. At several placesalong Market street scores of men were digging with their hands amongthe still smoking debris of some large grocery house for canned goods. When they secured it, which they did without molestation fromanybody, they broke the tins and drank the contents. At Filbert and Van Ness avenue at 6 o'clock at night a wagon ofsupplies conveyed by soldiers was besieged by a crowd of hungrypeople. They appealed to the soldiers for food and their appeals werequickly heeded. Seizing an ax a soldier smashed the boxes and tossedthe supplies to the crowd, which took time to cheer lustily. Owing to the energetic efforts of General Funston and the officials ofthe Spring Water Company the sufferers in all parts of the city werespared at least the horrors of a water famine. As soon as it waslearned that some few mercenaries who were fortunate enough to havefresh water stored in tanks in manufacturing districts were selling itat 50 cents per glass the authorities took prompt action and hastenedtheir efforts to repair the mains that had been damaged by theearthquake shocks. The work of relief was started early on the second day of thedisaster. A big bakery in the saved district started its fires and50, 000 loaves were baked before night. The police and military werepresent in force and each person was allowed only one loaf. The destitution and suffering were indescribable. Women and childrenwho had comfortable, happy homes a few days before slept--if sleepcame at all--on hay on the wharves, on the sand lots near North beach, some of them under the little tents made of sheeting which poorlyprotected them from the chilling ocean winds. The people in the parkswere better provided in the matter of shelter, for they left theirhomes better prepared. Instructions were issued by Mayor Schmitz to break open every storecontaining provisions and to distribute them to the thousands underpolice supervision. At one time bread sold as high as $1 a loaf and water at fifty cents aglass, but the authorities at once put a stop to the extortion. Among the many pathetic incidents of the fire in San Francisco wasthat of a woman who sat at the foot of Van Ness avenue on the hotsands on the hillside overlooking the bay east of Fort Mason with fourlittle children, the youngest a girl of three, the eldest a boy often. They were destitute of water, food and money. The woman had fled withher children from a home in flames in the Mission street district andtramped to the bay in the hope of sighting the ship, which she saidwas about due, of which her husband was the captain. "He would know me anywhere, " she said. And she would not move, although a young fellow gallantly offered his tent back on a vacantlot in which to shelter her children. Among the refugees who found themselves stranded were John Singleton, a Los Angeles millionaire, his wife and her sister. The Singletonswere staying at the Palace Hotel when the earthquake shock occurred onWednesday morning. Mr. Singleton gave the following account of his experience: "The shockwrecked the rooms in which we were sleeping. We managed to get ourclothes on and get out immediately. We had been at the hotel only twodays and left probably $3, 000 worth of personal effects in the room. "After leaving the Palace we secured an express wagon for $25 to takeus to the Casino near Golden Gate park, where we stayed the firstnight. On the following morning we managed to get a conveyance atenormous cost and spent the entire day in getting to the Palace. Wepaid $1 apiece for eggs and $2 for a loaf of bread. On these and alittle ham we had to be satisfied. " Mr. Singleton, like thousands of other people, found himself withoutfunds and he had difficulty in securing cash until he met some one whoknew him. To allay the fears of the refugees in the various camps Mayor Schmitzissued the following proclamation which citizens were instructed toobserve: "Do not be afraid of famine. There will be abundance of foodsupplied. Do not use any water except for drinking and cookingpurposes. Do not light fires in houses, stoves or fireplaces. Do notuse any house closets under any circumstances, but dig earth closetsin yards or vacant lots, using if possible chloride of lime or someother disinfectant. This is of the greatest importance, as the watersupply is only sufficient for drinking and cooking. Do not allow anygarbage to remain on the premises; bury it and cover immediately. Pestilence can only be avoided by complying with these regulations. "You are particularly requested not to enter any business house ordwelling except your own, as you may be mistaken for one of thelooters and shot on sight, as the orders are not to arrest but shootdown any one caught stealing. " The refugees numbered all told about 300, 000. At least 75, 000 of themmade their way to Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Benicia and neighboringcities while many more fortunate and prosperous succeeded in reachingLos Angeles. The work of caring for the homeless in the refugee camps wassplendidly managed under the direction of the citizens' committee, themilitary authorities and the Red Cross. The people were fed in a thoroughly businesslike and systematicmanner. From the water front, where the boatloads of provisionsdocked, there was an endless procession of carts and drays carryingfood to the scores of substations established throughout the city andthe parks. At these stations food and drink, comprising bread, prepared meats and canned goods, milk and a limited amount of hotcoffee, were served to all those who applied. About 1, 500 tons ofprovisions were moved daily from the water front. Large supplies of blankets, tentings and other material to providecoverings for those who were scantily supplied theretofore reached thesupply stations rapidly. Barracks were erected at several points andin those many people have found comfort and shelter against theinclemencies of the weather. The situation in the congested districts such as Golden Gate Park andthe various public squares throughout the city, was considerablyrelieved by the departure of many people for points on the other sideof the bay, as soon as access was had to the ferry building. Theexodus continued daily from the time the fire broke out until everyone who wished to get away had departed. The greatest hardship experienced by the homeless refugees was on thefirst Sunday night following the fire. From midnight Sunday until 3 o'clock Monday morning a drenching rainfell at intervals, while a high wind added a melancholy accompaniment, whistling and sighing about the ruins of the buildings in the burneddistrict. Five days before when the fire catastrophe was in itsinfancy this downpour would have been regarded as a mercy and agodsend. When it came it could be regarded in no other light than as anadditional calamity. It meant indescribable suffering to the tens ofthousands of people camped upon the naked hills and in the parks andopen places of the city. Few of them were provided with water-proof covering. For the most parttheir only protection from the wet was a thin covering of sheetingtacked upon improvised tent-poles. Through this the water poured asthrough a sieve, wetting the bedding and soaking the ground upon whichthey lay. When it is understood that thousands upon thousands of delicatelynurtured women and infants in arms and old and feeble people were inthis plight nothing need be added to describe the misery of theircondition. What could be done was done by the guards in charge of the camps torelieve the distress. Whenever covering could be had for the women andchildren it was taken advantage of. They were housed in the chill andcheerless churches, garages and barns, and those who had beenfortunate enough to save their homes were called upon to take care ofthese unfortunates. With few exceptions these people responded readilyto the new call made upon them and where they did not the butt endsof Krag rifles quickly forced a way through inhospitable doors. Of individual instances of suffering the whole number is legion, butone will tell the story of them all. About 4 o'clock, when the rain had been falling heavily for an hour, amiddle-aged man, white-faced in his distress and fatigue, appeared atthe headquarters of the general committee. He had walked two milesfrom his camping place in the park to make an appeal for his sufferingwife and little ones. As he told of their distress the tears welled upin his eyes and coursed down his cheeks. They were, he said, without covering other than a sheeting overheadand were lying on the naked ground and their bodies protected only bya quilt and blanket, which of his household bedding were all he hadmanaged to save. These had quickly been soaked, and while unwilling tocomplain on his own account he had been unable to listen to the wailsof his little ones and had tramped all the way from his camping placeto the committee headquarters in the forlorn hope that there he mightfind some means of getting his family under shelter. The condition of the 5, 000 people or more camped in Jefferson SquarePark was something terrible. Not more than 5 per cent had even an armytent and the makeshifts were constructed of carpets, bed sheets andevery imaginable substance. They were totally inadequate to keep outthe heavy rain. The 400 soldiers of the Fifth and Sixth California National Guard wererequisitioning. Glenn A. Durston of the Spanish War Veteran's relief committee, hadcharge of the relief work. The spirit and courage shown by the sufferers in the face of theirmisfortunes was wonderful. An aged, crippled woman lying on the dirtfloor of patchwork, bed sheets, carpets and tin roofing made a remarkwhich was a sample. "I am the widow of a union soldier, " she said. "The sufferingsrelated by my husband at Vicksburg were as nothing compared to mine. Iam very comfortable, thank you. " Many temporary emergency hospitals were established in and near therefugee camps. The St. Paul Lutheran church near Jefferson square wasone, but the big hospital at the Presidio, the military headquartersof the government, provided for the greater number of cases. A temporary detention hospital was also established in the basement ofthe Sacred Heart school, conducted by the Dominican Sisters at thecorner of Fillmore and Hayes streets, and the first commitment sincethe earthquake was made on the Sunday following the fire. The sistersof the Sacred Heart kindly turned over a part of the already crowdedquarters to the insanity commissioners, and a number of patients madeinsane by the fire were cared for there. At the general hospital the wards were soon full of patients, but fewwere suffering from severe types of sickness. There were many cases oftonsilitis, colds and such ills. Within a week after the fire thousands of people left the refugeecamps and found homes with friends in nearby places. One week afterthe disaster the authorities estimated that the number of campers onthe grounds had been reduced to less than 8, 000, where over 30, 000people had camped. Temporary structures were erected in Golden Gate Park for the housingof 40, 000 people, who had been sleeping out of doors for nearly a weekand they were moved into comfortable quarters. About the same time asupply of blankets and bedding was received. Within a week from the beginning of the disaster the refuge camps wereconverted into comfortable places of residence, with adequatesanitation, and the homeless at least had temporary homes. All thiswas accomplished with a minimum of suffering and illness that speaksvolumes for the courage, energy and common sense of the Americanpeople. [Illustration: =THE BEAUTIFUL VENDOME HOTEL, SAN JOSE. = This famous hotel was partly wrecked by the earthquake. ] [Illustration: =POSTOFFICE, SAN JOSE. = This building faces a beautiful public square and was badly damaged. ] CHAPTER XIV. RUINS AND HAVOC IN COAST CITIES. =San Jose, the Prettiest Place in the State, Wrecked by Quake--State Insane Asylum Collapsed and Buried Many Patients Beneath the Crumbled Walls--Enormous Damage at Santa Rosa. = Outside of San Francisco the earthquake did immense damage for fiftymiles north and south of the Golden Gate City. San Jose, the prettiestcity in California, sustained the severest shock, which killed a scoreof people and left the business section a pile of ruins. The loss inthis one city alone amounted to $5, 000, 000. The State Insane Asylum at Agnews near San Jose collapsed and buriedupwards of 100 patients beneath its walls. Among the buildings wrecked in San Jose are St. Patrick's church, theFirst Presbyterian church, the Centella Methodist Episcopal church, the Central Christian and South Methodist churches. Every building on the west side of First street from St. James park toSan Fernando street either went down, toppling or was badly cracked. The Auzerias building, Elks club, Unique theater and many otherbuildings on Santa Clara street went down to the ground. On Second street the six-story Dougherty building and severaladjoining blocks were destroyed by fire. A new high school in NormalPark was a complete wreck. The Nevada & Porter building on Second street, the Rucker building onThird and Santa Clara streets were also ruined. The annex to the Vendome Hotel was completely wrecked, and one man waskilled therein. Sheriff William White, of Los Angeles, who was in San Jose at thetime attending a convention, thus describes the scenes following thequake: "San Jose, which was the prettiest city in California, is theworst-looking wreck I ever saw. When I left there nineteen dead bodieshad been recovered and there was a possibility that others would befound. I reached Agnews Asylum a few hours later in an automobile andwas one of the first on the spot. There I helped to carry out sixtycorpses. At noon, when I arrived at San Jose, it was believed thatfully 100 bodies were still in the ruins. "The shock came to San Jose exactly at 5:12:45, according to the clockin the St. James Hotel, which was stopped. Supreme Court Clerk Jordan, my young nephew; Walter Jordan and myself occupied apartments on thefourth floor of the St. James Hotel. The shock awoke the three of us, but only seemed to disturb my nephew, who commenced calling out. "There was not a brick or stone building of two stories or over in SanJose that was not leveled to the ground or so badly damaged it willhave to be torn down. Some fires started after the quake, but the firedepartment soon had them under control. "I secured an automobile at 7 o'clock and left for Agnew, where theinsane asylum was located, with two or three of the visiting sheriffs. The sight there was awful. The walls were standing, but the floors hadall fallen in. "Scores of insane persons were running about in the grounds, unwatchedand uncared for. I helped to take out the body of Dr. Kelly, theassistant superintendent of the asylum, who had been instantly killed. A nurse who was also taken out of the ruins by me died a little later. "After getting away from San Jose I saw evidences of the earthquake atNiles and even as far as Livermore in the shape of fallen chimneys andbroken glass. " The main building of the State Hospital collapsed, pinning many of thepatients under fallen walls and debris. The padded cells had to bebroken open and more dangerous patients were tied to trees out on thelawn in lieu of a safer place. The doctors and nurses stuck heroicallyto their posts and 100 students from Santa Clara College went over ina body and assisted in succoring the wounded. State Senator Cornelius Pendleton, who escaped the earthquake shock atSan Jose, thus narrated his experiences: "We were all at the Vendome Hotel. The shock of the earthquake was sosevere the floors and walls of the building collapsed at once andthose of us who escaped made our way as best we could out of theruins. On the side of the hotel where my room was there was a largetree. The side wall of my room fell against this tree, which alsosustained that portion of the roof, preventing it from falling in onus. "My room was on the second floor, but when I picked myself up I was inthe basement of the building. I crawled up and out over the debris andescaped through a window on a level with the ground. After getting outI found this was one of the third story windows. Those of us who wereuninjured at once set about assisting the less fortunate. I saw onedead woman in the hotel. We carried her out. The remainder of the deadwere in various parts of the town. The residence district was notbadly damaged. Martial law had been declared in the city when we left. "Among the large buildings that were totally demolished were the Hallof Justice, the First Presbyterian Church, the Catholic Cathedral, theHale Block, and the Vendome Hotel. Fire broke out following theearthquake in several quarters, but fortunately the water mains wereuninjured and the spread of the flames was checked. " At Salinas the immense plant of the Spreckels Sugar refinery wascompletely destroyed, and the loss of property aggregated $2, 000, 000. The estimated loss of life and damage in California cities outside ofSan Francisco is as follows: Oakland, $500, 000, 5 lives; Alameda, $400, 000; San Jose, $5, 000, 000, 19 lives; Agnew (state hospital for insane), $400, 000, 170 lives; PaloAlto (Stanford University), $3, 000, 000, 2 lives; Napa, $250, 000;Salinas, $2, 000, 000; Hollister, $100, 000, 1 life; Vallejo, $40, 000;Sacramento, $25, 000; Redwood City, $30, 000; Suisun, $50, 000; SantaRosa, $800, 000, 40 lives; Watsonville, $70, 000; Monterey, $25, 000, 8lives; Loma Prieta, 10 lives; Stockton, $40, 000; Brawley, $100, 000;Santa Cruz, $200, 000; Gilroy, $500, 000; Healdsburg, $25, 000;Cloverdale, $15, 000; Geyserville, $12, 000; Hopland, $10, 000; Ukiah, $50, 000; Alviso, $20, 000; Niles, $10, 000; Hinckley Creek, $10, 000, 9lives; Deer Creek Mill, $10, 000, 2 lives; Santa Clara, $500, 000;Pacific Grove, $50, 000; Wrights, $75, 000; Delmonte, $25, 000, 2 lives. The beautiful city of Santa Rosa was a terrible sufferer from thequake, both in loss of life and property: The entire business section was left in ruins and practically everyresidence in the town was more or less damaged, fifteen or twentybeing badly wrecked. The damage to residences was caused principallyby the sinking of the foundations, which let many structures down onto the ground. The brick and stone business blocks, together with the publicbuildings, were all thrown flat. The courthouse, Hall of Records, theOccidental and Santa Rosa hotels, the Athenaeum theater, the newMasonic Temple, Odd Fellows' block, all the banks--everything--went, and in all the city not one brick or stone building was left standingexcept the California Northwestern depot. It was almost impossible for an outsider to realize the situation asit actually existed there. No such complete destruction of a city'sbusiness interests ever before resulted from an earthquake in America. The very completeness of the devastation was really the redeemingfeature, though, for it put all upon exactly the same basis, commercially speaking. Bankers and millionaires went about with onlythe few dollars they happened to have in their pockets when the crashcame, and were little better off than the laborers who were diggingthrough the debris. Money had practically no value, for there was noplace to spend it, and this phase of the situation presented its ownremedy. Almost every one slept out of doors, being afraid to entertheir homes except for a short while at a time until repairs weremade. There were plenty of provisions. Some were supplied by other towns andmuch was brought in from the surrounding country. Two entire blocks ofbuildings escaped being swept by the flames, which immediately brokeout in a dozen places at once as soon as the shock was over and fromthe tangled ruins of those buildings complete stocks of groceries andclothing were dug out and added to the common store. Then before thefire gained headway several grocery stores were emptied of theircontents in anticipation of what might follow. The city was put under martial law, company C of Petaluma having beencalled to assist the local company in preserving order. Many deputysheriffs and special police were also sworn in, but no trouble of anykind occurred. The relief committee was active and well managed and all in need ofassistance received it promptly. The work that required the principalattention of the authorities was removal of the wreckage in order tosearch for the bodies of those missing and known to have perished. Forty marines under command of Captain Holcombe arrived from MareIsland and did splendid work in assisting in the search. Forty-twobodies were buried in one day and the total dead and missing numberedupward of 100. Santa Rosa, in proportion to its size, suffered worse than SanFrancisco. Mr. Griggs, who was in the employ of a large firm at SantaRosa, tells a story which sufficiently proves the earthquake's fury, so great as to practically reduce the town to ruin. In addition tothe death roll a large number of persons were missing and a stillgreater number were wounded. As in the case of San Francisco, an admirable organization had thesituation well in hand. Forty sailors from Mare Island, fully equippedwith apparatus, were at work, while volunteer aid was unstinted. Santa Rosa suffered the greatest disaster in her history, but theindomitable spirit of her people was shown all along the line. Even soearly as Friday an announcement was made that the public schools andthe college would open as usual on Monday morning, the buildingshaving been inspected and found to be safe. At Agnews the cupola over the administration department went down andall the wards in that part of the building collapsed. Twelveattendants were killed and Dr. Kelly, second assistant physician, wascrushed to death. There were 1, 100 patients in the hospital. C. L. Seardee, secretary of the state commission in lunacy, who was inAgnews and attending to official business, declared that it was amarvel that many more were not killed. Dr. T. W. Hatch, superintendentof the state hospitals for insane, was in charge of the work ofrelief. Friday morning 100 patients were transferred to the Stockton asylum. Forty or fifty patients escaped. Dr. Clark, superintendent of the San Francisco County Hospital, wasone of the first to give relief to the injured at Agnews. He wentthere in an automobile, taking four nurses with him, and materiallyassisted the remaining members of the staff to organize reliefmeasures. Tents were set up in the grounds of the institution, and the injuredas well as the uninjured cared for. A temporary building was erectedto house the patients. The St. Rose and Grand hotels at Santa Rosa collapsed and buried allthe occupants. Thirty-eight bodies were taken from the ruins. Therewere 10, 000 homeless men, women and children huddled together aboutSanta Rosa. As the last great seismic tremor spent its force in theearth, the whole business portion tumbled into ruins. The main streetwas piled many feet deep with the fallen buildings. The destruction included all of the county buildings. The four storycourthouse, with its dome, is a pile of broken masonry. What was notdestroyed by the earthquake was swept by fire. The citizens desertedtheir homes. Not even their household goods were taken. They made forthe fields and hills to watch the destruction of one of the mostbeautiful cities of the west. C. A. Duffy of Owensboro, Ky. , who was in Santa Rosa, was the only oneout of several score to escape from the floor in which he wasquartered in the St. Rose hotel at Santa Rosa. He went to Oakland onhis motor cycle after he was released and told a thrilling story ofhis rescue and the condition of affairs in general at Santa Rosa. Mr. Duffy said when the shock came he rushed for the stairway, but thebuilding was swaying and shaking so that he could make no headway, andhe turned back. He threw himself in front of the dresser in his room, trusting to that object to protect him from the falling timbers. Thismove saved his life. The dresser held up the beams which tumbled overhim, and these in turn protected him from the falling mass of debris. "I was imprisoned five hours, " said Mr. Duffy, "before being rescued. Three times I tried to call and the rescuers heard me, but could notlocate my position from the sound of my voice, and I could hear themgoing away after getting close to me. "Finally I got hold of a lath from the ruins around me, poked itthrough a hole left by the falling of a steam pipe, and by using itand yelling at the same time finally managed to show the people whereI was. "There were about 300 people killed in the destruction of the threehotels. "The business section of the place collapsed to the ground almostinside of five minutes. Then the fire started and burned Fourth streetfrom one end to the other, starting at each end and meeting in themiddle, thus sweeping over the ruins and burning the imprisonedpeople. "I saw two arms protruding from one part of the debris and wavingfrantically. There was so much noise, however, that the screams couldnot be heard. Just then, as I looked, the flames swept over them andcruelly finished the work begun by the earthquake. The sight sickenedme and I turned away. " Fort Bragg, one of the principal lumbering towns of Mendocino county, was almost totally destroyed as a result of a fire following theearthquake of April 18. The bank and other brick buildings were leveled as a result of thetremors and within a few hours fire completed the work of devastation. But one person of the 5, 000 inhabitants was killed, although scoreswere injured. Eureka, another large town in the same county, fifty miles from FortBragg, was practically undamaged, although the quake was distinctlyfelt there. Relief expeditions were sent to Fort Bragg from surrounding towns andvillages and the people of the ruined area were well cared for. The town of Tomales was converted into a pile of ruins. All of thelarge stores were thrown flat. The Catholic church, a new stonestructure, was also ruined. Many ranch houses and barns went down. Twochildren, Anita and Peter Couzza, were killed in a falling house abouta mile from town. The towns of Healdsburg, Geyserville, Cloverdale, Hopland, and Ukiahwere almost totally destroyed. The section in which they were locatedis the country as far north as Mendocino and Lake counties and as farwest as the Pacific ocean. These are frontier counties, and have notas large towns as farther south. In every case the loss of life andproperty was shocking. At Los Banos heavy damage was done. Several brick buildings werewrecked. The loss was $75, 000. Brawley, a small town on the Southern Pacific, 120 miles south of LosAngeles, was practically wiped out by the earthquake. This was theonly town in southern California known to have suffered from theshock. Buildings were damaged at Vallejo, Sacramento, and Suisun. At thelatter place a mile and a half of railroad track is sunk from three tosix feet. A loaded passenger train was almost engulfed. R. H. Tucker, in charge of the Lick observatory, near San Jose, said:"No damage was done to the instruments or the buildings of theobservatory by the earthquake. " At Santa Cruz the courthouse and twelve buildings were destroyed. Contrary to reports, there must have been a tidal wave of some size, for three buildings were carried away on Santa Cruz beach. The Moreland academy, a Catholic institution at Watsonville, was badlydamaged, but no lives lost. In a Delmonte hotel a bridal couple from Benson, Ari. --Mr. And Mrs. Rouser--were killed in bed by chimneys falling. At 12:33 o'clock on the afternoon following the San Francisco quakeLos Angeles experienced a distinct earthquake shock of short duration. Absolutely no damage was done, but thousands of people were badlyfrightened. Men and women occupants of office buildings, especially the tallstructures, ran out into the streets, some of them hatless. Manystores were deserted in like manner by customers and clerks. Theshock, however, passed off in a few minutes, and most of those who hadfled streetwards returned presently. The San Francisco horror has strung the populace here to a hightension, and a spell of sultry weather serves to increase the generalnervousness. CHAPTER XV. DESTRUCTION OF GREAT STANFORD UNIVERSITY. =California's Magnificent Educational Institution, the Pride of the State, Wrecked by Quake--Founded by the Late Senator Leland Stanford as a Memorial to His Son and Namesake--Loss $3, 000, 000. = One of the most deplorable features of the great California calamitywas the destruction of the Leland Stanford, Jr. , University, situatedat Palo Alto. The magnificent buildings, including a beautiful memorial hall erectedby Mrs. Stanford to the memory of her husband and son, werepractically wrecked. Leland Stanford University was one of the most richly endowed, mostarchitecturally beautiful, and best equipped institutions of learningin the world. Mrs. Jane Stanford, widow of the school's founder, in1901 gave it outright $30, 000, 000--$18, 000, 000 in gilt edged bonds andsecurities and $12, 000, 000 in an aggregate of 100, 000 acres of land intwenty-six counties in California. This, with what the university hadreceived from Leland Stanford himself, made its endowment the enormoussum of $34, 000, 000 besides its original capital, and on the death ofMrs. Stanford this was raised to $36, 000, 000. In a way the real founder of the university was a young boy, LelandStanford, Jr. On his death bed he was asked by his parents what hewould like them to do with the vast fortune which would have been hishad he lived. He replied he would like them to found a greatuniversity where young men and women without means could get aneducation, "for, " he added, "that is what I intended all along to dobefore I knew I was going to die. " The dying wish was carried out. The foundation stone was laid on the nineteenth anniversary of theboy's birth, and in a few years there sprang into existence at PaloAlto, about thirty-three miles southeast of San Francisco, the "LelandStanford University for Both Sexes, " with the colleges, schools, seminaries of learning, mechanical institutes, museums, galleries ofart, and all other things necessary and appropriate to a university ofhigh degree, with the avowed object of "qualifying students forpersonal success and direct usefulness in life. " The architecture was a modification of the Moorish and Romanesque, with yet a strong blending of the picturesque mission type, which hascome down from the early days of Spanish settlement in California. Driving up the avenue of palms from the university entrance to thequadrangle, one was faced by the massive, majestic memorial arch. Augustus St. Gaudens, the great sculptor, embodied his noblestconceptions in the magnificent frieze which adorned the arch. However beautiful the other buildings, they were easily surpassed bythe marvelous Memorial Church, which was built at a cost of$1, 000, 000. The organ in this magnificent new edifice was the largest and mostexpensive in the world. It had nearly 3, 000 pipes and forty-six stops. The church was 190 feet in length and 156 feet in width. It cost$840, 000. The substantial magnificence of Memorial Church was followed in everyline of the university's program. The assembly hall and the librarywere adjoining buildings of the outer quadrangle. The former had aseating capacity of 1, 700, and with its stage and dressing roomspossessed all the conveniences of a modern theater. When Stanford University opened its doors almost fifteen years agopeople thought the Pacific coast was too wild and woolly to supportStanford in addition to the big state university at Berkeley, Cal. , and, as President David Starr Jordan remarked: "It was the opinion inthe east that there was as much room for a new university inCalifornia as for an asylum of broken down sea captains inSwitzerland. " But Stanford grew steadily and rapidly, until last year its attendancewas more than 1, 600. Its president is David Starr Jordan. The gateway to the university is opposite the town of Palo Alto, whichhas a population of 4, 000. It is surrounded by part of its endowment, the magnificent Palo Alto estate of seventy-three hundred acres. Thevalue of the total endowment is estimated at $35, 000, 000. Theuniversity buildings are the most beautiful group of public buildingsin America. They are but parts of one plan, and are constructed ofSanta Clara Valley brown sandstone throughout--beautiful and restfulin color and in pleasing contrast to the walls of green of thesurrounding hills and the great campus in front. The buildings of theuniversity are not piled sky high, but with long corridors rise twostories, for the most part completely enclosing a beautifulquadrangle, in itself about a ninth of a mile long by eighty yardsbroad. The massive memorial arch in front, and the beautiful MemorialChurch, with its cathedral-like interior, great arches and allegoricalwindows, are the most imposing features of the group. Flanking themain buildings to the right is Encina Hall for the boys and Roble Hallfor the girls, while across the campus are the new chemistry buildingand the museum. The large grounds are most carefully tended, and allthe flowers and trees and shrubs that help beautify California find ahome here. The walks and drives are delightful. There is no otheralliance of buildings and surrounding grounds quite so pleasing asthose of Stanford University. Tuition at the University is free, andthe equipment is that naturally to be expected in the richest endoweduniversity in the world. The students of the present semester numberfifteen hundred. Financial figures mean but little in connection witha university--and yet since the new church is not describable, it maybe mentioned that it cost $500, 000. The buildings represent anexpenditure of several million dollars. To reach Palo Alto and Stanford University one has to travel from SanFrancisco thirty-three miles southward over the coast line of theSouthern Pacific road. The town of Palo Alto is situated in the SantaClara Valley--a riverless area of bottomland lying between SanFrancisco bay and the Santa Cruz range. The Santa Clara Valley is oneof the various vales found here and there about the continent whichproudly lay claim to the title "garden spot of the world. " The Memorial Church was Mrs. Stanford's gift to the university fromher private fortune, was dedicated "to the glory of God and in lovingmemory of my husband, Leland Stanford. " Its erection andadministration were matters entirely apart from the regular universitycontrol. In terms of money, it probably cost over $1, 000, 000. ClintonDay of San Francisco drew the plans, which were complemented in ahundred ways, from the ideas of Mrs. Stanford herself and suggestionsobtained by her from a scrutiny of old world cathedrals. The building of the university was decided upon by Mr. And Mrs. LelandStanford in March, 1884, after their only son had died in Italy at theage of 16. Construction began, May 14, 1887, the anniversary of theboy's birth, and instruction October 1, 1891. As for the name, here isthe joint declaration of the Stanfords: "Since the idea ofestablishing an institution of this kind came directly and largelyfrom our son and only child, Leland, and in the belief that had hebeen spared to advise as to the disposition of our estate he wouldhave desired the devotion of a large portion thereof to this purpose, we will that for all time to come the institution hereby founded shallbear his name and shall be known as the Leland Stanford JuniorUniversity. " The object was declared to be "to qualify students forpersonal success and direct usefulness in life. " On the title page ofthe first register ever printed and of every one since, appear thesewords of Senator Stanford's: "A generous education is the birthrightof every man and woman in America. " This and President Jordan'sfavorite quotation, "Die Luft der Freiheit weht"--"the winds offreedom are blowing, " reveal somewhat the genius of the place. The major study was the key to Stanford's elective system ofinstruction. The ordinary class divisions were not officiallyrecognized. Even the students until recently made far less of theterms "freshmen, " "sophomore, " "junior" and "senior, " than is made ofthem at most colleges. Each student elected at the start some majorstudy, by which he steered his course for the four years, unless hechanged "majors, " which was not unusual or inadvisable during thefirst two years, for after they had "learned the ropes" studentsnaturally gravitated to the department whose lines they are bestfitted to follow. The Stanford departments numbered 23, as follows:Greek, Latin, German, Romantic languages, English, philosophy, psychology, education, history, economics, law, drawing, mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany, physiology, zoology, entomology, geologyand mining, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, electricalengineering. The chosen site of the university was part of the great Palo Altoranch of the Stanfords, devoted to the raising of grain, grapes andthe famous trotting horses that were "the Senator's" hobby andCalifornia's pride. It resembled the Berkeley situation, in that thebay lies before it and the foothills of the Santa Cruz range behind, but the former is three miles away and the Palo Alto country is solevel that only when one climbs the rolling slopes behind the collegedoes he realize that the great inlet is so near. The view from thefoothills, by the way, or better still from the crest of the mountainrange farther back, where the Pacific ocean roars away to the westwardand the valley and bay appear to divide the space between you and themountains that cut the horizon to the east, is one of California'streasures. The idea that made the Spanish mission the model for the Stanfordbuildings was translated into plans by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge. Ifever there was an inspiration, says the visitor, this was one. Ever somany millions put into ever so ornate structures of the type prevalentelsewhere could not give these halls their appealing beauty. The maingroup of buildings formed two quadrangles. The 12 one-story members ofthe inner quadrangle were ready in 1891, and with the shops of theengineering departments, were for several years "the university. " The12 structures of the inner quad were increased to 13, for the church, provided for in the original scheme, but not begun until 1899, wasadded. Those inclosed--to quote statistics from the register--a court586 feet long by 246 feet wide--3¼ acres--relieved from barrenness bybig circular plots in which flourished palms, bamboos and a medley ofother tropical translations. Penetrate 10 feet into one of theseplots, which are always damp from much watering, and it takes littleimagining to fancy yourself in an equatorial jungle. Surrounding thisquadrangle was another--the "outer quad, " of 14 buildings that werebigger and higher and considerably more impressive than the pioneers. The extreme length of the second quadrangle was 894 feet. All the wayaround it stretched the same colonnades, with their open-archedfacades, that flanked the inner court. And in addition the outer andinner quadrangles were connected here and there with these same archedpathways, which subdivide the space between the two into littlereproductions in miniature of the main plaza within. The colonnades, the tiled roofs and peculiar yellow sandstone of which all thequadrangles were constructed formed a combination which is not easilynor willingly forgotten. Outside this central group, of which the great church and the memorialarch were badly wrecked by the quake, were enough other buildings usedfor the university proper to bring the number up to fifty or so. Theyinclude chemistry building, museum, library, gymnasium, engineeringand two dormitories--one, Roble hall, for women; the other, Encinahall, for men. The ruins wrought among those magnificent buildings by the frightfulupheaval of the earth which wrenched some of them apart and threw downhuge sections of walls aggregated in money value about $3, 000, 000. The gymnasium and the library were wholly destroyed, nothing butskeletons of twisted steel remaining. The loss was half a milliondollars on each. The Memorial church was left merely a frame, themosaic work being torn down. The top of the 80-foot high memorial archwas crashed to the ground a heap of ruins. The original quadrangle wasbut little damaged. Many rare specimens from Egypt were lost in themuseum, which was only partly destroyed. The fraternity lodge and ChiPsi Hall were a total loss. The engineering buildings were partlydemolished. Encina Hall, where 200 boys stayed, was much shaken, and alarge stone chimney crashed through the four floors, burying studentHanna, of Bradford, Pa. He was the only student killed. About twelveothers were slightly hurt. Roble Hall, women's dormitory, escaped without a scratch. The damage at Palo Alto City amounts to $200, 000. The damage in theneighboring towns was also heavy. San Mateo suffered more than PaloAlto. The Redwood city jail was torn down and all the prisonersescaped. There was severe damage at Menlo Park. Burlingame suffered a loss offully $100, 000. Many houses were torn down there. The only other deathin that vicinity was that of Fireman Otto Gordes, who was buried underthe chimney of the power house at Palo Alto. All the towns mentioned were left without light or power. President David Starr Jordan of Stanford University announced that theuniversity authorities would begin at once to repair the quadrangle, laboratories and dormitories. The Memorial church was sheltered toprevent further injury and work in all classes was resumed on April23. [Illustration: =CORNER OF A BAPTIST CHURCH. = A view of a Baptist Church on St. Pablo Avenue, Oakland. ] [Illustration: =KEARNEY STREET, SAN FRANCISCO. = Looking north from Market Street. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =FERRY BUILDING. = The clock in tower stopped at 5:15. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =MILITARY QUARTERS. = A view in Golden Gate Park. ] President Jordan said that it was unlikely any attempt would bemade to restore the Memorial church, the memorial arch, the newlibrary, the gymnasium or the museum of the university. The great rival of the Leland Stanford, Jr. , University is theUniversity of California at Berkeley, a suburb of San Francisco. Theeffect of the earthquake there is tersely told by Professor Alpheus B. Streedain of the zoological department. There were eight severe shocksin succession. "It all lasted about twenty-five seconds, " said Professor Streedain, "and talk about being frightened, to be more expressive I thought hellwas coming to earth. I rushed down to the street in my pajamas, andpeople were almost crazy. Chimneys were down all over. I was safe andtrusted to God for any coming shocks. It was a mighty seriousproposition, and one I shall never forget. " By a seeming miracle the big California University buildings thatstand on the campus elevations escaped harm in the earthquake shock. Recorder James Sutton of the University said: "I made a personalexamination of the buildings on the campus and received reports fromdeans of the colleges and it appears that not one of the buildings washarmed in the slightest degree. "Professor O'Neill of the chemistry department reported that thedamage done to the instruments in the building did not aggregate morethan $50. California Hall had not a mark on it to indicate that anearthquake occurred that morning. The other buildings were in the samecondition. The Greek theater had not a scratch on its walls. " The town of Berkeley was not so fortunate as the university in thematter of damage sustained. No lives were lost, nor were there anynotable disasters to buildings, but the aggregate damage in the shapeof twisted structures, broken chimneys and falling walls was manythousands of dollars. The destruction of so many magnificent buildings at the LelandStanford, Jr. , University was one of the worst calamities that hasever befallen an American educational institution. CHAPTER XVI. FIGHTING FIRE WITH DYNAMITE. =San Francisco Conflagration Eventually Checked by the Use of Explosives--Lesson of Baltimore Heeded in Coast City--Western Remnant of City in Residence Section Saved by Blowing Up Beautiful Homes of the Rich. = The remnant of San Francisco that escaped destruction in the four daysconflagration owes its existence largely to the equally destructiveforce of dynamite. For four days one agent of destruction was employedagainst another. The San Francisco conflagration was the second great fire in theUnited States at which dynamite was the chief agency of the firefighters. Immediately following the first earthquake crash flamesburst forth in numerous places, chiefly in the business section of thecity. The fire department responded as promptly as possible under thecircumstances for a new difficulty presented itself to the firemen. When the clang of the alarm sounded it was found that many of theengine houses had been damaged by the quake and so twisted that it wasonly with difficulty that the apparatus could be gotten out of thebuildings. Upon arriving at the several scenes of the fire a worsecalamity confronted them. The engines were attached to the hydrantsand then followed the alarming cry: "No water!" The mains had been bursted, twisted and torn asunder by the violenceof the shock, and only in rare instances could water be foundwherewith to combat the rapidly spreading flames. Then it was that the new method of checking conflagrations wasbrought into use, and the order was given to fight the flames withdynamite. Doubtless the officials of the department had freshly inmind the great Baltimore fire in which the city was saved only fromtotal destruction by the use of an immense amount of explosives. Firechief Denis Sullivan and his wife had both been injured by theearthquake, the former having been fatally hurt, so that in additionto the hopeless situation which confronted the firemen they werewithout the guidance of their principal leader. There was little dynamite available in the city, but what was on handwas immediately brought into use and soon the terrific explosionsadded to the terror of the panic stricken people fleeing from theflames. At 9 o'clock on the first day of the fire Mayor Schmitz sent a tug toPinole for several cans of the explosive. He also sent a telegram toMayor Mott of Oakland. He received this reply to his Oakland message:"Three engines and hose companies leave here immediately. Will forwarddynamite as soon as obtained. " All outside nearby places were appealed to for dynamite and as fast asthe explosive was received it was directed against large buildings inthe path of the fire. The crash of falling walls mingled with thereverberations of the explosions, led many to believe that theearthquake shocks were being repeated. Here and there a fireman wentdown beneath the ruins as some huge building tumbled to the groundshattered by the destructive explosive. In the downtown districts theefforts of the dynamiters were wholly unavailing. The fire had gainedsuch headway that it swept with a roar over every vacant space made bythe explosive and continued its consuming way in every direction. Better success was obtained in the residence district west on thesecond day of the fire. The widest thoroughfare in the city is VanNess avenue in the heart of the fashionable residence section. Thereit was decided that an effort should be made to check the spread ofthe flames westward and save the many beautiful homes in the districtbetween that avenue and the water line. The co-operation of the artillery was secured and huge cannons weredrawn to the avenue by the military horses to aid the dynamiters inblowing up the mansions of the millionaires on the west of Van Nessavenue in order to prevent the flames from leaping across the highwayand starting on their unrestraining sweep across the western addition. Every available pound of dynamite was hauled to that point and thesight was one of stupendous and appalling havoc as the cannons weretrained on the palaces and the shot tore into the walls and toppledthe buildings in crushing ruins. At other points the dynamite wasused, and house after house, the dwellings of millionaires, was liftedinto the air by the bellowing blast and dropped to the earth a mass ofdust and debris. The work was necessarily dangerous and many of the exhausted workerswho kept working through a stretch of forty-eight hours without sleepand scarcely any food through force of instinctive heroism alone werekilled while making their last desperate stand. Many of the workers in placing the blasts, took chances that spelledinjury or death. The fire line at 6 o'clock extended a mile along theeast side of Van Ness avenue from Pacific street to Ellis. All behindthis excepting the Russian Hill region and a small district lyingalong the north beach had been swept clean by the flames and the steelhulks of buildings and pipes and shafts and spires were dropped into amolten mass of debris like so much melted wax. The steady booming of the artillery and the roar of the dynamite abovethe howl and cracking of the flames continued with monotonousregularity. Such noises had been bombarding the ears of thepanic-stricken people since the earthquake of forty-eight hoursbefore. They ceased to hear the sound and rush pell-mell, drowningtheir senses in a bedlam of their own creation. There seemed to be anirresistible power behind the flames that even the desperately heroicmeasures being taken at Van Ness avenue could not stay. Hundreds of police, regiments of soldiers, and scores of volunteerswere sent into the doomed district to inform the people that theirhomes were about to be blown up, and to warn them to flee. Theyheroically responded to the demand of law, and went bravely on theirway trudging painfully over the pavements with the little they couldget together. Every available wagon that could be found was pressed into service totransport the powder from the various arsenals to the scene of theproposed destruction. Then for hours the bursting, rending sounds of explosions filled