wPANORAMIC VIEW OF SAN FRANCISCO , SHOWING MANY BUILDINGS DESTROYED BY SHOCK AND FIRE.

frightful Seismic Shock

Shatters Half of

the Town.

Water Mains Broken.and Fire Completes

the

'Other Cities on the Pacific

Also Stricken by the

Great Disaster..-

Appalling

.

. Loss of Life and Mi-

llions

¬

of Dollars Worth of

Property Destroyed.-

$1any

.

New and Costly Skyscrapers

and Big Stores Fall in Heaps

of Debris.

Torn and shattered by the earth-

Quake

-

, which was followed by devas-

tating¬

fire , San Francisco is a city of-

ruins. . Hundreds , perhaps thousands ,

of lives have been snuffed out and mil-

lions¬

upon millions of dollars in prop-

erty¬

are lost. Where stood its stateli-

est¬

buildings are piles of twisted steeland ruined stone. The homes of many"families were wrenched into fragmentsand the lives they sheltered taken.

The first shock was felt just at dawnWednesday , and the disturbances con-

tinued¬

for several minutes. The earlier

*

were mild , as they

-continued the the ¬

so that whole ¬

the city disturbed and a-

.large into .

with therocld quickly cut off.

Swiftly the seismic visitant cameand as swiftly did it go. Behind wasa trail of dead and dying. And afterthat the llames ! Nature , that rolledthe earth into waves and struck downgreat of stone and marble , fur-nished

¬

a dismal and dreadful after-math

¬

in a tempest of wind. The winef-muecl the llames and the flames speed-ily

¬

the work ofthe earthquake.

Thousands undoubtedly owe theirlives to the early hour at which thesiesmic shocks brought their ¬

ruin. The district most dam-aged

¬

is the business portion of thetown. At the time of the shock 5:13-o'clock a. in. these structures ¬

were deserted , and their collapsecaused little loss of lifeA few hours later and they would havebeen veritable human beehives. Thenthe disaster would have been some-thing

¬

almost beyond the power of thehuman mind to grasp.-

By.

the time the reachedIts destructive period the streetscity were crowded with thousands

persons , who rushed toand fro and endeavored to out ofthe way of falling IIuntKwere supposed to have been caught inthe falling debris and crushed to deathor killed later by the fires which sprungui all through business portionthe city.-

In.

general it may be said that thedistrict lying between Market and How-

ard¬

streets , from the bay as far westas the city hall , has been badly wreck ¬

ed. The Call and Examiner ,

as well as the Western Union Build-ing

¬

, have been wrecked. The large ¬

in this neighborhoodalso were ruined. Farther east onMarket toward the Ferry Slips ,

is a section occupied by cheap lodging-houses and hotels and here the loss oflife is reported to great.

Fire Follows tlic Shock.Fire followed the build-

ings¬

along Market street , and the fire-

men¬

were to prevent thespread the flames. The earthquakehad broken the mains on the big streetand twisted off the side mains , and itwas almost to take steamersthrough the debris in the streets. Vol-

oaaaanc anaaDGafc,

anoaoan i a'D aaaa m-

aa

* * .

& **Xstf *

naneraacsa eg * <s&*

ancraacia-aoo3aaa IfX$DODO ! *-

conn

" TRnn'nn'nr.ii AREAS OF DESTRUCTION IN SAN FRANCISCO.

The black line incloses the district in which the earthquake did the greatestdamage the shaded portions of the map show the areas of the big fires in theskyscraper and wholesale districts.

demonstrations buttrembling of earth be-

came violent the popula-

tion of was. proportion turned the streets-

.'The communication outside> was

piles

completed horrifying

wide-spread

:

practic-ally

comparatively

earthquakeof the

of-

terrorstrickenkeep

buildings. Js

> the of

Buildings

de-

partment stores

street

be

crumbling of

powerlessof

impossible

&

unteers brought supplies of dynamiteand began to blow up the blazing de-bris

¬

in a vain effort to confine the con-flagration

¬

to the ruined area.All power in the street car and pri-

vate¬

electric lighting plants was cut off.Wires in tangled masses had been hurl-ed

¬

into the streets.

Chicago Tribune.

Near 4th and Stevenson streets theold red wood buildings made good tin-der

¬

for the flames. Fire swept throughthe debris of the poorer buildings andsoon got beyond control of the fire fight ¬

ers. Across the street the fire swept ,

licking up the debris in front of theWinchester rooming house. Fire spreadto the buildings along the west side of-

3d street. Desperate efforts were madewith powder , dynamite and other ex-

plosives¬

to stop the flames.One block away the Palace Hotel

was threatened by the sweep of theflames. With no water to extinguishthe fire , the big hostelry seemed doom ¬

ed. Calls were sent to the Presidio forsoldiers to help save the business dis-

trict¬

from being entirely swept by theconflagration. Powuer, dynamite andother explosives were tried on the blaz-ing

¬

piles of debris.-On

.

Market street merchants stood intheir doors calling loudly for wagonsand offering big sums to the driverswho would load up with their goods.

Water Front in Flames.Carried by a strong breeze , the

brands from the Market street fireslanded on the water front and threat-ened

¬

the lumber , oil and steamshipdocks. On Fremont street one of theworst fires of the early morning threat-ened

¬

to destroy a block in the whole-ale district. Small fires appeared in

the debris on California and Pinestreets. Soon the flames , unchecked bywater or explosives , gained such head-way

¬

that all the wooden buildings asfar as Sansome street were attacked.-

A.

strong westerly wind becamestronger as the morning wore away-.It

.

fanned the several blazes in theheart of the business district andthreatened to spread the fire through-out

¬

a section filled with valuable mer-chandise.

¬

. As the noon hour drew near;he flames were spreading in every di-

rection¬

, and the destruction by fire bidfair to eclipse the damage wrought bythe earthquake. The loss of life seemsto have been confined to the poorer dis-

tricts¬

and manufacturing territory. Onlower Market street, the main thor-oughfare

¬

of the city, block after blockof substantial buildings was destroyed.

The Valencia Hotel , between Seven-teenth

¬

and Eighteenth streets , on Va-

lencia¬

street , a five-story frame build-r.g

-

, toppled over Into the street , bury-ing

¬

seventy-five people in the debris.-At

.

Eighteenth and Valencia there Is-

a crevice in the street six feet wide andentire sidewalks are torn up. Thestreet cartracks are badly twisted all

through the southern section of 'thec-

ity. .

Davis street , Font street , Batterystreet, Sansom , Montgomery , Kearney ,

Spear, Main , Beale and Fremontstreets all were in the area of theearthquake's greatest fury. Early re-

ports¬

indicated that the quaking earthshook all buildings along these thor-oughfares

¬

from their foundations andpiled the debris high.

The cheap tenement house districtssuffered terribly. Old buildings , con-

structed¬

in the days of redwood , anddilapidated and tottering , collapsedwith a succession of roars. Fires ap-

peared¬

in the ruins , but the fire fight-ers

¬

were almost powerless to extin-guish

¬

the flames.

IHs : Building Fall.The offices of the Postal Telegraph

Company , in the Hobart Building , werewrecked. The Associated Press Build-

THE CITY HALT-

.ing

.at 302 Montgomery street also was

destroyed. The $7,000,000 City Hallrocked and creaked in the earthquake ,

portions of it collapsing , bringing addedterror to the people who had rushedinto the streets near by.

Scarcely had the people realized theextent of the great calamity when re-ports

¬

began to come in from surround-ing

¬

places indicating that the shock hadbeen disastrous throughout a wide area.Some experts on seismic disturbancesestimated that a portion of California100 miles in diameter had come withinthe zone of greatest activity.

Night added to the horror , and asdarkness fell the sky was Illuminated

by the brilliant conflagration. Therewas no light in the city except the lightthat meant the destruction of homesand the loss of life. The final dyingout of the fires leave only a barrensand dune dotted with the blackenedruins of what was a great city.

Ten Square Miles lluriteil.Ten square miles of the heart of the

city were burned over , the water sup-

ply¬

was cut off because of the twistedand broken mains , and the frantic res-

idents¬

, aided by Federal troop * , foughtthe flames with dynamite in an effortto save the remainder of the city fromdestruction. The property loss is esti-

mated¬

at 200000000.General Funston , in command of the

United States troops at the Presidio ,

declared the city under martial law assoon as the extent of the horror be-

came¬

apparent , and the troops and po-

lice¬

worked together to save life , pro-

tect¬

property and recover the dead. Theearthquake shock destroyed so many ofthe fire engine hoiwes that the depart-ment

¬

would have been virtually power-less

¬

even had the water supply notbeen destroyed.

The saturnalia of crime and lootingwhich began when the soldiers sackedthe saloons broke out afresh with thedarkness , and unnumbered , untoldcrimes were committed on every side.-

No.

historian will ever describe the tor-tures

¬

which the homeless suffered ;

none dare attempt to recount theagonies of those who sought the ruinsof their homes and missing members oftheir household : none msiy think of thewoe and doom of those buried beneaththe wreckage or consumed by the re-

morseless¬

flames-.Xuinl

.

> cr of Dead Xevcr Known-.It

.

will be many days before the com-

plete¬

story of the ruin wrought by thedouble calamity of earthquake and firethat visited San Francisco will be writ-ten

¬

and then there will still remain un-

told¬

countless tales of pitiful tragedy.The exact loss of life will never beknown , as hundreds of unfortunateshave been incinerated in the flameswhich made the rescue of those buriedunder toppling steeples and fallingwalls impossible.