theair. At 9 o'clock block after block of residences had been leveled tothe ground, but the fire was eating closer and closer. Then the explosives gave out. Even the powder in the governmentarsenals was exhausted long before noon. From that hour the flamesraged practically unhindered. Lieut. Charles C. Pulis, commanding the Twenty-fourth company of lightartillery, was blown up by a charge of dynamite at Sixth and Jessiestreets and fatally injured. He was taken to the military hospital atthe Presidio. He suffered a fractured skull and several bones brokenand internal injuries. Lieut. Pulis placed a heavy charge of dynamite in a building on Sixthstreet. The fuse was imperfect and did not ignite the charge as soonas was expected. Pulis went to the building to relight it and thecharge exploded while he was in the building. The deceased officer was a graduate of the artillery school atFortress Monroe, Va. He was 30 years of age. The effectiveness of dynamite was proved on the fourth and last day ofthe conflagration, when the flames were finally checked by the use ofthat explosive. Three heroes saved San Francisco--what was left of it. They were thedynamite squad that threw back the fire demon at Van Ness avenue. When the burning city seemed doomed and the flames lit the skyfurther and further to the west, Admiral McCalla sent a trio of hismost trusted men from Mare Island with orders to check theconflagration at any cost of life or property. With them they brought a ton and a half of gun cotton. The terrificpower of the explosion was equal to the maniac determination of thefire. Captain MacBride was in charge of the squad. Chief GunnerAdamson placed the charges, and the third gunner set them off. The thunderous detonations to which the terrified city listened allthat dreadful Friday night meant the salvation of 300, 000 lives. Amillion dollars' worth of property, noble residences and worthlessshacks alike were blown to drifting dust, but that destruction brokethe fire and sent the raging flames over their own charred path. The whole east side of Van Ness avenue, from Golden Gate to Greenwich, was dynamited a block deep, though most of the structures stooduntouched by sparks or cinders. Not one charge failed. Not onebuilding stood upon its foundations. Every pound of gun cotton did its work, and though the ruins burned, it was but feebly. From Golden Gate avenue north the fire crossed thewide street in but one place. That was the Claus Spreckels place, onthe corner of California street. There the flames were writhing up thewalls before the dynamiters could reach it. The charge had to beplaced so swiftly and the fuse lit in such a hurry that the explosionwas not quite successful from the trained viewpoint of the gunners. But though the walls still stood, it was only an empty victory for thefire, as bare brick and smoking ruins are poor food for flames. Captain MacBride's dynamiting squad realized that a stand was hopelessexcept on Van Ness avenue. They could have forced their explosivefurther in the burning section, but not a pound of gun cotton could beor was wasted. The ruined block that met the wide thoroughfare formeda trench through the clustered structures that the conflagration, wild as it was, could not leap. Engines pumping brine through Fort Madison from the bay completed thelittle work that the gun cotton had left, but for three days thehaggard-eyed firemen guarded the flickering ruins. The desolate waste straight through the heart of the city is a mutewitness to the squad's effective work. Three men did this. They wereordered to save San Francisco. They obeyed orders, and CaptainMacBride and his two gunners made history on that dreadful night. CHAPTER XVII. MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND INCIDENTS. =Many Babies Born in Refuge Camps--Expressions of Sympathy from Foreign Nations--San Francisco's Famous Restaurants--Plight of Newspaper and Telegraph Offices. = In the refugee camps a number of babies were born under the mostdistressing and pathetic circumstances, the mothers in many casesbeing unattended by either husbands or relatives. In Golden Gate Parkalone fifteen babies were born in one night, it was reported. Theexcitement and agony of the situation brought the little onesprematurely into the world. And equally remarkable was the fact thatwhen all danger was over all of the mothers and the children of thecatastrophe were reported to have withstood the untoward conditionsand continued to improve and grow strong as if the conditions whichsurrounded them had been normal. This, undoubtedly, was in great partdue to the care and kindness of the physicians and surgeons in thecamps whose efforts were untiring and self-sacrificing for all who hadbeen so suddenly surrendered to their care. In an express wagon bumping over the brick piles and broken streetswas a mother who gave birth to triplets in the Panhandle of GoldenGate Park a week later. All the triplets were living and apparentlydoing well. In this narrow park strip where the triplets were bornfifteen other babies came into the world on the same fateful night, and, strange as it seems, every one of the mothers and every one ofthe infants had been reported as doing well. The following night thirteen more babies were born in the parkPanhandle, and these, so far as the reports show, fared as well asthose born the first night. In fact, the doctors and nurses reportedthat there had been no fatality among the earthquake babies or theirunfortunate mothers. One trained nurse who accompanied a prominentdoctor on his rounds the first night after the shock attended eightcases in which both mothers and children thrived. One baby was born ina wheelbarrow as the mother was being trundled to the park by herhusband. * * * * * Expressions of sympathy and condolence on account of the greatdisaster were sent to the President of the United States from all overthe world. Among the messages received within about 24 hours after thecatastrophe were the following: From the President of Guatemala--I am deeply grieved by thecatastrophe at San Francisco. The president of Guatemala sends to thepeople of the United States through your eminence his expression ofthe most sincere grief, with the confidence that in such a lamentablemisfortune the indomitable spirit of your people will newly manifestitself--that spirit which, if great in prosperity, is equally great intime of trial. President of Mexico--Will your excellency be so kind as to accept theexpression of my profound and deep sympathy with the American peopleon account of the disaster at San Francisco, which has so affected theAmerican people. President of Brazil--I do myself the honor of sending to you theexpression of the profound grief with which the government and peopleof the United States of Brazil have read the news of the greatmisfortune which has occurred at San Francisco. Emperor of Japan--With assurances of the deepest and heartiestsympathy for the sufferers by the terrible earthquake. King Leopold of Belgium--I must express to you the deep sympathy whichI feel in the mourning which the terrible disaster at San Francisco iscausing the whole American people. President of Cuba--In the name of the government and people of Cuba, I assure you of the deep grief and sympathy with which they have heardof the great misfortune which has overtaken San Francisco. Kirkpatrick, acting premier of New Zealand--South Australia deploresthe appalling disaster which has befallen the state of California andextends heartfelt sympathy to sufferers. Viceroy of India--My deepest sympathy with you and people of UnitedStates in terrible catastrophe at San Francisco. Governor Talbot of Victoria, Australia--On behalf of the people ofVictoria, I beg to offer our heartfelt sympathy with the United Stateson the terrible calamity at San Francisco. President of Switzerland--The federal council is profoundly affectedby the terrible catastrophe which has visited San Francisco and otherCalifornia cities, and I beg you to receive the sincere expressions ofits regret and the sympathy of the Swiss people as a whole, who joinin the mourning of a sister republic. Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria--I beg to assure you, Mr. President, of my most sincere sympathy with your land in its sorrow because ofthe terrible earthquake at San Francisco, and I beg to offer youpersonally, Mr. President, my heartfelt condolences. Prince Henry of Prussia--Remembering American hospitality, which isstill so fresh in my memory, I hereby wish to express my deepestsympathy on behalf of the terrible catastrophe which has befallen thethriving city of San Francisco and which has destroyed so manyvaluable lives therein. Still hope that news is greatly exaggerated. Premier Bent of South Wales--New South Wales and Victoria sympathizewith California suffering disaster. Count Witte--The Russian members of the Portsmouth conference, profoundly moved by the sad tidings of the calamity that has befallenthe American people, whose hospitality they recently enjoyed, beg yourexcellency to accept and to transmit to citizens of United States theexpression of their profound and heartfelt sympathy. * * * * * The cathedral of San Francisco with the residences attached, togetherwith the residence of the archbishop, were saved. Sacred Heart Collegeand Mercy Hospital, together with the various schools attached, weredestroyed. The churches damaged by the earthquake are: St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo park. St. James' church. St. Bridget's church. St. Dominick's church. Church of the Holy Cross. St. Patrick's church at San Jose. Those destroyed by fire were: Churches of SS. Ignatius, Boniface, Joseph, Patrick, Brendan, Rose, Francis, Mission Dolores, French church, Slavonian church and the oldCathedral of St. Mary's. The Custom House with its records was saved. It was in one of thelittle islands which the fire passed by. All the city records whichwere in the vaults of the city hall were saved. The city hall fell, but the ruins did not burn. By this bit of luck the city escapes greatconfusion in property claims and adjustments. Millet's famous picture, "The Man with the Hoe, " was saved with otherpaintings and tapestries in the collection of William H. Crocker. Mr. Crocker, who was in New York, said about the rescue of thepaintings (Head is Mr. Crocker's butler): "I am much gratified at the devotion Head displayed in saving mypictures and tapestries at such a time. Besides the 'Man with theHoe, ' I have pictures by Tenniel, Troyon, Paul Potter, Corot, Monet, Renoir, Puvis de Chavannes, Pissaro, and Constable. The tapestriesconsisted of six Flemish pieces dating from the sixteenth century, ofwhich the finest is a 'Resurrection. ' It is a splendid example oftissue d'or work, and was once the property of the duc d'Albe. " On April 20 Bishop Coadjutor Greer of the Protestant Episcopal churchof New York announced that this prayer had been authorized to be usedin the churches of that diocese for victims of the earthquake: "O Father of Mercy and God of all comfort, our only help in time ofneed, look down from heaven, we humbly beseech thee, behold, visit andrelieve thy servants to whom such great and grievous loss andsuffering have come through the earthquake and the fire. "In thy wisdom thou hast seen fit to visit them with trouble and tobring distress upon them. Remember, O Lord, in mercy and imbue theirsouls with patience under this affliction. "Though they be perplexed and troubled on every side, save them fromdespair and suffer not their faith and trust in thee to fail. "In this our hour of darkness, when thou hast made the earth totremble and the mountains thereof to shake, be thou, O God, theirrefuge and their strength and their present help in trouble. "And for as much as thou alone canst bring light out of darkness andgood out of evil, let the light of thy loving countenance shine uponthem through the cloud; let the angel of thy presence be with them intheir sorrow, to comfort and support them, giving strength to theweak, courage to the faint and consolation to the dying. "We ask it in the name of him who in all our afflictions is afflictedwith us, thy son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen!" Mrs. A. G. Pritchard, wife of a San Francisco manufacturer, who, withher husband, was on her way home from Europe to San Francisco, becamesuddenly insane at the Union Station in Pittsburgh Pa. , when shealighted to get some fresh air. The Pritchards were hurrying to San Francisco with the expectation offinding their three children dead in the ruins of their home. Landing in New York April 24, the Pritchards learned that their homehad been destroyed before any of the occupants had had an opportunityto get out. Mr. Pritchard said that his information was that the governess wasdying in a hospital, and from what he has heard, he had no hope ofseeing his children alive. At Philadelphia a physician told Mr. Pritchard that his wife wasbordering on insanity. At the station Mrs. Pritchard shrieked andmoaned until she was put into the car, where a physician passengervolunteered to care for the case. On the afternoon of the fire the police broke open every saloon andcorner grocery in the saved district and poured all malt andspirituous liquors into the gutters. San Francisco was famous for the excellence of its restaurants. Manyof these were known wherever the traveler discussed good living. Amongthem were the "Pup" and Marschand's in Stockton street; the "PoodleDog, " one of the most ornate distinctive restaurant buildings in theUnited States; Zinkand's and the Fiesta, in Market street; the famousPalace grill in the Palace hotel; and scores of bohemian resorts inthe old part of San Francisco. They are no more. Down near the railroad tracks at what used to be Townsend street, foodwas mined from the ruins as a result of a fortuitous discovery made byBen Campbell, a negro. While in search of possible treasure he locatedthe ruins of a grocery warehouse, which turned out to be a veritableoven of plenty. People gathered to this place and picked up oysters, canned asparagus, beans, and fruit all done to a turn and ready forserving. For a time there was marked indignation in San Francisco caused by thereport that the San Franciscans, in their deep-grounded prejudice, haddiscriminated against the Chinamen in the relief work. This report wasgroundless. The six Chinese companies, or Tongs, representingenormous wealth, had done such good work that but little had beennecessary from the general relief committee, and, besides, the Chineseneeded less. No Chinaman was treated as other than a citizen entitledto all rights, which cannot be said under normal conditions on thePacific coast. Gee Sing, a Chinese member of the Salvation Army, hadbeen particularly efficient in caring for his countrymen. The San Francisco daily newspapers, all of which were burned out, wereprompt in getting in shape to serve their subscribers. On Thursdaymorning, the day after the fire, the best showing the morning journalscould make was a small combination sheet bearing the unique heading, "Call-Chronicle-Examiner. " It was set up and printed in the office ofthe Oakland Tribune, gave a brief account of the great disaster, andtook an optimistic view of the future of the stricken city. The dayafter the papers, though still printed in Oakland, appeared undertheir own headings and with a few illustrations, showing scenes in thestreets of San Francisco. S. M. Pencovic, a San Francisco druggist, on arriving in Chicago fromParis, said he had a premonition of disaster, which impelled him tohasten home, several days before the earthquake. He left for SanFrancisco to search for his father and mother, who are among themissing. "For several days I felt as if something awful was about to happen, "said he. "So completely did the feeling take possession of me that Icould not sleep at night. At last I could stand it no longer, and Ileft Paris April 14, four days before the upheaval. "I embarked on La Savoie at Havre. I tried to send a wireless message, but could receive no answer. "The day after the catastrophe the captain of the ship called me tohis cabin and told me he had just received a wireless message that SanFrancisco had been destroyed by an earthquake. I was not surprised. " At the Presidio, where probably 50, 000 people were camped, affairswere conducted with military precision. Here those who are fortunateenough to be numbered among the campers were able now and then toobtain a little water with which to moisten their parched lips, whilerations, owing to the limited supply, were being dealt out in thesmallest quantities that all may share a bit. The refugees stoodpatiently in line and the marvelous thing about it all was that not amurmur was heard. This characteristic is observable all over the city. The people were brave and patient and the wonderful order preserved bythem had been of great assistance. Though homeless and starving theywere facing the awful calamity with resigned fortitude. In Oakland the day after the quake messages were stacked yards high inall the telegraph offices waiting to be sent throughout the world. Conditions warranted utter despair and panic, but through it all thepeople were trying to be brave and falter not. Oakland temporarily took the place of San Francisco as the metropolisof the Pacific coast, and there the finance kings, the bankers andmerchants of the San Francisco of yesterday were gathering andconferring and getting into shape the first plans for the rebuildingof the burned city and preventing a widespread financial panic that inthe first part of the awful catastrophe seemed certain. Resting on a brick pile in Howard street was a young Swedish woman, whose entire family had perished and who had succeeded in saving fromthe ruins of her home only the picture of her mother. This sheclutched tightly as she struggled on to the ferry landing--the gatewayto new hope for the refugees. A little farther along sat a man withhis wife and child. He had had a good home and business. Wrapped in anewspaper he held six hand-painted dinner plates. They were all hecould dig out of the debris of his home, and by accident they hadescaped breakage. "This is what I start life over again with, " he said, and his wifetried to smile as she took her child's hand to continue the journey. Thousands of these instances are to be found. Owing to the energetic efforts of General Funston and the officials ofthe Spring Valley Water Company the sufferers in all parts of the citywere spared at least the horrors of a water famine. As soon as it waslearned that some few mercenaries who were fortunate enough to havefresh water stored in tanks in manufacturing districts were selling itat 50 cents per glass, the authorities took prompt action and hastenedtheir efforts to repair the mains that had been damaged by theearthquake shocks. John Singleton, a Los Angeles millionaire, his wife and her sister, were staying at the Palace Hotel when the earthquake shock occurred. Mr. Singleton gave the following account of his experience: "The shockwrecked the rooms in which we were sleeping. We managed to get ourclothes on and get out immediately. We had been at the hotel only twodays and left probably $3, 000 worth of personal effects in the room. "After leaving the Palace we secured an express wagon for $25 to takeus to the Casino near Golden Gate Park, where we stayed Wednesdaynight. On Thursday morning we managed to get a conveyance at enormouscost and spent the entire day in getting to the Palace. We paid $1apiece for eggs and $2 for a loaf of bread. On these and a little hamwe had to be satisfied. " [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =RANDOLPH STORAGE. = Walls shaken down by the earthquake. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =DESTROYED SWITCHBOARD. = The electric lighting company. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =ST. DOMINICI CHURCH. = A part of the steeple shaken out by the earthquake. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =ST. DOMINICI CHURCH. = A view of the wreck which tells its own story. ] John A. Floyd, a Pullman conductor on the Northwestern railroad, living in Chicago, gave a lengthy and vivid description of the quakeand its effects. "If I live a thousand lifetimes I will never forget that night, " hesaid. "Words are too feeble, entirely too inadequate, to portray thefear that clutched the human breast. The most graphic pen could notfaithfully portray the sickening horror of that night. "Plaster falling from the walls in my room in the fourth floor ofthe Terminal Hotel in Market street aroused me from a sound sleepabout 5 o'clock in the morning. I sat up in bed, and got out onto thefloor. The building was shaking like a reed in a storm, literallyrocking like a hammock. It was impossible for me to stand. Anothershock threw me heavily to the floor. I remained there for what seemedhours to me. Then I crawled on hands and knees to the door, andsucceeded in unlocking it with much difficulty. I was in my nightclothes, and without waiting to even pull on a pair of shoes I made myway down those swaying stairs as rapidly as I could. "When I reached the street it was filled with half mad unclothed men, women, and children, running this way and that, hugging and fightingeach other in their frenzy. "The loud detonations under the earth enhanced the horror. The groundkept swaying from side to side, then roaring like the waves of theocean, then jolting in every conceivable direction. "Buildings were parting on all sides like egg shells, the stone andbrick and iron raining down on the undressed hundreds in the streets, killing many of them outright and pinning others down to die slowly oftorture or be roasted alive by the flames that sprang up everywherearound us. "When things had quieted somewhat, I went back to the hotel to dress, and discovered that the entire wall of my room had fallen out. "I succeeded in finding most of my clothes, and after donning themhastily went back to the work of rescue. When I got back to the streetfrom the hotel the entire district seemed to be in flames. Fire seemedto break out of the very earth on all sides of Market street, eatingup buildings as if they were so many buildings of paper. A bigwholesale drug house on Seventh street exploded, throwing sparking andburning embers high into the air. These fiery pieces descended on thehalf-clad people in the streets, causing them to run madly for placesof safety, almost crazy with the pain. "Soon the improvised hearses began to arrive. Out of every buildingbodies were taken like carcasses out of a slaughter pen. Automobiles, carriages, express wagons, private equipages, and vehicles of allkinds were pressed into service and piled high with the bodies. Everywhere these wagon loads of dead bodies were being dragged throughthe streets, offering a spectacle to turn the most stout-hearted sick. "With three or four sailors I went up to Seventh street to assist anumber of men, women and children who had become entombed under thedebris of a flat building. "They were so tightly wedged in that we were unable to offer them anyhelp and had to stand by and hear their cries as they were slowlyroasted to death by the ever increasing flames. I can hear the criesof one of those women ringing in my ears yet--I guess I always will. "I guess pretty nearly every bone in her body was broken. As we stoodby helplessly she cried over and over again: "'Don't let me die like this. Don't let me roast. I'm cooking, cookingalive. Kill me! Shoot me--anything! For God's sake have mercy!' "Others joined her in the cry and begged piteously to be quicklykilled before the flames reached them. "By this time the street level had become so irregular that it wasalmost impossible to drag the dead wagons over them. "Dynamite was then brought into use and the buildings were blown uplike firecrackers. Flying debris was everywhere in the air, andanother mad rush for safety was made, the almost naked people fallingover each other in their frantic efforts to get out of the danger. "While this excitement was at its height a man dressed only in hisunderclothing made his appearance among the people in a light gasolinerunabout. At top speed he ran into a crowd of women, knocking themdown and injuring at least a dozen. Then he turned back and chargedthem again. He had gone mad as a result of the scenes of death anddestruction. "Some one called for a gun, hoping that they might stop the fellow byshooting him. None was to be had, and after a desperate fight withsailors who succeeded in getting into the machine he was overpoweredand turned loose. "Everybody in the crowd, I believe, was temporarily crazy. Men andwomen ran helter-skelter in nothing but their night gowns, and many ofthem did not have on that much. " Mrs. J. B. Conaty, of Los Angeles, was in Oakland at the time of theshock and felt the vibrations. "The suddenness with which it came uponthe people, " she said, "was the most appalling thing. When I lookedacross the bay at 'Frisco from the Oakland shore the city seemedpeacefully at sleep, like a tired baby beside its mother. With my nextglance at the city I was turned almost sick. "The ground was shaking beneath me and I thought that the end of theworld was at hand. Buildings were falling to the right and left. Theearth was groaning and rocking, and flames were shooting high into thesky. Soon the sound of the dynamiting reached us and buildings beganto fly in the air like fireworks. "The sea lashed itself into a fury and beat upon the shores as if ittoo sought to escape nature's wrath. Over across the bay all wasdisorder. In the glare of the blood red flames reflected against skyand sea, white robed, half naked men and women could be seen wildlyrunning about. "Some of them ran to the water's edge and threw themselves in andothers less frantic had to battle with them to haul them out. "It seemed as if every man, woman and child in 'Frisco was runningtoward the ferry docks. When the boat arrived on our side of the shoreit was packed with men and women, none of whom seemed to be in theirright senses. Many of them jumped from the boat as soon as it was madefast and ran at top speed through the streets of Oakland until forcedto fall through sheer exhaustion. "One woman in the crowd had nothing on but a night gown. In her armsshe carried a 3-year-old girl who was hanging tightly to a rag dolland seemed to be the only one in the vast crowd that was unafraid. Where all these people went to I have no idea. "I stood on the Oakland side watching 'Frisco devoured. In a space oftime so short that it all seems to me like a dream now the whole city, slumbering peacefully but a moment before, presented a perditionbeside which Dante's inferno seems to pale into insignificance. " The looters early began operations in the stricken city. The vandalthinking that law and order had gone in the general crash filled hispockets as he fled. It was the relic hunter who opened the door to the looter. The spiritwhich sends the tourist tapping about the ruins of the Parthenon, awoke in San Francisco. Idle and curious men swarmed into the city, poking about in the ruins in the hope of finding something worthcarrying away as a souvenir of the greatest calamity of modern times. Scores of men and women were seen digging in the ruins of one store. They were disinterring bits of crockery, china and glassware. Strangely enough, a great deal of this sort of ware had been protectedby a wall which stood through quake and fire. One woman came toilingout over a pile of brick, covered with ashes and dust, her hairdishevelled and hands grimy, but she was perfectly happy. "See, " said she, "I found half a dozen cups and saucers as good asnew. They are fine china and they will be worth more than ever now. " I asked her if she needed them. "Oh, dear no!" said she, laughing. "I live over in Oakland. I justwanted them to keep as souvenirs!" Some hard-hearted jokers were abroad also. Humor dies hard, andperhaps it is just as well that it does, for the six men who startedthe bogus bread lines would have needed much of it if the soldiers hadcaught them. The people of San Francisco had become accustomed to eating out of thehand. They put in long hours every day standing in line waiting forsomething to be given out. Many of them did not know what was beingdistributed, but they knew it would be good, so they fell into lineand waited. There were thousands of people in San Francisco who fell into a lineevery time they saw one. They had the bread line habit. This impressed itself on these six men, for they went about the townand every time they found a promising spot they lined up and lookedexpectant. Men came and fell in behind. Women with baskets joined thebrigade and in ten minutes these sidewalk comedians had a string ablock long behind them and more coming every minute. Then the sixjokers slipped away and left the confiding ones to wait. It was a meantrick. The stranger and the wayfarer was made to feel at home anywhere inOakland and the luxury of sleeping within four walls was not denied toany one. Only a few hardy men who were willing to sacrifice themselvesfor the good of the weaklings went without covering. The peoplestripped the portieres and hangings from their walls, tore up theircarpets and brought in every spare piece of cloth which would do for anight's covering. The women and children who preferred to stay indoorsand on hard floors were taken care of in the public halls, the schoolbuildings, and the basements of the churches. Beds were improvised ofsheets and hay and the weaker refugees, who were beginning to go downunder the strain, slept comfortably. Oakland did nobly. People sharedtheir beds with absolute strangers, and while the newcomers in thepark camps were dead to the world, those who came the day beforecheered up considerably. One camp of young men got out a banjo andsang for the entertainment of the crowd. CHAPTER XVIII. DISASTER AS VIEWED BY SCIENTISTS. =Scientists are Divided Upon the Theories Concerning the Shock That Wrought Havoc in the Golden Gate City--May Have Originated Miles Under the Ocean--Growth of the Sierra Madre Mountains May Have Been the Cause. = The subterranean movement that caused the earthquake at San Franciscowas felt in greater or less degree at many distant places on theearth's surface. The scientists in the government bureaus atWashington believe that the subterranean land slide may have takenplace in the earthquake belt in the South American region or under thebed of the Pacific Ocean. San Francisco got the result of the wave asit struck the continent, and almost simultaneously the instruments inWashington reported a decided tremor of the earth, and theoscillations of the needle continued until about noon. At the weather bureau the needle was taken from the pivot and had tobe replaced before the record could be continued. Other governmentstations throughout the country also noted the earthquake shock, andthey agree in a general way that the disturbance began according tothe record of the seismograph at nineteen minutes and twenty secondsafter 8 o'clock. This would be the same number of minutes and secondsafter 5 o'clock at San Francisco, which accords entirely with the timeof the disaster on the Pacific Coast. There seems to be no reason to believe the earthquake shock in SanFrancisco had any direct connection with the eruption of Vesuvius. That eruption had been recorded from day to day on the delicateinstruments established by the weather bureau at the lofty station onMount Weather, high up in the Virginia hills. This eruption ofVesuvius did not disturb the seismograph even at the period of greatactivity, but apparently Vesuvius and Mount Weather were like thelofty poles of two wireless telegraph stations, and between them therepassed electrical magnetic waves encircling the earth. The recordsmade at Mount Weather were of the most distinct character, but theyshowed disturbances in the air of a magnetic type and did not indicateany earthquake. In explaining the San Francisco trembling, C. W. Hays, the director ofgeology in the geological survey, explained that earthquakes are, according to modern scientific theory, caused by subterranean landslides, the result of a readjustment as between the solid and themolten parts of the earth's interior. "The earth, " he said, "is in a condition of unstable equilibrium sofar as its insides are concerned. The outer crust is solid, but afteryou get down sixty or seventy miles the rocks are nearly in a fluidcondition owing to great pressure upon them. They flow to adjustthemselves to changed conditions, but as the crust cools it condenses, hardens, and cracks, and occasionally the tremendous energy inside ismanifested on the surface. "When the semi-fluid rocks in the interior change their position thereis a readjustment of the surface like the breaking up of ice in ariver, and the grinding causes the earthquake shocks which arefamiliar in various parts of the world. The earthquake at SanFrancisco was probably local, although the center of the disturbancemay have been thousands of miles away from that city. " Prof. Willis L. Moore, the chief of the weather bureau, in talking ofthe records of the earthquake in his department, said: "We have a perfect record of this earthquake, although we arethousands of miles away from the actual tremor itself. There werepremonitory tremblings, which began at 8:19 and continued until 8:23or thereabout. Then there was severe shock which threw the pen off thecylinder. "According to our observations here there was a to and fro motion ofthe earth in the vicinity of Washington amounting to about four-tenthsof an inch at the time of its greatest oscillation. These movementskept up in a constantly decreasing ratio until nearly half an hourafter noon. "San Francisco may have been a long way away from the real earthquakeand merely have been within the radius of severe action so as toproduce disastrous results. It is quite likely, in fact, that thegreatest disturbance may have taken place beneath the bed of thePacific Ocean. "If it resulted in an oscillation of the earth of only a few inchesthere would be no likelihood of a great tidal wave. If, however, therewas produced a radical depression in the bed of the ocean, the sinkingof an island, or some other extraordinary disturbance, a tidal wavealong the Pacific Coast would almost certainly be one of the events ofthis great disaster. "There are apparently three distinct weak spots in the United States, which are peculiarly subject to earthquake shocks, and we are likelysooner or later to hear from all of them in connection with the shockat San Francisco. There is one weak area along the southern Atlanticcoast in the vicinity of Charleston, another is in Missouri, and thethird includes the Pacific Coast from a point north of San Franciscodown to and beyond San Diego. " In describing the instruments at the weather bureau which make therecord of earthquakes, even when the movement is so small that theordinary person does not recognize it, Prof. Moore said: "The apparatus we have is a pen drawing a continuous line on acylinder which revolves once every hour and is worked continuously byclockwork in an exact record of time. It moves in a straight line whenthere is no disturbance, and it jumps from right to left and backagain when there are serious oscillations of the earth. The extent ofthese movements of the pen measures the grade of the oscillation. Youmay think it is a fantastic statement, but this seismographic pen isadjusted so delicately that it will register your step in itsvicinity. "The instrument is mounted on a solid stone foundation and what itregisters is the effect of your weight pressing upon the earth. It iseasy to see, therefore, that the record we have obtained of thisearthquake shows a few preliminary tremblings, which seem to bepremonitions, for about four minutes, then a great crash which threwthe pen off the cylinder and finally a period of nearly four hours, during which there were slight tremblings of the earth, this latterperiod marking the readjustment after the actual shock. " Most of the scientists were inclined to believe that the boilingprocess in the interior of the earth, although it goes oncontinuously, is subject to periods of greater or less activity. Thisactivity may be, however, purely local, according to the scientifictheory, for otherwise there would be eruptions in all the activevolcanoes of the earth at the same time, and there would beearthquakes in every one of the areas where there is liability toseismic disturbances. One government scientist in discussing the San Francisco earthquakesaid: "If we could have been right here in the vicinity of Washingtona few hundreds of thousands of millions of years ago, we should haveseen earthquakes that were earthquakes. The Alleghanies were broken upby great convulsions of the earth, and it is probable that this NorthAmerican continent of ours was rocked a foot or two at a time, causinga tremendous crash of matter and the reorganization of the worlditself. "The crust, while not necessarily thinner, is not so solid. In coolingit has cracked and left fissures or caverns or jumbled strata ofsofter material between harder rocks, so that it is peculiarly subjectto earthquakes. " Maj. Clarence E. Dutton, U. S. A. , retired, the most famous Americanexpert on seismic disturbances, said it was probably the greatestearthquake that has occurred in this country since 1868. He declaredthat it undoubtedly would be followed by disturbances of lessintensity in the same quarter. He stated most emphatically that theeruption of Vesuvius had no bearing whatsoever on the disturbance onthe Pacific Coast. J. Paul Goode, a professor in geology in the University of Chicago, attributes the cause of the Frisco earthquake to the Sierra Madremountains, but not in a volcanic way, for he also claims that lava hadnothing to do with the California shock. The shocks, he showed, can beattributed to mountains without volcanoes in their midst. The SierraMadres are growing, he said, and for this reason they have shaken thecity of San Francisco. He says that the gradual growing of mountainscauses the underlying blocks of the earth's crust to slip up and downand shape the top of the earth in their vicinity when they fall anygreat distance. His ideas upon the subject are: "I figure that the earthquake whichcaused so much damage in San Francisco came from what we call thefocus of disturbance. This focus at San Francisco is seven miles belowthe surface of the earth. As the Sierra Madre mountains grow, aphenomenon which is constantly going on, the blocks of earth belowchange positions; as a large block falls a series of shocks travels, up and down much the same way as the rings in the water travel outfrom the point at which a pebble strikes. When the vibration reachesthe surface crust a severe shaking of the country adjacent is theresult. "From the actions of the earth in April of 1892, when such a severeshock was felt in San Francisco, I have no doubt but that a secondearthquake will follow closely upon the one of yesterday, as thesecond followed the first in 1892. In that year the first came uponthe 19th of April and the second upon the 21st. " Of 948 earthquake shocks that have been recorded in Californiaprevious to 1887, 417 were most active in San Francisco. Theseismographs which record the merest tremors and determine the placeof the shock show that 344 have occurred since 1888. Half of the sumtotal have occurred in the vicinity of the gate city and for thisreason it is believed that the severe shock of April 18 was the finalfall of a crust of the earth which has been gradually slipping forcenturies, causing from time to time the slight shocks. The seismic physics of San Francisco and its immediate neighborhoodhave engaged the careful study of physical geographers. The commonlyaccepted opinion is one which was formulated by Prof. John Le Conte, professor of geology in the University of California, and one of theworld's geological authorities. His explanation is based upon themountain contours of the coast of California from the Santa Barbarachannel northward to the Golden Gate. In this region are representedtwo peninsulas, one visible, the other to be discovered throughexamination of the altitudes upon the map corresponding to existinggeological features. This second and greater peninsula comprises theMonte Diablo and Coast ranges, separated from the Sierra elevation bythe alluvial soil of the low-lying valley of the San Joaquin. Thisvalley is contoured by the level of 100 feet and lower for aconsiderable portion of its length, and practically all of it liesbelow the level of 500 feet. The partition thereby accomplishedbetween the Sierra mountain mass and the coastal mountains issufficiently pronounced to indicate what was at no remote period anextensive peninsula. This valley of the San Joaquin lies above the line of a geologicalfault, at a depth which can only be estimated as somewhere about amile. The artesian well borings which have been abundantly prosecutedin the counties of Merced, Fresno, Kings and Kern afford evidencelooking toward such a determination of bedrock depth. On the oceanside the continental shelf is extremely narrow. The great peninsulapresents a most precipitous aspect toward the ocean basin. It isinterrupted at intervals by deep submarine gorges extending close tothe shore. The oceanic basin of the Pacific is throughout a region of volcanicupheaval and seismic disturbance. Conditioned on the one side by the known fault of the San JoaquinValley and on the other by the volcanic activity of the Pacific basin, the greater peninsula of San Francisco in particular has always beensubject, so far as the memory of white settlers can go, to frequentshocks of earthquake. In the last score or more of years seismographicobservatories have been maintained at several points about SanFrancisco bay, and the records have been sufficiently studied toafford data for comprehension of the varied earth waves which havemade themselves felt either to the perception of the citizens of theGolden Gate or to the sensitive instruments. Such observations havebeen conducted by Prof. George Davidson, for many years in charge ofthe Coast and Geodetic Survey upon the Pacific Coast; by Prof. CharlesBurckhalter, of the Chabot Observatory, in Oakland, and by the staffof the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton. Careful inspection of these records shows that two systems ofearthquake disturbances act upon San Francisco. Those of the lighterseries show a wave movement beginning in one of the easterly quadrantsand more commonly in the southeastern. This series of light shocks isattributed to the slip along the line of the San Joaquin fault. Whilethey may occur at any season of the year, they are more frequentlyobserved when the San Joaquin river is running bank high under theinfluence of the melting snows in the foothills of the Sierra. Thatsuch a condition has recently existed is made clear by the reportwithin less than a month of floods in the interior valleys of theState. Assuming, as the geologists do, that the fault in the valleylies near the roots of the Monte Diablo range, on the western edge ofthe alluvial plain, it will be seen that the physical factorsinvolving the slip are very simple. There is a wide, flat plainbounded on the west by a line of weakness in the rock supports. Whenthis plain is carrying an abnormal weight of water the tendency is tobreak downward at the line of the fault. This tendency will produce ajar in the mountain mass which will be rapidly communicated to itsfarthest extremity. The earthquakes which have their origin in the disturbances to whichthe oceanic basin is subject always approach San Francisco from thedirection of the southwest quadrant. These have been uniformly moreviolent than those whose origin is attributed to the San Joaquinfault. While the records of San Francisco earthquakes up to thepresent have exhibited a mild type, the damage to property havinghitherto been slight, it would appear from the extent and violence ofthe present temblor that both causes had for once united. The possibility of such simultaneous action of the two known seismicfactors of the greater peninsula had been foreseen by Prof. Le Conte. He stated that if at any time an earthquake wave of only moderateviolence should come in from the oceanic basin in sufficient strengthto jar the coastal mountain masses at a period when the San JoaquinValley was bearing its maximum weight of water the conditions would beripe for simultaneous shocks from the southwest and from thesoutheast. In such a condition, while neither of the shocks by itselfwould be capable of doing any great amount of damage to buildings inSan Francisco, the combination of two distinct sets of waves mightprove too much for any work of man to withstand. In spite of the declarations of some scientists that there can be nopossible connection between the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and theearthquake of San Francisco, others are inclined to view certain factsin regard to recent seismic and volcanic activity as, to say theleast, suggestive. There is one very remarkable circumstance in regard to all thisactivity. All the places mentioned--Formosa, Southern Italy, Caucasiaand the Canary Islands--lie within a belt bounded by lines a littlenorth of the fortieth parallel and a little south of the thirtiethparallel. San Francisco is just south of the fortieth parallel, whileNaples is just north of it. The latitude of Calabria, where theterrible earthquakes occurred last year, is the same as that of theterritory affected by yesterday's earthquake in the United States. There is another coincidence, which may be only a coincidence, butwhich is also suggestive. The last previous great eruption of Vesuviuswas in 1872, and the same year saw the last previous earthquake inCalifornia which caused loss of life. Camille Flammarion expressed the opinion that the earthquake at SanFrancisco and the eruption at Vesuvius are directly connected. He alsosees a connection between the renewed activity of Popocatepetl, Mexico's well-known volcano, and the disturbance on the Western coast. He says that, though the surface of the earth is apparently calm, "there is no real equilibrium in the strata of the earth, " and thatthe extreme lateral pressure which is still forming mountains andvolcanoes along the Western coast brought about an explosion of gasesand the movement of superheated steam several miles below SanFrancisco, resulting in an earthquake. Another theory is that the earth in revolving is flattening at thepoles and swelling at the equator, and the strata beneath the surfaceare shifting and sliding in an effort to accommodate themselves to thenew position. Other scientists scout this idea, saying thatearthquakes are not caused by the adjustment of the surface of theearth, but by jar and strain as the earth makes an effort to regainits true axis. As regards the possible connection between volcanoes and earthquakes, it is known that a violent earthquake, whose shocks lasted severaldays, accompanied the eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79, whenPompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed. In 1755 thousands uponthousands of people lost their lives in the memorable earthquake atLisbon, in Portugal. At the same time the warm springs of Teplitz, Bohemia, disappeared, later spouting forth again. In the same year anIceland volcano broke forth, followed by an uprising and subsidence ofthe water of Loch Lomond in Scotland. The eruption of Vesuvius in 1872was followed soon after by a serious earthquake in California. Coming to the present year, it is noticed that the earthquake in theisland of Formosa, in which 1, 000 people lost their lives, wasfollowed by the eruption of Vesuvius on April 8. Soon after came thesecond great shock in Formosa, in which there was an even greater lossof life. Later there were two earthquake shocks in Caucasia. At the same timethe news of this appeared there was a report of renewed activity onthe part of a volcano in the Canary Isles, which had long beendormant. In the United States two volcanoes which have been regardedas extinct for more than a century--Mount Tacoma and MountRainier--began to emit smoke. In regard to Tacoma, Dr. W. J. Holland, head of the Carnegie Institute at Pittsburg, says: "There is no doubtthat there has been a breakdown and shifting of strata, perhaps at avery great depth, in the region of San Francisco. There certainly isgreat connection between this earthquake and recent private reportswhich have come to me of intense volcanic activity on the part ofMount Tacoma. " On the other hand, leading scientists contend that these instances aremere coincidences. "If there is any connection between Vesuvius andthe Caucasus and Canary Isles earthquakes other places would havesuffered too; New York, for instance, is on the same parallel, " saysProf. J. F. Kemp, of Columbia University. Although each of these scientists has the most absolute faith in histheory, he really knows no more about the facts than any boy on thestreet. No one has ever descended into the interior of the earth andinvestigated the heart of a volcano but Jules Verne, and he only inhis mind. What is needed now is exact information. The San Franciscocatastrophe will teach many lessons, and among them the necessity forthe close study of both volcanoes and earthquakes. There is no reasonwhy earthquakes and other internal disturbances cannot be observedjust as closely as the weather. In fact, it is entirely probable thatthe time will come when a seismological bureau will exist for thestudy of earthquakes, just as there is a Weather Bureau forobservation of the weather, and it will be the business of itsofficials to prophesy and warn of approaching internal disturbances ofthe earth, just as the weather men announce the approach of badweather. Government observation stations will be established, exactrecords will be kept, and in the course of time we shall learn exactlywhat earthquakes are and what are their causes. Among other lessons that the disaster has taught is that themuch-maligned skyscraper is about the safest building there is. Itssteel-cage structure, with steel rods binding the stone to its wall, has stood the test and has not been found wanting. Of all the mightybuildings in San Francisco those of the most modern structure alonesurvived. Their safety in the midst of collapsing buildings of mortarand brick argues well for like structures in other cities. [Illustration: Copyright by R. L. Forrest 1906. =CHINESE REFUGEES IN WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK. = It was estimated that as many as 10, 000 Chinese were in this park at the time this photograph was taken. ] [Illustration: =FLAT BUILDING SUNK INTO EARTH. = A view of the great fissures in earth caused by earthquake. One story of the flat building on corner sunk into the ground. The water main was broken, which cut off the water supply. No water to fight the fire or quench the thirst. ] Mr. Otis Ashmore declared that the regions lying along the Pacificcoast contain several of the moving strata which cause earthquakes. Hesaid: "While much concerning the origin of earthquakes is still a matter ofdoubt in the minds of scientific men, it is now generally concededthat the real cause is the sudden slipping and readjustment of thestrata of rocks with the crest of the earth. As the earth is slowlycooling a very slow contraction of the earth's crust is constantlygoing on, and as this crust consists very largely of stratified layersof rock, the enormous forces arising from this contraction areresisted by the solid rock. "Notwithstanding the apparent irresistible nature of these layers ofrock, they slowly yield to the enormous lateral pressure ofcontraction and gradually huge folds are pushed up in long mountainranges. Usually this process goes on so slowly and gradually that theyielding of the rock masses takes place without noticeable jar, butoccasionally a sudden slip occurs under the gigantic forces, and anearthquake is the result. This slip is usually only a few inches, butwhen two continents fall together for only a few inches enormousenergy is developed. "Such slips usually occur along the line of an old fissure previouslyformed, and the depth below the surface of the earth varies from oneto twelve miles. Thus places situated near these old internal fissuresare more likely to experience earthquakes than those farther away. Itis a well known geological fact that the Pacific coast in Californiacontains several of these fissures and earthquakes are more commonthere. The entire western part of the United States has been slowlyrising for many centuries, and the shifting of soil due to erosion andtransportation doubtless contributes to produce these seismicdisturbances. "Earthquakes are more common than most persons think. Moderninstruments for detecting slight tremors within the earth's crust showthat there is scarcely an hour in the day free from these shocks. Inmountain regions, and especially in the highest and youngestmountains, erosion is most rapid, and on the sea bottom, along themargin of the continents sedimentation is greatest. In these regions, therefore subterranean temperature and pressure changes are most rapidand earthquakes most frequent. "A study of earthquakes develop these general facts. The origin isseldom more than twelve miles below the surface; the size of theshaken region bears a certain relation to the depth of the origin orfocus, the smaller shaken region indicating a relatively shalloworigin; the energy of the shock is approximately indicated by the areaof the shaken region; the origin is seldom a point, but generally aline many miles in length; the subterranean stress is not relieved bya single movement, but rather by a quick succession of movementscausing a series of jars. "The transmission of an earthquake shock through the earth takesplace with wonderful rapidity. The elastic wave varies in velocityfrom 800 to 1, 000 feet per second in sand or clay to three miles persecond in solid granite. "Sometimes these vibrations are of such a character as to be impartedto the air, and their transmission through the air outstrips thetransmission through the earth and the ear detects the low rumblingsounds before the shock is felt. "If the origin of the shock is under the sea near the coast anyupheaval of the bottom of the ocean that frequently accompanies anearthquake, gives rise to a great tidal wave that frequently inundatesthe neighboring coast with much damage. "While the phenomena of earthquakes and volcanoes are usuallyassociated in the same region, one cannot fairly be said to be thecause of the other. Both are rather effects of a common cause, orrather of common causes, the chief of which is the shrinking andreadjustment of the rocky strata within the earth. The suggestion thatthere is some physical connection between the recent eruptions ofVesuvius and the earthquake at San Francisco does not accord with thegenerally accepted views of geologists concerning these phenomena. "It is probably true that a critical condition of stress between twogigantic and contending forces may be touched off, as it were, by anyfeeble force originating at a distance. Thus a distant volcaniceruption or earthquake shock may determine the climax of stress in agiven portion of the earth, which will produce an earthquake. Observations show that more earthquakes occur near the full and thenew moon than at other times. This is probably due to the fact that atthese times the gravitation of the sun and moon are combined, andtheir effect upon the earth is greater. We can see this effect in thehigher tides at new and full moon. But these forces, it will be seen, are the occasions, and not the causes of earthquakes. "The probable recurrence of the San Francisco earthquake is a matterof great uncertainty. In general, whenever the internal stress of theforces that give rise to earthquakes is relieved there is usually along period of quiescence in the strata of the earth, but in thecourse of time, especially in regions of recent and rapid geologicalchanges, such as is the case on the Pacific coast, there is almostcertain to be recurrences of earthquake shocks from time to time. "The geological forces may, however, gradually adjust themselves, andit may be many centuries before such a dynamic crisis will arise asthat which has just convulsed a continent. " California has had a number of great earthquakes. The records go backto the earthquake at Santa Ana in 1769. Not very much is known of thisearthquake, though a church was built there and dedicated as Jesus delos Temblores. Another one occurred at Santa Barbara in 1806, and still another in1812. The Old Mission, about the only building there at that time, onboth occasions practically had to be rebuilt. Hittell's History of California says that "slight shocks ofearthquakes are not infrequent, but none of really violent ordangerous character has been known to occur. An old or badlyconstructed building has occasionally been thrown down, and a fewpeople have been killed by falling roofs or walls. But there has beennothing in the experience of the oldest inhabitants to occasion orjustify fear or dread. The first one of which there is any full recordoccurred on October 11, 1800, and consisted of six consecutive shocks, and it tumbled down the habitations of San Juan Bautista. "The most disastrous shock occurred in December, 1812, when the churchof San Juan Capistrano was thrown down and forty Indians killed by itsfall. The same shock extended northwestward and damaged the churchesof San Gabriel, San Buenaventura, Santa Barbara, Santa Inez andPurisima. In 1818 the church of Santa Clara was damaged, and in 1830the church of San Luis Obispo. " CHAPTER XIX. CHINATOWN, A PLAGUE SPOT BLOTTED OUT. =An Oriental Hell within an American City--Foreign in its Stores, Gambling Dens and Inhabitants--The Mecca of all San Francisco Sight Seers--Secret Passages, Opium Joints and Slave Trade its Chief Features. = To a visitor unacquainted with oriental customs and manners the mostpicturesque and mysterious spot in the region of the Golden Gate wasChinatown, now blotted out, which laid in the heart of San Francisco, halfway up the hillside from the bay and was two blocks wide by twoblocks long. In this circumscribed area an Oriental city within anAmerican city, more than 24, 000 Chinese lived, one-half of whom ateand slept below the level of the streets. The buildings they occupiedwere among the finest that were built in the early days of the goldfever. What was at one time the leading hotel of the city was as fullof Chinese as a hive is full of bees, for they crowd in together inmuch the same way. As the gold fever attracted the Chinese to thePacific coast, San Francisco was made a headquarters and the Orientalssoon established themselves in a building on the side hill. As theycontinued to swarm over, gradually the American tenants were crowdedout until a certain section was set apart for the Chinese residentsand Chinatown became as distinct a section of the city as the Boweryin New York used to be, "where they do such things and say suchthings. " The time to see Chinatown was after dark, from ten at nightto four in the morning, and a day and a night spent in the districtwould give you a very fair idea of Chinatown as it was. The streets were narrow and steep, paved with rough cobblestone. Thefronts of the buildings had been changed to conform with the Chineseidea of architecture. Wide balconies and gratings and fretwork of ironpainted in gaudy colors gave an Oriental touch. The fronts were a riotof color. The fronts of the joss houses and the restaurants werebrightened with many colored lanterns, quaint carved gilded woodwork, potted plants and dwarf trees. Up and down these narrow streets everyhour in the twenty-four you could hear the gentle tattoo, for heseemed never to sleep, never to be in a hurry and always moving. Stopon any corner five minutes and the sight was like a moving pictureshow. It was hard to make yourself believe that you were not in China, for as near as is possible Chinatown had been converted into a typicalChinese community. You heard no other language spoken on the streetsor in the stores except by tourists, "seeing the sights. " Chinesecharacters adorned the windows and store fronts, the merchants in thestores were reading Chinese newspapers, the children playing on thestreets jabbered in an unknown tongue, and every man you met had apigtail hanging down his back. The streets were full of people, butthere were no crowds and neither in the day nor night could you see adrunken Chinaman. The first floor of nearly every building in Chinatown was occupied bya store or market. Most of the goods sold were imported from China. Inevery store there was but one clerk who could talk fair English butthe bookkeeping was done in Chinese and money was counted in Chinesefashion. In the botanic stores dried snakes and toads were sold foruse in compounding potions to drive away evil spirits and baskets ofginseng roots were displayed in the windows. The clothing storeshandled Chinese goods exclusively and in the shoe stores beautifullyembroidered sandals with felt soles an inch thick were sold for adollar a pair. Occasionally in one of the jewelry stores a workmanwelded a solid gold bracelet to the arm of a Chinaman, who, afraid ofbeing robbed of his gold, had it made into a bracelet and welded tohis wrist. In the markets you found an endless display of fish, poultry and vegetables. The chickens were sold alive. The dried fishcame from China. All the vegetables sold in Chinatown were raised ingardens on the outskirts of the city from seed sent over from Chinaand some of the specimens were odd looking enough. The Chinesevegetables thrive better in the soil of California than in China andChinese vegetables raised in the San Francisco district were sent toall the mining camps in the Rockies and as far away as Denver. Some ofthe Chinese squashes are four feet long. Everything that can beimported from China at a profit was shipped over and the rule amongthe Chinese was to trade as little as possible with foreigners. The Chinaman is thrifty and if it were not for gambling and one or twoother vices they would all be rich, for they are industrious. The Chinaman does not go much on strong drink and in many ways is agood citizen, but he does love to smoke opium and to gamble. It waseasy to gain access to an opium den if you had a guide with you. Theguides, many of whom are Chinese, speak English, and the Englishguides speak Chinese. The guides got a dollar apiece from the party ofvisitors they piloted about and a percentage from all moneys spent bythe party in the stores, saloons, restaurants, theaters and the dives. In return they paid for the opium that was smoked in the dens for theedification of the visitors and dropped a tip here and there as theywent from place to place. Most of the opium dens were underground. The majority of the people of Chinatown lived in what were littlebetter than rat holes, dark, poorly ventilated little cells on theside of narrow passages in basements. The rich merchants and importerslived well, but the middle and poorer classes lived in the basementswhere rent was cheap. Of the 24, 000 Chinese population only about 900were women so Chinatown was a bachelor's town by a large majority, though some of the residents had wives in China to whom they expectedto return some day. The rule in the basements was for ten men to sleepin a room six by ten feet and do their cooking over a little charcoalfire in one corner of the room. The beds they slept in were simplybunks. The population of Chinatown had somewhat decreased since theExclusion act was passed. Few Chinamen came over and many, havingsaved up a little fortune, had gone back to China to stay. Of theentire population of Chinatown there were about 1, 000 who voted; theyconstituted the native born element. The men and women dress muchalike. One of the sights which the inquisitive traveller to the Pacific coastrarely missed was the Chinese theater. Entrance was gained through therear from an alley by the payment of 50 cents for a ticket. Afterwalking down a narrow passageway, climbing up two flights of stairsand down three ladders one reached the green room in the rear of thestage where one saw the actors in all the glory of Oriental costume. No foreigners, as Americans were regarded, were allowed in any part ofthe theater except on the stage where half a dozen chairs werereserved on one side for visitors who came in the back way. There wasno drop curtain in front of the stage and the orchestra was located inthe rear of the stage. The orchestra would attract attention anywhere. The music was a cross between the noise made by a boiler shop duringworking hours and a horse fiddle at a country serenade. As one walked along the streets of Chinatown he noticed on manydoorways a sign which read something like this: "Merchants' SocialClub. None But Members Admitted. " There would be a little iron wicketon one side of the door through which the password goes and someChinese characters on the walls. There were dozens of these clubs inChinatown, all incorporated and protected by law. But they were simplygambling joints into which men of other nationalities were notadmitted, and where members could gamble without fear of interruptionby the police. Chinamen are born gamblers and will wager their lastdollar on the turn of a card. Perhaps if 25, 000 Americans orEnglishmen or Russians were located in the heart of a Chinese citywithout any of the restraining influences of home life, they wouldseek to while away their idle hours at draw poker or as many otherforms of gambling as John Chinaman indulges in. The Chinamen havelittle faith in one another so far as honesty goes. In many of theclubs the funds of the club are kept in a big safe which in additionto having a time lock, has four padlocks, one for each of theprincipal officers, and the safe can only be opened when all four arepresent. Often when the police raided a den that was not incorporatedthey found that the chips and cards had disappeared as if by magic andthe players were sitting about as unconcerned as though a poker gamehad never been thought of. An advance tip had been sent in by aconfederate on the private Chinese grapevine telegraph. The troubles that arise between members of a Chinese secret societyare settled within the society, but when trouble arises between themembers of rival secret societies then it means death to somebody. Forinstance, a Chinaman caught cheating at cards is killed. The societyto which the dead man belongs makes a demand on the society to whichthe man who killed him belongs for a heavy indemnity in cash. If it isnot paid on a certain date, a certain number of members of thesociety, usually the Highbinder or hoodlum element, is detailed tokill a member of the other society. A price is fixed for the killingand is paid as soon as the job is done. The favorite weapon of theHighbinder is a long knife made of a file, with a brass knob and heavyhandle. The other weapon in common use is a 45-calibre Colt'srevolver. The first one of the detail that meets the victim selectedslips up behind him and shoots or stabs him in the back. It may be ina dark alley at midnight, in an opium den, at the entrance to atheater, or in the victim's bed. If the assassin is arrested thesociety furnishes witness to prove an alibi and money to retain alawyer. Another favorite pastime of the Highbinder who is usually aloafer, is to levy blackmail on a wealthy Chinaman. If the sumdemanded is not paid the victim's life is not worth 30 cents. One ofthe famous victims of the Highbinders in recent years in San Franciscowas "Little Pete, " a Chinaman who was worth $150, 000 and owned agambling palace. He refused to be held by blackmailers and lost hislife in consequence. The police of San Francisco took no stock in a Chinaman's oath asadministered in American courts. A Chinaman don't believe in the Bibleand therefore does not regard an oath as binding. In one instance itis asserted the chief had been approached by a member of one of thestrongest secret societies and asked what attorney was to prosecute acertain Highbinder under arrest. Asked why he wished to know, hestated frankly that another man was about to be assassinated and hedesired to retain a certain lawyer in advance to defend him if he wasnot already employed by the commonwealth. It is no easy matter for thepolice to secure the conviction of a Chinaman charged with any crime, let alone that of murder. There is only one place where a policemanwill believe a Chinaman. That is in a cemetery, while a chicken's headis being cut off. If asked any questions at that time, after certainChinese words have been repeated, a Chinaman will tell the truth, sothe police believe. Although all Chinaman are smooth faced and havetheir heads shaved they do not "look alike" to the policemen, who haveno trouble in telling them apart. This, of course, applied only to thepolicemen detailed to look after Chinatown. If it were not that theChinamen kill only men of their own race and let alone all other men, the citizens of San Francisco would have sacked and burned Chinatown. Once the Highbinders were rooted out of the city, and before thecatastrophe they were going to do so again. Some time ago a Chinese shrimp fisherman incurred the displeasure ofthe members of another society and he was kidnapped in the night andtaken to a lonely, uninhabited island some miles from San Francisco, tied hand and foot and fastened tight to stakes driven in the groundand left to die. Two days later he was found by friends, purely byaccident and released, famished and worn out, but he refused to tellwho his captors were, and again become a victim of the terribleHighbinders, the curse of the Pacific coast. Incidents of the above characters nearly always ending in murder, wereso common that the wealthy and powerful Chinese Six Companies, the bigmerchants of the race, held years ago meetings with the purpose ofbringing the societies to peace and while they often succeeded thetruce between them was only temporary. Of all the dark, secretive and lawless Chinese villages that dot thewayward Pacific slope, the one that looks down on the arm of SanFrancisco Bay, just this side of San Pedro Point, is the mostmysterious and lawless. The village hasn't even a name to identify it, but "No Sabe" would be the most characteristic title for thesettlement, because that is the only expression chance visitors andthe officers of the law can get out of its sullen, stubborn, suspicious inhabitants. They don't deride the laws of this land. They simply ignore them. They are a law unto themselves, have their own tribunals, officers, fines and punishments and woe betide the member who doesn't submit. Hemight cry out for the white man's law to protect him, but long beforehis cry could reach the white man's ear it would be lost in thatlonely, secretive village and the first officer that reached the placewould be greeted by the usual stoical, "No sabe. " Police and other investigations showed that for years past the slaveryof girls and women in Chinatown was at all times deplorable andsomething horrible. At an investigation, a few years ago, institutedat the instance of the Methodist Mission, some terrible facts wereelicited, the following indicating the nature of nearly all: The first girl examined testified that her parents sold her intoslavery while she was only fifteen years of age. The price paid was$1, 980, of which she personally saw $300 paid down as a deposit. Before the final payment was made she escaped to the mission. The second, an older girl, lived in a house of ill fame for severalyears before she made her escape. She testified that she was sold for$2, 200 by her stepmother. The transaction occurred in this city. Shetalked at length of the conditions surrounding the girls, includingthe infamous rule that they must earn a certain sum each day, and thepunishments that follow failure. This girl said she knew from othergirls of her acquaintance that many white men were in the habit ofvisiting the Chinese houses. The third girl who testified said she was sold at a time when slaveswere scarcer and higher in price than they are now, and brought $2, 800at the age of fifteen. She, too, was positive that white men visitedthe Chinese houses of ill fame. One of the women of the mission showed the committee three littlegirls, mere babies, who had been rescued by the mission. Two of themwere sold by their parents while they were still in arms. The firstbrought $105 when three months old and another was sold at about thesame age for $150. All three were taken from the keepers of houses ofill fame and were living regularly in the houses when rescued. But there was also a better side to Chinatown. The joss house was aninteresting place. It was but a large room without seats. A profusionof very costly grill work and lanterns adorned the ceilings and walls;instruments of war were distributed around the room, and many fiercelooking josses peered out from under silken canopies on the shrines. In one corner was a miniature wooden warrior, frantically riding afiery steed toward a joss who stood in his doorway awaiting therider's coming. A teapot of unique design, filled with fresh teaevery day, and a very small cup and saucer were always ready for thewarrior. This represented a man killed in battle, whose noble steed, missing his master, refused to eat and so pined away and died. Awelcome was assured to them in the better land if the work of man canaccomplish it. The horse and rider were to them (the Chinese) what theimages of saints are to Christians. In another corner was a tiny bowlof water; the gods occasionally come down and wash. At certain timesof the year, direct questions were written on slips of paper and putinto the hands of one of the greatest josses. These disappear and thenthe joss either nodded or shook his head in answer. On the altar, oraltars, were several brass and copper vessels in which the worshiperleft a sandalwood punk burning in such a position that the ashes wouldfall on the fine sand in the vessel. When one of these became full itwas emptied into an immense bronze vase on the balcony, and this, inturn, was emptied into the ocean. The Chinese take good care of theirliving and never forget their dead. Once a year, the fourteenth day ofthe seventh month, they have a solemn ceremony by which they send goldand silver and cloth to the great army of the departed. A furnace is a necessity in a joss house. It is lighted on ceremonialdays and paper representing cloth, gold and silver is burned, theashes of the materials being, in their minds, useful in spirit land. Private families send to their relatives and friends whatever theywant by throwing the gold, the silver and the cloth paper, alsofruits, into a fire built in the street in front of their houses. Thedays of worship come on the first and fifteenth of each month. Of the deaths in Chinatown by the earthquake and fire no reliable listhas been possible but in estimating the victims the construction ofthe district should be regarded as an inconsiderable factor. CHAPTER XX. THE NEW SAN FRANCISCO. =A Modern City of Steel on the Ruins of the City that Was--A Beautiful Vista of Boulevards, Parks and Open Spaces Flanked by the Massive Structures of Commerce and the Palaces of Wealth and Fashion. = With superb courage and optimism that characterize the Americanpeople, San Francisco lifted her head from the ashes, and, as Kiplingsays, "turned her face home to the instant need of things. " Scorched and warped by days and nights of fire, the indomitable spiritof the Golden Gate metropolis rose on pinions of hope, unsubdued andunafraid. Old San Francisco was an ash heap. From out the wreck and ruin thereshould arise a new San Francisco that would at once be the pride ofthe Pacific coast and the American nation and a proud monument to thecity that was. Temporarily the commerce of the city was transferred to Oakland, withits magnificent harbor across the bay, and at once a spirit offriendly rivalry sprung up in the latter city. Oakland had been thefirst haven of refuge for the fleeing thousands, but in the face ofthe overwhelming disaster the sister city saw a grand opportunity toenhance its own commercial importance. But the spirit of San Francisco would brook no successful rivalry andits leading men were united in a determination to rebuild a citybeautiful on the ashen site and to regain and re-establish itscommercial supremacy on the Pacific coast. With the fire quenched, the hungry fed, some sort of shelter provided, the next step was to prepare for the resumption of business and thereconstruction of the city. Within ten days from the first outbreakof flames the soldiers had begun to impress the passer-by into theservice of throwing bricks and other debris out of the street in orderto remove the stuff from the path of travel. Some important personages were unceremoniously put to work by theunbiased guards, among them being Secretary of State Charles Curry ofSacramento. The people of San Francisco turned their eyes to a new and greatercity. Visitors were overwhelmed with terror of the shaking of theearth, they quailed at the thought of the fire. But the men whocrossed the arid plains, who went thirsty and hungry and braved theIndian and faced hardships unflinchingly in their quest for gold overtwo-thirds of a century ago had left behind them descendants who werenot cowards. Smoke was still rising from the debris of one buildingwhile the owner was planning the erection of another and still betterone. The disaster had made common cause, and the laboring man who beforewas seeking to gouge from his employer and the employer who wasscheming to turn the tables on his employes felt the need ofco-operation and cast aside their differences, and worked for thecommon cause, a new and a greater San Francisco. Fire could not stop them, nor the earthquake daunt. They talked ofbeautiful boulevards, of lofty and solid steel and concrete buildingsand of the sweeping away of the slums. They talked of many things andthey were enthusiastic. They said that the old Chinatown would bedriven away to Hunter's Point in the southeastern portion of the citynear the slaughter-houses. They said the business district should begiven a chance to go over there where it belonged, by right ofcommanding and convenient position. They talked of magnificent palacesto take the place of those that had fallen before the earthquake, fireand dynamite. Courage conquers. We are proud of the American spiritwhich arises above all difficulties. But there are some things which could not be replaced. There couldnot be another Chinatown like the old one, with all its quaint nooksand alleys. All this was gone and a new Chinatown must seem like asham. There were no more quaint buildings in the Latin quarter, withtheir old world atmosphere. Coppas place, center of real bohemia, where artists for many yearscongregated and adorned the walls with pictures, still remained. Butit was lonesome; all its fellows were gone; it was surrounded byruins. Not an old place remained with a story or with a sentimentalcharm. San Francisco went to work with a will to rebuild, shipscontinued to enter its magnificent harbor, and lived down earthquakeand fire to again become a great, prosperous, magnificent city. But the sentiment of its Latin Quarter was gone, for outside of theCoppas place, there was nothing left of the old and loved SanFrancisco except the gable tiled roof of Mission Dolores, its plainwooden cross surmounting it, and its sweet-toned chimes long stilled. Their voices should ring out anew at intervals to remind all who mayhear them that San Francisco has a storied past and a bright future, afuture glorious as the brilliant sunsets that come streaming somagnificently through the Golden Gate. It should be borne in mind that San Francisco was not destroyed by theearthquake. While old buildings in that part of the city which stoodon "made" ground east of Montgomery street and some of that districtlying south of Market it is true suffered from the shock, it was firethat wrought the great devastation and wiped out the entire businesssection and more than half of the residence section of the city. The great modern steel structures were practically uninjured by theearthquake, except for cracked walls and displaced plaster. All thosegreat structures, of course, subsequently were utterly ruined by theflames as far as the interior construction was concerned, but thewalls were in most cases intact. The most notable cases of practicalimmunity from the shock were the St. Francis Hotel, the FairmontHotel, the Flood buildings, the Mills building, the Spreckelsbuildings, the Chronicle building and scores of other modern steelstructures. The branch of the United States mint on Fifth street and the newpostoffice at Seventh and Mission streets were striking examples ofthe superiority of the workmanship put into federal buildings. The oldmint building, surrounded by a wide space of pavement, was absolutelyunharmed. Not even the few palm trees which stand on either side ofits broad entrance were withered by the flames that devouredeverything around it. The new postoffice building also was virtually undamaged by fire. Theearthquake shock did some damage to the different entrances to thebuilding; the walls were uninjured. Every window pane, of course, wasgone, as they were in almost every building in town, but thegovernment was able to resume postal business immediately. The Fairmont Hotel, while seriously damaged in the interior, was leftintact as to the walls and the management offered space in thebuilding to the various relief committees who desired to house thehomeless or to store supplies in those parts of the buildingconsidered safe. One question that confronted the rebuilders was whether the city'slevel had sunk as a result of the earthquake. Parties sent out by City Engineer Thomas P. Woodward for the purposeof ascertaining whether or not the city, as a whole, had sunk, reported that there was no general depression, though there were manyspaces where there were bad depressions. The most notable depressionswere on Valencia, from Nineteenth to Twentieth; lower Market, Howardand Seventeenth and Eighteenth; Van Ness, from Vallejo to Green, andon Folsom in the region of Seventeenth street. [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =SEEKING LOST FRIENDS. = San Francisco Call Register Bureau. Looking for names on cards. ] [Illustration: Copyright 1906 by Tom M. Phillips. =VAN NESS AVENUE RESIDENCE. = All that was left of a fine residence. ] [Illustration: =TENTING IN THE SQUARE. =] [Illustration: =ALAMEDA PARK. =] The southeast corner of the new postoffice building extended over anold swamp, and here there was a depression of fully four feet. Thesinking was confined almost entirely to the lower parts of thecity, and particularly to "made" ground. Mr. Woodward gave it as hisopinion that there was no general depression of the city whatever. City Engineer Woodward was one of those who devised a general schemefor rebuilding the city, by which the new San Francisco was to be acity of magnificent buildings, terraces, boulevards, green parks andplaygrounds and gardens. One prominent feature of Mr. Woodward's comprehensive scheme was thewidening of Van Ness avenue into a magnificent boulevard. To this endhe proposed the acquisition by the city through condemnationproceedings of all that choice residence property the full length ofVan Ness avenue. Under his plan there would be no narrow and clogging streets in thosesections of the city laid bare by the fire. Streets in the heart ofthe business district which were proved entirely inadequate for therush and confusion of a big metropolis were to be widened by slicingfrom the private holdings on either side, again through process of thecourts. Market street was to be left as it was. So with Third and otherstreets that were repaired by the city authorities just before theearthquake, but streets in the commission and wholesale sections wereto be radically altered, both in width and course. The big construction companies of New York took a great interest inthe San Francisco disaster, especially as far as the damages tobuilding was concerned. One of the largest construction companies in the world started anengineer for San Francisco at once. Great satisfaction was expressed by the architects of the SanFrancisco Chronicle building that the structure had withstood theshocks in good shape and was practically uninjured until assailed onall sides by flames. The Chronicle building was of steel framework, with the outer walls partially anchored to the frame. George Simpson, the chief engineer of the company that built theChronicle building, was of the opinion that the big modern buildingsof Chicago and New York would withstand such earthquake shocks asthose felt in San Francisco. "The east, and especially New York city, " said Mr. Simpson, "is farahead of the west in the matter of thorough building construction. Inthe case of our modern buildings the steel framework sits on a bed ofconcrete that has been built on top of solid rock foundation. "Now, it will be observed that all of the steel frame buildings in SanFrancisco withstood the shocks and the only damage done to themoutside of fire was the falling out of part of the walls. In thesecases the outer walls were merely built on the steel work. With ourbig buildings the walls are anchored to the steel framework. That is, each big piece of stone has imbedded in it a steel bar from whichanother arm of the same material runs in at right angles and isriveted or bolted to the framework. "That is what I meant by anchored walls and in the event of anearthquake it would take a terrific shock to loosen these walls. Wereit possible to erect an entire steel building resting on a solidfoundation there would be no fear from earthquakes. In the Philippinesthey are now building some churches of steel framework with a sheetiron covering. This is done in anticipation of earthquake shocks. " The rebuilding of Baltimore required 30, 100 tons of structural steel. To rebuild San Francisco on the same basis the estimate was 60, 000tons amounting with freight to $6, 000, 000. As compared with the loss of $200, 000, 000 this was an insignificantamount. Among those who submitted a comprehensive scheme for a new SanFrancisco was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the noted architect of Chicago, who designed most of the features of Chicago's World's ColumbianExposition and from whose conceptions the Court of Honor at thatexhibition was built, and those who visited the White City in 1893will never forget the picturesque grandeur of that enchanted region. Mr. Burnham believed in a new and ideal San Francisco and would see ittake its place as the American Paris in the arrangement of its streetsand the American Naples in the beauty of its bay and skies. The plansfor the ideal San Francisco were his, and hardly had his report beenprinted than the columns of the old city went down to ruin and fireswept out of existence the landmarks by the gate of gold. It is now the question, How far will the new San Francisco realize thedreams of those who have had before them for so many years the imageof a metropolis of the Pacific with broad boulevards and greatparkways and wooded heights--a city of sunken gardens, of airybridges, of stately gardens and broad expanses? Daniel H. Burnham had back of him a long record of achievements whichearned for him his title of city builder. He built the Rookery building and the Masonic Temple in Chicago, andthen was called to various cities where he supervised the erection ofimposing piles which have become landmarks. It was while studying therelations of these large buildings to their surroundings that hebecame interested in his still greater work, which had to do withsquares and blocks and parkways. Upon the invitation of the Association for the Improvement andAdornment of San Francisco Mr. Burnham went to the Golden Gate, wherehe devoted months to the plans for a new city. A bungalow was built onthe Twins Peaks seven hundred feet above the level of the streets, from which Mr. Burnham and his staff of assistants could command aview of the city and the bay. The material which they sought to makeinto the perfect city was before them day and night. They saw SanFrancisco by sunlight, in fog, in storm or in the blaze of a myriadlights. As the work progressed the San Franciscans who were interestedin the scheme often climbed to the bungalow to watch the progress ofthe work. The scheme prepared by Mr. Burnham provided first for a civic centrewhere all the principal city buildings were to be located and also thenew union railroad station. About this was to be a broad circularboulevard, a perimeter of distribution, and beyond this a series ofbroader boulevards or parkways connecting the hills, which were to beconverted into parks themselves. About this was to have been the circling boulevard following the shoreline of the peninsula. The scheme included also the extension of theavenue leading to the Golden Gate Park, known as the Panhandle, thebuilding of a Greek amphitheater on the Twin Peaks, with a statue ofSan Francisco greeting the countries of the Orient. The plan alsoprovided for a new parade ground at the Presidio and the building ofnumerous parks and playgrounds throughout the city. All this was tohave cost millions, but to a man of the largeness of the City Builderthis was a detail which was to be reckoned with year by year. Now that buildings which were to have been acquired by the city tomake room for the pathways of the ideal San Francisco are in ashes andtwisted beams it may be that the vision of Daniel H. Burnham may soonbe realized. "It is an unfortunate thing, " he said, "that our American cities arenot first laid out in accordance with some definite idea. As a matterof fact, however, they simply grow up and later have to be changed inorder to give them symmetry. In Europe the whole idea is different. The government has more control over such affairs than it has in thiscountry, and it prescribes just what the height of the buildings shallbe. The result is a skyline which is imposing. In this country eachman builds for himself. " Pending the action of the authorities on the plans for the SanFrancisco Beautiful Mr. Burnham had little to say about therebuilding. The boulevards connecting the hills were to have been madeby taking out blocks of houses, most of which were in poorer sectionsof the city. This would give a passageway more than two hundred feetwide. The buildings which would have been condemned have beendestroyed, and it then became a question as to whether the authoritiesof the city would be able to make the change contemplated. Mr. Burnham's plan for the New San Francisco left Chinatown out of thereckoning, as there was talk of private capital arranging for thetransfer of the quarter to another part of the city. It was theopinion of Mr. Burnham that Chinatown, as occupying a valuable sectionof San Francisco, would eventually have to go. "Twin Peaks, " runs the report made by Mr. Burnham, "and the propertylying around them, should be acquired for park purposes by the city. The idea was to weave park and residence districts into interestingand economic relations, and also to preserve from the encroachments ofbuilding the hill bordered valley running to Lake Merced, so that thevista from the parks to the ocean should be unbroken. It is planned topreserve the beautiful canyon or glen to the south of Twin Peaks andalso to maintain as far as possible the wooded background formed bythe hills looking south from Golden Gate. This park area of the TwinPeaks, which includes the hills which surround the San Miguel Valleyand is terminated by Lake Merced, is a link in the chain of parksgirdling the city. "To the north of Twin Peaks lies a natural hollow. Here it wasproposed to create an amphitheatre or stadium of vast proportions. Thegentler slopes of the Twin Peaks were to be used as villa properties. The plans for Twin Peaks also included a collective centre or academy, which is to be arranged for the accommodation of men in variousbranches of intellectual or artistic pursuits. A little open airtheatre, after the Greek model, would form a part of this scheme. " Even Telegraph Hill was to have its precipitate sides terraced and wasto be transformed into a park, according to the design of Mr. Burnham. To carry out all the plans of the architect would be a large task justnow, but the citizens of the new San Francisco expect that the broadgeneral lines will be laid down and then in the course of time therest will be added. Unexampled as was the loss of property in San Francisco the disasterin that respect alone was converted into a permanent benefit. No other city with the exception of Chicago ever had such a grandopportunity of rebuilding upon a basis of permanency and beauty. Instead of shrinking, real estate values rose rapidly and continued torise. Fancy figures were quoted on sites suitable for businessestablishments. Structures that remained comparatively intact not farfrom the old business section were leased at extremely high rates. Instead of dooming San Francisco the double attack of fire and quakeproved a blessing. Unaccountable as it may be to many people in theeastern states, the denizens of that part of the country had noespecial fears of a recurrence of the catastrophe. They argued thatseismic disturbances of such intensity come once in fifty or onehundred years. "Next time we will be prepared, " was the regulation comment. The faithof those people, their courage and their enduring hope obliterated alldoubt and crushed timidity. The watchword from the day of the disasterwas "rebuild. " And generally there was added the injunction, "and makeit earthquake proof. " CHAPTER XXI. VESUVIUS THREATENS NAPLES. =Beautiful Italian City on the Mediterranean Almost Engulfed in Ashes and Lava from the Terrible Volcano--Worst Eruption Since the Days of Pompeii and Herculaneum--Buildings Crushed and Thousands Rendered Homeless. = The worst eruption of Mt. Vesuvius since the days when it buried undermolten lava and ashes Pompeii and Herculaneum occurred on April 6, 1906. Almost without warning the huge crater opened its fiery mouthand poured from its throat and fiery interior and poured down themountain sides oceans of burning lava, and warned 60, 000 or 70, 000inhabitants of villages in the paths of the fiery floods that theironly safety was in immediate flight. From the very start the scene wasterrible and awe-inspiring. From the summit of the mountain a columnof fire fully 1, 000 feet leaped upward and lighted by its awful glarethe sky and sea for miles around. Occasionally great masses of moltenstone, some weighing as much as a ton were, accompanied by athunderous noise, ejected from the crater and sent crashing down themountain side, causing the natives, even as far as Naples, to quakewith fear, abandon their homes and fall, praying, on their knees. Oneof the immense streams of lava which flowed from the crater's mouthwas more than 200 feet wide and, ever broadening, kept advancing atthe rate of 21 feet a minute. The first great modern eruption was that of 1631, eleven years afterthe pilgrim fathers landed on Plymouth rock. A sudden tidal wave oflava, utterly unexpected, engulfed 18, 000 people, many of the coasttowns being wholly and the remainder partially wiped out. In 1707 the volcano sent forth a cloud of ashes so dense that atmidday in the streets of Naples the blackness of the darkest nightreigned supreme. The shrieks of terror stricken women pierced the airand the churches were crowded by the populace. The relics of SanJanuarius--his skull among them--were carried in procession throughthe streets. Thirty years later a stream of lava one mile wide and containing300, 000, 000 cubic feet burst from the mountain side. The next notableeruption was that of 1760, when new cones formed at the side and gaveforth lava, smoke and ashes. Seven years later the king of Napleshastily retreated into the capital from the palace at Portici, threatened by a fresh outburst, and found the Neapolitans again inconfusion. An eruption lasting a year and a half commenced in 1793. Lava wasemitted for fifteen hours and the sea boiled 100 yards from the coast. That the Vesuvius eruptions are gaining in frequency is attested bythe record of the nineteenth century, surpassing as it does that ofthe eighteenth. The first of note occurred in 1822, when the top ofthe great cone fell in and a lava stream a mile in width poured out. Twelve years later a river of lava nine miles long wiped out a town of500 houses. Lava flowed almost to the gates of Naples in 1855 and caused adeplorable loss of property to the cultivated region above. Blocks of stone forty-five feet in circumference were hurled down themountain by the spectacular outburst of 1872. Two lava floods rusheddown the valley on two sides, ashes were shot thousands of feet in theair and the sea rose for miles. More than 20, 000, 000 cubic feet oflava was ejected in a single day. Since 1879 Vesuvius has been variously active there being twoeruptions of note in 1900 and two others in 1903. But that of 1905 wasmore violent than any since 1872. Red hot stones hurled 1, 600 feetabove the cone dropped down the flanks of the mountain with deafeningsound. One stone thrown out weighed two tons, while 1, 844 violentexplosions were recorded in a single day by the instruments of theseismic observatory. The cog railroad running nearly to the top has been badly damaged anumber of times in recent years and the occupants of themeteorological observatory on or near the summit have had severalnarrow escapes. This institution is situated about a mile and a half from the cone, near the foot of the rope railway ascending that troubled apex. It isa handsome edifice of white stone and can be seen at a great distanceagainst the black background of lava. It stands on the side towardNaples, on the top of a conspicuous ridge 2, 080 feet above the levelof the sea. On each side of this ridge flows a river of lava duringeruptions, but the building has withstood all, unscathed, as yet. An observer is on duty, night and day, even during the most violentoutbursts. During the late one, when a sheet of red-hot lava glowed oneither side of the ridge and when fiery projectiles fell all about, the post was not deserted. Inside, mounted upon piers penetrating theground, are delicate instruments whose indicating hands, restingagainst record sheets of paper, trace every movement made by theshuddering mountain. One sign by which these great outbursts mayalmost always be forecast is the falling of water in the wells of theneighboring villages. The Vesuvian volcanic region, like that of Ętna, is partly land andpartly sea, including all of the Bay of Naples, sometimes called "thecrater, " lying at the very foot of Vesuvius, with a circuit offifty-two miles and the metropolis at the extreme northern corner. The whole base of the mountain is skirted by a series of villageswhere abide 100, 000 souls--birds nesting in the cannon's mouth. Between these settlements and even above, within the jaws of the fierydemon, the tourist sees scattered huts, tent shaped of strawinterwoven. A road twenty miles long, commencing at Naples, extendssoutheastwardly along the shore of the bay and then, winding inland, completely encircles the mountain. This is dotted with villages, allwithin hearing of the volcanic rumblings and bellowings. Four miles down the bay road from Naples lies Portici, its 12, 000population dwelling upon lava thrown down to the sea by the eruptionof 1631. On this black bed stands the royal palace, built by CharlesIII. In 1738. Resina, one mile further, is the favorite suburban seatof wealthy Neapolitans. Its 14, 000 residents dwell partly upon theruins of Herculaneum and of Retina, to which latter city Pliny theelder set out during the great eruption which destroyed these citiesand Pompeii. The colossal brazier of Mount Vesuvius dealt most awfully anddestructively with the towns on its declivities and near its base. Theinhabitants of those villages