Famine in its most terrible form ex-

panded¬

through the devastated city andstricken inhabitants Thursday. Hun-ger

¬

, growing into the first stages ofstarvation , faced the spent thousandswho slept Wednesday night in the pub-

lic¬

square * , or on the bare pavementsof the city's streets. Thirst the mostterrorizing of the torments to followthe eai'thquake , drove men and womenmad.

Vandals caught in the act of robbingdead bodies were shot without explana-tion

¬

and their bodies consigned to theflames of some burning buildings , with-out

¬

any further formality. The sol-

diers¬

patrolling the streets were or-

dered¬

to kill , forthwith , any personseen robbing the dead or burglari/.ingunprotected places of business- . Fullya score of men were killed under thisorder.

The hysteria and terror of the peoplewere indescribable. The sanest andmost conservative individuals were af-fected

¬

, and ran about in a state of ex-

citement¬

suggesting madness Some ofthem had lost a wife , a mother , or , in-

deed¬

, as was true in scores of instances ,

their entire family. Others had seentheir property waste away before theireyes. First the mysterious attack bynature from underground , and then thefearful onslaught of the flames encour-aged

¬

by a gale. These persons becameirersponsible. They resisted officersand would not obey firemen. They in-

sisted¬

on rushing into the ruins tosearch for the bodies of their dead or-to retrieve valuables Scores of liveswere thrown away through foolhardi-ness.

-. Then came the thieving prowler

and the ghoul. General Funston wasin receipt of a stream of complaints ,

and under the stress of circumstances ,

rapidly growing desperate , the chief ofthe military commanded his men toshot such offenders on sight.

Berkeley I* Damaged.Later reports extended the region of

earthquake to the Rocky Mountains andincluded much of the Pacific slope inthe area of shocks. At Berkeley wherethe State university Is located , therewas a big fire , the result of the earth-

EPITOME OF THE CATASTROPHE.

The dead in San Francisco ( esti-mated

¬

) 1,000The dead , inmates of insane asy-

lum¬

at Agnews 275The dead in San Jose 05The dead in Santa Rosa 30OThe dead at other points 150The injured ( estimated ) 3.00OEstimated property loss. . . $200,000,000Number of square miles devas-

tated¬

10Number of city blocks destroyed 1,000Number of buildings in ruins. .30000Number of persons made home-

less¬

150,000Number of hotels destroyed. . . . 8-

Newpapers offices in ruins 3Telegraph and telephone officeswiped out 3

City placed under martial law.Oilier I'laee.Stricken. .

Santa Ro a Town practically de-

stroyed>

: . .00 persons killed and 10,000made homeless.

San Jo > e Majority of buildings shat-tered

¬

and ! ." persons killed.Palo Alto All buildings but one of-

Lehind Stanford University throwndown and two persons killed.

Santa Cruz Number of buildings de-

molished¬

and many persons reportedkilled.

Monterey Great damage done toproperty and some fatalities.-

Gilroy.

Large property loss.Agnew State insane asylum demol-

ished¬

: 2T. persons killed and patientsrumnnir : 't large.-

Iloli'uster.

Large property loss-

.quake.

.

. Nevada felt the force of thequake. All wires west of Reno werethrown down. From Sacramento camethe report that miles of railroad trackbetween Suisun and Benecia had sunkout of sight. Wires were carried withthe riN.

The appalling calamity in San Fran5-

sco-

places that city in a list of Lisbon ,Caracas. Naples , and other cities de-

vastated¬

by earthquakes. The horrorsof the situation in California are thegreater because San Francisco is a pop-ulous

¬

and commercial city. The earth-quake

¬

destroyed :it OIK o hundreds of-

bushio s blocks and thf means of sav-ing

¬

others from fire. It paralyzed com-merce

¬

, destroyed railways and bridges ,

_

'A'S-\ yAJ'TtllP-

.ITOKY

:

*iy EARTHQUAKE AEEA.

exit off'communication with other cit-ies

¬

, and desolated the country to thesouth and east.-

But..

. as in the case of Galveston ,there will be quick recovery from whatseems overwhelming disaster. Naplesis a great city in spite of the erup-tions

¬

of Vesuvius and in spite of earth¬

quakes. Tokio , desolated by earth-quakes

¬

several times , is the greatestcity of Japan. Chicago is greater be-

cause¬

of the fire of 1871. Charlestonis none the worse for the earthquake of1-

SSG.. And San Francisco will rise su-

perior¬

to the great disaster of 190G.

Tent * nnd Ration * for Sufferers.Prompt action was taken by the War

Department in extending to the earth-quake

¬

sufferers of San Francisco all thavailable resources at its command to re-lieve

¬

the wants of the distressed and t*provide ehelter for the homeless