naturally became panic-stricken andabandoned their homes for the open, although the atmosphere was densewith volcanic ashes and the sulphur fumes of subterranean fires. Thepeople, so long as they dared remain near their homes, crowded thechurches day and night, praying for deliverance from the impendingperil, manifestations of which were hourly heard and felt inexplosions which resembled a heavy cannonade, and in the tremblings ofthe earth, which were constantly recurring. The intense heat of the lava destroyed vegetation before the streamreached it. The peasants of Portici, at the west foot of Vesuvius, cleared their grounds of vineyards and trees in the effort to lessenthe danger from the fire and resist the progress of the lava to theutmost. The streams of lava became resistless. They snapped like pipe stemsthe trunks of chestnut trees hundreds of years old and blighted withtheir torrid breath the blooms on the peach trees before the treesthemselves had been reached. The molten streams did not spare thehomes of the peasants, and when these have been razed they dash intothe wells, as though seeking to slake their thirst, and, havingfilled them, continue their course down the mountain side. Everywhere in the vicinity of the volcano pitiful scenes werewitnessed--women tearing their hair in their grief and old men cryingaloud at the loss of their beloved homesteads, while in the distance, in striking contrast, were the sapphire-colored Mediterranean, theviolet-hued mountains of the Sorrento peninsula and the island ofCapri in the tranquil sea. The town of Bosco Trecase, on the mountain's southern declivity, hadbeen transformed into a gray island of ruin by the ashes from thecrater of the volcano. Torrents of liquid fire, resembling in thedistance serpents with glittering yellow and black scales, coursed inall directions, amid rumblings, detonations and earth tremblings whilea pall of sulphurous smoke that hovered over all made breathingdifficult. While the inhabitants, driven before soldiers, were urged to seeksafety in flight, fiery lava was invading their homes and the cemeterywhere their dead was buried. In about 48 hours after the eruptionsbegan not a trace remained of Bosco Trecase, a city of 10, 000population. Several lads who were unharmed when the danger followingthe eruptions of Mount Vesuvius seemed most imminent subsequentlyventured to walk on the cooling lava. They went too far and the crustbroke under their weight. They were swallowed up before the helplessonlookers. About the same time the village of Bosco Reale, to the eastward, became threatened, and the women of the village, weeping with fright, carried a statue of St. Anne as near as they could go to the flowinglava, imploring a miracle to stay the advance of the consuming stream. As the fiery tide persisted in advancing the statue had to befrequently moved backward. Ottajano, at the northeast foot of the mountain, and 12 miles fromNaples, was in the path of destruction and the scenes there when thefirst victims were unearthed were most terrible. The positions of thebodies showed that the victims had died while in a state of greatterror, the faces being convulsed with fear. Three bodies were foundin a confessional of one of the fallen churches. One body was that of an old woman who was sitting with her right armraised as though to ward off the advancing danger. The second was thatof a child about 8 years old. It was found dead in a position whichwould indicate that the child had fallen with a little dog close to itand had died with one arm raised across its face to protect itself andits pet from the crumbling ruins. The third body, that of a woman, wasreduced to an unrecognizable mass. Other bodies which were found later caused such an impression amongthe already frantic population that the authorities did not deem itadvisable to permit any more bodies to be identified for the timebeing. Five churches and ten houses fell under the weight of ashes andcinders, which lay over four feet deep on the ground. Many were killedand injured. One mile southward from the site of Bosco Trecase, on the shore of theGulf of Naples, is Torre Annunziata, a city of 30, 000 inhabitants, andthe streams of lava having almost surrounded it the inhabitantsdeserted their homes in terror and fled to Naples and other points. This place was destroyed by an eruption in 1631. At the northernboundary of the town is a picturesque cypress-planted cemetery, andthere the lava stream was halted and turned aside. It was as if thedead had effectually cried out to arrest the crushing river of flame, as at Catania the veil of St. Agatha is said to have stayed a similarstream from Mount Ętna. The visit of the King and Queen of Italy and the Duke of Aosta to thetown caused a rumor to be started by the excited people, andparticularly among the panic-stricken women, that their presence hadresulted in a miracle, and, singularly enough, shortly after thearrival of the sovereigns, and while the King and Queen were trying toconsole the people, repeating frequently, "Courage! Be strong!" thewind suddenly changed and the atmosphere, which up to that moment hadbeen impregnated with sulphurous gas and suffocating fumes, clearedaway and the sun burst forth. The stream of lava stopped its march, after having destroyed a section of the northeast part of the suburb. The air rang with benedictions for the King from his devoted subjects. Hope at once returned and the King and Queen were preparing to moveon, but the people insisted that they remain, begging that they be notabandoned. The King and Queen wished to visit Torre Del Greco, whichis only seven miles distant from Naples, and was also in danger ofbeing wiped out, and the people fled from it in dismay, amid acontinued fall of sand and ashes, to points of reputed safety. Thisvillage had been eight times destroyed and as often rebuilt. A violentstorm of sulphurous rain occurred at San Giuseppe, Vesuviana andSaviano. The town of Nola, an old place of 15, 000 inhabitants, twenty-two milesfrom Naples, was almost buried under the shower of ashes coming fromthe crater, which were carried by the wind as far as the Adriatic sea. The inhabitants of the country in the vicinity of Caserta, a place ofabout 35, 000 people, and termed the Versailles of Naples, were alsoendangered by cinder ashes and flowing lava. The village of San Gennaro was partially buried in sand and ashes andseveral houses were crushed. At that place three persons were killedand more than twenty injured. Sarno, Portici, Ciricello, Poggio and Morino became practicallyuninhabitable because of the ashes and fumes, and the people fled fromthe town. At Sarno three churches and the municipal buildingscollapsed. The sand and cinders were six feet deep there and all theinhabitants sought safety in flight. Sarno is a town of some 10, 000 people and is situated about ten mileseast of Mount Vesuvius. It contains an old castle, some sulphur bathsand manufactories of paper, copper wares, cotton goods and silkfabrics. Almost equal to the devastation wrought by the lava was the damagedone by cinders and ashes, which in incredible quantities had beencarried great distances. This has caused the practical destruction ofSan Guiseppe, a place of 6, 000 inhabitants. All but 200 of the peoplehad fled from there and of these 200 who had assembled in a church toattend mass about 100 were killed. While the priest was performing his sacred office the roof fell in andall who were not killed were badly injured. These unfortunates werefor hours without surgical or medical assistance. The only thing leftstanding in the church was a statue of St. Anne, the preservation ofwhich the poor, homeless people accepted as a miracle and promise ofdeliverance from their peril. A runaway train from San Guiseppe for Naples was derailed, owing toshowers of stones from the crater. At some points near the mountain itwas estimated that the sands and ashes reached a height of nearly 150feet. San Georgio, Cremona, Somma Vesuviana, Resina and other inland andcoast towns not mentioned above, also suffered terrible devastation. The most of the buildings in the villages were of flimsy constructionwith flat roofs and so were but poorly calculated to bear the weightof ashes and cinders that fell upon them. Inevitably it was found thata considerable number of persons perished by the falling of theirhomes. National and local authorities from the first evidences of dangerattempted the evacuation of the threatened villages and towns, butadequate means to transport the inhabitants were lacking, althoughthousands of soldiers with artillery carts had been sent to the placeswhere the sufferers were most in need of assistance. At many places the people were suffering from panic and a state ofgreat confusion existed, which was added to by superstition. Some ofthe parish priests refused to open their churches to people who triedto obtain admittance, fearing that an earthquake would destroy thebuildings when full of people and thus increase the list of disasters. Crowds of women thereupon attacked the churches, pulled down the doorsand took possession of the pictures and statues of the saints, whichthey carried about as a protection against death. Many people camped along the roads and in the fields, where theythought they would be safer than in the towns, defying the elements, though nearly blinded by ashes, wet to the skin by rain and terrorizedby the gigantic curved flaming mass above, resembling a scimitar readyto fall upon them. The atmosphere during the eruptions was oppressive and yellow withashes from Vesuvius, causing a feeling of apprehension regarding whatthe future may hold in store for this city and its vicinity. Thevolcano was completely hidden in a dense mass of cinder-laden smoke, the only other signs of activity being frequent and very severedetonations and deep rumblings. All the trains from and to Naples were delayed owing to the tracksbeing covered with cinders and telegraphic communication with allpoints was badly congested. An excursion steamer attempting to reach Naples from the island ofCapri had to return, as the passengers were being suffocated by theashes. The quantity of ashes and cinders thrown during the eruptions wasunprecedented. An analysis showed this discharge to be chieflycomposed of iron, sulphur and magnesia. When dry the whole regionseemed to be under a gray sheet, but after a fall of rain it appearedto have been transformed into an immense lake of chocolate. During the activity of the mountain several new craters had opened, especially on its north side and from which streams of lava floodedthe beautiful, prosperous and happy land lying on the southeast shoresof the Gulf of Naples. The whole of Vesuvius district as far as Naples, Caserta andCastellammare became one vast desert. The high cone of the volcano wasalmost entirely destroyed having been swallowed up, so that the heightof the mountain is now several hundred feet less than formerly. Itsfalling in caused a great discharge of red hot stones, flame andsmoke. Professor Di Lorenzo, the scientist and specialist in the study ofvolcanoes, estimated that the smoke from Vesuvius had reached theheight of 25, 000 feet. After one of the eruptions ashes from Vesuviuswere noticeable in Sicily which is a large island near the extreme endof the peninsula on which Naples is situated and some 200 miles fromthe crater. [Illustration: =MISSION DOLORES. = This is the oldest building in San Francisco. It was founded October 8, 1776. Noted as a mission church. ] [Illustration: =BUILDING CRUMBLED LIKE EGGSHELLS. =] [Illustration: =WRECKED BUILDINGS. =] CHAPTER XXII. SCENES IN FRIGHTENED NAPLES. =Blistering Showers of Hot Ashes--The People Frantic--Cry Everywhere "When Will It End?"--Atmosphere Charged with Electricity and Poisonous Fumes. = From the first outburst and glare of the eruption all Naples becamearoused and trembled with anticipations of horror, and when the hotashes from the crater of Vesuvius began to fall in blistering showersupon it the entire populace was seized with a fear, which for days wasconstant, that at any moment they might be crushed into eternity bythe awful outpourings from the cauldron of the mountain which was intruth as veritable an inferno as that pictured by Dante. The streetsfor days, even up to the subsidence of the eruption, were packed withsurging crowds, all of whom were fatigued from fear and loss of rest, yet there was hardly one in all the thousands who had not strengthenough to pray to the Almighty for deliverance. At times the fall of sand and ashes appeared to be diminishing, but inthe next instant it came again, apparently in greater force thanbefore. The city became frantic from fear and everywhere was heard:"When will it all end?" The people deserted their shops, the manufactories were nearly allshut down, while the theaters, cafes and places of amusementsthroughout the city were all closed. The crowds were in a temper forany excess and it would only require a spark to start a conflagrationthat would have almost equalled that of Vesuvius itself. When the coating of ashes and cinders covered the ground and roofs ofbuildings the people believed that their loved and beautiful Napleswas doomed, and would be known thereafter only to archaeologists likeother cities which Vesuvius in its wrath had overwhelmed. All railroad service out of the city was interrupted, the engineersrefusing to take out their trains because of the darkness caused bythe heavy fall of ashes. Troops were kept constantly clearing the roofs of buildings of theaccumulation of sand and ashes which endangered the structures. Thelarge glass-covered galleries throughout the city, were ordered closedlest the weight upon the roofs should cause them to collapse. Warships and soldiers which had been ordered to the city did effectiveservice in succoring the most distressed and in the removal ofrefugees. Their presence was also potent in keeping up publicconfidence and maintaining order. No danger was too great for thetroops to encounter and no fatigue too severe for them. They earnedthe gratitude and admiration of the people by their devotion to dutyand bravery. Not only were they credited with many acts of heroism butthey displayed untiring perseverance in searching for the living andthe dead among tottering walls, assisting fugitives to reach places ofsafety, giving aid to the wounded and in burying the dead, and allthis while partly suffocated by the ash and cinder laden wind blowingfrom the volcano. The employes of a tobacco factory at Naples, thinking the roof wasabout to fall in fled in panic from the building and communicatedtheir fears to so many people outside that the police were compelledto interfere and restore order. Many persons were injured during thepanic. The prisoners in the city jail mutinied owing to fright and succeededin breaking open some of the doors inside the building, but werefinally subdued by the guards. King Victor Emmanuel and his Queen, the Duke and Duchess of Aosta andothers of the royal household were active in rendering aid. The kingplaced the royal palace of Cappodimonti, situated above this city, atthe disposal of the wounded refugees. Firemen and ambulance corps weresent from Rome to aid the sufferers. The work of succor was hampered owing to delays to the railwayservice, which was interrupted by red-hot stones thrown to a height of3, 000 feet falling on the tracks. Not for a century had Naples been so threatened nor its people throwninto such a state of panic. Men, women and children tramped about thestreets, raving that their deity had forgotten them and that the endof the world was in sight. Thousands of people flocked from the towns and farms on the slopes ofthe mountain and the problem of feeding and caring for the horde hadgrown serious. These people were left homeless by the streams of lava, which lapped up all their property in some cases within a half hourafter the owners had fled. Earthquake shocks which shattered windows and cracked the walls ofbuildings added to the terror and when a shock occurred the entirepopulation rushed to the streets in terror, many persons crying, "TheMadonna has forsaken us; the end of the world has come. " Vessels lying in the harbor rapidly put to sea with hundreds of thewealthy families, who chartered them outright, while many other shipsleft because of fear of tidal waves similar to those accompanying theterrific eruption of a century ago, which wrecked scores of vesselsand drowned thousands of people here. The atmosphere of the city became heavily charged with electricity, while breathing at times became almost impossible because of thepoisonous fumes and smoke. The detonations from the volcano resembledthose of terrible explosions and the falling of the hot ashes madelife indeed a burden for the Neapolitans. The churches of the city were open during the days and nights and werecrowded with panic-stricken people. Members of the clergy did theirutmost to calm their fears, but the effects of their arguments wentalmost for naught when renewed earthquake shocks were experienced. While Mount Vesuvius continued active volumes of cinders and ashesemitted from the volcano fell upon the buildings and streets drivingthe inhabitants of the city into a condition bordering on frenzy. Allnight people roamed the streets praying and crying that they might bespared. The collapse of the Mount Oliveto market, in which 200 or more personswere caught, many being crushed beyond recognition and the continuousrain of sand and ashes throughout the city sent terror to the heart ofevery Neapolitan. This market covered a plot of ground 600 feet square. The scenes inthe vicinity of the ruins were agonizing, relatives of the victimsclamoring to be allowed to go to their dead or dying. The people seemed demented. They surrounded the market, in many casestearing their hair, cursing and screaming, "Oh, my husband is there!"or, "Bring out my child!" and endeavoring with their own hands to moveheavy beams, from beneath which the groans of the injured wereissuing. The cries for help were so heart-rending that even rescuers were heardto sob aloud as they worked with feverish eagerness to save life orextract the bodies of the dead from the ruins. Some of the people about the market were heard to exclaim that a curserested upon the people of Naples for repudiating their saints Monday, when Mount Vesuvius was in its most violent mood. Even with the sun shining high in the heavens the light was a dimyellow, in the midst of which the few people who remained in thestricken towns, their clothing, hair and beards covered with ashes, moved about in the awful stillness of desolation like gray ghosts. Railway and tramway travel to and from Naples was much hampered bycinders and ash deposits, and telegraphic communication with thetowns farthest in the danger zone was also for a time interrupted. The scenic effects varied from hour to hour during the eruptions. Attimes in the north the sky was chocolate colored, lowering and heavy, under which men and women with their hair and clothing covered withashes moved above like gray ghosts. Fort San Martino, as it toweredabove the town, could only just be seen, while Castel Dell'ovo wasboldly marked in light, seeming like silver against the brown sky. To the south beyond the smoke zone lay smiling, sunny Posilipo and itspeninsula, while far away glistened the sea a deep blue, on which theislands seemed to float in the glow of the setting sun. Adding to thestrange picture, one of the French men of war, which arrived in thebay of Naples was so placed as to be half in the glow and halfobscured by the belt of falling ashes. From the observatory of Mount Vesuvius, where Director Matteuccicontinued his work in behalf of science and humanity, the scene wasone of great impressiveness. To reach the observatory one had to walkfor miles over hardened but hot lava covered with sand until he cameto a point whence nothing could be seen but vast, gray reaches, sometimes flat and sometimes gathered into huge mounds which took onsemblance of human faces. Above, the heavens were gray like the earth beneath and seemed just ashard and immovable. In all this lonely waste there was no sign of lifeor vegetation and no sound was heard except the low mutterings of thevolcano. One seemed almost impelled to scream aloud to break thehorrible stillness of a land seemingly forgotten both by God and man. In many of the towns some of the inhabitants went about hungry andwith throats parched with smoke and dust, seemingly unable to tearthemselves away from the ruins of what so recently were their homes. The Italian minister of finance suspended the collection of taxes inthe disturbed provinces and military authorities distributed rationsand placed huts and tents at the disposition of the homeless. The property loss from the volcanic outbreak has been placed at morethan $25, 000, 000, while some have estimated that the number of personsrendered homeless amounted to nearly 150, 000. Probably less thanone-half of that number would come near the exact figures. As an evidence of the widespread and far-reaching influences set inmotion by the eruptions of Vesuvius it should be noted that FatherOdenbach of St. Ignatius' college in Cleveland, O. , the notedauthority on seismic disturbances, reported that his microseismograph, the most delicate instrument known for detecting the presence ofearthquakes in any part of the globe, had plainly recorded thedisturbances caused by the eruption of Vesuvius. The lines made by therecorder, he said, had shown a wavy motion for several days, indicating a severe agitation in the earth's surface at a remotepoint. CHAPTER XXIII. VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES EXPLAINED. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. =The Theories of Science on Seismic Convulsions--Volcanoes Likened to Boils on the Human Body through Which the Fires and Impurities of the Blood Manifest Themselves--Seepage of Ocean Waters through Crevices in the Rock Reach the Internal Fires of the Earth--Steam is Generated and an Explosion Follows--Geysers and Steam Boilers as Illustrations--Views of the World's Most Eminent Scientists Concerning the Causes of Eruption of Mount Pelee and La Soufriere. = The earth, like the human body, is subject to constitutionalderangement. The fires and impurities of the blood manifest themselvesin the shape of boils and eruptions upon the human body. The internalheat of the earth and the chemical changes which are constantly takingplace in the interior of the globe, manifest themselves outwardly inthe form of earthquakes and volcanoes. In other words, a volcano is aboil or eruption upon the earth's surface. Scientists have advanced many theories concerning the primary causesof volcanoes, and many explanations relating to the igneous matterdischarged from their craters. Like the doctors who disagree in thediagnosis of a human malady, the geologists and volcanists are equallyunable to agree in all details concerning this form of the earth'sailment. After all theories relating to the cause of volcanoes havebeen considered, the one that is most tenable and is sustained by thelargest number of scientific men is that which traces volcanic effectsback to the old accepted cause of internal fires in the center of theearth. Only in this way can the molten streams of lava emitted byvolcanoes be accounted for. The youngest student of familiar science knows that heat generates anupward and outward force, and like all other forces that it followsthe path of least resistance. This force is always present in theinternal regions of the earth, which for ages upon ages has beengradually cooling from its poles toward its center. When conditionsoccur by which it can outwardly manifest itself, it follows thenatural law and escapes where the crust of the earth is thinnest. But something more than the mere presence of internal fire isnecessary to account for volcanic action, although it may in a largedegree account for minor seismic convulsions in the form of anearthquake. The elements which enter into the source of volcaniceruption are fire and water. The characteristic phenomenon of avolcanic eruption is the steam which issues from the crater before theappearance of the molten lava, dust, ashes and scoria. This acceptedtheory is plainly illustrated in the eruption of a geyser, which ismerely a small water volcano. The water basin of a geyser is connectedby a natural bore with a region of great internal heat, and as fast asthe heat turns the water into steam, columns of steam and hot waterare thrown up from the crater. One form of volcanic eruption, and its simplest form, is likewiseillustrated in a boiler explosion. Observations of the most violentvolcanic eruptions show them to be only tremendous boiler explosionsat a great depth beneath the earth's surface, where a great quantityof water has been temporarily imprisoned and suddenly converted intosteam. In minor eruptions the presence of steam is not noticeable insuch quantities, which is simply because the amount of imprisonedwater was small and the amount of steam generated was only sufficientto expel the volcanic dust and ashes which formed between the earth'ssurface and the internal fires of the volcano. The flow of lava whichfollows violent eruptions is expelled by the outward and upward forceof the great internal heat, through the opening made by the steamwhich precedes it. The two lines of volcanoes, one north and south, the other east andwest, which intersect in the neighborhood of the West Indies, followthe courses where the crust of the earth is thinnest and where greatbodies of water lie on the shallowest parts of the ocean bed. The terrific heat of the earth's internal fires is sufficient to causecrevices leading from these bodies of water to the central fires ofthe volcano, and the character of the volcanic eruption is determinedlargely by the size of the crevices so created and the amount of waterwhich finds its way through them. The temperature of these internalfires can only be guessed at, but some idea may be formed of theirintense heat from the streams of lava emitted from the volcano. Thesewill sometimes run ten or twelve miles in the open air before coolingsufficiently to solidify. From this it will be seen that the fires aremuch hotter than are required merely to reduce the rock to a liquidform. From this fact, too, may be seen the instantaneous action bywhich the water seeping or flowing into the volcano's heart isconverted into steam and a tremendous explosive power generated. The calamity which befell Martinique and St. Vincent willunquestionably lead to a fresh discussion of the causes of volcanicdisturbance. Not all of the phenomena involved therein are yet fullyunderstood, and concerning some of them there are perceptibledifferences of opinion among experts. On at least one point, however, there is general agreement. At a depth of about thirty miles theinternal heat of the earth is probably great enough to melt everyknown substance. Confinement may keep in a rigid condition thematerial which lies beneath the solid crust, but if an avenue ofescape is once opened the stuff would soften and ooze upward. There isa growing tendency, moreover, to recognize the importance ofgravitation in producing eruptions. The weight of several miles ofrock is almost inconceivable, and it certainly ought to compel"potentially plastic" matter to rise through any crevice that mightbe newly formed. Russell, Gilbert and some other authorities regardthis as the chief mechanical agent in an eruption, at least when thereis a considerable outpouring of lava. As to the extent to which water operates there is some lack of harmonyamong volcanists. Shaler, Milne and others hold that substancelargely, if not entirely, responsible for the trouble. They point tothe fact that many volcanoes are situated near the coast of continentsor on islands, where leakage from the ocean may possibly occur. Russell, on the other hand, regards water not as the initial factor, but as an occasional, though important, reinforcement. He suspectsthat when the molten rock has risen to a considerable distance itencounters that fluid, perhaps in a succession of pockets, and thatsteam is then suddenly generated. The explosive effects which ensueare of two kinds. By the expansion of the moisture which some of thelava contains the latter is reduced to a state of powder, and thusoriginate the enormous clouds of fine dust which are ejected. Shocksof greater or less violence are also produced. The less severe ones nodoubt sound like the discharge of artillery and give rise to tremorsin the immediate vicinity. In extreme cases enough force is developedto rend the walls of the volcano itself. Russell attributes theblowing up of Krakatoa to steam. The culminating episode of the Peleeeruption, though not resulting so disastrously to the mountain, wouldseem to be due to the same immediate cause. To this particularexplosion, too, it seems safe to assign the upheaval which excited atidal wave. The precise manner in which the plastic material inside of theterrestrial shell gets access to the surface, is not entirely clear. Nevertheless, it is possible to get some light on the matter. It isnow well known that in many places there are deep cracks, or "faults, "in the earth's crust. Some of them in the remote past have been wideand deep enough to admit molten material from below. The Palisades ofthe Hudson are believed to have been formed by such an intrusion, theadjacent rock on the eastern face having since been worn away by theweather or other agents. It has been observed that many volcanoes aredistributed along similar faults. The existence of a chain of volcanic islands in the West Indiessuggests the probability that it follows a crack of great antiquity, though the issue of lava and ashes for several centuries may have beenlimited to a few isolated points. Just how these vents have beenreopened is one of the most difficult questions still left forinvestigation. Given a line of weakness in the rocks, though, and asusceptibility to fresh fracture is afforded. Professor McGee suggeststhat the overloading of the ocean bed by silt from the Mississippiriver or other sources may have been the immediately exciting cause ofthe recent outbreaks. Other geologists have found a similarexplanation acceptable in the case of eruptions elsewhere. The theoryhas much to commend it to favor. The Martinique disaster already has drawn from geologists andvolcanists many expressions of opinion, and explanations of volcanicphenomena which set forth in detail the causes and effects of volcaniceruptions, in particular, and seismic convulsions, in general. Dr. A. R. Crook, a professor in Northwestern University, has made aspecial study of volcanoes. He has made an ascent of the two highestin the world, and has climbed many others for purposes of study. He isan authority upon volcanography. "There are two great circles of volcanoes about the earth, " saidProfessor Crook. "One girdles the earth north and south, extendingthrough Tierra del Fuego (called 'land of fire' because of itsvolcanoes), Mexico, the Aleutian islands and down through Australia;the other east and west through Hawaii, Mexico, West Indies, Italy(including Mount Vesuvius) and Asia Minor. "These two circles intersect at two points. One of these is the WestIndies, which include Martinique, the scene of this terrible disaster;the other is in the islands of Java, Borneo and Sumatra. On the latterislands there are extinct volcanoes. On the former is the terriblePelee. It is just at these points of intersection of the two volcanicrings that we expect unusual volcanic activity, and it is there thatwe find it. "There has been more or less theorizing as to volcanic disturbancesmoving in cycles, but it cannot be proved. One fact is established, and that is that a volcano is an explosion caused by water coming incontact with the molten mass below the surface of the earth. This isproved by the great clouds of steam that accompany the action. "The old theory that the very center of the earth is a molten mass, "he says, "is no longer held. " He asserts the latest idea is that thecenter of the earth is more rigid than glass, though less rigid thansteel. About this there is more or less molten matter, and over allthe surface crust of the earth. This molten matter causes the surfaceof the earth to give, to sag, and form what is called "wrinkling. "When water comes in contact with the heated mass an explosion followsthat finds its outlet through the places where there is leastresistance, and the result is a volcano. "There is no part of the earth's surface which is exempt fromearthquakes, " said Professor Crook, "and there is no regularity intheir appearance. Volcanic eruptions are almost always preceded byearthquakes somewhere in the circle. Recently there were earthquakesin the City of Mexico in which many lives were lost. As it isimpossible to predict when the next will take place, it is alsoimpossible to tell where it will be. It will certainly be somewhere inthe line of the two circles. "All this is of interest as showing that the earth is still in processof formation just as much as it was a billion years ago. We see thesame thing in Yellowstone Park. There most decided changes have takenplace even in the last eight years. Old Faithful, which used to playregularly every sixty minutes, now does so only once in twice thetime. " With reference to contributions to science, which might be expectedfrom investigations at Martinique, Professor Crook said: "Even new elements might be discovered, and seismic theories eitherconfirmed or disproved. A volcano always throws off a great variety ofmaterials, hydrochloric and sulphuric acids, iron, silica (sand), sulphur, calcium and magnesium. The lava is of two kinds. That whichis easily fusible flows more rapidly than a horse can trot. A moreviscous kind cools into shapes like ropes. The latter is common inHawaii. "The danger of living in proximity to a volcano is usually well known, but the iron oxides render the soil extremely fertile. This is seen inSicily about Ętna and Vesuvius. It is seen also in Martinique, wherean area of forty miles square was occupied by 160, 000 people. "Owing to the presence of the fumes of chlorine it is probable thatmany of the victims in St. Pierre were asphyxiated, and so diedeasily. Others doubtless were buried in ashes, like the Roman soldierin Pompeii, or were caught in some enclosed place which beingsurrounded by molten lava resulted in slow roasting. It is indeed ahorrible disaster and one which we may well pray not to seeduplicated. Science, however, has no means of knowing that it may notoccur again. " Professor Robert T. Hill, of the United States Geological Survey, whovisited the French West Indies on a tour of scientific inspection, says: "Across the throat of the Caribbean extends a chain of islands whichare really smoldering furnaces, with fires banked up, ever ready tobreak forth at some unexpected and inopportune moment. This group, commencing with Saba, near Porto Rico, and ending with Grenada, consists of ancient ash heaps, piled up in times past by volcanicaction. For nearly one hundred years there has been not the slightestsign of explosion and we had grown to class these volcanoes asextinct. "Volcanism is still one of the most inexplicable and profound problemswhich defy the power of geologists to explain, and one of its mostsingular peculiarities is the fact that it sometimes breaks forthsimultaneously in widely distant portions of the earth. A sympatheticrelation of this kind has long been known between Hecla and Vesuvius, and it is very probable that the Carib volcanoes have some suchsympathetic relation with the volcanoes of Central America andsouthern Mexico. At the time of the explosion of St. Vincent otherexplosions preceded or followed it in northern South America andCentral America. "The outburst of Mount Pelee, in Martinique, is apparently theculmination of a number of recent volcanic disturbances which havebeen unusually severe. Colima, in Mexico, was in eruption but a fewmonths previous, while Chelpancingo, the capital of the State ofGuerrero, was nearly destroyed by earthquakes which followed. "Only a few days before Mount Pelee erupted, the cities of Guatemalawere shaken down by tremendous earthquakes. " Professor N. S. Shaler, of Harvard University, a world authority onvolcanic disturbances, says: "Volcanic outbreaks are merely the explosion of steam under highpressure--steam which is bound in rocks buried underneath the surfaceof the earth and there subjected to such tremendous heat that when theconditions are right its pent up energy breaks forth, and it shattersits stone prison walls into dust. "The common belief is that water enters the rocks during thecrystallization period, and that these rocks, through the naturalaction of rivers and streams, become deposited in the bottom of theocean. Here they lie for many ages, becoming buried deeper and deeperunder masses of like sediment, which are constantly being washed downupon them from above. This process is called the blanketing process. "When the first layer has reached a depth of a few thousand feet therocks which contain the water of crystallization are subjected to aterrific heat. This heat generates steam, which is held in a state offrightful tension in its rocky prison. "It is at these moments that volcanic eruptions occur. They resultfrom wrinkling in the outer crust of the earth's surface--wrinklingscaused by the constant shrinking of the earth itself and by thecontraction of the outer surface as it settles on the plastic centerunderneath. Fissures are caused by these foldings, and as thesefissures reach down into the earth the pressure is removed from therocks and the compressed steam in them and it explodes with tremendousforce. "The rocks containing the water are blown into dust, which sometimesis carried so high as to escape the power of the earth's attractionand float by itself through space. After the explosions have occurredlava pours forth. This is merely melted rock which overflows likewater from a boiling kettle. But the explosion always precedes theflow, and one will notice that there is always an outpouring of dustbefore the lava comes. " Professor W. J. McGee, of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, says: "It may be that a violent earthquake tremor came after thevolcanic eruption, but it does not necessarily follow that the twotravel together. Oftentimes we hear of earth tremors with no apparentaccompaniment. This was true of the Charleston earthquake in 1886. Earthquakes are caused by mysterious disturbances in the interior ofthe earth. The most commonly accepted belief is that massive rock bedsaway down in the earth, at a depth of twelve miles or more, becomedisturbed from one cause or another, with the result that thedisturbance is felt on the earth's surface, sometimes severely, sometimes faintly. "Probably the most violent earthquake in history occurred about tenyears ago at Krakatoa. The explosion could be heard for more than onethousand miles, and the earth's tremors were felt for thousands ofmiles. The air was filled with particles of earth for monthsafterward. The air-waves following the explosion are believed to havepassed two and one-half times around the globe. The face of the landand sea in the vicinity of the eruption was completely changed. " Dr. E. Otis Hovey, professor in the Museum of Natural History, NewYork, offers the following explanation of the Martinique disaster: "A majority of volcanic eruptions are similar in cause and effect to aboiler explosion. It is now the accepted belief that suddenintroduction of cold water on the great molten mass acts as would thepouring of water into a red hot boiler. It causes a great volume ofsteam, which must have an outlet. You can readily see how water couldget into the crater, located as this one was--on an island, and notfar from the coast. The volcanic chains crossed at that point. Suchcrossing would cause a tension of the crust of the earth, which mightcause great fissures. If water were to search out those fissures andreach the great molten mass below it is not hard to imagine what theresult would be. There are two classes of volcanoes--those which haveexplosive eruptions, like Vesuvius and Krakatoa, and this latest one, and those of no explosive nature, like Mauna Loa and Kilauea, inHawaii, which boil up and flow over. It is the explosive eruptionwhich brings widespread destruction, and it is astonishing to learn ofthe tremendous power one of those eruptions unleashes. " Professor John Milne, of London, the highest authority in the world onvolcanic explosions, classifies eruptions into two grades: Those thatbuild up very slowly. Those that destroy most rapidly. [Illustration: Copyright 1906, by American-Journal-Examiner. Allrights reserved. Any infractions of this copyright will be prosecutedto the full extent of the law. =CRACK IN THE EARTH. = This photograph shows a crack in the earth in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, caused by the earthquake. ] [Illustration: =GHOULISH THIEVES LOOTING THE DEAD. = This harrowing scene shows the way the dead and injured are frequently robbed after a disaster. ] "The latter are the most dangerous to human life and the physical faceof a country. Eruptions that build up mountains are periodicalwellings over of molten lava, comparatively harmless. But in thisbuilding up, which may cover a period of centuries, naturalvolcanic vents are closed up and gases and blazing fires accumulatebeneath that must eventually find the air. Sooner or later they mustburst forth, and then the terrific disasters of the second class takeplace. It is the same cause that makes a boiler burst. " Professor Milne was asked after Krakatoa's performance: "Is it likely that there are volcanoes in the world at present thathave been quiet for a long time but will one day or another blow theirheads off?" "It is almost certain there are. " "Some in Europe?" "Many in Europe. " "Some in the United States?" "Undoubtedly. " Mount Pelee of Martinique has verified the eminent authority's word. Professor Angelo Heilprin, of Philadelphia, the eminent geologist andauthority on volcanology, declares there is danger that all the WestIndian reef islands will collapse and sink into the sea from theeffects of the volcanic disturbances now in progress. More than that, he says, the Nicaraguan canal route is in danger because it is in theeruption zone. "In my opinion the volcano eruptions are not the only things to befeared, " he continued. "It is altogether likely that the volcanicdisturbance now going on may result in the collapse of the islandswhose peaks spring into activity. The constant eruptions of rock, lava, and ashes, you must know, mean that a hole, as it were, is beingmade in the bosom of the earth. When this hole reaches a great size, that which is above will be without support, and then subsidence mustfollow. The volcanoes of Martinique and St. Vincent, and of theneighboring islands of the Caribbean, are situated in a region ofextreme weakness of the earth's crust, which has its parallel in theMediterranean basin on the opposite side of the Atlantic. ThisAmerican region of weakness extends westward from the Lesser Antillesacross the Gulf of Mexico into Mexico proper, where are located someof the loftiest volcanoes of the globe, Popocatepetl and Orizaba, bothnow in somnolent condition, and including the more westerly volcano ofColima, which has been almost continuously in eruption for ten years. "This same region of weakness includes nearly the whole of CentralAmerica. Volcanoes in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Guatemala have beenrepeatedly active, some almost to the present time, many withdestructive effect, and it should be no surprise to have some of themburst out with the same vigor and intensity as Mount Pelee or theSoufriere. " The National Geographic Society sent three geographers to make aspecial study of the eruptions in Martinique and St. Vincent:Professor Robert T. Hill of the United States Geological Survey;Professor Israel C. Russell of Ann Arbor, Mich. , and C. E. Borchgrevink, the noted Antarctic explorer. Professor Hovey, after a careful examination of the desolated areas inMartinique and St. Vincent, related important scientific phases of thegreat eruptions. Speaking first of the work of his companions andhimself in St. Vincent, he said: "Collection of data concerning the eruption of La Soufriere wasimmediately begun. The history of the eruption is practically that ofthe disturbance of 1851. Earthquakes occurred here about a year ago, and have occurred at intervals at various places in the West Indiesand adjacent regions ever since. At least one resident ofKingstown--F. W. Griffiths--several months ago predicted that LaSoufriere would soon break out. "Finally, on the day of the great eruption, a vast column of volcanicdust, cinders, blocks of lava and asphyxiating gases rose thousands offeet into the air, spreading in all directions. A large portion ofthis, having reached the upper current, was carried eastward. This, falling, was again divided, and the cinders and deadly gases wereswept by the lower winds back upon the eastward side of the mountain. The wrecked houses show this, the windows on the side toward thecrater being unaffected, while those on the farther side were wreckedby the back draught up the mountain. "There was no wind on the morning of the great outburst, a fact whichfacilitated the devastation of the country. The hot, asphyxiatinggases rolled out of the crater, and many were scorched and suffocated. Hot mud falling from the cloud above stuck to the flesh of theunfortunate victims, causing bad wounds. Great blocks of stone werethrown out of the eastern side of the crater, which could bedistinctly seen at a distance of four miles. " Concerning the eruption of Mount Pelee, Mr. Hovey said: "An increasein the temperature of the lake in the old crater of Pelee was observedby visiting geologists as much as two years ago, while hot springs hadlong been known to exist near the western base of the mountain andfour miles north of St. Pierre. The residents of Martinique, however, all considered the volcano extinct in spite of the eruption fifty-oneyears ago. The ground around the crater of Pelee was reported in 1901to consist of hot mud, showing that the increase of temperatureobserved eighteen months earlier had continued. "Soon after the middle of April, this year, manifestations of renewedactivity were more pronounced. Ashes began to fall in St. Pierre andheavy detonations were heard. The houses of the city shook frequently, suffocating gases filled the air at intervals, and the warningphenomena increased until they became very alarming. "The Guerin sugar factory, on Riviere Blanche, was overwhelmed on May5 by a stream of liquid mud, which rushed down the west slope of themountain with fearful rapidity. The pretty lake which occupied thecrater of 1851, on the southwest slope of the cone, about a mile fromthe extreme summit and a thousand feet below it, had disappeared, anda new crater had formed on its site, spreading death and destructionon all sides. Three days later the eruption took place and devastatedthe city of St. Pierre, wiping out the inhabitants and changing agarden spot to a desert. "A vast column of steam and ashes rose to a height of four miles abovethe sea, as measured by the French artillerymen at Fort de France. After this eruption the mountain quieted somewhat, but burst forthagain at 5:15 o'clock on the morning of May 20. This explosion wasmore violent than that which destroyed St. Pierre. "On this occasion the volume of steam and ashes rose to a height ofseven miles, according to measurements made by Lieutenant McCormick. An examination of the stones which fell at Fort de France showed themto be of a variety of lava called hornblende and andesite. They werebits of the old lava forming a part of the cone. There was no pumiceshown to me, but the dust and lapilli all seemed to be composed ofcomminuted old rock. "It is evident that the tornado of suffocating gas which wrecked thebuildings asphyxiated the people, then started fire, completing theruin. This accords with the statement which has been made thatasphyxiation of the inhabitants preceded the burning of the city. Thegas being sulphureted hydrogen, was ignited by lightning or the firesin the city. The same tornado drove the ships in the roadstead to thebottom of the sea or burned them before they could escape. "Mud was formed in two ways--by the mixture in the atmosphere of dustand condensed steam and by cloudbursts on the upper dust-coveredslopes of the cone washing down vast quantities of fine light dust. Noflow of lava apparently has attended the eruption as yet, the purelyexplosive eruptions thus far bringing no molten matter to the surface. The great emission of suffocating gas and the streams of mud are amongthe new features which Pelee has added to the scientific knowledge ofvolcanoes. " Professor Hill was the first man who set foot in the area of craters, fissures, and fumaroles, and, because of his high position as ascientist, his story was valuable. He reported as follows: "There were three well marked zones: First, a center of annihilation, in which all life, vegetable and animal, was utterly destroyed--thegreater northern part of St. Pierre was in this zone; second, a zoneof singeing, blistering flame, which also was fatal to all life, killing all men and animals, burning the leaves on the trees, andscorching, but not utterly destroying, the trees themselves; third, alarge outer, nondestructive zone of ashes, wherein some vegetation wasinjured. "The focus of annihilation was the new crater midway between the seaand the peak of Mount Pelee where now exists a new area of activevolcanism, with hundreds of fumaroles or miniature volcanoes. The newcrater is now vomiting black, hot mud, which is falling into the sea. Both craters, the old and the new, are active. "The destruction of St. Pierre was due to the new crater. Theexplosion had great superficial force, acting in radial directions, asis evidenced by the dismounting and carrying for yards the guns in thebattery on the hill south of St. Pierre and the statue of the Virginin the same locality, and also by the condition of the ruined housesin St. Pierre. According to the testimony of some persons there was anaccompanying flame. Others think the incandescent cinders and theforce of their ejection were sufficient to cause the destruction. Thismust be investigated. I am now following the nature of this. " Professor Hill started on Monday, May 26, to visit the vicinity ofMount Pelee, and returned to Fort de France Wednesday morning, nearlyexhausted. Professor Hill was near the ruins of St. Pierre on Mondaynight during the series of explosions from Mount Pelee, and was ableto describe the volcanic eruption from close observation. Speakingpersonally of his expedition he said: "My attempt to examine thecrater of Mount Pelee has been futile. I succeeded, however, ingetting close to Morne Rouge. At seven o'clock on Monday night Iwitnessed, from a point near the ruins of St. Pierre, a frightfulexplosion from Mount Pelee and noted the accompanying phenomena. Whilethese eruptions continue, no sane man should attempt to ascend to thecrater of the volcano. Following the salvos of detonations from themountain, gigantic mushroom-shaped columns of smoke and cindersascended into the clear, starlit sky, and then spread in a vast blacksheet to the south and directly over my head. Through this sheet, which extended a distance of ten miles from the crater, vivid andawful lightning-like bolts flashed with alarming frequency. Theyfollowed distinct paths of ignition, but were different from lightningin that the bolts were horizontal and not perpendicular. This isindisputable evidence of the explosive oxidation of the gases afterthey left the crater. This is a most important observation andexplains in part the awful catastrophe. This phenomenon is entirelynew in volcanic history. "I took many photographs, but do not hesitate to acknowledge that Iwas terrified. But I was not the only person so frightened. Twonewspaper correspondents, who were close to Morne Rouge some hoursbefore me, became scared, ran three miles down the mountain, andhastened into Fort de France. The people on the north end of theisland are terrified and are fleeing with their cattle and effects. Ispent Tuesday night in a house at Deux Choux with a crowd of 200frightened refugees. "Nearly all the phenomena of these volcanic outbreaks are new toscience, and many of them have not yet been explained. The volcano isstill intensely active, and I cannot make any predictions as to whatit will do. " CHAPTER XXIV. TERRIBLE VOLCANIC DISASTERS OF THE PAST. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. =Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the Other Cities of the Plain--The Bible Account a Graphic Description of the Event--Ancient Writers Tell of Earthquakes and Volcanoes of Antiquity--Discovery of Buried Cities of which no Records Remain--Formation of the Dead Sea--The Valley of the Jordan and Its Physical Characteristics. = In the history of earthquakes, nothing is more remarkable than theextreme fewness of those recorded before the beginning of theChristian era, in comparison with those that have been registeredsince that time. This may be partly accounted for by the fact thatbefore the birth of Christ, there was but a small portion of thehabitable surface of the globe known to those who were capable ofhanding down a record of natural events. The vast increase in thenumber of earthquakes in recent times is, therefore, undoubtedly dueto the enlargement of our knowledge of the earth's surface, and to thegreater freedom of communication now subsisting among mankind. Earthquakes might have been as frequent throughout the entire globe inancient times as now; but the writers of the Bible, and the historiansof Greece and Rome might have known nothing of their occurrence. Evenat the present time, an earthquake might happen in Central Africa, orin Central Asia, of which we would never hear, and the recollection ofwhich might die out among the natives in a few generations. Incountries, too, which are thinly inhabited, and where there are nolarge cities to be overthrown, even great earthquakes might happenalmost unheeded. The few inhabitants might be awe-struck at the time;but should they sustain no personal harm, the violence of thecommotion and the intensity of their terror would soon fade from theirmemories. Dr. Daubeny, in his work on volcanoes, cites an example of thiscomplete oblivion, even when the event must have occurred not far fromthe ancient center of civilization. The town of Lessa, between Romeand Naples, and not far from Gaeta, stands on an eminence composed ofvolcanic rocks. In digging the foundations for a house at this placesome years ago, there were discovered, many feet beneath the presentsurface, a chamber with antique frescoes and the remains of anamphitheater. Yet there is not only no existing account of thedestruction of a town on this site, but not even a tradition of anyvolcanic eruption in the neighborhood. The earthquake which destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah is not only theoldest on record, but one of the most remarkable. It was accompaniedby a volcanic eruption, it upheaved a district of several hundredsquare leagues, and caused the subsidence of a tract of land not lessextensive, altering the whole water system and the levels of the soil. The south of Palestine contained a splendid valley dotted with forestsand flourishing cities. This was the valley of Siddim, in whichreigned the confederate sovereigns of Sodom, Gomorrah, Adniah, Zeboiimand Zoar. They had joined forces to resist the king of the Elamites, and they had just lost the decisive battle of the campaign when thecatastrophe which destroyed the five cities and spread desolation inthe flourishing valley took place. As the sun arose, the groundtrembled and opened, red-hot stones and burning cinders, which felllike a storm of fire upon the surrounding country, being emitted fromthe yawning chasm. In a few words, the Bible relates the dread event: "And when the morning arose, the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here, lest thou beconsumed in the iniquity of the city. "And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon thehand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lordbeing merciful unto him, and they brought him forth and set himwithout the city. "And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that hesaid, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou inall the plain; escape to the mountain lest thou be consumed. "And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord, behold now, thy servanthath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escapeto the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die. Behold now, thiscity is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escapethither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. "And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thingalso, that I will not overthrow this city, for which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything until thou become thither. "Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was risenupon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and firefrom the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and allthe plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grewupon the ground. "But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar ofsalt. "And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stoodbefore the Lord, and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and towardall the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the citywent up as the smoke of a furnace. " Nothing could be more succinct or terse than this description of thecatastrophe. This was a sudden volcanic eruption like that whichdestroyed in one night the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. At thetime of the convulsion in Palestine while clouds of ashes were emittedfrom the yawning abyss and fell in fiery showers upon the ground, avast tract of country, comprising the five cities and some land to thesouth of them, was violently shaken and overturned. Of the valleys watered by the Jordan, that of Siddim was the largestand the most populous. All the southern part of this valley, with itswoods, its cultivated fields, and its broad river, was upheaved. Whileupon the other side the plain subsided, and for a distance of ahundred leagues was transformed into a vast cavern of unknown depth. Upon that day the waters of the Jordan, suddenly arrested by theupheaval of the soil lower down the stream, must have flowed rapidlyback toward their source, again to flow not less impetuously alongtheir accustomed incline, and to fall into the abyss created by thesubsidence of the valley and the break-up of the bed of the stream. When, after the disaster, the inhabitants of neighboring regions cameto visit the scene of it, they found the whole aspect of the districtaltered. The valley of Siddim had ceased to exist, and an immensesheet of water covered the space which it once occupied. Beyond thisvast reservoir, to the south, the Jordan, which formerly fertilizedthe country as far as the Red Sea, had also disappeared. The wholecountry was covered with lava, ashes and salt; all the cultivatedfields, the hamlets and villages, had been involved in the cataclysm. The record of this great catastrophe is preserved not only byScripture, but by the living and spoken traditions of the East, allthe legends of Syria, as well as ancient historians like Tacitus andStrabo, relating how Lake Asphaltite was formed during the terribleshock and how opulent cities were swallowed up in the abyss ordestroyed by fire from out of the earth. But even if popular traditions had been forgotten, and if the writingsof ancient authors had been lost, the very aspect of the country wouldsuffice to show that it had suffered from some terrible subterraneanconvulsion. As it was upon the morrow of the catastrophe itself, so ithas remained with its calcined rocks, its blocks of salt, its massesof black lava, its rough ravines, its sulphurous springs, its boilingwaters, its bituminous marshes, its riven mountains, and its vast LakeAsphaltite, which is the Dead Sea. This sea, the depth of which has never been sounded, evokes by itsorigin and its mysterious aspect, the dolorous image of death. Situated about 690 feet below the level of the ocean, in thedepression of the soil caused by the earthquake, its waters extendover an area of a hundred square leagues to the foot of the saltmountains and basaltic rocks which encircle it. One can detect notrace of vegetation or animal life; not a sound is heard upon itsshores, impregnated with salt and bitumen; the birds avoid flying overits dreary surface from which emanate deadly effluvia, and nothing canexist in its bitter, salt, oily, and heavy waters. Not a breeze everstirs the surface of this silent sea, nothing moves therein save thethick load of asphalt which now and again rises from the bottom to thesurface and floats lazily on to the desolate strand. The Jordan has remained what it was in ancient times, the blessedstream, the vivifying artery of Palestine. Taking their source in thespotless snows and pure springs of Mount Hermon, its waters haveretained the azure hues of the sky and the clearness of crystal. Before the catastrophe, the Jordan, after having traversed andfertilized Palestine, found its way into the Gulf of Arabia, but now, as upon the morrow of the shock which broke up its bed, its waters arelost in the somber abyss of the Dead Sea. The Bible mentions an earthquake in Palestine in the reign of Ahab, and one in the reign of Uzziah, which rent the temple. The latter wasan event so great that the chroniclers of the time used it in datingoccurrences, and Amos speaks of what happened "two years before theearthquake. " The same convulsions of nature are mentioned many other times in theBible, in connection with prophecy, revelation and the crucifixion. Nearly all writings about earthquakes prior to the last century tendedto cultivate superstitious notions respecting them. Even Pliny, Herodotus, Livy, and the other classic writers, were quite ignorant ofthe true causes, and mythology entered into their speculations. Inlater times the investigation has become a science. The Chinese werepioneers in this direction, having appointed an Imperial Commission inA. D. 136 to inquire into the subject. It is to be doubted, however, ifwhat they reported would be considered as of much scientific valueto-day. By this time it is estimated that in the libraries of the world aremore than 2, 000 works treating of earth-motions. The phenomena aretaken quite out of the realm of superstition. By means of delicateinstruments of various kinds, called seismometers, the direction ofearth-movements can be traced, and their force gauged, while by meansof a simple magnet with a metal piece attached to it, an earthquakecan be foretold. These instruments tell us that scarcely a day passeswithout an earthquake in some portion of the globe. The internalcauses of these manifestations are ever active, whatever the causesmay be. CHAPTER XXV. VESUVIUS AND THE DESTRUCTION OF POMPEII. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. =Most Famous Volcanic Eruption in History--Roman Cities Overwhelmed--Scenes of Horror Described by Pliny, the Great Classic Writer, an Eye-Witness of the Disaster--Buried in Ashes and Lava--The Stricken Towns Preserved for Centuries and Excavated in Modern Times as a Wonderful Museum of the Life of 1800 Years Ago. = Mount Vesuvius, the world-famed volcano of southern Italy, seen as itis from every part of the city of Naples and its neighborhood, formsthe most prominent feature of that portion of the frightful andromantic Campanian coast. For many centuries it has been an object ofthe greatest interest, and certainly not the least of the manyattractions of one of the most notable cities of Europe. Naples, withits bay constitutes as grand a panorama as any to be seen in theworld. The mountain is a link in the historical chain which binds usto the past, which takes us back to the days of the Roman Empire. Before the days of Titus it seems to have been unknown as a volcano, and its summit is supposed to have been crowned by a temple ofJupiter. In the year 25 A. D. , Strabo, an eminent historian of the time, wrote:"About these places rises Vesuvius, well cultivated and inhabited allround, except at its top, which is for the most part level, andentirely barren, ashy to the view, displaying cavernous hollows incineritious rocks, which look as if they had been eaten by fire; sothat we may suppose this spot to have been a volcano formerly, withburning craters, now extinguished for want of fuel. " Though Strabo was a great historian, it is evident that he was not aprophet. The subsequent history of Vesuvius has shown that at varyingperiods the mountain has burst forth in great eruptive activity. Herculaneum was a city of great antiquity, its origin being ascribedby Greek tradition to Hercules, the celebrated hero of themythological age of Greece; but it is not certain that it was actuallyfounded by a Greek colony, though in the time of Sulla, who lived ahundred years before Christ, it was a municipal and fortified town. Situated on an elevated ground between two rivers, its position couldnot but be considered important, its port Retina being one of the beston the coast of Campania. Many villas of great splendor were owned inthe neighborhood by Roman patricians; Servilia, the mother of Brutus, and the favorite mistress of Julius Cęsar, resided here on an estatewhich he had given to her. Pompeii, too, was a very ancient city, and was probably founded by aGrecian colony; for what is considered its oldest building, a Greektemple, from its similarity to the Praestum temples, fixes the date ofconstruction with some certainty at about 650 B. C. This temple, bycommon consent, is stated to have been dedicated to Hercules, who, according to Solonus, landed at this spot with a procession of oxen. The situation of Pompeii possessed many local advantages. Upon theverge of the sea, at the mouth of the Sarno, with a fertile plainbehind, like many an ancient Italian town, it united the conveniencesof commerce with the security of a military station. According toStrabo, Pompeii was first occupied by the Oscans, subsequently by theTyrrhenians and Pelasgians, and afterwards by the Samnites, in whosehands it continued until it came into the possession of the Romans. The delightful position of the city, the genial climate of thelocality, and its many attractions, caused it to become a favoriteretreat of the wealthier Romans, who purchased estates in theneighborhood; Cicero, among others, having a villa there. In A. D. 63, during the reign of Nero, an earthquake overthrew aconsiderable portion of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Scarcely had theinhabitants in some measure recovered from their alarm, and begun torebuild their shattered edifices, when a still more terriblecatastrophe occurred, and the first recorded eruption of Vesuvius, onthe 23d of August, A. D. 79, completed the ruin of the two cities. Of this event we fortunately possess a singularly graphic descriptionby one who was not only an eye-witness, but well qualified to observeand record its phenomena--Pliny, the Younger, whose narrative iscontained in two letters addressed to the historian Tacitus. Theseletters run as follows: "Your request, " he writes, "that I would send you an account of myuncle's death, in order to transmit a more exact relation of it toposterity, merits my acknowledgements; for should the calamity becelebrated by your pen, its memory, I feel assured, will be renderedimperishable. He was at that time, with the fleet under his command, at Misenum. On the 24th of August, about one in the afternoon, mymother desired him to observe a cloud which seemed of unusual shapeand dimensions. He had just returned from taking the benefit of thesun, and after a cold water bath and a slight repast, had retired tohis study. He immediately arose, and proceeded to a rising ground, from whence he might more distinctly mark this very uncommonappearance. "At that distance it could not be clearly perceived from what mountainthe cloud issued, but it was afterward ascertained to proceed fromMount Vesuvius. I cannot better describe its figure than by comparingit to that of a pine tree, for it shot up to a great height like atrunk, and extended itself at the top into a kind of branches;occasioned, I imagine, either by a sudden gust of air that impelledif, the force of which decreased as it advanced upward, or by theexpansion of the cloud itself, when pressed back again by its ownweight. Sometimes it appeared bright, and sometimes dark and spotted, as it became more or less impregnated with earth and cinders. Thisextraordinary phenomenon excited my uncle's philosophical curiosity toinquire into it more closely. He ordered a light vessel to be gotready for him, and invited me to accompany him if I pleased. I repliedthat I would rather continue my studies. "As he was leaving the house, a note was brought to him from Rectina, the wife of Bassus, who was in the utmost alarm at the imminent perilwhich threatened her; for her villa being situated at the foot ofMount Vesuvius, the only mode of escape was by the sea. She earnestlyentreated him, therefore, to hasten to her assistance. He accordinglychanged his first design, and what he began out of curiosity, nowcontinued out of heroism. Ordering the galleys to put to sea, he wenton board, with an intention of assisting not only Rectina, but severalothers, for the villas are very numerous along that beautiful shore. Hastening to the very place which other people were abandoning interror, he steered directly toward the point of danger, and with somuch composure of mind that he was able to make and to dictate hisobservations on the changes and aspects of that dreadful scene. "He was now so nigh the mountain that the cinders, which grew thickerand hotter the nearer he approached, fell into the vessel, togetherwith pumice-stones and black pieces of burning rock; and now thesudden ebb of the sea, and vast fragments rolling from the mountain, obstructed their nearer approach to the shore. Pausing to considerwhether he should turn back again, to which he was advised by hispilot, he exclaimed, 'Fortune befriends the brave: carry me toPomponianus. ' [Illustration: =EFFECT OF EARTHQUAKE ON MODERN STEEL BUILDING. = The steel framework of many of the modern skyscrapers stood intact after the shock, while the brick and stone walls were shaken out. ] [Illustration: =UPPER PICTURE--VESUVIUS DURING RECENT ERUPTION. =] [Illustration: =LOWER PICTURE--ROAD LEADING UP TO VESUVIUS BEFOREERUPTION. =] "Pomponianus was then at Stabiae, separated by a gulf which the sea, after several windings, forms upon the shore. He had already sent hisbaggage on board; for though not at that time in actual danger, yetbeing within prospect of it, he was determined, if it drew nearer, toput to sea as soon as the wind should change. The wind wasfavorable, however, for carrying my uncle to Pomponianus, whom hefound in the greatest consternation. He embraced him tenderly, encouraging and counselling him to keep up his spirits; and stillbetter to dissipate his alarm, he ordered, with an air of unconcern, the baths to be got ready. After having bathed, he sat down to supperwith great cheerfulness, or, what was equally courageous, with all thesemblance of it. "Meanwhile, the eruption from Mount Vesuvius broke forth in severalplaces with great violence, and the darkness of the night contributedto render it still more visible and dreadful. But my uncle, to soothethe anxieties of his friend, declared it was only the burning of thevillages, which the country people had abandoned to the flames. Afterthis, he retired to rest; and it is certain he was so littlediscomposed as to fall into a deep sleep; for being somewhatcorpulent, and breathing hard, those who attended without actuallyheard him snore. "The court which led to his apartment being nearly filled with stonesand ashes, it would have been impossible for him, had he continuedthere longer, to have made his way out; it was thought proper, therefore, to awaken him. He got up and joined Pomponianus and therest of his company who were not unconcerned enough to think of goingto bed. They consulted together which course would be the moreprudent: to trust to the houses, which now shook from side to sidewith frequent and violent concussions; or to escape to the opencountry, where the calcined stones and cinders fell in suchquantities, as notwithstanding their lightness, to threatendestruction. In this dilemma they decided on the open country, asoffering the greater chance of safety; a resolution which, while therest of the company hastily adopted it through their fears, my uncleembraced only after cool and deliberate consideration. Then they wentforth, having pillows tied upon their heads with napkins; and this wastheir sole defence against the storm of stones that fell around them. "It was now day everywhere else, but there a deeper darkness prevailedthan in the obscurest night, though it was in some degree dissipatedby torches and lights of various kinds. They thought proper to go downfurther upon the shore, to ascertain whether they might safely put outto sea; but found the waves still extremely high and boisterous. Theremy uncle, having drunk a draught or two of cold water, flung himselfdown upon a cloth which was spread for him, when immediately theflames and their precursor, a strong stench of sulphur, dispersed therest of the company, and compelled him to rise. He raised himself withthe assistance of two of the servants, but instantly fell down dead;suffocated, I imagine by some gross and noxious vapor. As soon as itwas light again, which was not until the third day after thismelancholy accident, his body was found entire, and free from any signof violence, exactly in the same posture that he fell, so that helooked more like one asleep than dead. " In a second letter to Tacitus, Pliny in relating his own experiences, says: "Day was rapidly breaking, but the light was exceedingly faint andlanguid; the buildings all around us tottered; and though we stoodupon open ground, yet, as the area was narrow and confined, we couldnot remain without certain and formidable peril, and we thereforeresolved to quit the town. The people followed us in a panic of alarm, and, as to a mind distracted with terror every suggestion seems moreprudent than its own, pressed in great crowds about us in our way out. "As soon as we had reached a convenient distance from the houses, westood still, in the midst of a perilous and most dreadful scene. Thechariots which we had ordered to be drawn out oscillated so violently, though upon level ground, that we could not keep them steady, even bysupporting them with large stones. The sea seemed to roll back uponitself, and to be driven from its strands by the earth's convulsivethroes; it is certain, at least, that the shore was considerablyenlarged, and that several marine animals were left upon it. On theother side, a black and terrible cloud, bursting with an igneousserpentine vapor, darted out a long train of fire, resembling, butmuch larger than the flashes of lightning. "Soon after the black cloud seemed to descend and enshroud the wholeocean; as, in truth, it entirely concealed the island of Caprea andthe headland of Misenum. The ashes now began to fall upon us, thoughin no considerable quantity. Turning my head, I perceived behind us adense smoke, which came rolling in our track like a torrent. Iproposed, while there was yet some light, to diverge from thehighroad, lest my mother should be crushed to death in the dark by thecrowd that followed us. Scarcely had we stepped aside when darknessoverspread us; not the darkness of a cloudy night, or when there is nomoon, but that of a chamber which is close shut, with all the lightsextinct. "And then nothing could be heard but the shrieks of women, the criesof children, and the exclamations of men. Some called aloud for theirlittle ones, others for their parents, others for their husbands, being only able to distinguish persons by their voices; this manlamented his own fate, that man the fate of his family; not a fewwished to die out of very fear of death; many lifted their hands tothe gods; but most imagined the last eternal night was come, whichshould destroy the world and the gods together. "At length, a glimmer of light appeared, which we imagined to berather the foretoken of an approaching burst of flames, as in truth itwas, than the return of day. The fire, however, having fallen at adistance from us, we were again immersed in dense darkness, and aheavy shower of ashes fell upon us, which we were compelled at timesto shake off--otherwise we should have been crushed and buried in theheap. "After a while, this dreadful darkness gradually disappeared like acloud of smoke; the actual day returned, and with it the sun, thoughvery faintly, and as when an eclipse is coming on. Every object thatpresented itself to our eyes (which were extremely weakened) seemedchanged, being covered with a crust of white ashes, like a deep layerof snow. We returned to Misenum, where we refreshed ourselves as wellas we could, and passed an anxious night between hope and fear, though, indeed, with a much larger share of the latter; for theearthquake still continued, while several excited individuals ran upand down, augmenting their own and their friends' calamities byterrible predictions. " The graphic accounts of Pliny the Younger have been confirmed in everyrespect by scientific examination of the buried cities. The eruptionwas terrible in all its circumstances--the rolling mud, the cloud ofdarkness, the flashes of electric fire, the shaking earth--but yetmore terrible in its novelty of character and the seemingly wide rangeof its influence. These combined causes would appear to have exerciseda fatal effect on the Pompeians, and but for them nearly all mighthave escaped. Thus, the amphitheatre was crowded when the catastropheoccurred, but only two or three skeletons have been found in it, whichprobably were those of gladiators already killed or wounded. The bold, the prompt, and the energetic saved themselves by immediate flight;those who lingered through love or avarice, supine indifference, orpalsying fear, perished. Many sought refuge in the lower rooms or underground cellars of theirhouses, but there the steaming mud pursued and overtook them. Had itbeen otherwise, they must have died of hunger or suffocation, as allavenues of egress were absolutely blocked up. It is impossible to exaggerate the horrors of the last day of thedoomed city. The rumbling of the earth beneath; the dense obscurityand murky shadow of the heaven above; the long, heavy roll of theconvulsed sea; the strident noise of the vapors and gases escapingfrom the mountain-crater; the shifting electric lights, crimson, emerald green, lurid yellow, azure, blood red, which at intervalsrelieved the blackness, only to make it ghastlier than before; thehot, hissing showers which descended like a rain of fire; the clashand clang of meeting rocks and riven stones; the burning houses andflaming vineyards; the hurrying fugitives, with wan faces andstraining eyeballs, calling on those they loved to follow them; theashes, and cinders, and boiling mud, driving through the darkenedstreets, and pouring into the public places; above all, that fine, impalpable, but choking dust which entered everywhere, penetratingeven to the lowest cellar, and against which human skill could deviseno effectual protection; all these things must have combined into awhole of such unusual and such awful terror that the imaginationcannot adequately realize it. The stoutest heart was appalled; thebest-balanced mind lost its composure. The stern Roman soldier stoodrigidly at his post, content to die if discipline required it, buteven his iron nerves quailed at the death and destruction around him. Many lost their reason, and wandered through the city, gibbering andshrieking lunatics. And none, we may be sure, who survived the peril, ever forgot the sights and scenes they had witnessed on that day ofdoom. Three days and nights were thus endured with all the anguish ofsuspense and uncertainty. On the fourth day the darkness, by degrees, began to clear away. The day appeared, the sun shining forth; but allnature seemed changed. Buried beneath the lava lay temple and circus, the tribunal, the shrine, the frescoed wall, the bright mosaic floor;but there was neither life nor motion in either city of the dead, though the sea which once bore their argosies still shimmered in thesunshine, and the mountain which accomplished their destruction stillbreathed forth smoke and fire. The scene was changed; all was over; smoke and vapor and showers hadceased, and Vesuvius had returned to its normal slumber. Pompeii andHerculaneum were no more. In their place was a desolated plain, withno monuments visible, no house to be seen--nothing but a great surfaceof white ashes, which hardened and petrified, and finallydisintegrated into soil upon which, years after, might be seen thefruitful vine, the waving corn, and wild flowers in all theirloveliness and beauty, hiding the hideous tragedy of a bygone age. It was about the middle of the eighteenth century that systematicexcavations in the ashes that covered Pompeii began. Since that timethe work has been slow, though continuous, and great progress has beenmade in disinterring the buried city. To-day it is a municipal museumof the Roman Empire as it was 1, 800 years ago. The architecture isalmost unmarred; the colors of decorated tiles on the walls are stillbright; the wheel marks are fresh looking; the picture of domesticlife as it was is complete, except for the people who were destroyedor driven from the city. No other place in all the world so completelyportrays that period of the past to us as does Pompeii, overwhelmed byVesuvius, hidden for centuries, and now once more in view to the worldto-day. CHAPTER XXVI. MOUNT ĘTNA AND THE SICILIAN HORRORS. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. =A Volcano with a Record of Twenty-five Centuries--Seventy-eight Recorded Eruptions--Three Hundred Thousand Inhabitants Dwelling on the Slopes of the Mountain and in the Valleys at its Base--Stories of Earthquake Shock and Lava Flows--Tales of Destruction--Described by Ancient and Modern Writers and Eye-Witnesses. = Mount Ętna, one of the most celebrated volcanoes in the world, issituated on the eastern sea-board of Sicily. The ancient poets oftenalluded to it, and by some it was feigned to be the prison of thegiant Euceladus or Typhon, by others the forge of Hephęstus. Theflames proceeded from the breath of Euceladus, the thunderous noisesof the mountain were his groans, and when he turned upon his side, earthquakes shook the island. Pindar in his first Pythian ode forHiero of Ętna, winner in the chariot race in 474 B. C. , exclaims:--He(Typhon) is fast bound by a pillar of the sky, even by snowy Ętna, nursing the whole year's length her dazzling snow. Whereout puresprings of unapproachable fire are vomited from the inmost depth: inthe daytime the lava streams pour forth a lurid rush of smoke, but inthe darkness a red rolling flame sweepeth rocks with uproar to thewide, deep sea. Ęschylus (525-456 B. C. ) speaks also of the "mightyTyphon. " Thucydides (471-402 B. C. ) alludes in the last lines of histhird book to three early eruptions of the mountain. Many other earlywriters speak of Ętna, among them Theocritus, Virgil, Ovid, Livy, Seneca, Lucan, Strabo, and Lucilius Junior. While the poets on theone hand had invested Ętna with various supernatural attributes, andhad made it the prison of a chained giant, and the workshop of a god, Lucretius and others endeavored to show that the eruptions and otherphenomena of the mountain could be explained by the ordinaryoperations of nature. If we pass to more modern times we find mention of Ętna by Dante, Petrarch, Cardinal Bembo, and other middle age writers. In 1541Fazello wrote a brief history of the mountain, and described anascent. In 1591 Antonio Filoteo, who was born on Ętna, published awork in Venice, in which he describes an eruption which he witnessedin 1536. He asserts that the mountain was then, as now, divided intothree "regions"--the first very arid, rugged, uneven, and full ofbroken rocks; the second covered with forests; and the thirdcultivated in the ordinary manner. The great eruption of 1669 was described at length by the naturalistBorelli in the year of its occurrence, and a brief account of it wasgiven by the Earl of Winchelsea, English ambassador at Constantinople, who was returning home by way of the Straits of Messina at the time. As the eruption of 1669 was the most considerable one of modern times, it attracted a great deal of attention, and was described by severaleye-witnesses. The height of Ętna has been often determined. The earlier writers hadvery exaggerated notions on the subject, and a height of three andeven four miles has been assigned. It must be borne in mind that thecone of a volcano is liable to variations in height at differentperiods, and a diminution of more than three hundred feet has occurredduring the course of a single eruption of Ętna, owing to the fallingof the cone of cinders into the crater. During the last sixty years, however, the height of the mountain has been practically constant atten thousand eight hundred and seventy-four feet. There are two cities, Catania and Aci Reale, and sixty-three towns orvillages on Mount Ętna. It is far more thickly populated than anyother part of Sicily or Italy. No less than 300, 000 people live on themountain. A remarkable feature of Ętna is the large number of minor cones whichare scattered over its sides. They look small in comparison with thegreat mass of the mountain, but in reality some of them are of largedimensions. The best period for making the ascent of Ętna is between June andSeptember, after the melting of the winter snows, and before thefalling of the autumnal rains. In winter there are frequently nine orten miles of snow stretching from the summit downward, the paths areobliterated, and the guides sometimes refuse to accompany travelers. Moreover, violent storms often rage in the upper regions of themountain, and the wind acquires a force which it is difficult towithstand, and is at the same time piercingly cold. A list of the eruptions of Ętna from the earliest times has been givenby several writers. The first eruption within the historical periodprobably happened in the seventh century B. C. ; the second occurred inthe time of Pythagoras. The third eruption, which was in 477 B. C. , ismentioned by Thucydides, and it must have been the same eruption towhich Pindar and Ęschylus allude. An eruption mentioned by Thucydideshappened in the year 426 B. C. An outburst of lava took place fromMonte di Moja, the most northerly of the minor cones of Ętna, in 396B. C. , and following the course of the river Acesines, now theAlcantara, entered the sea near the site of the Greek colony of Naxos(now Capo di Schiso). We have no record of any further eruption for256 years, till the year 140 B. C. Six years later an eruptionoccurred, and the same authorities mention an eruption in the year 126B. C. Four years later Katana was nearly destroyed by a new eruption. Another, of which we possess no details, occurred during the civil warbetween Cęsar and Pompey, 49 B. C. Livy speaks of an earthquake whichtook place in 43 B. C. , shortly before the death of Cęsar, which itwas believed to portend. In 38 B. C. And 32 B. C. Eruptions took place. The next eruption of which we hear is that mentioned by Suetonius inhis life of Caligula. This was in 40 A. D. An eruption occurred in 72A. D. , after which Ętna was quiescent for nearly two centuries, but inthe year 253, in the reign of the Emperor Decius, a violent eruptionlasting nine days is recorded. According to Carrera and Photius, aneruption occurred in the year 420. We now find no further record fornearly four hundred years. Geoffrey of Viterbo states that there wasan eruption in 812, when Charlemagne was in Messina. After anotherlong interval, in this case of more than three centuries and a half, the mountain again showed activity. In February, 1169, one of the mostdisastrous eruptions on record took place. A violent earthquake, whichwas felt as far as Reggio, destroyed Catania in the course of a fewminutes, burying fifteen thousand people beneath the ruins. It was thevigil of the feast of St. Agatha, and the cathedral of Catania wascrowded with people, who were all buried beneath the ruins, togetherwith the bishops and forty-four Benedictine monks. The side of thecone of the great crater toward Taormina fell into the crater. There was a great eruption from the eastern side of the mountain in1181. Lava descended in the same vicinity in 1285. In 1329 Spezialewas in Catania, and witnessed a very violent eruption, of which he hasleft us an account. On the evening of June 28th, about the hour ofvespers, Ętna was strongly convulsed, terrible noises were emitted, and flames issued from the south side of the mountain. A new crater, Monte Lepre, opened above the rock of Musarra, and emitted largequantities of dense black smoke. Soon after a torrent of lava pouredfrom the crater, and red-hot masses of rock were projected into theair. Four years after the last eruption it is recorded by Silvaggiothat a fresh outburst took place. A manuscript preserved in thearchives of the cathedral of Catania mentions an eruption which tookplace on August 6, 1371, which caused the destruction of numerousolive groves near the city. An eruption which lasted for twelve dayscommenced in November, 1408. A violent earthquake in 1444 caused thecone of the mountain to fall into the great crater. An eruption ofshort duration, of which we have no details, occurred in 1447; andafter this Ętna was quiescent for eighty-nine years. Cardinal Bembo and Fazello mention an eruption which took place towardthe close of the fifteenth century. In March, 1536, a quantity of lavaissued from the great crater, and several new apertures opened nearthe summit of the mountain and emitted lava. A year later, in May, 1537, a fresh outburst occurred. A number of newmouths were opened on the south slope near La Fontanelle, and aquantity of lava burst forth which flowed in the direction of Catania, destroying a part of Nicolosi, and St. Antonio. In four days the lavaran fifteen miles. The cone of the great crater suddenly fell in, soas to become level with the Piano del Lago. The height of the mountainwas thus diminished by 320 feet. Three new craters opened in November, 1566, on the northeast slope of the mountain. In 1579, 1603, 1607, 1610, 1614, and 1619, unimportant eruptions occurred. In February, 1633, Nicolosi was partly destroyed by a violent earthquake, and inthe following December, earthquakes became frequent around themountain. In 1646 a new mouth opened on the northeast side, and five years laterseveral new mouths opened on the west side of the mountain and pouredout vast volumes of lava which threatened to overwhelm Bronte. We havea more detailed account of the eruption of 1669 than any previous one. It was observed by many men of different nations, and there are anumber of narratives regarding it. The eruption was in every respectone of the most terrible on record. On March 8th, the sun was obscuredand a whirlwind blew over the face of the mountain; at the same timeearthquakes were felt, and they continued to increase in violence forthree days, at the end of which Nicolosi was converted into a heap ofruins. On the morning of the 11th a fissure nearly twelve miles in lengthopened in the side of the mountain, and extended from the Piano di St. Leo to Monte Frumento, a mile from the summit. The fissure was onlysix feet wide, but it seemed to be of unknown depth, and a brightlight proceeded from it. Six mouths opened in a line with theprincipal fissure, and discharged vast volumes of smoke, accompaniedby low bellowing, which could be heard forty miles off. Toward theclose of the day a crater opened about a mile below the others, andejected red-hot stones to a considerable distance, and afterward sandand ashes, which covered the country for a distance of sixty miles. The new crater soon vomited forth a torrent of lava, which presented afront of two miles. It encircled Monpilieri, and afterward flowedtoward Belpasso, a town of 8, 000 inhabitants, which was speedilydestroyed. Seven mouths of fire opened around the new crater, and inthree days united with it, forming one large crater 800 feet indiameter. The torrent of lava had continued to flow, and it destroyedthe town of Mascalucia on March 23d. On the same day the crater castup great quantities of sand, ashes, and scoriae, and formed aboveitself the great double coned hill called Monti Rossi, from the redcolor of the ashes of which it is mainly composed. On the 25th veryviolent earthquakes occurred, and the cone of the great central craterwas shaken down into the crater for the fifth time since the beginningof the first century A. D. The original current of lava had dividedinto three streams, one of which destroyed San Pietro, the secondCamporotondo, and the third the lands about Mascalucia, and afterwardthe village of Misterbianco. Fourteen villages were afterward sweptout of existence, and the lava made its way toward Catania. AtAlbanello, two miles from the city, it undermined a hill covered withcorn fields, and carried it forward a considerable distance; avineyard was also seen floating on its fiery surface. When the lava reached the walls of Catania, it accumulated withoutprogression until it rose to the top of the wall, sixty feet inheight, and it then fell over in a fiery cascade and overwhelmed apart of the city. Another portion of the same stream threw down 120feet of the wall and carried death and destruction in its course. OnApril 23d the lava reached the sea, which it entered as a stream 1800feet broad and forty feet deep. On reaching the sea the water, ofcourse, began to boil violently, and clouds of steam arose, carryingwith them particles of scoriae. The volume of lava emitted during thiseruption amounted to many millions of cubic feet. Fewara considersthat the length of the stream was at least fifteen miles, while itsaverage width was between two and three miles, so that it covered atleast forty square miles of surface. For a few years after this terrible eruption Ętna was quiescent, butin 1682 a new mouth opened on the east side of the mountain, and lavaissued from it and rushed down the precipices of the Val del Bue. Early in January, 1693, clouds of black smoke poured from the greatcrater, and loud noises resembling the discharge of artillery, wereheard. A violent earthquake followed, and Catania was shaken to theground, burying 18, 000 of its inhabitants. It is said that in allfifty cities and towns were destroyed in Sicily, together withapproximately 100, 000 inhabitants. The following year witnessed another eruption, but no serious disasterresulted. In March, 1702, three mouths opened in the Contrada delTrifaglietto, near the head of the Val del Bue. In 1723, 1732, 1735, 1744, and 1747, slight eruptions occurred. Early in the year 1775 Ętnabegan to show signs of disturbance; a great column of black smokeissued from the crater, from which forked lightning was frequentlyemitted. Loud detonations were heard and two streams of lava issuedfrom the crater. A new mouth opened near Rocca di Musarra in the Valdel Bue, four miles from the summit, and a quantity of lava wasejected from it. An extraordinary flood of water descended from Valdel Bue, carrying all before it, and strewing its path with largeblocks. Recupero estimated the volume of water at 16, 000, 000 cubicfeet, probably a greater amount than could be furnished by the suddenmelting of all the winter's snow on the mountain. It formed a channeltwo miles broad, and in some places thirty-four feet deep, and itflowed at the rate of a mile in a minute and a half during the firsttwelve miles of its course. The flood was probably produced by themelting not only of the winter's snow, but also of older layers ofice, which were suddenly liquified by the permeation of hot steam andlava, and which had been previously preserved from melting by adeposit of sand and ashes, as in the case of the ancient glacier foundnear the summit of the mountain in 1828. In November, 1758, a smart shock of earthquake caused the cone of thegreat crater to fall in, but no eruption followed. In 1759, 1763, 1766, and 1780, eruptions were noted, and on May 18, 1780, a fissureopened on the southwest side of the mountain and extended from thebase of the great crater for seven miles, terminating in a new mouthfrom which a stream of lava emanated. This encountered the cone ofPalmintelli in its course, and separated into two branches, each ofwhich was about 4, 000 feet wide. Other mouths opened later in theyear, and emitted larger quantities of lava, while in 1781 and 1787there were slight eruptions. Five years later a fresh outbreakoccurred; earthquakes were prevalent, and vast volumes of smoke werecarried out to sea, seeming to form a gigantic bridge between Sicilyand Africa. A torrent of lava flowed toward Aderno, and a secondflowed into the Val del Bue as far as Zuccolaro. A pit called LaCisterna, forty feet in diameter, opened in the Piano del Lago nearthe great cone, and ejected smoke and masses of old lava saturatedwith water. Several mouths opened below the crater, and the countryround about Zaffarana was desolated. In 1797, 1798, 1799, 1800, 1802, 1805, and 1808 slight eruptionsoccurred. In March, 1809, no less than twenty-one mouths of fireopened between the summit of the mountain and Castiglione, and twoyears afterward more than thirty mouths opened in a line runningeastward from the summit for five miles. They ejected jets of fire, accompanied by much smoke. In 1819 five new mouths of fire opened nearthe scene of the eruption of 1811; three of these united into onelarge crater, and poured forth a quantity of lava into the Val delBue. The lava flowed until it reached a nearly perpendicular precipiceat the head of the valley of Calanna, over which it fell in a cascade, and being hardened by its descent, it was forced against the sides ofthe tufaceous rock at the bottom, so as to produce an extraordinaryamount of abrasion, accompanied by clouds of dust worn off by thefriction. Mr. Scrope observed that the lava flowed at the rate ofabout three feet an hour nine months after its emission. Eruptions occurred in 1831, 1832, 1838, and 1842. Near the end of thefollowing year, fifteen mouths of fire opened near the crater of 1832, at a height of 7, 000 feet above the sea. They began by dischargingscoriae and sand, and afterward lava, which divided into threestreams, the two outer of which soon came to a standstill, while thecentral stream continued to flow at the rapid rate of 180 feet aminute, the descent being an angle of 25°. The heat at a distance of120 feet from the current was 90° F. A new crater opened just aboveBronte, and discharged lava which threatened the town, but itfortunately encountered Monte Vittoria, and was diverted into anothercourse. While a number of the inhabitants of Bronte were watching theprogress of the lava, the front of the stream was suddenly blown outas by an explosion of gunpowder. In an instant red-hot masses werehurled in every direction, and a cloud of vapor enveloped everything. Thirty-six persons were killed on the spot, and twenty survived but afew hours. A very violent eruption, which lasted more than nine months, commencedon the 26th of August, 1852. It was first witnessed by a party of sixEnglish tourists, who were ascending the mountain from Nicolosi inorder to witness the sun rise from the summit. As they approached theCasa Inglesi the crater commenced to give forth ashes and flames offire. In a narrow defile they were met by a violent hurricane, whichoverthrew both the mules and the riders, and forced them toward theprecipices of Val del Bue. They sheltered themselves beneath somemasses of lava, when suddenly an earthquake shook the mountain, andthe mules fled in terror. They returned on foot toward daylight toNicolosi, fortunately without having sustained injury. In the courseof the night many rifts opened in that part of Val del Bue called theBalzo di Trifaglietto, and a great fissure opened at the base ofGiannicola Grande, and a crater was thrown up, from which forseventeen days showers of sand and scoriae were ejected. During the next day a quantity of lava flowed down into the Val delBue, branching off so that one stream flowed to the foot of MountFinocchio, while the other flowed to Mount Calanna. The eruptioncontinued with abated violence during the early months of 1853, anddid not fully cease until May 27th. The entire mass of lava ejected isestimated to be equal to an area six miles long by two miles broad, with an average depth of about twelve feet. In October, 1864, frequent shocks of earthquake were felt by thedwellers on Ętna. In January, 1865, clouds of smoke were emitted bythe great crater, and roaring sounds were heard. On the night of the30th a violent shock was felt on the northeast side of the mountain, and a mouth opened below Monte Frumento, from which lava was ejected. It flowed at the rate of about a mile a day, and ultimately dividedinto two streams. By March 10th the new mouths of fire had increasedto seven in number, and they were all situated along a line stretchingdown from the summit. The three upper craters gave forth louddetonations three or four times a minute. Since 1865, there have beenoccasional eruptions, but none of great duration, nor has there beenany loss of life in consequence. It will be seen from the foregoing account that there is a greatsimilarity in the general character of the eruptions of Ętna. Earthquakes presage the outburst; loud explosions are heard; riftsopen in the sides of the mountain; smoke, sand, ashes, and scoriae aredischarged; the action localizes itself in one or more craters;cinders are thrown out and accumulate around the crater in a conicalform; ultimately lava rises through the new cone, frequently breakingdown one side of it where there is least resistance, and flowing overthe surrounding country. Out of the seventy-eight eruptions mentionedabove, a comparatively small number have been of extreme violence, while many of them have been of a slight and harmless character. Italy does not contain a more beautiful or fertile province thanCalabria, the celebrated region which the ancients called MagnaGrecia, where once flourished Crotona, Tarentum, Sybaris, and so manyother prosperous cities. Situated between the volcanoes of Vesuviusand Ętna, Calabria has always been much exposed to the destructiveinfluence of earthquakes, but the most terrible shock ever felt in theprovince was that of February 5, 1783. The ground was agitated in alldirections, swelling like the waves of the ocean. Nothing couldwithstand such shocks, and not a building upon the surface remainederect. The beautiful city of Messina, the commercial metropolis ofSicily, was reduced to a heap of ruins. Upon March 4, a fresh shock, almost as violent as the first, completedthe work of destruction. The number of persons who perished inCalabria and Sicily during these two earthquakes is estimated at80, 000 and 320 of the 365 towns and villages which Calabria containedwere destroyed. The greater number of those who lost their lives wereburied amid the ruins of the houses, but many perished in fires thatwere kindled in most of the towns, particularly in Oppido, where theflames were fed by great magazines of oil. Not a few, especially amongthe peasantry dwelling in the country, were suddenly engulfed infissures. Many who were only half buried in the ruins, and who mighthave been saved had there been help at hand, were left to die alingering death from cold and hunger. Four Augustine monks atTerranova perished thus miserably. Having taken refuge in a vaultedsacristy, they were entombed in it alive by the masses of rubbish, andlingered for four days, during which their cries for help could beheard, till death put an end to their sufferings. Of still more thrilling interest was the case of the MarchionessSpadara. Having fainted at the moment of the first great shock, shewas lifted by her husband, who, bearing her in his arms, hurried withher to the harbor. Here, on recovering her senses, she observed thather infant boy had been left behind. Taking advantage of a moment whenher husband was too much occupied to notice her, she darted off, and, running back to her house, which was still standing, she snatched herbabe from his cradle. Rushing with him in her arms toward thestaircase, she found the stair had fallen, barring all furtherprogress in that direction. She fled from room to room, chased by thefalling materials, and at length reached a balcony as her last refuge. Holding up her infant, she implored the few passers-by for help; butthey all, intent on securing their own safety, turned a deaf ear toher cries. Meanwhile her mansion had caught fire, and ere long thebalcony, with the devoted lady still grasping her darling, was hurledinto the devouring flames. A few cases are recorded of devotion similar to that of this heroicwoman, but happily attended by more fortunate results. In the greatmajority of instances, however, the instinct of self-preservationtriumphed over every other feeling, rendering the wretched peoplecallous to the dangers and sufferings of others. Still worse was theconduct of the half savage peasantry. They hastened into the townslike vultures to their prey. Instead of helping the sufferers, theyransacked the smoking ruins for plunder, robbed the persons of thedead, and of those entangled alive among the rubbish. They robbed thevery injured who would have paid them handsomely for rescuing them. AtPolistena, a gentleman had been buried head downward beneath the ruinsof his house, and when his servant saw what had happened he actuallystole the silver buckles off his shoes, while his legs were in theair, and made off with them. The unfortunate gentleman, however, managed to rescue himself from his perilous position. Several cases occurred of persons being rescued alive from the ruinsafter a lapse of three, four, and even five days, and one on theseventh day after interment. Those who were thus rescued all declaredthat their direst sufferings were from thirst. CHAPTER XXVII. LISBON EARTHQUAKE SCOURGED. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. =Sixty Thousand Lives Lost in a Few Moments--An Opulent and Populous Capital Destroyed--Graphic Account by an English Merchant Who Resided in the Stricken City--Tidal Waves Drown Thousands in the City Streets--Ships Engulfed in the Harbor--Criminals Rob and Burn--Terrible Desolation and Suffering. = More than once in its history has Lisbon, the beautiful capital ofPortugal, on the Tagus river, been devastated by earthquakes and tidalwaves. Greatest of all these was the appalling disaster of 1755, whenin a few minutes thousands upon thousands of the inhabitants werekilled or drowned. An English merchant, Mr. Davy, who resided in theill-fated city at that time, and was an eye-witness of the wholecatastrophe, survived the event and wrote to a London friend thefollowing account of it. The narrative reproduced herewith brings thedetails before the reader with a force and simplicity which leaves nodoubt of the exact truth. Mr. Davy wrote as follows: "On the morning of November 1st I was seated in my apartment, justfinishing a letter, when the papers and the table I was writing onbegan to tremble with a gentle motion, which rather surprised me, as Icould not perceive a breath of wind stirring. Whilst I was reflectingwith myself what this could be owing to, but without having the leastapprehension of the real cause, the whole house began to shake fromthe very foundation, and a frightful noise came from underground, resembling the hollow, distant rumbling of thunder. "Upon this I threw down my pen, and started upon my feet, remaining amoment in suspense, whether I should stay in the apartment or run intothe street, as the danger in both places seemed equal. In a moment Iwas stunned with a most horrid crash, as if every edifice in the cityhad tumbled down at once. The house I was in shook with such violencethat the upper stories immediately fell, and though my apartment, which was on the first floor, did not then share the same fate, yeteverything was thrown out of its place in such a manner that it waswith no small difficulty I kept my feet, and expected nothing lessthan to be soon crushed to death, as the walls continued rocking toand fro, opening in several places; large stones falling down on everyside from the cracks, and the ends of most of the rafters starting outfrom the roofs. "To add to this terrifying scene, the sky in a moment became so gloomythat I could now distinguish no particular object; it was an Egyptiandarkness indeed, such as might be felt. "As soon as the gloom began to disperse and the violence of the shockseemed pretty much abated, the first object I perceived in the roomwas a woman sitting on the floor with an infant in her arms, allcovered with dust, pale and trembling. I asked her how she got hither, but her consternation was so great that she could give me no accountof her escape. I suppose that when the tremor first began, she ran outof her own house, and finding herself in such imminent danger from thefalling stones, retired into the door of mine, which was almostcontiguous to hers, for shelter, and when the shock increased, whichfilled the door with dust and rubbish, she ran upstairs into myapartment. The poor creature asked me, in the utmost agony, if I didnot think the world was at an end; at the same time she complained ofbeing choked, and begged me to procure her some water. Upon this Iwent to a closet where I kept a large jar of water, but found itbroken to pieces. I told her she must not now think of quenching herthirst, but saving her life, as the house was just falling on ourheads, and if a second shock came, would certainly bury us both. "I hurried down stairs, the woman with me, holding by my arm, and madedirectly to that end of the street which opens to the Tagus. Findingthe passage this way entirely blocked up with the fallen houses to theheight of their second stories, I turned back to the other end whichled to the main street, and there helped the woman over a vast heap ofruins, with no small hazard to my own life; just as we were going intothis street, as there was one part that I could not well climb overwithout the assistance of my hands as well as feet, I desired her tolet go her hold, which she did, remaining two or three feet behind me, at which instant there fell a vast stone from a tottering wall, andcrushed both her and the child in pieces. So dismal a spectacle at anyother time would have affected me in the highest degree, but the dreadI was in of sharing the same fate myself, and the many instances ofthe same kind which presented themselves all around, were too shockingto make me dwell a moment on this single object. "I now had a long, narrow street to pass, with the houses on each sidefour or five stories high, all very old, the greater part alreadythrown down, or continually falling, and threatening the passengerswith inevitable death at every step, numbers of whom lay killed beforeme, or what I thought far more deplorable, so bruised and wounded thatthey could not stir to help themselves. For my own part, asdestruction appeared to me unavoidable, I only wished I might be madean end of at once, and not have my limbs broken, in which case I couldexpect nothing else but to be left upon the spot, lingering in misery, like those poor unhappy wretches, without receiving the least succorfrom any person. "As self-preservation, however, is the first law of nature, these sadthoughts did not so far prevail as to make me totally despair. Iproceeded on as fast as I conveniently could, though with the utmostcaution, and having at length got clear of this horrid passage, Ifound myself safe and unhurt in the large open space before St. Paul'schurch, which had been thrown down a few minutes before, and buried agreat part of the congregation. Here I stood for some time, considering what I should do, and not thinking myself safe in thissituation, I came to the resolution of climbing over the ruins of thewest end of the church, in order to get to the river's side, that Imight be removed as far as possible from the tottering houses, in caseof a second shock. "This, with some difficulty, I accomplished, and here I found aprodigious concourse of people of both sexes, and of all ranks andconditions. There were several priests who had run from the altars intheir sacerdotal vestments; ladies half dressed, and some withoutshoes; all these, whom their mutual dangers had here assembled as to aplace of safety, were on their knees at prayer, with the terrors ofdeath in their countenances. "In the midst of these devotions the second great shock came on, little less violent than the first, and completed the ruin of thosebuildings which had been already much shattered. The consternation nowbecame so universal, that the shrieks and cries of the frightenedpeople could be distinctly heard from the top of St. Catherine's hill, a considerable distance off, whither a vast number of the populace hadlikewise retreated. At the same time we could hear the fall of theparish church there, whereby many persons were killed on the spot, andothers mortally wounded. On a sudden I heard a general outcry, 'Thesea is coming in, we are lost!' Turning my eyes toward the river, which at this place is nearly four miles broad, I could perceive itheaving and swelling in a most unaccountable manner, as no wind wasstirring. In an instant there appeared, at some small distance, alarge body of water, rising as it were like a mountain. It came onfoaming and roaring, and rushed toward the shore with suchimpetuosity, that we all immediately ran for our lives, as fast aspossible; many were actually swept away, and the rest were above theirwaists in water, at a good distance from the bank. "For my own part, I had the narrowest escape, and should certainlyhave been lost, had I not grasped a large beam that lay on the ground, till the water returned to its channel, which it did with equalrapidity. As there now appeared at least as much danger from the seaas the land, and I scarce knew whither to retire for shelter, I took asudden resolution of returning, with my clothes all dripping, to thearea of St. Paul's. Here I stood some time, and observed the shipstumbling and tossing about as in a violent storm. Some had brokentheir cables and were carried to the other side of the Tagus; otherswere whirled around with incredible swiftness; several large boatswere turned keel upward; and all this without any wind, which seemedthe more astonishing. "It was at the time of which I am now writing, that the fine new quay, built entirely of rough marble, at an immense expense, was entirelyswallowed up, with all the people on it, who had fled thither forsafety, and had reason to think themselves out of danger in such aplace. At the same time a great number of boats and small vessels, anchored near it, all likewise full of people, who had retired thitherfor the same purpose, were all swallowed up, as in a whirlpool, andnever more appeared. "This last dreadful incident I did not see with my own eyes, as itpassed three or four stone-throws from the spot where I then was, butI had the account as here given from several masters of ships, whowere anchored within two or three hundred yards of the quay, and sawthe whole catastrophe. One of them in particular informed me that whenthe second shock came on, he could perceive the whole city wavingbackwards and forwards, like the sea when the wind first begins torise; that the agitation of the earth was so great, even under theriver, that it threw up his large anchor from the mooring, whichswam, as he termed it, on the surface of the water; that immediatelyupon this extraordinary concussion, the river rose at once nearlytwenty feet, and in a moment subsided; at which instant he saw thequay, with the whole concourse of people upon it, sink down, and atthe same time everyone of the boats and vessels that were near it weredrawn into the cavity, which he supposes instantly closed upon them, inasmuch as not the least sign of a wreck was ever seen afterwards. "I had not been long in the area of St. Paul's, when I felt the thirdshock, which though somewhat less violent than the two former, the searushed in again and retired with the same rapidity, and I remained upto my knees in water, though I had gotten upon a small eminence atsome distance from the river, with the ruins of several interveninghouses to break its force. At this time I took notice the watersretired so impetuously, that some vessels were left quite dry, whichrode in seven-fathom water. The river thus continued alternatelyrushing on and retiring several times, in such sort that it was justlydreaded Lisbon would now meet the same fate which a few years ago hadbefallen the city of Lima. The master of a vessel which arrived herejust after the first of November assured me that he felt the shockabove forty leagues at sea so sensibly that he really concluded thathe had struck upon a rock, till he threw out the lead and could findno bottom; nor could he possibly guess at the cause till themelancholy sight of this desolate city left him no room to doubt it. "I was now in such a situation that I knew not which way to turn; Iwas faint from the constant fatigue I had undergone, and I had not yetbroken my fast. Yet this had not so much effect on me as the anxiety Iwas under for a particular friend, who lodged at the top of a veryhigh house in the heart of the city, and being a stranger to thelanguage, could not but be in the utmost danger. I determined to goand learn, if possible, what had become of him. I proceeded, with somehazard, to the large space before the convent of Corpo Santo, whichhad been thrown down, and buried a great number of people. Passingthrough the new square of the palace, I found it full of coaches, chariots, chaises, horses and mules, deserted by their drivers andattendants, and left to starve. "From this square the way led to my friend's lodgings through a long, steep and narrow street. The new scenes of horror I met with hereexceed all description; nothing could be heard but sighs and groans. Idid not meet with a soul in the passage who was not bewailing the lossof his nearest relations and dearest friends. I could hardly take asingle step without treading on the dead or dying. In some places laycoaches, with their masters, horses and riders almost crushed inpieces; here, mothers with infants in their arms; there, ladies richlydressed, priests, friars, gentlemen, mechanics, either in the samecondition or just expiring; some had their backs broken, others greatstones on their breasts; some lay almost buried in the rubbish, andcrying out in vain for succor, were left to perish with the rest. "At length I arrived at the spot opposite to the house where myfriend, for whom I was so anxious, resided; and finding this as wellas the other contiguous buildings thrown down, I gave him up for lost, and thought only of saving my own life. "In less than an hour I reached a public house, kept by a Mr. Morley, near the English burying-ground, about a half a mile from the city, where I found a great number of my countrymen in the same wretchedcircumstances as myself. "Perhaps you may think the present doleful subject here concluded; butthe horrors of the day are sufficient to fill a volume. As soon as itgrew dark, another scene presented itself, little less shocking thanthose already described. The whole city appeared in a blaze, which wasso bright that I could easily see to read by it. It may be saidwithout exaggeration that it was on fire in at least a hundreddifferent places at once, and thus continued burning for six daystogether, without intermission, or without the least attempt beingmade to stop its progress. "It went on consuming everything the earthquake had spared, and thepeople were so dejected and terrified that few or none had courageenough to venture down to save any part of their substance. I couldnever learn that this terrible fire was owing to any subterraneouseruption, as some reported, but to three causes, which all concurringat the same time, will naturally account for the prodigious havoc itmade. The first of November being All Saint's Day, a high festivalamong the Portuguese, every altar in every church and chapel, some ofwhich have more than twenty, was illuminated with a number of waxtapers and lamps, as customary; these setting fire to the curtains andtimber work that fell with the shock, the conflagration soon spread tothe neighboring houses, and being there joined with the fires in thekitchen chimneys, increased to such a degree, that it might easilyhave destroyed the whole city, though no other cause had concurred, especially as it met with no interruption. "But what would appear almost incredible to you, were the fact lessnotorious and public, is, that a gang of hardened villains, who hadescaped from prison when the wall fell, were busily employed insetting fire to those buildings, which stood some chance of escapingthe general destruction. I cannot conceive what could have inducedthem to this hellish work, except to add to the horror and confusion, that they might, by this means, have the better opportunity ofplundering with security. But there was no necessity for taking thistrouble, as they might certainly have done their business without it, since the whole city was so deserted before night, that I believe nota soul remained in it, except those execrable villains, and others ofthe same stamp. It is possible some of them might have had othermotives besides robbing, as one in particular being apprehended--theysay he was a Moor, condemned to the galleys--confessed at the gallowsthat he had set fire to the King's palace with his own hand; at thesame time glorying in the action, and declaring with his last breath, that he hoped to have burnt all the royal family. "The whole number of persons that perished, including those who wereburnt or afterwards crushed to death whilst digging in the ruins, issupposed, on the lowest calculation, to amount to more than sixtythousand; and though the damage in other respects cannot be computed, yet you may form some idea of it, when I assure you that thisextensive and opulent city is now nothing but a vast heap of ruins;that the rich and poor are at present upon a level; some thousands offamilies which but the day before had been in easy circumstances, being now scattered about in the fields, wanting every convenience oflife, and finding none able to relieve them. "In order that you may partly realize the prodigious havoc that hasbeen made, I will mention one more instance among the many that havecome under my notice. There was a high arched passage, like one of ourold city gates, fronting the west door of the ancient cathedral; onthe left hand was the famous church of St. Antonio, and on the right, some private houses several stories high. The whole area surrounded byall these buildings did not much exceed one of our small courts inLondon. At the first shock, numbers of people who were then passingunder the arch, fled into the middle of this area for shelter; thosein the two churches, as many as could possibly get out, did the same. At this instant, the arched gateway, with the fronts of the twochurches and contiguous buildings, all inclined one toward anotherwith the sudden violence of the shock, fell down and buried every soulas they were standing here crowded together. " The portion of the earth's surface convulsed by this earthquake isestimated by Humboldt to have been four times greater than the wholeextent of Europe. The shocks were felt not only over the Spanishpeninsula, but in Morocco and Algeria they were nearly as violent. Ata place about twenty-four miles from the city of Morocco, a greatfissure opened in the earth, and the entire village, with all itsinhabitants, upward of 8, 000 in number, were precipitated into thegulf, which immediately closed over its prey. The earthquake was also felt as far to the westward as the West Indianislands of Antigua, Barbados, and Martinique, where the tide, whichusually rises about two feet, was suddenly elevated above twenty feet, the water being at the same time as black as ink. Toward the northwestthe shock was perceptible as far as Canada, whose great lakes were alldisturbed. Toward the east it extended to the Alps, to Thuringia, andto Töplitz, where the hot springs were first dried up, and soon afteroverflowed with ochreous water. In Scotland the waters both of LochLomond and Loch Ness rose and fell repeatedly. Toward the northeast, the shock was sensibly felt throughout the flat country of northernGermany, in Sweden, and along the shores of the Baltic. At sea, 140 miles to the southward of Lisbon, the ship Denia wasstrained as if she had struck on a rock; the seams of the deck opened, and the compass was upset. On board another ship, 120 miles to thewestward of Cape St. Vincent, the shock was so violent as to toss themen up perpendicularly from the deck. The great sea wave rose alongthe whole southern and western coasts of Portugal and Spain; and atCadiz it is said to have risen to a height of sixty feet. At Tangier, on the northern coast of Africa, the tide rose and fell eighteen timesin rapid succession. At Funchal in Madeira, where the usual ebb andflow of the tide is seven feet, it being half tide at the time, thegreat wave rolled in, and at once raised the level of the waterfifteen feet above high water mark. This immense tide, rushing intothe city, caused great damage, and several other parts of the islandwere similarly flooded. The tide was also suddenly raised on thesouthern coast of Ireland; the CHAPTER XXVIII. JAPAN AND ITS DISASTROUS EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. =The Island Empire Subject to Convulsions of Nature--Legends of Ancient Disturbances--Famous Volcano of Fuji-yama Formed in One Night--More Than One Hundred Volcanoes in Japan--Two Hundred and Thirty-two Eruptions Recorded--Devastation of Thriving Towns and Busy Cities--The Capital a Sufferer--Scenes of Desolation after the Most Recent Great Earthquakes. = Japan may be considered the home of the volcano and the earthquake. Few months pass there without one or more earth shocks of considerableforce, besides numerous lighter ones of too slight a nature to beworthy of remark. Japanese histories furnish many records of thesephenomena. There is an ancient legend of a great earthquake in 286 B. C. , whenMount Fuji rose from the bottom of the sea in a single night. This isthe highest and most famous mountain of the country. It rises morethan 12, 000 feet above the water level, and is in shape like a cone;the crater is 500 feet deep. It is regarded by the natives as a sacredmountain, and large numbers of pilgrims make the ascent to the summitat the commencement of the summer. The apex is shaped somewhat like aneight-petaled lotus flower, and offers from three to five peaks toview from different directions. Though now apparently extinct, it wasin former times an active volcano, and the histories of the countrymention several very disastrous eruptions. Japanese poets never wearyin celebrating the praises of Fuji-san, or Fuji-yama, as it isvariously called, and its conical form is one of the most familiar inJapanese painting and decorative art. As Japan has not yet been scientifically explored throughout, and, moreover, as there is considerable difficulty in defining the kind ofmountain to be regarded as a volcano, it is impossible to give anabsolute statement as to the number of volcanoes in the country. Ifunder the term volcano be included all mountains which have been in astate of eruption within the historical period, those which have atrue volcanic form, together with those that still exhibit on theirflanks matter ejected from a crater, we may conclude that there are atleast 100 such mountains in the Japanese empire. Of this number aboutforty-eight are still active. Altogether about 232 eruptions have been recorded, and of these thegreater number took place in the southern districts. This may perhapsbe accounted for by the fact that Japanese civilization advanced fromthe south. In consequence of this, records were made of variousphenomena in the south when the northern regions were still unknownand unexplored. The most famous of the active volcanoes is Asama-yama in Shinano. Theearliest eruption of this mountain of which record now exists seems tohave been in 1650. After that it was only feebly active for 133 years, when there occurred a very severe eruption in 1783. Even as late as1870 there was a considerable emission of volcanic matter, at whichtime also violent shocks of earthquake were felt at Yokohama. Thecrater is very deep, with irregular rocky walls of a sulphurcharacter, from apertures in which fumes are constantly sent forth. Probably the earliest authentic instance of an earthquake in Japan isthat which is said to have occurred in 416 A. D. , when the imperialpalace at Kioto was thrown to the ground. Again, in 599, the buildingsthroughout the province of Yamato were all destroyed, and specialprayers were ordered to be offered up to the deity of earthquakes. In679 a tremendous shock caused many fissures to open in the provincesof Chikuzen and Chikugo, in Kiushiu; the largest of these chasms wasover four miles in length and about twenty feet in width. In 829 thenorthern province of Dewa was visited in a similar manner; the castleof Akita was overthrown, deep rifts were formed in the ground in everydirection, and the Akita river was dried up. To descend to more recent instances, in 1702 the lofty walls of theoutside and inside moats of the castle of Yeddo were destroyed, tidalwaves broke along the coast in the vicinity, and the road leadingthrough the famous pass of Hakone, in the hills to the east ofFuji-yama was closed up by the alteration in the surface of the earth. A period of unusual activity was between the years 1780 and 1800, atime when there was great activity elsewhere on the globe. It wasduring this period that Mount Unsen was blown up, and from 27, 000 to53, 000 persons (according to different accounts) perished; that manyislands were formed in the Satsuma sea; that Sakura-jima threw out somuch pumice material that it was possible to walk a distance oftwenty-three miles upon the floating debris in the sea; and that Asamaejected so many blocks of stone--one of which is said to have beenforty-two feet in diameter--and a lava-stream sixty-eight kilometresin length. In 1854 an earthquake destroyed the town of Shimoda, in the provinceof Idzu, and a Russian frigate, lying in the harbor at the time, wasso severely damaged by the waves caused by the shock that she had tobe abandoned. In 1855 came a great earthquake which was felt mostseverely at Yedo, though its destructive power extended for somedistance to the west along the line of the Tokaido. It is stated thaton this occasion there were in all 14, 241 dwelling houses and 1, 649fire proof store houses overturned in the city, and a destructive firewhich raged at the same time further increased the loss of life andproperty. What was possibly the gravest disaster of its class in this land ofvolcanoes, since the terrible eruptions which came in the twenty yearsending in 1800, occurred in the Bandai-san region in northern Japan, on July 15, 1888. At about eight o'clock in the morning of that day, almost in the twinkling of an eye, Little Bandai-san was blown intothe air, and wiped out of the map of Japan. A few moments later itsdebris had buried or devastated the surrounding country for miles, anda dozen or more of upland hamlets had been overwhelmed in the earthendeluge, or wrecked by other phenomena attending the outburst. Severalhundreds of people had met with sudden and terrible death; scores ofothers had been injured; and the long roll of disaster included thedestruction of horses and cattle, damming up of rivers, and layingwaste of large tracts of rice-land and mulberry groves. A small party was organized in Tokio to visit the scene. As thetravelers approached the mountain, they were told that twenty miles ina straight line from Bandai-san no noise or earthquake was experiencedon the 15th, but mist and gloom prevailed for about seven hours, theresult of a shower of impalpable blue-gray ash, which fell to a depthof half an inch, and greatly puzzled the inhabitants. An ascent ofabout 3, 000 feet was made to the back of the newly formed crater, soas to obtain a clear view of it and of the country which had beenoverwhelmed. Only on nearing the end of the ascent was the party againbrought face to face with signs of the explosion. Here, besides therain of fine, gray, ashen mud which had fallen on and still coveredthe ground and all vegetation, they came upon a number of freshlyopened pits, evidently in some way the work of the volcano. Ascendingthe last steep rise to the ridge behind Little Bandai-san, signs ofthe great disaster grew in number and intensity. The London Times correspondent, who was one of the party, wrote:"Fetid vapors swept over us, emanating from evil looking pools. Greattrees, torn up by their roots, lay all around; and the whole face ofthe mountain wore the look of having been withered by some fierce andbaleful blast. A few minutes further and we had gained the crest ofthe narrow ridge, and now, for the first time, looked forth upon thesight we had come to see. I hardly know which to pronounce the moreastonishing, the prospect that now opened before our eyes or thesuddenness with which it burst upon us. To the former no more fittingphrase, perhaps, can be applied than that of absolute, unredeemeddesolation--so intense, so sad, and so bewildering that I despair ofdescribing it adequately in detail. "On our right, a little above us, rose the in-curved rear wall ofwhat, eight days before, had been Sho-Bandai-san, a ragged, almostsheer cliff, falling, with scarce a break, to a depth of fully 600feet. In front of the cliff everything had been blown away andscattered over the face of the country before it, in a roughlyfan-shaped deposit of for the most part unknown depth--deep enough, however, to erase every landmark, and conceal every feature of thedeluged area. At the foot of the cliff, clouds of suffocating steamrose ceaselessly and angrily, and with loud roaring, from two greatfissures in the crater bed, and now and then assailed us with theirhellish odor. To our eyes, the base, denuded by the explosion, seemedto cover a space of between three and four square miles. This, however, can only be rough conjecture. Equally vague must be allpresent attempts to determine the volume of the disrupted matter. Yet, if we assume, as a very moderate calculation, that the mean depth ofthe debris covering a buried area of thirty square miles is not lessthan fifteen feet, we find that the work achieved by this great mineof Nature's firing was the upheaval and wide distribution of no fewerthan 700, 000, 000 tons of earth, rocks, and other ponderous material. The real figure is probably very much greater. " The desolation beyond the crater, and the mighty mass thrown out bythe volcano which covered the earth, were almost incredible. "Down theslopes of Bandai-san, across the valley of the Nagase-gawa, choking upthe river, and stretching beyond it to the foothills, five or sixmiles away, swept a vast, billowy sheet of ash-covered earth or mud, obliterating every foot of the erstwhile smiling landscape. Here andthere the eyes rested on huge, disordered heaps of rocky debris, inthe distance resembling nothing so much as the giant, concrete, blacksubstructure of some modern breakwater. It was curious to see on thefarther side the sharp line of demarkation between the brown sea ofmud and the green forests on which it had encroached; or, again, thelakes formed in every tributary glen of the Nagase-gawa by the massivedams so suddenly raised against the passage of their stream waters. One lake was conspicuous among the rest. It was there that theNagase-gawa itself had been arrested at its issue from a narrow passby a monster barrier of disrupted matter thrown right across itscourse. Neither living thing nor any sign of life could be discernedover the whole expanse. All was dismally silent and solitary. Beneathit, however, lay half a score of hamlets, and hundreds of corpses ofmen, women and children, who had been overtaken by swift and painfuldeaths. " Although the little village of Nagasaka was comparatively uninjured, nearly all its able-bodied inhabitants lost their lives in a mannerwhich shows the extraordinary speed with which the mud-stream flowed. When Little Bandai-san blew up, and hot ashes and sand began to fall, the young and strong fled panic-stricken across the fields, making forthe opposite hills by paths well known to all. A minute later came athick darkness, as of midnight. Blinded by this, and dazed by thefalling debris and other horrors of the scene, their steps, probablyalso their senses, failed them. And before the light returned everysoul was caught by a swift bore of soft mud, which, rushing down thevalley bed, overwhelmed them in a fate more horrible and not lesssudden than that of Pharaoh and his host. None escaped save those whostayed at home--mostly the old and very young. A terrible earthquake convulsed central Japan on the morning ofOctober 25, 1891. The waves of disturbance traversed thirty-oneprovinces, over which the earth's crust was violently shaken for tenminutes together, while slighter shocks were felt for a distance of400 miles to the north, and traveled under the sea a like distance, making themselves felt in a neighboring island. In Tokio itself, though 170 miles from the center of disturbance, it produced anearthquake greater than any felt for nearly forty years, lastingtwelve minutes. Owing, however, to the character of the movement, which was a comparatively slow oscillation, the damage was confined tothe wrecking of some roofs and chimneys. Very different were itsresults in the central zone of agitation, concerning which acorrespondent wrote as follows: "There was a noise as of underground artillery, a shake, a secondshake, and in less than thirty seconds the Nagoya-Gifu plain, coveringan area of 1, 200 square miles, became a sea of waves, more than 40, 000houses fell, and thousands of people lost their lives. The sequence ofevents was approximately as follows: To commence at Tokio, thecapital, which is some 200 miles from the scene of the disaster, onOctober 25th, very early in the morning, the inhabitants were alarmedby a long, easy swaying of the ground, and many sought refuge outsidetheir doors. There were no shocks, but the ground moved back andforth, swung round, and rose and fell with the easy, gentle motion ofa raft upon an ocean swell. Many became dizzy, and some were seizedwith nausea. " These indications, together with the movements of the seismographs, denoted a disturbance at a considerable distance, but the firstsurmise that it was located under the Pacific Ocean, was unfortunatelyincorrect. The scene of the catastrophe was indicated only by tidingsfrom its outskirts, as all direct news was cut off by the interruptionof railway and telegraphic communication. An exploratory and reliefparty started on the second day from Tokio, not knowing how far theywould be able to proceed by train, and the correspondent whoaccompanied them thus described his experiences: "Leaving Tokio by a night train, early next morning we were atHamamatsu, 137 miles distant from Tokio, on the outside edge of thedestructive area. Here, although the motion had been sufficientlysevere to destroy some small warehouses, to displace the postssupporting the heavy roof of a temple, and to ruffle a few tiles alongthe eaves of the houses, nothing serious had occurred. At one point, owing to the lateral spreading of an embankment, there had been aslight sinkage of the line, and we had to proceed with caution. Crossing the entrance to the beautiful lake of Hamana Ko, whichtradition says was joined to the sea by the breaking of a sand-spit bythe sea waves accompanying an earthquake in 1498, we rose from therice fields and passed over a country of hill and rock. Further alongthe line signs of violent movement became more numerous. Huge stonelanterns at the entrances of temples had been rotated or overturned, roofs had lost their tiles, especially along the ridge, sinkages inthe line became numerous, and although there was yet another rockbarrier between us and the plain of great destruction, it was evidentthat we were in an area where earth movements had been violent. " The theatre of maximum destruction was a plain, dotted with villagesand homesteads, supporting, under the garden-like culture of Japan, 500 and 800 inhabitants to the square mile, and containing two cities, Nagoya and Gifu, with populations respectively of 162, 000 and 30, 000, giving probably a round total of half a million human beings. Withinabout twelve miles of Gifu, a subsidence on a vast scale took place, engulfing a whole range of hills, while over lesser areas the soil inmany places slipped down, carrying with it dwellings and theirinmates. Gifu was a total wreck, devastated by ruin and conflagration, causing the destruction of half its houses. Ogaki, nine miles to thewest, fared even worse, for here only 113 out of 4, 434 housesremained standing, and one-tenth of the population were killed orwounded. In one temple, where service was being held, only two out ofthe entire congregation escaped. Nagoya, too, suffered heavily, and thousands of houses collapsed. Thedamage at this place was produced by three violent shocks in quicksuccession, preceded by a deep, booming sound. During the succeeding206 hours, 6, 600 earth spasms of greater or less intensity were feltat increasing intervals, occurring in the beginning probably at therate of one a minute. The inhabitants were driven to bivouac in rudeshelters in the streets, and there was great suffering among theinjured, to whom it was impossible to give proper care for many daysafter the disaster. Some estimates placed the figure of the killed andwounded as high as 24, 000, whilst not less than 300, 000 were renderedhomeless. Owing to the frequency of earthquake shocks in Japan, the study oftheir causes and effects has had a great deal of attention there sincethe introduction of modern science into the island empire. TheJapanese have proved as energetic in this direction as they are inpurely material progress on the lines of western civilization, andalready they are recognized as the most advanced of all people intheir study of seismology and its accompanying phenomena. CHAPTER XXIX. KRAKATOA, THE GREATEST OF VOLCANIC EXPLOSIONS. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. =The Volcano That Blew Its Own Head Off--The Terrific Crash Heard Three Thousand Miles--Atmospheric Waves Travel Seven Times Around the Earth--A Pillar of Dust Seventeen Miles High--Islands of the Malay Archipelago Blotted Out of Existence--Native Villages Annihilated--Other Disastrous Upheavals in the East Indies. = One of the fairest regions of the world is the Malay Archipelago ofthe East Indies. Here nature is prodigal with her gifts to man, andthe cocoa-palm, cinnamon and other trees flourish, and rice, cotton, the sugar cane and tobacco yield their increase under cultivation. Butbeneath these scenes of loveliness, there are terrific energies, forthis region is a focus of intense volcanic action. In the Sundastrait, between Sumatra and Java, there lies a group of small volcanicislands, the largest of which is Krakatoa. It forms part of the "basalwreck" of a large submarine volcano, whose visible edges are alsorepresented by Velaten and Lang islands. For two hundred years the igneous forces beneath Krakatoa remaineddormant; but in September, 1880, premonitory shocks of earthquake wereheard in the neighborhood. At length the inhabitants of Batavia andBintenzorg were startled on May 20, 1883, by booming sounds which camefrom Krakatoa, one hundred miles distant. A mail steamer passingthrough the strait, had her compass violently agitated. Next day asprinkling of ashes was noticed at some places on each side of thestrait, and toward evening a steam-column rising from Krakatoarevealed the locality of the disturbance. The commander of the Germanwar ship Elisabeth, while passing, estimated the dust-column to beabout thirty-six thousand feet, or seven miles high. Volcanic phenomena being common to that region, no fears wereentertained by the inhabitants in the vicinity; and an excursion partyeven started from Batavia to visit the scene of action. They reachedthe island on May 27th, and saw that the cone of Perborwatan wasactive, and that a column of vapor arose from it to a height of notless than ten thousand feet, while lumps of pumice were shot up toabout six hundred feet. Explosions occurred at intervals of from fiveto ten minutes, each of these outbursts uncovering the liquid lava inthe vent, the glow of which lighted up the overhanging steam-cloud fora few seconds. Shortly after this visit the activity diminished. But on June 19th itwas noticed at Anjer that the height of the dust and vapor-column, andlikewise the explosions were again increasing. On the 24th a secondcolumn was seen rising. At length, Captain Ferzenaar, chief of theTopographical Survey of Bantam, visited Krakatoa island on August11th. He found its forests destroyed, and the mantle of dust near theshores was twenty inches thick. Three large vapor-columns were noted, one marking the position of the crater of Perborwatan, while the othertwo were in the center of the island, and of the latter, one wasprobably Danan. There were also no less than eleven other eruptivefoci, from which issued smaller steam-columns and dust. This was thelast report prior to the great paroxysm. During the next two or three weeks there was a decline in the energyof the volcano, but on the afternoon of Sunday, August 26th, and allthrough the following night, it was evident that the period ofmoderate eruptive action had passed, and that Krakatoa had nowentered upon the paroxysmal stage. From sunset on Sunday till midnightthe tremendous detonations followed each other so quickly that acontinuous roar may be said to have issued from the island. The fullterrors of the eruption were now approaching. The distance ofninety-six miles from Krakatoa was not sufficient to permit sleep tothe inhabitants of Batavia. All night volcanic thunders sounded likethe discharges of artillery at their very doors. On the next morningthere were four mighty explosions. The third was of appallingviolence, and it gave rise to the most far-reaching effects. Theentire series of grand phenomena at that spot extended over a littlemore than thirty-six hours. Captain Thompson, of the Media, then seventy-six miles northeast ofKrakatoa, saw a black mass like smoke rising into the clouds to analtitude estimated at not less than seventeen miles. The eruption wasalso viewed by Captain Wooldridge at a distance of forty miles. Hespeaks of the vapory mass looking like "an immense wall, with burstsof forked lightning, at times like large serpents rushing through theair. " After sunset this dark wall resembled "a blood-red curtain withthe edges of all shades of yellow, the whole of a murky tinge, withfierce flashes of lightning. " Two other masters of vessels, at aboutthe same distance from the volcano, report seeing the mastheads andyardarms of their ships aglow with electric fire. Such effects seem tobe easily explicable. When we consider how enormous must be thefriction going on in the hot air, through the clash against each otherof myriads of particles of volcanic dust, during ejection and in theirdescent, it is evident that such friction is adequate to produce awidespread electrical disturbance in the surrounding atmosphere. Therush of steam through craters or other fissures would also contributeto these disturbances. From these causes the compasses of passing ships were much disturbed. And yet the fall of magnetic oxide of iron (magnetite), a constituentof volcanic ash, possibly had some share in creating theseperturbations. On the telephone line from Ishore, which included asubmarine cable about a mile long, reports like pistol shots wereheard. At Singapore, five hundred miles from Krakatoa, it was noted atthe Oriental Telephone Company's station that, on putting the receiverto the ear, a roar like that of a waterfall was heard. So great wasthe mass of vapor and dust in the air, that profound darkness, whichlasted many hours, extended even to one hundred and fifty miles fromthe focus of the eruption. There is the record, among others, that itwas "pitch dark" at Anjer at two o'clock in the afternoon of the 26th. So great, too, was the ejective force that the fine volcanic dust wasblown up to a height of fifty thousand feet, or over nine miles, intospace. Another estimate gives the enormous altitude of seventeen milesto which the dust had been blown. The volcanic ash, which fell uponthe neighboring islands within a circle of nine and one half milesradius, was from sixty-five to one hundred and thirty feet thick. Atthe back of the island the thickness of the ash beds was from onehundred and ninety-five to two hundred and sixty feet. Masses offloating pumice encumbered the strait. The coarser particles of thisash fell over a known area equal to 285, 170 square miles, a spaceequal to the whole of the New England States, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. It is calculated that thematter so ejected must have been considerably over a cubic mile involume. Another distinguishing feature of this display of nature's powers wasthe magnitude and range of the explosive sounds. Lloyd's agent atBatavia, ninety-four miles distant from Krakatoa, reported that on themorning of the 27th the reports and concussions were simply deafening. At Carimon, Java, which is three hundred and fifty-five miles distant, the natives heard reports which led them to suppose that a distantship was in distress; boats put off for what proved to be a futilesearch. The explosions were heard not only all over the province ofMacassar, nine hundred and sixty-nine miles from the scene of theeruption, but over a yet wider area. At a spot one thousand onehundred and sixteen miles distant--St. Lucia bay, Borneo--some nativesheard the awful sound. It stirred their consciences, for, being guiltyof murder, they fled, fearing that such sounds signified the approachof an avenging force. Again, in the island of Timor, one thousandthree hundred and fifty-one miles away, the people were so alarmedthat the government sent off a steamer to seek the cause of thedisturbance. At that time, also, the shepherds on the Victoria plains, WestAustralia, thought they heard the firing of heavy artillery, at a spotone thousand seven hundred miles distant. At midnight, August 26th, the people of Daly Waters, South Australia, were aroused by what theythought was the blasting of a rock, a sound which lasted a fewminutes. "The time and other circumstances show that here again wasKrakatoa heard, this time at the enormous distance of two thousand andtwenty-three miles. " And yet there is trustworthy evidence that thesounds were heard over even greater distances. Thundering noises wereheard at Diego Garcia, in the Chagos islands, two thousand two hundredand sixty-seven miles from Krakatoa. It was imagined that some vesselmust be in distress, and search was accordingly made. But mostremarkable of all, Mr. James Wallis, chief of police in Rodriguez, across the Indian ocean, and nearly three thousand miles away fromKrakatoa, made a statement in which he said that "several times duringthe night of August 26th-27th reports were heard coming from theeastward like the distant roar of heavy guns. These reports continuedat intervals of between three and four hours. " Obviously, some timewas needed for the sounds to make such a journey. On the basis of theknown rate of velocity, they must have been heard at Rodriguez fourhours after they started from their source. And yet, great as was the range of such vibrations, they could not becompared with that of the air-wave caused by the mighty outburst. Thisatmospheric wave started from Krakatoa at two minutes past ten on thateventful Monday morning, moving onward in an ever-widening circle, like that produced when a stone is thrown into smooth water. Thisring-like wave traveled on at the rate of from six hundred andseventy-four to seven hundred and twenty-six miles an hour, and wentaround the world four, if not even seven times, as evidenced by thefollowing facts: Batavia is nearly a hundred miles from the eruptivefocus under review. There was connected with its gas-holder the usualpressure recorder. About thirteen minutes after the great outburst, this gauge showed a barometric disturbance equal to about four-tenthsof an inch of mercury, that is, an extra air pressure of about a fifthof a pound on every square inch. The effects on the air of minorparoxysmal outbreaks are also recorded by this instrument; butbarometers in the most distant places record the same disturbance. Thegreat wave passed and repassed over the globe and no inhabitant wasconscious of the fact. Barometers in the principal cities of the worldautomatically recorded this effect of the first great wave fromKrakatoa to its antipodes in Central America, and also the returnwave. The first four oscillations left their mark on upward of fortybarograms, the fifth and sixth on several, and at Kew, England, theexistence of a seventh was certainly established. At the same time that this immense aerial undulation started on itstour around the world, another wave but of awful destructiveness, aseismic sea-wave, started on a similar journey. There can hardly be adoubt that this so-called "tidal-wave" was synchronous with thegreatest of the explosions. A wave from fifty to seventy-two feet higharose and swept with resistless fury upon the shores each side of thestraits. The destruction to life and property will probably never befully known. At least thirty-six thousand lives were lost; a greatpart of the district of North Bantam was destroyed; and the towns ofAnjer, Merak, Tyringin, and neighboring villages were overwhelmed. Aman-of-war, the Berouw, was cast upon the shore of Sumatra nearly twomiles inland, and masses of coral from twenty to fifty tons in weightwere torn from the bed of the sea and swept upon the shore. The formerly fertile and densely populated islands of Sibuku andSibesi were entirely covered by a deposit of dry mud several yardsthick, and furrowed by deep crevasses. Of the inhabitants all perishedto a man. Three islands, Steers, Calmeyer, and the islet east ofVerlaten, completely disappeared and were covered by twelve orfourteen feet of water. Verlaten, formerly one mass of verdure, wasuniformly covered with a layer of ashes about one hundred feet thick. A few days after this eruption some remarkable sky effects wereobserved in different parts of the world. Many of these effects wereof extraordinary beauty. Accordingly scientific inquiry was made, andin due time there was collected and tabulated a list of places fromwhence these effects were seen, together with the dates of suchoccurrences. Eventually it was concluded that such optical phenomenahad a common cause, and that it must be the dust of ultra-microscopicfineness at an enormous altitude. All the facts indicated that such acloud started from the Sunda straits, and that the prodigious force ofthe Krakatoa eruption could at that time alone account for thepresence of impalpable matter at such a height in the atmosphere. This cloud traveled at about double the speed of an express train, byway of the tropics of Cancer and of Capricorn. Carried bywesterly-going winds, in three days it had crossed the Indian Oceanand was rapidly moving over Central Africa; two days later it wasflying over the Atlantic; then, for two more days over Brazil, andthen across the Pacific toward its birth-place. But the wind stillcarried this haze of fine particles onward, and again it went aroundthe world within a fortnight. In November, the dust area had expandedso as to include North America and Europe. Here are a few facts culled from the report of the Royal Society ofLondon. On the 28th, at Seychelles, the sun was seen as through a fogat sunset, and there was a lurid glare all over the sky. At the islandof Rodriguez, on that day, "a strange, red, threatening sky was seenat sunset. " At Mauritius (28th), there is the record "Crimson dawn, sun red after rising, gorgeous sunset, first of the afterglows; skyand clouds yellow and red up to the zenith. " 28th and 29th, Natal--"most vivid sunsets, also August 31st and September 5th, skyvivid red, fading into green and purple. " On the last days of Augustand September 1st, the sun, as seen from South America, appeared blue, while at Panama on the 2nd and 3d of that month, the sun appearedgreen. "On the 2nd of September, Trinidad, Port of Spain--Sun lookedlike a blue ball, and after sunset the sky became so red that therewas supposed to be a big fire. " "On the 5th of September, Honolulu--Sun set green. Remarkable afterglow first seen. Secondaryglow lasted till 7:45 P. M. , gold, green and crimson colors. Coronaconstantly seen from September 5th to December 15th. Misty rippledsurface of haze. " It remains to be said that when this now famous island of Krakatoa wasvisited shortly after the great eruption, wonderful changes werenoted. The whole northern and lower portion of the island hadvanished, except an isolated pitchstone rock, ten yards square, andprojecting out of the ocean with deep water all around it. What atremendous work of evisceration this must have been is attested by thefact that where Krakatoa island, girt with luxuriant forests, oncetowered from three hundred to fourteen hundred feet above the sunlitwaters, it is now, in some places, more than a thousand feet belowthem. There is no region more frequently visited by earthquakes than thebeautiful lands in the Indian ocean, and nowhere has greater damagebeen done than on the beautiful island of Java. In former ages Sumatraand Java formed one single island, but in the year 1115, after aterrific earthquake, the isthmus which connected them, disappeared inthe waves with all its forests and fertile fields. These two islands have more than 200 volcanoes, half of which havenever been explored, but it is known that whenever there has been aneruption of any one of them, one or the other of the two islands hasbeen visited by an earthquake. Moreover, earthquakes are so frequentin the whole archipelago that the principal ones serve as dates tomark time or to refer to, just as in our own country is the case withany great historic event. A month rarely passes without the soil beingshaken, and the disappearance of a village is of frequent occurrence. In 1822 the earthquake which accompanied the eruption of the Javanesevolcano of Yalung-Yung, utterly destroyed 144 towns and villages. In1772, when the Papand-Yung was in a state of furious eruption, theisland of Java was violently agitated, and a tract of nearlytwenty-five square leagues, which but the day before had been coveredwith flourishing villages and farms, was reduced to a heap of ruins. In 1815 an earthquake, accompanied by an eruption of the volcano ofTimboro, in the island of Sumatra, destroyed more than 20, 000 lives. It is rare even in this archipelago that there occurs a cataclysm soterrible as that of 1883. When the first eruption of Krakatoa occurredon August 25, it seemed that it was a signal to the other volcanoes ofJava and Sumatra. By midday Maha-Meru, the greatest, if not the mostactive of the Javanese volcanoes, was belching forth flamecontinuously. The eruption soon extended to the Gunung-Guntus andother volcanoes, until a third of the forty-five craters in Java wereeither in full blast, or beginning to show signs of eruption. Whilethese eruptions were going on, the sea was in a state of tremendousagitation. The clouds floating above the water were charged withelectricity, and at one moment there were fifteen large water-spoutsto be seen at the same time. Men, women and children fled in terror from their crumblinghabitations, and filled the air with their cries of distress. Hundredsof them who had not time to escape were buried beneath the ruins. OnSunday evening the violence of the shocks and of the volcaniceruptions increased, and the island of Java seemed likely to beentirely submerged. Enormous waves dashed against the shore, and insome cases forced their way inland, while enormous crevices opened inthe ground, threatening to engulf at one fell swoop all theinhabitants and their houses. Toward midnight there was a scene of horror passing the powers ofimagination. A luminous cloud gathered above the chain of theKandangs, which run along the southeastern coast of Java. This cloudincreased in size each minute, until at last it came to form a sort ofdome of a gray and blood-red color, which hung over the earth for aconsiderable distance. In proportion as this cloud grew, the eruptionsgained fresh force, and the floods of lava poured down the mountainsides without ceasing, and spread into the valleys, where they sweptall before them. On Monday morning, about two o'clock, the heavy cloudsuddenly broke up, and finally disappeared, but when the sun rose itwas found that a tract of country extending from Point Capucine to thesouth as far as Negery Passoerang, to the north and west, and coveringan area of about fifty square miles, had entirely disappeared. There stood the previous day the villages of Negery, and NegeryBabawang. Not one of the inhabitants had escaped. They and theirvillages had been swallowed up by the sea. CHAPTER XXX. OUR GREAT HAWAIIAN AND ALASKAN VOLCANOES. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. =Greatest Volcanoes in the World Are Under the American Flag--Huge Craters in Our Pacific Islands--Native Worship of the Gods of the Flaming Mountains--Eruptions of the Past--Heroic Defiance of Pele, the Goddess of Volcanoes, by a Brave Hawaiian Queen--The Spell of Superstition Broken--Volcanic Peaks in Alaska, Our Northern Territory--Aleutian Islands Report Eruptions. = Under the American flag we are ourselves the possessors of some of thegreatest active volcanoes in the world, and the greatest of allcraters, the latter extinct indeed, for many years, but with a latentpower that no one could conceive should it once more begin activity. Hawaii, Paradise of the Pacific, raised by the fires of the veryInferno out of the depths of the ocean centuries ago, to become inrecent years a smiling land of tropic beauty and an American islandpossession! Hawaii is the land of great volcanoes, sometimesslumbering and again pouring forth floods of molten fire to overwhelmthe peaceful villages and arouse the superstitious fears of thenatives. Alaska, too, is a region of great volcanic ranges and eruptiveactivity, the Aleutian islands being raised from the bed of thePacific by the same natural forces. The Hawaiian islands occupy a central position in the North Pacificocean, about 2, 000 miles west of the California coast. The groupincludes eight inhabited islands, all of volcanic origin, and theyare, substantially, naught but solid aggregations of fused, basalticrock shot up from the earth's center, during outbursts of bye-goneages, and cooled into mountains of stone here in the midst of thegreatest body of water on the globe. In many localities, however, theaccretions of centuries have so covered them with vegetable growthsthat their general appearance is not greatly different from that ofother sections of the earth's surface. The largest of the group is Hawaii, and it includes nearly two-thirdsof the total area. Here stand the highest mountains found on anyisland in the known world. Only a few peaks of the Alps are as high asMauna Loa (Long mountain), which towers 13, 675 feet above the level ofthe sea, and Mauna Kea (White mountain), the height of which is 13, 805feet. In east Maui stands Haleakala, with an elevation about equal tothat of Mount Ętna. This extinct volcano enjoys the distinction ofhaving the largest crater in the world, a monstrous pit, thirty milesin circumference and 2, 000 feet deep. The vast, irregular floorcontains more than a dozen subsidiary craters or great cones, some ofthem 750 feet high. At the Kaupo and Koolau gaps the lava is supposedto have burst through and made its way down the mountain sides. Thecones are distinctly marked as one looks down upon them; and it isremarkable that from the summit the eye takes in the whole crater, andnotes all its contents, diminished, of course, by their greatdistance. Not a tree, shrub, nor even a tuft of grass obstructs theview. The natives have no traditions of Haleakala in activity. Thereare signs of several lava flows, and one in particular is clearly muchmore recent than the others. The greatest point of interest in the islands is the great crater ofKilauea. It is nine miles in circumference and perhaps a thousand feetdeep. Nowhere else within the knowledge of mankind is there a livingcrater to be compared with it. Moreover, there is no crater which canbe entered and explored with ease and comparative safety save Kilaueaalone. There have been a few narrow escapes, but no accidents, and itis needless to add that no description can give anyone an adequateidea of the incomparable splendor of the scene. It is, indeed, a"bottomless pit, " bounded on all sides by precipitous rocks. Theentrance is effected by a series of steps, and below these by ascramble over lava and rock debris. The greater part of the crater isa mass of dead, though not cold, lava; and over this the journey ismade to the farthest extremity of the pit, where it is necessary toascend a tolerably steep hill of lava, which is the bank of the fierylake. A step or two brings one close to the awful margin, and he looksdown over smoking, frightful walls, three hundred feet or more, into agreat boiling, bubbling, sizzling sea of fire. The tendency of the current, if it may be so called, is centripetal, though at times it varies, flowing to one side; while along theborders of the pit, waves of slumbering lava, apparently as unmovableas those over which the traveler has just crossed, lie in wrinkledfolds and masses, heaped against the shore. If one watches those wavesclosely, however, he will presently observe what appears like a fiery, red serpent coming up out of the lake and creeping through and underthem, like a chain of brilliant flame, its form lengthening as itgoes, until it has circumscribed a large share of the entire basin. Then it begins to spread and flatten, as though the body had burstasunder and was dissolving back again, along its whole trail, into thefierce flood of turbulent fury whence it came. Soon the broad, thick mass of lava, thus surrounded, which seemedfixed and immovable, slowly drifts off from the shore to the center ofthe lake; reminding one of detached cakes of broken ice, such as areoften seen in winter when the thaws come, or during spring freshetswhen the streams burst their encrusted chains. The force of thiscomparison is strengthened when those cakes reach the center, forthere they go to pieces exactly after the manner of large pieces ofice, and turning upon their edges, disappear in the ravenous vortexbelow, which is forever swallowing up all that approaches it, givingnothing back in return. Two kinds of lava form on the face of the lake. One is stony, hard, and brittle; the other flexible and tough, similar to India-rubber. The flexible kind forms exclusively on one side of the basin andspreads over it like an immense, sombre blanket; and, as it floatsdown in slow procession to the central abyss, occasionally rises andfalls with a flapping motion, by force of the generated gasesunderneath, like a sheet shaken in the wind. Occasionally, the fire forces its way through this covering andlaunches huge, sputtering fountains of red-hot liquid lava high intothe air, with a noise that resembles distant bombs exploding; andagain, multitudes of smaller founts burst into blossom all over thelake, presenting a spectacle of wild beauty across its entire surface. In Hawaiian mythology, Pele was the goddess of volcanoes, and she andher numerous family formed a class of deities by themselves. She withher six sisters, Hiiaka, her brother Kamohoalii, and others, were saidto have emigrated from Kahiki (Samoa) in ancient times. They were saidto have first lived at Moanalua in Oahu, then to have moved theirresidence to Kalaupapa, Molokai, then to Haleakala, and finally tohave settled on Hawaii. Their headquarters were in the Halemaumau, inthe crater of Kilauea, but they also caused the eruptions of Mauna Loaand Hualalai. In southern Hawaii Pele was feared more than any otherdeity, and no one dared to approach her abode without making her anoffering of the ohelo-berries that grow in the neighborhood. Wheneveran eruption took place, great quantities of hogs and other articles ofproperty were thrown into the lava stream in order to appease heranger. In 1824, Kapiolani, the daughter of a great chief of Hilo, having beenconverted to Christianity by the missionaries, determined to break thespell of the native belief in Pele. In spite of the strenuousopposition of her friends and even of her husband, she made a journeyof about 150 miles, mostly on foot, from Kealakekua to Hilo, visitingthe great crater of Kilauea on her way, in order to defy the wrath ofPele, and to prove that no such being existed. On approaching the volcano, she met the priestess of Pele, who warnedher not to go near the crater and predicted her death if she violatedthe tabus of the goddess. "Who are you?" demanded Kapiolani. "One in whom the goddess dwells, " she replied. In answer to a pretended letter of Pele, Kapiolani quoted passagesfrom the Bible until the priestess was silenced. Kapiolani then wentforward to the crater, where Mr. Goodrich, one of the missionaries, met her. A hut was built for her on the eastern brink of the crater, and here she passed the night. The next morning she and her company of about eighty persons descendedover 500 feet to the "Black Ledge. " There, in full view of the grandand terrific action of the inner crater, she ate the berriesconsecrated to Pele, and threw stones into the burning lake, saying:"Jehovah is my God. He kindled these fires. I fear not Pele. If Iperish by her anger, then you may fear Pele; but if I trust inJehovah, and he preserve me when breaking her tabus, then you mustfear and serve him alone. . . . " It is needless to say that she was not harmed, and this act did muchto destroy the superstitious dread in which the heathen goddess washeld by the ignorant and credulous natives. The history of Hawaiian volcanic eruptions tells no such tales ofhorror as regards the loss of life and property as may be read in theaccounts of other great volcanoes of the globe. This, however, issimply because the region is less populated, and their tremendousmanifestations of power have lacked material to destroy. There havebeen fatal catastrophes, and ruin has been wrought which seems slightonly in comparison with the greater disasters of a similar nature. In 1855 an eruption of Mauna Loa occurred. The lava flowed towardHilo, and for several months, spreading through the dense forestswhich belt the mountain, crept slowly shorewards, threatening thisbeautiful portion of Hawaii with the fate of the Cities of the Plain. For five months the inhabitants watched the inundation, which came alittle nearer every day. Should they flee or not? Would theirbeautiful homes become a waste of jagged lava and black sand, like theneighboring district of Puna, once as fair as Hilo? Such questionssuggested themselves as they nightly watched the nearing glare, tillthe fiery waves met with obstacles which piled them up in hillockseight miles from Hilo, and the suspense was over. Only gigantic causes can account for the gigantic phenomena of thislava-flow. The eruption traveled forty miles in a straight line, orsixty including sinuosities. It was from one to three miles broad, andfrom five to 200 feet deep, according to the contours of the mountainslopes over which it flowed. It lasted for thirteen months, pouringout a torrent of lava which covered nearly 300 square miles of land, and its volume was estimated at 38, 000, 000, 000 cubic feet! In 1859lava fountains 400 feet in height, and with a nearly equal diameter, played on the summit of Mauna Loa. This eruption ran fifty miles tothe sea in eight days, but the flow lasted much longer, and added anew promontory to Hawaii. On March 27, 1868, a series of earthquakes began and became morestartling from day to day, until their succession became so rapid thatthe island quivered like the lid of a boiling pot nearly all the timebetween the heavier shocks. The trembling was like that of a shipstruck by a heavy wave. Late in the afternoon of April 2, the climaxcame. The crust of the earth rose and sank like the sea in a storm. Rocks were rent, mountains fell, buildings and their contents wereshattered, trees swayed like reeds, animals ran about demented; menthought the judgment had come. The earth opened in thousands ofplaces, the roads in Hilo cracked open; horses and their riders, andpeople afoot, were thrown violently to the ground. At Kilauea theshocks were as frequent as the ticking of a watch. In Kau, south ofHilo, 300 shocks were counted during the day. An avalanche of redearth, supposed to be lava, burst from the mountain side, throwingrocks high into the air, swallowing up houses, trees, men and animals, and traveling three miles in as many minutes, burying a hamlet withthirty-one inhabitants, and 500 head of cattle. The people of the valleys fled to the mountains, which themselves weresplitting in all directions, and collecting on an elevated spot, withthe earth reeling under them, they spent a night of terror. Lookingtoward the shore, they saw it sink, and at the same moment a wave, whose height was estimated at from forty to sixty feet, hurled itselfupon the coast and receded five times, destroying whole villages andengulfing forever forty-six people who had lingered too near theshore. Still the earthquakes continued, and still the volcanoes gave no sign. People put their ears to the quivering ground and heard, or thoughtthey heard, the surgings of the imprisoned lava sea rending its wayamong the ribs of the earth. Five days after the destructiveearthquake of April 2, the ground south of Hilo burst open with acrash and a roar, which at once answered all questions concerning thevolcano. The molten river, after traveling underground for twentymiles, emerged through a fissure two miles in length with a tremendousforce and volume. Four huge fountains boiled up with terrific fury, throwing crimson lava and rocks weighing many tons from 500 to 1, 000feet. Mr. Whitney, of Honolulu, who was near the spot, says: "From thesegreat fountains to the sea flowed a rapid stream of red lava, rolling, rushing, and tumbling like a swollen river, bearing along in itscurrent large rocks that made the lava foam as it dashed down theprecipice and through the valley into the sea, surging and roaringthroughout its length like a cataract, with a power and furyperfectly indescribable. It was nothing else than a river of fire from200 to 800 feet wide and twenty deep, with a speed varying from ten totwenty-five miles an hour. From the scene of these fire fountains, whose united length was about one mile, the river in its rush to thesea divided itself into four streams, between which it shut up men andbeasts. Where it entered the sea it extended the coast-line half amile, but this worthless accession to Hawaiian acreage was dearlypurchased by the loss, for ages at least, of 4, 000 acres of valuableagricultural land, and a much larger quantity of magnificent forest. " The entire southeast shore of Hawaii sank from four to six feet, whichinvolved the destruction of several hamlets and the beautiful fringeof cocoanut trees. Though the region was very thinly peopled, 100lives were sacrificed in this week of horrors; and from the reelingmountains, the uplifted ocean, and the fiery inundation, the terrifiedsurvivors fled into Hilo, each with a tale of woe and loss. The numberof shocks of earthquake counted was 2, 000 in two weeks, an average of140 a day; but on the other side of the island the number wasincalculable. Since that time there have been several eruptions of these greatHawaiian volcanoes, but none so destructive to life and property. Onlytwo years ago the crater of Mauna Loa was in eruption for some weeks, and travelers journeyed to the vicinity from all over the world to seethe grand display of Nature's power in the fountains of lava and theblazing rivers flowing down the mountain side. The spectacle could beviewed perfectly at night from ships at sea, and from places of safetyon shore. Across the North Pacific, from Kamschatka to Alaska, is a continuouschain of craters in the Aleutian islands, forming almost a bridge overthe ocean, and from Alaska down the western coasts of the two Americasis a string of the mightiest volcanoes in existence. Iceland is aseething caldron under its eternal snows, and in a hundred placeswhere some great, jagged cone of a volcano rises, seemingly dead andlifeless, only a fire-brand in the hand of nature may be needed toawaken it to a fury like that of which its vast lava beds, pinnacles, and craters are so eloquent. The world's record for the extent of an eruption probably belongs tothe great volcano Skaptan Jokul, in Iceland. This eruption began onJune 11, 1783, having been preceded by violent earthquakes. A torrentof lava welled up into the crater, overflowed it, and ran down thesides of the cone into the channel of the Skapta river, completelydrying it up. The river had occupied a rocky gorge, from 400 to 600feet deep, and averaging 200 feet wide. This gorge was filled, a deeplake was filled, and the rock, still at white heat, flowed on intosubterranean caverns. Tremendous explosions followed, throwingboulders to enormous heights. A week after the first eruption anotherstream of lava followed the first, debouched over a precipice into thechannel of another river, and finally, at the end of two years, thelava had spread over the plains below in great lakes twelve to fifteenmiles wide and a hundred feet deep. Twenty villages were destroyed byfire, and out of 50, 000 inhabitants nearly 9, 000 perished, either fromfire or from noxious vapors. The Skapta river branch of this lava stream was fifty miles long andin places twelve to fifteen miles wide; the other stream was fortymiles long, seven miles broad, and the range of depth in each streamwas from 100 to 600 feet. Professor Bischoff has called this, inquantity, the greatest eruption of the world, the lava, piled, havingbeen estimated as of greater volume than is Mont Blanc. Regarding the volcanoes of the United States, Mount Shasta is one ofthe most interesting of them. It has an altitude of 14, 350 feet, towering more than a mile above its nearest neighbor. Four thousandfeet of its peak are above timber line, covered with glaciers, whilethe mountain's base is seventeen miles in diameter. Shasta is almostcontinually showing slight evidences of its internal fires. Another ofthe famous cones is that of Mount Hood, standing 11, 225 feet, snow-capped, and regarded as an extinct volcano. As to the volcanic records of the great West, they may be read in thechains of mountains that stretch from Alaska 10, 000 miles to Tierradel Fuego. In the giant geysers and hot springs of the YellowstonePark are evidences of existing fires in the United States; while as tothe extent of seismic disturbances of the past, the famous lava bedsof Dakota, in which Captain Jack, the Modoc chief, held out againstgovernment troops till starved into submission, are volcanic areasfull of mute testimony regarding nature's convulsions. How soon, if ever, some of these volcanic areas of the United Statesmay burst forth into fresh activity, no one can predict. If theslumbering giants should arouse themselves and shake off the rockfetters which bind their strength, the results might be terrible tocontemplate. Those who dwell in the shadow of such peaks as arebelieved to be extinct, become indifferent to such a possible threatafter many years of immunity, but such a disaster as that of St. Pierre arouses thought and directs scrutiny once more upon the ancientvolcanic peaks of the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevadas. CHAPTER XXXI. SOUTH AMERICAN CITIES DESTROYED. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. =Earthquakes Ravage the Coast Cities of Peru and the Neighboring Countries--Spanish Capitals in the New World Frequent Sufferers--Lima, Callao and Caracas Devastated--Tidal Waves Accompany the Earthquakes--Juan Fernandez Island Shaken--Fissures Engulf Men and Animals--Peculiar Effects Observed. = The discovery of America, in 1492, brought a great accession to thenumber of recorded earthquakes, as South and Central America and theislands near them have furnished almost innumerable instances of thephenomena. The first of the known earthquakes in the western hemisphere occurredin 1530, and the Gulf of Paria, with the adjacent coast of Cumana, inVenezuela, was the scene of the catastrophe. It was accompanied by agreat sea-wave, the tide suddenly rising twenty-four feet, and thenretiring. There were also opened in the earth several large fissures, which discharged black, fetid salt water and petroleum. A mountainnear the neighboring Gulf of Caracas was split in twain, and has sinceremained in its cloven condition. The coast of Peru was visited by an earthquake in the year 1586, andagain in 1687. On the first occasion the shock was accompanied by agreat sea-wave eighty-four feet high, which inundated the country fortwo leagues inland. There was still another dreadful convulsion onthis coast in 1746, when the sea twice retreated and dashed in againwith a tremendous wave about eighty feet high, overwhelming Lima andfour other seaports. A portion of the coast sank down, producing anew bay at Callao; and in several mountains in the neighborhood therewere formed large fissures whence water and mud gushed forth. On May24, 1751, the city of Concepcion, in Chili, was entirely swallowed upduring an earthquake, and the sea rolled over its site. The ancientport was destroyed, and a new town was afterwards erected ten milesinland. The great sea-wave, which accompanied this earthquake, rolledin upon the shores of the island of Juan Fernandez, and overwhelmed acolony which had been recently established there. The coast near theancient port of Concepcion was considerably raised on this occasion, and the high water mark now stands twenty-four feet below its formerlevel. The coast of Caracas and the adjacent island of Trinidad wereviolently convulsed in 1776, and the whole city of Cumana was reducedto ruins. The shocks were continued for upwards of a year, and were atfirst repeated almost hourly. There were frequent eruptions ofsulphurous water from fissures in the ground, and an island in theOrinoco disappeared. Rihamba must have stood, it would appear, almost immediately over thefocus of the dreadful earthquake of February 4, 1797. This unfortunatecity was situated in the district of Quito, not far from the base ofthe great volcano of Tunguragua. That mountain was probably the centerof disturbance, and the shock was experienced with disastrous effectsover a district of country extending about 120 miles from north tosouth and about sixty miles from east to west. Every town and villagecomprehended within this district was reduced to ruins. The shocks, however, were felt, though in a milder form, over a much larger area, extending upwards of 500 miles from north to south and more than 400miles from east to west. At Riobamba the shocks, which began at about eight o'clock in themorning, are said to have been vertical. Some faint idea may be formedof the extreme violence of this motion from the fact mentioned byHumboldt that the dead bodies of some of the inhabitants who perishedwere tossed over a small river to the height of several hundred feet, and landed on an adjacent hill. Vertical movements, so powerful and so long continued, could not failto produce an enormous displacement of the ground, and to be verydestructive to all buildings which it sustained. The soil was rent, and, as it were, torn asunder and twisted in an extraordinary manner. Several of the fissures opened and closed again; many persons wereengulfed in them; but a few saved themselves by simply stretching outtheir arms, so that, when the fissure closed, the upper parts of theirbodies were left above the ground, thus admitting of their beingeasily extricated. In some instances whole cavalcades of horsemen andtroops of laden mules disappeared in those chasms; while some fewescaped by throwing themselves back from the edge of the cleft. The amount of simultaneous elevation and depression of the ground wasin some cases as much as twelve feet; and several persons who were inthe choir of one of the churches escaped by simply stepping on thepavement of the street, which was brought up to a level with the spotwhere they stood. Instances occurred of whole houses sinking bodilyinto the earth, till their roofs were fairly underground; but solittle were the buildings thus engulfed injured, that theirinhabitants were able still to live in them, and by the light offlambeaux to pass from room to room, the doors opening and shutting aseasily as before. The people remained in them, subsisting on theprovisions they had in store, for the space of two days, until theywere extricated safe and sound. With the majority of the inhabitants, however, it fared otherwise. The loss of life in the city, andthroughout the district most convulsed, was enormous, 40, 000 personsaltogether having perished. Of Riobamba itself the ruin was complete. When Humboldt took a plan ofthe place after the catastrophe, he could find nothing but heaps ofstones eight or ten feet high; although the city had containedchurches and convents, with many private houses several stories inheight. The town of Quero was likewise entirely overthrown. At Tacunga the ruin was nearly as thorough, not a building having beenleft standing save an arch in the great square, and part of aneighboring house. The churches of St. Augustin, St. Domingo, and LaMerced were at the moment thronged with people hearing mass. Not oneescaped alive. All were buried, along with the objects of theirworship, under the ruins of their consecrated buildings. In severalparts of the town and its neighborhood there were opened largerfissures in the ground, whence quantities of water poured forth. Thevillage of St. Philip, near Tacunga, containing a school in whichupwards of forty children were assembled at the time, disappearedbodily in a chasm. A great many other villages with their inhabitantswere destroyed, by being either overthrown or engulfed. Even at Quito, although so distant from the centre of the disturbance, a great deal of damage was done to the churches and other publicbuildings by the shock, several being wholly ruined. The privatehouses and other buildings of moderate height, however, were spared. The superstitious inhabitants of this fair city, having been greatlyalarmed by an unwonted display of luminous meteors, had devoted theprevious day to carrying in procession through their streets thegraven images and relics of their saints, in the vain hope ofappeasing divine wrath. They were doomed to learn by experience thatthese idols were powerless to protect even the consecrated edificesdedicated to their honor, and in which they were enshrined. The Bay of Caracas was the scene of a dreadful earthquake in 1812. Thecity of Caracas was totally destroyed, and ten thousand of itsinhabitants were buried beneath its ruins. The shock was most severe in the northern part of the town, nearestto the mountain of La Silla, which rises like a vast dome, with steepcliffs in the direction of the sea. The churches of the Trinity andAlta Gracia, the latter of which was more than one hundred and fiftyfeet high, and the nave of which was supported by pillars twelve orfifteen feet thick, were reduced to a mass of ruins not more than fiveor six feet high. The subsidence of the ruins was such that scarcely avestige of pillar or column could be found. The barracks of San Carlosdisappeared altogether, and a regiment of infantry, under arms to takepart in a procession, was swallowed up with the exception of a fewmen. Nine-tenths of the town was annihilated. The houses which had notcollapsed were cracked to such an extent that their occupants did notdare to re-enter them. To the estimate of 10, 000 victims caused by theearthquake, must be added the many who succumbed, weeks and monthsafterward, for want of food and relief. The night of Holy Thursday toGood Friday presented the most lamentable spectacle of desolation andwoe which can well be conceived. The thick layer of dust, which, ascending from the ruins, obscured the air like mist, had againsettled on the ground; the earthquake shocks had ceased, and the nightwas calm and clear. A nearly full moon lighted up the scene, and theaspect of the sky was in striking contrast with that of a land strewnwith corpses and ruins. Mothers might be seen running about with their children whom they werevainly trying to recall to life. Distracted families were searchingfor a brother, a husband, or some other relative, whose fate wasunknown to them, but who, they hoped, might be discovered in thecrowd. The injured lying half buried beneath the ruins were makingpiteous appeals for help, and over 2, 000 were extricated. Never didhuman kindness reveal itself in a more touching and ingenious fashionthan in the efforts made to relieve the sufferers whose cries were soheart-breaking to hear. There were no tools to clear away therubbish, and the work of relief had to be performed with the barehands. The injured and the sick who had escaped from the hospitals werecarried to the banks of the river Guayra, where their only shelter wasthe foliage of the trees. The beds, the lint for binding up wounds, the surgical instruments, the medicines and all the objects ofimmediate necessity were buried beneath the ruins, and for the firstfew days there was a scarcity of everything, even of food. Water wasalso very scarce inside the town, as the shock had broken up theconduits of the fountains and the upheaval had blocked the springsthat fed them. In order to get water it was necessary to descend tothe river Guayra, which had risen to a great height, and there werevery few vessels left to get it in. It was necessary, also, to dispose of the dead with all dispatch, andin the impossibility of giving decent burial to so many thousandcorpses, detachments of men were told off to burn them. Funeral pyreswere erected between the heaps of ruins, and the ceremony lastedseveral days. The fierce shocks which had in less than a minute occasioned suchgreat disasters could not be expected to have confined theirdestructive effects to one narrow zone of the continent, and theseextended to a great part of Venezuela, all along the coast andspecially among the mountains inland. The towns of La Guayra, Mayquetia, Antimano, Baruta, La Vega, San Felipe, and Merida wereentirely destroyed, the number of deaths exceeding 5, 000 at La Guayraand San Felipe. In November, 1822, the coast of Chile began to be violently convulsedby a succession of shocks, the first of which was of great severity. The heavings of the earth were quite perceptible to the eye. The searose and fell to a great extent in the harbor of Valparaiso, and theships appeared as if they were first rapidly forced through the water, and then struck on the ground. The town of Valparaiso and severalothers were completely overthrown. Sounds like those produced by theescape of steam accompanied this earthquake, and it was feltthroughout a distance of 1, 200 miles along the coast, a portion ofwhich--extending to about 100 miles--was permanently raised to aheight varying from two to four feet. At Quintero the elevation wasfour feet, and at Valparaiso three feet; but about a mile inland fromthe latter place the elevation was as much as six or seven feet; whilethe whole surface raised is estimated at nearly 100, 000 square miles. The year 1868 proved very disastrous in South America. On the 13th ofAugust of that year a series of shocks commenced which were felt overa large extent of country, stretching from Ibarra on the northwesternborder of Ecuador to Cabija on the coast of Bolivia, a distance ofabout 1, 400 miles. The effects were most severe about the southernportion of the Peruvian coast, where the towns of Iquique, Arica, Tacna, Port Ilay, Arequipa, Pisco, and several others were destroyed, and in the northern parts of Ecuador, where the town of Ibarra wasoverthrown, burying nearly the whole of the inhabitants under itsruins. A small town in the same quarter, named Cotocachi, wasengulfed, and its site is now occupied by a lake. The total loss oflives is estimated at upward of 20, 000. On May 15, 1875, earthquake shocks of a serious character wereexperienced over large areas of Chile. At Valparaiso the shock lastedfor forty-two seconds, with a vertical motion, so that the grounddanced under foot. Two churches and many buildings were damaged. Another earthquake occurred at Valparaiso, July 8, when there were sixshocks in succession. The inhabitants took refuge in the streets, several people were killed, and much damage was done to property. About the middle of May, 1875, a most disastrous earthquake visitedNew Granada, the region of its influence extending over an area 500miles in width. It was first felt perceptibly at Bogota; thence ittraveled north, gaining intensity as it went, until it reached thesoutheast boundary line of Magdalena, where its work of destructionbegan. It traveled along the line of the Andes, destroying, in wholeor in part, the cities of Cucuta, San Antonio, and Santiago, andcausing the death of about 16, 000 persons. On the evening of May 17, astrange rumbling sound was heard beneath the ground, but no shock wasfelt. This premonitory symptom was followed on the morning of the 18thby a terrific shock. "It suddenly shook down the walls of houses, tumbled down churches, and the principal buildings, burying thecitizens in the ruins. " Another shock completed the work ofdestruction, and shocks at intervals occurred for two days. "To add tothe horrors of the calamity, the Lobotera volcano, in front ofSantiago, suddenly began to shoot out lava in immense quantities inthe form of incandescent balls of fire, which poured into the city andset fire to many buildings. " On the evening of April 12, 1878, a severe earthquake occurred inVenezuela which destroyed a considerable portion of the town of Cua. Immediately preceding the shock the sky was clear and the moon inperfect brightness. It lasted only two seconds, but in that time thecenter of the town, which was built on a slight elevation, was laid inruins. The soil burst at several places, giving issue to waterstrongly impregnated with poisonous substances. The Isthmus of Panama was the scene of a succession of earthquakes inSeptember, 1882, which, although the loss of life was small, wereexceedingly destructive to property. On the morning of September 7, the inhabitants of Panama were roused from their beds by theoccurrence of one of the longest and most severe shocks everexperienced in that earthquake-vexed region. Preceded by a hollowrumbling noise, the first shock lasted nearly thirty seconds, duringwhich it did great damage to buildings. It was severely felt on boardship, passengers declaring that the vessel seemed as if it were liftedbodily from the sea and then allowed to fall back. Its effects on the Panama railway were very marked. The stoneabutments of several of the bridges were cracked, and the earthworkssank in half a dozen places. In other places the rails were curved asif they had been intentionally bent. Other shocks less severe followedthe first, until at 11:30, another sharp shock alarmed the whole city, and drove the inhabitants at once from their houses into the squares. This earthquake was also severely felt at Colon, where it lasted forfully a minute, moving many buildings from their foundations, andcreating intense alarm. A deep fissure, 400 yards in length, wasopened in the earth. To what extent this tendency to earthquake shocks threatens theproposed Panama Canal, it is difficult to say. Beyond question a greatearthquake would do immense damage to such a channel and its lockgates, but the advocates of the Panama route argue with apparent truththat even so it has a great advantage over the Nicaragua route. In thelatter, volcanoes are numerous, and eruptions not infrequent. LakeNicaragua itself, through which the canal route passes, has in itseveral islands which are but volcanic peaks raised above the water, and the whole region is subject to disturbances from the interior ofthe earth. CHAPTER XXXII. EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND MEXICO. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. =A Region Frequently Disturbed by Subterranean Forces--Guatemala a Fated City--A Lake Eruption in Honduras Described by a Great Painter--City of San Jose Destroyed--Inhabitants Leave the Vicinity to Wander as Beggars--Disturbances on the Route of the Proposed Nicaraguan Canal--San Salvador is Shaken--Mexican Cities Suffer. = Central America is continually being disturbed by subterranean forces. Around the deep bays of this vast and splendid region, upon the shoreslaved by the waters of the Pacific, and also about the large inlandlakes, rise, like an army of giants, a number of lofty volcanoes. Whilst most of them are wrapped in slumber which has lasted forcenturies, others occasionally roar and groan as if in order to keepthemselves awake, and to watch well over their sleeping companions. The fire which consumes their entrails extends far beneath the soil, and often causes it to tremble. Three times within thirty years thetown of Guatemala has been destroyed by earthquakes, and there is notin all Guatemala, Honduras, or any other state of Central America asingle coast which has not been visited by one or more violentsubterranean shocks. When the earthquakes occur in remote regions, farfrom the habitations of men, in the midst of virgin forests, or in thevicinity of large lakes, they give rise to very singular phenomena. In 1856, a painter, entrusted with an official mission in Honduras, witnessed an event of this kind, and though he sought to conceal hisidentity, he was generally believed to be Herr Heine, the well-knownpainter and explorer of Central America. Upon the day in question hewas sailing across a large lagoon named Criba, some twenty milesbroad, the weather being calm, and the sun shining brilliantly. Afterhaving secured his boat to the shore, he had landed at the entrance toa beautiful little village commanding a view of the plain dotted withhouses and with stately trees. Upon the opposite shore extended theforest, with the sea in the far distance. The chief inhabitant of thevillage having invited Herr Heine and his companions to come in andrest, the whole party were seated beneath the veranda of the house, engaged in pleasant conversation. Suddenly, a loud noise was heard inthe forest. The birds flew off in terror; the cocoanut palms bent andwrithed as if in panic, and large branches of them snapped off; shrubswere torn up from the ground and carried across the lake. All this wasthe effect of a whirlwind traveling through space from south to north. The whole affair lasted only a few seconds, and calm wasre-established in Nature as suddenly as it had been disturbed. Conversation, of course, then turned upon the phenomenon justwitnessed, and the natives maintained that atmospheric disturbances ofthis kind are the forerunners of severe earthquakes or violentvolcanic eruptions; some of them declaring that a disaster of thischaracter had doubtless just occurred somewhere. The host, an elderlyman much esteemed in the district for his knowledge, went on todescribe many such catastrophes which he himself had witnessed. Hespoke more particularly of the eruption of the volcano of Coseguina, in Nicaragua, which had been preceded by a fierce whirlwind, which hadbeen so strong that it carried pieces of rock and ashes to a distanceof nearly a mile. The captain of a large sailing vessel had told himthat upon the following day, when more than 100 miles from the coast, he had found the sea covered with pumice-stone, and had experiencedgreat difficulty in threading a way for his vessel through theseblocks of volcanic stone which were floating upon the surface likeicebergs. Everyone, including the European, had his story to tell, and while theparty were still in conversation, a terrible noise like thunder washeard, and the earth began to quake. At first the shocks were felt tobe rising upward, but after a few seconds they became transformed intoundulations traveling northward, just as the sudden whirlwind haddone. The soil undulated like the surface of a stormy sea, and thetrees were rocked to and fro so violently that the topmost branches ofthe palms came in contact with the ground and snapped off. Thetraveler and his friends, believing themselves to be out of danger, were able to follow with ever-increasing interest the rapid phases ofthe disturbance, when a strange and alarming phenomenon attractedtheir notice. "Our attention was called, " relates Herr Heine, "to a terriblecommotion in the direction of the lagoon, but I cannot express what Ithen saw, I did not know if I was awake or a prey to a nightmare;whether I was in the world of reality or in the world of spirits. " The water of the lagoon disappeared as if it were engulfed in a sortof a subterranean cavern, or rather, it turned over upon itself, sothat from the shore to the center of the lake the bed was quite empty. But in a few moments the water reappeared, and mounting toward thecenter of the enormous basin, it formed an immense column, which, roaring and flecked with foam, reached so high that it intercepted thesunlight. Suddenly, the column of water collapsed with a noise as ofthunder, and the foaming waves dashed toward the shore. Herr Heine andhis companions would have perished if they had not been standing uponelevated ground, and, as it was, they could not restrain anexclamation of horror as they saw this mass of water, like solid rock, rolling along the plain, carrying trees, large stones, and wholefields before it. "I saw all that without at first thinking of our own fate, " recitesHerr Heine, "and I think that the greatness of the peril whichthreatened the whole country made me indifferent as to the fate ofmyself and my companions. In any case, when I saw my familiarcompanion, Carib, nearly carried off, I remained indifferent, and itwas only after two others of my followers, Manuel and Michel, had hadvery narrow escapes, that I succeeded in shaking off my apathy, andgoing to their assistance. " When the travelers, whose boat had disappeared, started for the townof San Jose, whence they had come in the morning, they were able tojudge for themselves as to the extent of the disaster. All the countrywhich they had passed through had been laid waste. Large masses ofrock had been detached from the mountains, and obstructed the courseof streams which had overflown their banks or changed their course. Whole villages had been destroyed, and in all directions arose thelamentations of the unfortunate inhabitants. The region over which thewaters of the lagoon had been carried was no longer to be identifiedas the same, covered as it was with debris of every kind, and with athick layer of sand and rock. When they started in the morning, the travelers had left San Joseprosperous and full of cheerful stir, but when they returned at nightthey found it in ruins and almost deserted. The earthquake hadoverthrown all the houses with the exception of about twenty, andthese were very badly damaged. All the buildings in solid masonry, including the massive church, wereheaps of ruins; and most of the inhabitants had perished. The Indianswho were prowling in the outskirts of the town took advantage of thecatastrophe to carry off all they could from the houses which werestill standing and from the ruins of the others. The agility withwhich these Indians move about among the ruins and escape the fallingwalls is something wonderful, and they never hesitate to risk theirlives for a very trifle. In Central America disasters of this kind invariably cause many ofthe inhabitants to emigrate. Men, women, and children form themselvesinto groups, and travel through the country. They set the drama inwhich they have taken part to music, and they journey from one villageto another, singing the rude verses they have composed, and thensending the hat around. After they have visited the whole of their owncountry, they cross into the neighboring state, where they are alsoassured of a profitable tour. Thus for more than a year Honduras andNicaragua were visited by bands of homeless victims, chanting inmonotone the eruption of Lake Criba and the terrible catastrophe ofSan Jose. The western half of Nicaragua, including the basin in which lie LakesManagua and Nicaragua, is a volcanic center, including some of thelargest of the twenty-five active cones and craters of CentralAmerica. Stretching from northwest to southeast, the string of cratersbeginning with Coseguina and Viejo reaches well into the lake basin. At the northern end of Lake Managua stands Momotombo, while from thelake itself rises Momotombito. On the northwestern shore of LakeNicaragua lies the volcano Mombocho, while between the two lakes isthe volcano Masaya. Near the center of Lake Nicaragua are the twovolcanoes of Madera and Omotepe. Since 1835 there have been six eruptions in Nicaragua, one of them, in1883, being an outbreak in the crater of Omotepe in Lake Nicaragua, the route of the proposed Nicaraguan canal. The Coseguina eruption, the uproar of which was heard more than 1, 000 miles away, threw theheadland upon which it stands 787 feet out into the sea, and rainedashes and pumice-stone over an area estimated at 1, 200, 000 squaremiles. Like all Spanish towns in America, San Salvador, capital of therepublic of that name, covers a large area in proportion to itspopulation. The houses are low, none of them having more than onestory, while the walls are very thick in order to be capable ofresisting earthquakes. Inside each house of the better class is acourtyard, planted with trees, generally having a fountain in thecenter. It was to these spacious courtyards that, in 1854, many of theinhabitants of San Salvador owed their lives, as they found in them arefuge from their falling houses. On the night of April 16, the citywas reduced to a heap of ruins, only a single public building and veryfew private ones having been left standing. Nearly 5, 000 of theinhabitants were buried in the ruins. There was a premonitory shockbefore the great one, and many took heed of its warning and escaped toplaces of safety, otherwise the loss of life would have been even moreterrible. Guatemala was visited with a series of almost daily tremors from themiddle of April to the middle of June, 1870. The most severe shock wason the 12th of June and was sufficiently powerful to overthrow manybuildings. The republic of San Salvador was again visited by a great earthquakein October, 1878. Many towns, such as Incuapa, Guadeloupe, andSantiago de Marie, were almost totally destroyed, and many lives werelost. The shock causing the most damage had at first a kind ofoscillatory movement lasting over forty seconds and ending in ageneral upheaval of the earth; the result being that solid walls, arches, and strongly braced roofs, were broken and severed likepipe-stems. In the vicinity of Incuapa a number of villagesdisappeared entirely. The mountainous region of Mexico is highly volcanic, and earthquakesare of frequent occurrence. Very few of them, however, in the historicperiod, have occasioned great loss of either life or property. One ofthe most disastrous occurred in January, 1835, when the town ofAcapulco was totally destroyed. In April, ten years later, the City ofMexico was much shaken. Considerable damage was done to buildings, especially to churches and other edifices of large size, several ofwhich were reduced to ruins. The loss of life was limited to less thantwenty. Probably the most serious convulsion the country hasexperienced was in 1858, when shocks were felt over almost all therepublic, causing many deaths, and destroying much property. Over 100people lost their lives on May 11 and 12, 1870, when the city ofOaxaca was visited by a succession of severe shocks, which tore downmany buildings. Since this time Mexico has been free from convulsionsof any great magnitude, although slight earth tremors are of frequentoccurrence in different parts of the country. Mexican volcanoes, likewise, are famous for their size, though of lateyears no great eruptions have occurred. There are many isolated peaks, all of volcanic origin, of which Orizaba, with a height of 18, 314feet, and Popocatepetl, 17, 300 feet, the most renowned, are bothactive. The latter has one crater 5, 000 feet in diameter. From thesummit the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico are both visible. This crater has not erupted for many years, but in former times itthrew its ashes a distance of sixty miles. One can descend into itsdepths fully 1, 000 feet, and view its sulphur walls, hung withstalactites of ice, or see its columns of vapor spouting here andthere through crevices that extend down into the interior of theearth. In the ancient Aztec and Toltec mythology of Mexico, this wasthe Hell of Masaya. Nowadays great sulphur mines on the peak bring profit to the owners, and ice is quarried from the same vicinity to supply the neighboringcity of Puebla. CHAPTER XXXIII. CHARLESTON, GALVESTON, JOHNSTOWN--OUR AMERICAN DISASTERS. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. =Earthquake Shock in South Carolina--Many Lives Lost in the Riven City--Flames Follow the Convulsion--Galveston Smitten by Tidal Wave and Hurricane--Thousands Die in Flood and Shattered Buildings--The Gulf Coast Desolated--Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Swept by Water from a Bursting Reservoir--Scenes of Horror--Earthquakes on the California Coast. = Our own land has experienced very few great convulsions of nature. True, there have been frequent earthshocks in California, and allalong the Western coast, and occasionally slight tremors have beenfelt in other sections, but the damage done to life and property hasbeen in almost every instance comparatively light. The only reallygreat disaster of this class that has been recorded in the UnitedStates since the white man first set his foot upon the soil, occurredin 1886, when the partial destruction of Charleston, South Carolina, was accomplished by earthquake and fire. On the morning of August 28, a slight shock was felt throughout Northand South Carolina, and in portions of Georgia. It was evidently awarning of the calamity to follow, but naturally was not sorecognized, and no particular attention was paid to it. But on thenight of August 31, at about ten o'clock, the city was rent asunder bya great shock which swept over it, carrying death and destruction inits path. During the night there were ten distinct shocks, but they were onlythe subsiding of the earth-waves. The disaster was wrought by thefirst. Its force may be inferred from the fact that the whole area ofthe country between the Atlantic coast and the Mississippi river, andas far to the north as Milwaukee, felt its power to a greater orlesser degree. Charleston, however, was the special victim of this elementaldestruction. The city was in ruins, two-thirds of its houses wereuninhabitable. Railroads and telegraph lines were torn up anddestroyed. Fires burst forth in different sections of the city, addingto the horror of the panic-stricken people. Forty lives were lost, over 100 seriously wounded were reported, and property valued atnearly $5, 000, 000 was destroyed. A writer in the Charleston News and Courier gave a vivid account ofthe catastrophe. Extracts from his story follow: "It is not given to many men to look in the face of the destroyer andyet live; but it is little to say that the group of strong men whoshared the experiences of that awful night will carry with them therecollection of it to their dying day. None expected to escape. Asudden rush was simultaneously made for the open air, but before thedoor was reached all reeled together to the tottering wall andstopped, feeling that hope was vain; that it was only a question ofdeath within the building or without, to be buried by the sinking roofor crushed by the toppling walls. Then the uproar slowly died away inseeming distance. "The earth was still, and O, the blessed relief of that stillness! Buthow rudely the silence was broken! As we dashed down the stairway andout into the street, already on every side arose the shrieks, thecries of pain and fear, the prayers and wailings of terrified womenand children, commingling with the hoarse shouts of excited men. Outin the street the air was filled with a whitish cloud of dry, stiflingdust, through which the gaslights flickered dimly. On every side werehurrying forms of men and women, bareheaded, partly dressed, many ofwhom were crazed with fear and excitement. Here a woman is supported, half fainting, in the arms of her husband, who vainly tries to sootheher while he carries her to the open space at the street corner, wherepresent safety seems assured; there a woman lies on the pavement withupturned face and outstretched limbs, and the crowd passes her by, notpausing to see whether she be alive or dead. "A sudden light flares through a window overlooking the street, itbecomes momentarily brighter, and the cry of fire resounds from themultitude. A rush is made toward the spot. A man is seen through theflames trying to escape. But at this moment, somewhere--out at sea, overhead, deep in the ground--is heard again the low, ominous rollwhich is already too well known to be mistaken. It grows louder andnearer, like the growl of a wild beast swiftly approaching his prey. All is forgotten in the frenzied rush for the open space, where alonethere is hope of security, faint though it be. "The tall buildings on either hand blot out the skies and stars andseem to overhang every foot of ground between them; their shatteredcornices and coping, the tops of their frowning walls, appear piledfrom both sides to the center of the street. It seems that a touchwould now send the shattered masses left standing, down upon thepeople below, who look up to them and shrink together as the tremor ofthe earthquake again passes under them, and the mysteriousreverberations swell and roll along, like some infernal drumbeatsummoning them to die. It passes away, and again is experienced theblessed feeling of deliverance from impending calamity, which it maywell be believed evokes a mute but earnest offering of mingled prayerand thanksgiving from every heart in the throng. " One of the most awful tragedies of modern times visited Galveston, Texas, on Saturday, September 8, 1900. A tempest, so terrible that nowords can adequately describe its intensity, and a flood which sweptover the city like a raging sea, left death and ruin behind it. Sixty-seven blocks in a thickly populated section of the city weredevastated, and not a house withstood the storm. The few that mighthave held together if dependent upon their own construction andfoundations, were buried beneath the stream of buildings and wreckagethat rushed west from the Gulf of Mexico, demolishing hundreds ofhomes and carrying the unfortunate inmates to their death. A terrific wind, which attained a velocity of from 100 to 120 miles anhour, blew the debris inland and piled it in a hill ranging from tento twenty feet high. Beneath this long ridge many hundred men, women, and children were buried, and cattle, horses and dogs, and otheranimals, were piled together in one confused mass. The principal work of destruction was completed in six short hours, beginning at three o'clock in the afternoon and ending at nine o'clockthe same night. In that brief time the accumulations of many a lifetime were swept away, thousands of lives went out, and the dismalSunday morning following the catastrophe found a stricken populationparalyzed and helpless. Every hour the situation changed for the worse, and the mind becamedazed midst the gruesome scenes. The bodies of human beings, thecarcasses of animals, were strewn on every hand. The bay was filledwith them. Like jelly-fish, the corpses were swept with the changingtide. Here a face protruded above the water; there the foot of achild; here the long, silken tresses of a young girl; there a tinyhand, and just beneath the glassy surface of the water full outlinesof bodies might be seen. Such scenes drove men and women todesperation and insanity. A number sought freedom in the death whichthey fought so stoutly. A young girl, who survived to find mother, father and sisters dead, crept far out on the wreckage and threwherself into the bay. During the storm and afterward a great deal of looting was done. Manystores had been closed, their owners leaving to look after theirfamilies. The wind forced in the windows, and left the goods prey forthe marauders. Ghouls stripped the dead bodies of jewelry and articlesof value. Captain Rafferty, commanding the United States troops in thecity, was asked for aid, and he sent seventy men, the remnant of abattery of artillery, to do police duty. Three regiments were sentfrom Houston and the city was placed under martial law. Hundreds ofdesperate men roamed the streets, crazed with liquor, which many haddrunk because nothing else could be obtained with which to quenchtheir thirst. Numberless bottles and boxes of intoxicating beverageswere scattered about and easy to obtain. Robbery and rioting continued during the night, and as the town was indarkness, the effort of the authorities to control the lawless elementwas not entirely successful. Big bonfires were built at various placesfrom heaps of rubbish to enable troops the better to see wherewatchfulness was needed. Reports said that more than 100 looters andvandals were slain in the city and along the island beach. The most rigid enforcement of martial law was not able to suppressrobbery entirely. Thirty-three negroes, with effects taken from deadbodies, were tried by court-martial. They were convicted and orderedto be shot. One negro had twenty-three human fingers with rings onthem in his pocket. An eye-witness of the awful horror said: "I was going to take thetrain at midnight, and was at the station when the worst of the stormcame up. There were 150 people in the depot, and we all remained therefor nine hours. The back part of the building blew in Sunday morningand I returned to the Tremont house. The streets were literally filledwith dead and dying people. The Sisters' Orphan Hospital was aterrible scene. I saw there over ninety dead children and eleven deadSisters. We took the steamer Allen Charlotte across the bay, upBuffalo bay, over to Houston in the morning, and I saw fully fiftydead bodies floating in the water. I saw one dray with sixty-four deadbodies being drawn by four horses to the wharves, where the bodieswere unloaded on a tug and taken out in the gulf for burial. " Mr. Wortham, ex-secretary of state, after an inspection of the scene, made this statement: "The situation at Galveston beggars description. Fully seventy-five per cent. Of the business portion of the town iswrecked, and the same percentage of damage is to be found in theresidence district. Along the wharf front great ocean steamers havebodily dumped themselves on the big piers, and lie there, great massesof iron and wood that even fire cannot totally destroy. The greatwarehouses along the water front are smashed in on one side, unroofedand gutted throughout their length; their contents either piled inheaps or along the streets. Small tugs and sailboats have jammedthemselves into buildings, where they were landed by the incomingwaves and left by the receding waters. "Houses are packed and jammed in great confusing masses in all thestreets. Great piles of human bodies, dead animals, rottingvegetation, household furniture, and fragments of the housesthemselves, are piled in confused heaps right in the main streets ofthe city. Along the Gulf front human bodies are floating around likecordwood. " As time passed on the terrible truth was pressed home on the minds ofthe people that the mortality by the storm had possibly reached 8, 000, or nearly one-fourth of the entire population. The exact number willnever be known, and no list of the dead could be accurately made out, for the terrible waters carried to sea and washed on distant andlonely shores many of the bodies. The unknown dead of the Galvestonhorror will forever far surpass the number of those who are known tohave perished in that awful night, when the tempest raged and thestorm was on the sea, piling the waters to unprecedented heights onGalveston island. One of the great catastrophes of the century in the United States wasthe flood that devastated the Conemaugh valley in Pennsylvania, onMay 31, 1889. Though the amount of property destroyed was over$10, 000, 000 worth, this was the slightest element of loss. That whichmakes the Johnstown flood so exceptional is the terrible fact that itswept away half as many lives as did the battle of Gettysburg, one ofthe bloodiest of the Civil War, and transformed a rich and prosperousvalley for more than twenty miles into a vast charnel-house. Johnstown is located on the Pennsylvania Railroad, seventy-eight milessoutheast of Pittsburg, and was at the time mentioned a city of about28, 000 inhabitants. It was the most important of the chain of boroughsannihilated; and as such has given the popular title by which thedisaster is known. The Conemaugh valley has long been famous for thebeauty of its scenery. Lying on the lower western slope of theAlleghany mountains, the valley, enclosed between lofty hills, resembles in a general way an open curved hook, running from SouthFork, where the inundation first made itself felt, in a southwesterlydirection to Johnstown, and thence sixteen miles northwest to NewFlorence, where the more terrible effects of the flood ended, thoughits devastation did not entirely cease at that point. A lateral valley extends about six miles from South Fork in asoutheasterly direction, at the head of which was located theConemaugh Lake reservoir, owned and used as a summer resort by theSouth Fork Hunting and Fishing Club of Pittsburg. In altitude thislake was about 275 feet above the Johnstown level, and it was abouttwo and one-half miles long and one and one-half miles in its greatestwidth. In many places it was 100 feet deep, and it held a largervolume of water than any other reservoir in the United States. The damthat restrained the waters was nearly 1, 000 feet in length, 110 feetin height, ninety feet thick at the base, and twenty-five feet wide atthe top, which was used as a driveway. For ten years or more this damwas believed to be a standing menace to the Conemaugh valley in timesof freshet, though fully equal to all ordinary emergencies. With adam which was admitted to be structurally weak and with insufficientmeans of discharging a surplus volume, it was feared that it was onlya matter of time before such a reservoir, situated in a regionnotorious for its freshets, would yield to the enormous pressure andsend down its resistless waters like an avalanche to devastate thevalley. This is precisely what it did do. A break came at three o'clock in theafternoon of May 31, caused by protracted rains, which raised thelevel of the lake. Men were at once put to work to open a sluice-wayto ease the pressure, but all attempts were in vain. Two hours beforethe break came, the threatened danger had been reported in Johnstown, but little attention was paid to it, on the ground that similar alarmshad previously proved ill-founded. There is no question that amplewarning was given and that all the people in the valley could haveescaped had they acted promptly. When the center of the dam yielded at three o'clock, it did so in abreak of 300 feet wide. Trees and rocks were hurled high in the air, and the vast, boiling flood rushed down the ravine like an arrow froma bow. It took one hour to empty the reservoir. In less than fiveminutes the flood reached South Fork, and thence, changing thedirection of its rush, swept through the valley of the Conemaugh. Withthe procession of the deluge, trees, logs, debris of buildings, rocks, railroad iron, and the indescribable mass of drift were more and morecompacted for battering power; and what the advance bore of the floodspared, the mass in the rear, made up of countless battering rams, destroyed. The distance from Conemaugh lake to Johnstown, something over, eighteen miles, was traversed in about seven minutes; and here theloss of life and the damage to property was simply appalling. Survivors who passed through the experience safely declare its horrorsto have been far beyond the power of words to narrate. After the mostthorough possible CHAPTER XXXIV. ST. PIERRE, MARTINIQUE, ANNIHILATED BY A VOLCANO. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. =Fifty Thousand Men, Women and Children Slain in an Instant--The Island Capital Obliterated--Molten Fire and Suffocating Gases Rob Multitudes of Life--Death Reigns in the Streets of the Stricken City--The Governor and Foreign Consuls Die at their Posts of Duty--Burst of Flame from Mount Pelee Completes the Ruin--No Escape for the Hapless Residents in the Fated Town--Scenes of Suffering Described--St. Pierre the Pompeii of Today--Desolation over All--Few Left to Tell the Tale of the Morning of Disaster. = Behold a peaceful city in the Caribbean sea, beautiful with theluxuriant vegetation of a tropic isle, happy as the carefree dwellersin such a spot may well be, at ease with the comforts of climate andthe natural products which make severe labor unnecessary in thesesea-girt colonies. Rising from the water front to the hillsides thatlead back toward the slopes of Mount Pelee, St. Pierre, metropolis ofthe French island of Martinique, sits in picturesque languor, the bluewaves of the Caribbean murmuring on the beaches, the verdure-cladridges of the mountain range forming a background of greenery for thecharming picture. Palms shade the narrow, clean, white, paved streets;trade goes on at the wharves; the people visit in social gaiety, dressed in white or bright-colored garments, as is the fashion inthese islands, where somberness seldom rules; all the forms of lifeare cheerful, light-hearted, even thoughtless. Suddenly a thrall of black despair is cast over the happy island. Thecity of pleasure becomes one great tomb. Of its 30, 000 men, women andchildren, all but a few are slain. The Angel of Death has spread hispall over them, a fiery breath has smitten them, and they have fallenas dry stubble before the sweep of flame. A city is dead. An island isdesolate. A world is grief-stricken. And what was the awful power of evil that robbed of life 50, 000 incity and neighboring villages almost in a moment? It was thisverdure-clad Mount Pelee, their familiar sentinel, in the shade ofwhose sheltering palms they had built their summer resorts or foundtheir innocent pleasures. It was this shadowing summit, now suddenlybecome a fiery vent through which earth's artilleries blazed forththeir terrible volleys of molten projectiles, lava masses, huge driftsof ashes, and clouds of flaming, noxious, gaseous emanations tosuffocate every living thing. Nothing could withstand such abombardment from the exhaustless magazines within the vast chambers ofthe planet, no longer kindly Mother Earth, benign in the beauty ofMay-time, but cruel, relentless, merciless alike to all. St. Pierre and the island of Martinique are no strangers todestructive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In August, 1767, anearthquake killed 1, 600 persons in St. Pierre. In 1851 Mount Peleethreatened the city with destruction. St. Pierre was practicallydestroyed once before, in August, 1891, by the great hurricane whichswept over the islands. The harbor of St. Pierre has been a famous onefor centuries. It was off this harbor on April 12, 1782, that AdmiralRodney's fleet defeated the French squadron under the Comte de Grasseand wrested the West Indies from France. St. Pierre was the largest town and the commercial center of theisland. It was the largest town in the French West Indies, and waswell built and prosperous. It had a population of about 30, 000. It wasdivided into two parts, known as the upper and lower towns. The lowertown was compact with narrow streets, and unhealthy. The upper townwas cleaner, healthier, and handsomely laid out. There was in theupper town a botanical garden and an old Catholic college, as well asa fine hospital. Mount Pelee, the largest of the group of volcanic mountains, is about4, 400 feet high. It had long been inactive as a volcano, although inAugust, 1851, it had a violent eruption. It is in the northwestern endof the island, and near the foot of its western slope, fronting thebay, St. Pierre was built. The Consuls resident at St. Pierre were: For the United States, T. T. Prentis; Great Britain, J. Japp; Denmark, M. E. S. Meyer; Italy, P. Plissonneau; Mexico, E. Dupie; Sweden and Norway, Gustave Borde. Therewere four banks in the city--the Banque de la Martinique, BanqueTransatlantique, Colonial Bank of London, and the Credit FoncierColonial. There were sixteen commission merchants, twelve dry-goodsstores, twenty-two provision dealers, twenty-six rum manufacturers, eleven colonial produce merchants, four brokers, and two hardwaredealers. The whole area of the island, near 400 square miles, is mountainous. Besides Mount Pelee, there are, further south and about midway of theoval, the three crests of Courbet, and all along the great ridge arethe black and ragged cones of old volcanoes. In the section south ofthe deep bay there are two less elevated and more irregular ridges, one running southeast and terminating in the Piton Vauclin, and theother extending westward and presenting to view on the coast MountsCaraibe and Constant. The mountainous interior is torn and gashed with ancient earthquakeupheavals, and there are perpendicular cliffs, deep clefts and gorges, black holes filled with water, and swift torrents dashing overprecipices and falling into caverns--in a word, all the fantasticsavagery of volcanic scenery, but the whole covered with the richverdure of the tropics. The total population of the island was reckoned at 175, 000, of whom10, 000 were whites, 15, 000 of Asiatic origin, and 150, 000 blacks ofall shades from ebony to light octoroon. Martinique has two interesting claims to distinction in that theEmpress Josephine was born there and that Mme. De Maintenon passed hergirlhood on the island as Francoise d'Aubigne. At Fort de France thereis a marble statue of the Empress Josephine. It was just before eight o'clock on the morning of Thursday, May 8, 1902, that the lava and gases of the crater of Mount Pelee burst theirbounds and bore destruction to the fated city. Within thirty secondsperhaps 50, 000 persons were killed, and the streets of St. Pierre wereheaped with dead bodies, soon to be incinerated or buried in the ashesthat fell from the fountain of flame. Within ten minutes the cityitself had disappeared in a whirling flame vomited from the mountain, though for some hours the inflammable portions of the buildingscontinued to burn, until all was consumed that could be. The volcanowhose ancient crater for more than fifty years had been occupied by aquiet lake in which picnic parties bathed, discharged a torrent offiery mud, which rolled toward the sea, engulfing everything beforeit. The city was no more. St. Pierre was destroyed, not by lava streams and not by showers ofred-hot rocks, but by one all-consuming blast of suffocating, poisonous, burning gases. Death came to the inhabitants instantly. Itwas not a matter of hours or minutes. It was a matter of seconds. Theydid not burn to death. They died by breathing flame and their bodieswere burned afterward. It is not merely true that no person inside thelimits of the town escaped, but it is probably a literal fact that noperson lived long enough to take two steps toward escape. These factswill go on record as the most astounding in the history of humancatastrophes. The manner of the annihilation of St. Pierre is unique in the historyof the world. Pompeii was not a parallel, for Pompeii was eaten up bydemoniac rivers of lava, and lava became its tomb. But where St. Pierre once stood there is not even a lava bed now. The city is gonefrom the earth. The half-dead victims who escaped on the Roddam or were brought awayby the Suchet, talked of a "hurricane of flame" that had come uponthem. That phrase was no figure of speech, but a literal statement ofwhat happened. When the first rescue parties reached the scene they found bodieslying in the streets of the city--or rather on the ground wherestreets once were, for in many places it was impossible to trace theline between streets and building sites--to which death came sosuddenly that the smiles on the faces did not have time to change tothe lines of agony. That does not mean death by burning, though the bodies had beencharred and half-consumed, nor does it mean suffocation, forsuffocation is slow. It can mean only that the bath of burning fumesinto which the city was plunged affected the victims like a terriblyvirulent poison when the first whiff of the gases entered their lungs. There were many of the victims who died with their hands to theirmouths. That one motion of the arm was probably the only one that theymade before they became unconscious. Others fell to their faces anddied with their lips pressed into the earth. There was no time to run, perhaps no time even to cry out, no time to breathe a prayer. It wasas if St. Pierre had been just dipped into an immense white-hotfurnace and then set out to cool. Mount Pelee went sputtering on, butthat made no longer any difference. In the city all life was destroyed. Every combustible thing was burned. Animal bodies, full of moisture, glowed awhile and then remained charred wrecks. Wood and other easilycombustible things burned to ashes. On the ground lay the bodies, amidst heaps of hot mud, heaps of gleaming ashes and piles of volcanicstones. That was all. That St. Pierre and the strip of coast to the north and south of itwere burned in an instant was probably due to the first break in themountain coming on its western side and immediately above them, thoughthe direction of the wind may have had a little to do with it. In thisway one can understand how the mountain resort of Morne Rouge, whereabout 600 people were staying, escaped annihilation. Rocks and dustand boiling mud fell upon it, no doubt harming it, but they did notdestroy it, for it was out of the pathway of the first awful blast. For days after this most awful of blasts, beginning indeed immediatelyafter the first explosion, Mount Pelee continued sending down lavastreams in many directions. They filled the ravines and followed rivercourses and made their way to the sea. They did great destruction, butmost of the inhabitants in their course had some chance at least toescape. From Le Precheur around the northern end of the island, to GrandeRiviere, Macouba, and Grande Anse, directly across the island from St. Pierre, the lava was flowing. Great crevasses opened from time to timein the hills. The earth undulated like waves. Rivers were thrown outof their courses by the change in land levels. In some places theysubmerged the land and formed lakes. In other places they were lickedup by the lava that flowed on them and turned them to steam. Constant rumblings, thunder and lightning storms made the surroundingsso terrible that many persons actually died of fright. The West Indian newspapers printed just before the day of the greateruption, and received in foreign countries after the catastrophe, serve to give a graphic picture of the situation in St. Pierre as itwas before the outer world knew of the threat of danger. To them, andthe letters written and mailed to foreign correspondents before thefatal day, we owe the clear idea of what was going on. The Voice of St. Lucia, printed at Castries, had this story on May 8of the days preceding the destruction of St. Pierre: "Mount Pelee began to show signs of uneasiness in the last days ofApril. On the 3d inst. It began to throw out dense volumes of smoke, and at midnight belched out flames, accompanied by rumbling noises. Flames were again visible at half-past five o'clock the next morning, and similar noises were audible. At the foot of Mount Pelee are thevillages of Precheurs and Ste. Philomene. The inhabitants were throwninto great consternation by the sights and sounds, and especially bythe darkening of the day by volumes of thick smoke and clouds ofashes, which were falling. There was an exodus from all over thedistrict. "St. Pierre was on the morning of May 3 covered with a layer of ashesabout a quarter of an inch thick, and appeared as if enveloped in afog. The mountain was wrapped in the smoke which issued from it. Thegreatest anxiety prevailed, and all business was suspended. "A very anxious morning was passed on the island May 4. Thanks, however, to a sea breeze, the situation appeared better at eleveno'clock, but as the breeze died away at sunset, ashes again began tofall, and the mountain and its environs presented a most dismalspectacle, causing much alarm as to what the night would bring forth. Nothing happened, however, and on Monday morning May 5, althougheverything was not quite serene, the aspect was decidedly encouraging. Less excitement was visible. "At about nine o'clock on the morning of the 6th a private telegramcame from Martinique, stating that the Plissonneau family hadchartered the steamer Topaze, one of the boats of the CompagnieGirard, and had started for St. Lucia. At about eleven o'clock theTopaze arrived with Mrs. Plissonneau, Mr. And Mrs. Joseph Plissonneauand three children, Mrs. Pierre Plissonneau and child, and others. "They report that at noon on Monday a stream of burning lava suddenlyrushed down the southwestern slope of the mountain, and, following thecourse of the Riviere Blanche, the bed of which is dry at this seasonof the year, overwhelmed everything which obstructed its rush to thesea. Estates and buildings were covered up by the fiery wave, whichappeared to rise to a height of some twenty feet over an area ofnearly a quarter of a mile. When the torrent had poured itself intothe sea, it was found that the Guerin sugar factory, on the beach, five miles from the mountain and two from St. Pierre, was imbedded inlava. The burning mass of liquid had taken only three minutes from thetime it was first perceived to reach the sea, five miles away. "Then a remarkable phenomenon occurred. The sea receded all along thewestern coast for about a hundred yards and returned with gentlestrength, covering the whole of the sea front of St. Pierre andreaching the first houses on the Place Bertin. This created a generalpanic, and the people made for the hills. Though the sea retiredagain, without great damage being done ashore or afloat, the paniccontinued, intensified by terrible detonations, which broke from themountain at short intervals, accompanied with dense emissions of smokeand lurid flashes of flame. "This was awful in daylight, but, when darkness fell, it was moreterrible still, and, at each manifestation of the volcano's anger, people, in their nightclothes, carrying children, and lighted by anysort of lamp or candle they had caught up in their haste, ran out intothe dark streets, wailing and screaming, and running aimlessly aboutthe town. "The mental strain becoming unendurable, the Topaze was got ready, andthe refugees hurriedly went on board and started for St. Lucia. In theafternoon the gentlemen of the party, having placed their families insafety, returned by the Topaze to Martinique. "In the meantime, telegrams were being sent from Martinique, imploringthat a steamer be chartered to bring away terrified people from St. Pierre. But the superintendent of the Royal Mail company, at Barbados, would not allow one of the coasting boats, the only steamer available, to go to Martinique. At a little before five o'clock in the afternooncable communication was interrupted and remains so. " Martinique mails, forwarded just prior to the disaster, arrived inParis on May 18. The newspapers printed a number of private lettersfrom St. Pierre, giving many details of events immediately precedingthe catastrophe. The most interesting of these was a letter from ayoung lady, who was among the victims, dated May 3. After describingthe aspect of St. Pierre before dawn, the town being lit up withflames from the volcano, everything covered with ashes, and the peopleexcited, yet not panic-stricken, she said: "My calmness astonished me. I am awaiting the event tranquilly. Myonly suffering is from the dust which penetrates everywhere, eventhrough closed windows and doors. We are all calm. Mama is not a bitanxious. Edith alone is frightened. If death awaits us there will be anumerous company to leave the world. Will it be by fire or asphyxia?It will be what God wills. You will have our last thought. Tellbrother Robert that we are still alive. This will, perhaps, be nolonger true when this letter reaches you. " The Edith mentioned was a lady visitor who was among the rescued. Thisand other letters inclosed samples of the ashes which fell over thedoomed town. The ashes were a bluish-gray, impalpable powder, resembling newly ground flour and slightly smelling of sulphur. Another letter, written during the afternoon of May 3, says: "The population of the neighborhood of the mountain is flocking to thecity. Business is suspended, the inhabitants are panic-stricken andthe firemen are sprinkling the streets and roofs, to settle the ashes, which are filling the air. " The letters indicate that evidences of the impending disaster werenumerous five days before it occurred. Still another letter says: "St. Pierre presents an aspect unknown to the natives. It is a citysprinkled with gray snow, a winter scene without cold. Theinhabitants of the neighborhood are abandoning their houses, villasand cottages, and are flocking to the city. It is a curious pell-mellof women, children and barefooted peasants, big, black fellows loadedwith household goods. The air is oppressing; your nose burns. Are wegoing to die asphyxiated? What has to-morrow in store for us? A flowof lava, rain or stones or a cataclysm from the sea? Who can tell?Will give you my last thought if I must die. " A St. Pierre paper of May 3 announces that an excursion arranged forthe next day to Mount Pelee had been postponed, as the crater wasinaccessible, adding that notice would be issued when the excursionwould take place. An inhabitant of Morne Rouge, a town of 600 inhabitants, sevenkilometers from St. Pierre, who was watching the volcano at the momentof the catastrophe, said that there were seven luminous points on thevolcano's side just before it burst. He said that all about him when the explosion came, there was aterrible suction of air which seemed to be dragging him irresistiblytoward the mountain in spite of all his resistance. The volcano thenemitted a sheet of flame which swept down toward St. Pierre. There wasno sharp, distinct roar of explosion as when a great cannon is fired, but only awful jarring rumblings. He thought that the entire outburst that did all the work of havoc didnot last more than thirty seconds. Then there was complete darknessfor ten minutes, caused by the dense volumes of sulphurous smoke andclouds of dust and shattered rocks. The entire country all about St. Pierre was turned into a chaotic waste. All the trees were either tornup by the roots or snapped off, to lie level with the ground. The outlines of the town but imperfectly remained. The tangle ofdebris was such that after the rescuers came, it was with difficultythat the course of streets could be followed. In spite of the horrible surroundings, and the universal wave of humansympathy which had been evoked, looting began almost as soon asrelief. As soon as it was possible to land, ghouls began to rob thebodies of the victims. The monsters plied their nefarious trade insmall boats. Skimming along the shore they would watch for an openingwhen troops and rescue parties were elsewhere, then land, grab whatthey could, and sail away again. The United States government tug Potomac, while on her way to Fort deFrance with supplies from San Juan, Porto Rico, overhauled a smallboat containing five negroes and a white man. Something in theappearance of the men excited the suspicions of the commander of thePotomac, Lieutenant McCormick, and he ordered them to come on board. When they were searched, their pockets were found to be filled withcoin and jewelry. Rings in their possession had evidently beenstripped from the fingers of the dead. Lieutenant McCormick placedthem all under arrest, and later turned them over to the commander ofthe French cruiser Suchet for punishment. Thus it was that no detail of grewsome horror was lacking to make theshocking tale of the destruction of St. Pierre complete. The hour of the disaster is placed at about eight o'clock. A clerk inFort de France called up another by telephone in St. Pierre and wastalking with him at 7:55 by Fort de France time, when he heard asudden, awful shriek, and then could hear no more. "The little that actually happened then can be briefly, very brieflytold, " says W. S. Merriwether, the New York Herald correspondent. "Itis known that at one minute there lay a city smiling in the summermorning; that in another it was a mass of swirling flames, with everysoul of its 30, 000 writhing in the throes of death. One moment andchurch bells were ringing joyful chimes in the ears of St. Pierre's30, 000 people--the next the flame-clogged bells were sobbing a requiemfor 30, 000 dead. One waft of morning breeze flowed over cathedralspires and domes, over facades and arches and roofs and angles of apopulous and light-hearted city--the next swept a lone mass of whitehot ruins. The sun glistened one moment on sparkling fountains, greenparks and fronded palms--its next ray shone on fusing metal, blistered, flame-wrecked squares and charred stumps of trees. One dayand the city was all light and color, all gayety and grace--the nextits ruins looked as though they had been crusted over with twentycenturies of solitude and silence. " St. Pierre was a vast charnel-house. Skirting for nearly a league theblue waters of the Caribbean, its smoking ruins became the funeralpyre of 30, 000, not one of whom lived long enough to tell adequately astory that will stand grim, awful, unforgotten as that of Herculaneum, when the world is older by a thousand years. St. Pierre was as dead as Pompeii. Most of her people lay fathoms deepin a tomb made in the twinkling of an eye by the collapse of theirhomes, and sealed forever under tons of boiling mud, avalanches ofscoria and a hurricane of volcanic dust. Over the entombed city the volcano from a dozen vents yet poured itssteaming vapors in long, curling wreaths, that mounted thousands offeet aloft, like smoking incense from a gigantic censer above the bierof some mighty dead. Such was the disaster which burst upon the hapless people of theisland of Martinique, while almost at the same moment a sister isle, St. Vincent, was suffering a kindred fate. Similar in naturalconditions, these two little colonies of the West Indies, one Frenchand one English by affiliation, underwent the shock of nature'sassault and sank in grief before a horror-stricken world. Transcriber's Note There are some inconsistencies in the chapter subheadings between theTable of Contents and chapters themselves; these have been left asprinted. There is some variation in factual information--for example, the amountheld in the Mint. These occurrences have all been preserved as printed. There is some variable spelling; this has been repaired where therewas an obvious prevalence of one form over the other, but is otherwiseleft as printed. There is a reference on page 112 to "gambling hells", which seems to be a genuine term, although it could be a typo for"gambling halls". Since there is no way to be certain, it has beenpreserved as printed. Archaic spelling has been preserved as printed. Typographic errors in punctuation and spelling (omitted or transposedletters, etc. ) have been repaired. Hyphenation has been madeconsistent where there was a prevalence of one form over the other. The following errors have also been repaired: Page 18--John amended to James--"Former Mayor James D. Phelan" Page 47--aids amended to aides--"It was not without a struggle that Mayor Schmitz and his aides let this, . . . " Page 93--omitted word 'he' added, for sense--"Kanaka Pete chased the man he had marked . . . " Page 160--omitted 0 added to tabular entry for Connecticut. Page 317--damage to the bottom of the page has left one word partially obscured. From the visible letters and available space, the word is most likely 'gradually', which has been used in this e-text. Page 372--Callas amended to Callao--". . . Producing a new bay at Callao; and in several mountains . . . " Page 373--XXXII amended to XXXI--"CHAPTER XXXI. " Page 382--XXXI amended to XXXII--"CHAPTER XXXII. " Page 401--omitted word 'if' added following 'as'--"It was as if St. Pierre had been just dipped . . . " The frontispiece illustrations have been moved to follow the titlepage. Other illustrations have been moved where necessary so that theyare not in the middle of a paragraph.