The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1906-06-14
CITY OF SHACKS ARISING ON
RUINS OF SAN FRANCISCO
PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN FOR
THE PRESS SHOWING THE
PRESENT CONDITION OF MAR
kET STREET TWO MONTHS
AFTER THE GREAT EARTH.
QUAkE-lINED WITH ONE
STORY FRAME STRUCTURES
NAND TENTS.
3 Y e. n. WELLS.


shacks
| Not one foundation stone for q
Substantial edifice has yet been put
in place. although nearly two
months have elapsed since the
Earthquake and fire moved down
the city.
The Southern Pacific has laid Its
tracks up and down the streets, by
permission of the authorities, yet
few trains are being loaded with
the wreckage.
Here and there some enterpris-
ing property owners are at work
I clearing their land, but all around
them, on the undisturbed, blacken.
ed heaps of refuse, appear little
painted signs, For Lease" "For
Lease" each telling an ominous
story.
Great Lineup Of Shacks.
And from the ferry landing, up
Market street to point beyond the
ruins OF the great newspaper build
ings, in fact, for over a mile, little
shacks of rough lumber and tents,
mostly Restaurants" line both
sides of the once great thorough
fare, some Of them built with an
utter abandon of all restrictions,
out upon the pavement, while 9TH
ers stand upon the sidewalks. A
few have excavated into the debris
sufficiently to plant one story
frame structures, implanted and
upholstered, and are opening up for
business with modest stocks of
goods, hardly large enough for a
country town.
The first gents furnishing
goods" establishment to reopen on
Market street, just beyond the Call
building, is located in a tent, with
half a dozen shirts and a stock of
collars and neckties displayed for
sale. The proprietor has this label
hung out:
I'm in the gutter now; but will
soon be out Of it."
Successor to the Grand Hotel.
In grim irony, stands tent res
taurant On the site of the vanished
Grand Hotel, where atrocious Is.
cent meals can be had by any one
holding the price.
Ham and eggs. 20 cents" Ham
and eggs, 20 cents" glares one in
the face at every step, as he
scrambles up Market street and
lodges in and out among the piles
| of brick and stone.
1t looks for all the world like a
frontier mining towns principal
street. Only by looking at the giant
ruins in the background and the
piles upon the street, is the illusion
shattered.
Climbing out of this "re-opened"
thoroughfare, and turning ones
back upon the shacks which friu ge
1t, the Phantom City Of Dead
Things again confronts the behold.
er, stretching far away into the
dim distance, apparently untenant-
ed and lifeless.
No, San Francisco is not rebuild
ing. as yet, to any appreciable ex-
tent
waiting on the Insurance.
Everybody is waiting on the in
surance companies, and loud and
bitter are the complaints at their
dilatory tactics.
Nobody has money to rebuild
until the companies pay.
breaking point, hangs upon the in
surance, and what will be the out
| come no man knows.
Eastern capital is not being Of
fered to rebuild San Francisco. The
east has heard that 104 earth trem-
ors have occurred since the great
quake, and that the number keeps
On growing with the coming of the
days.
The east is evidently afraid. 1t
seems to want no present invest
ments in a place where the earth
crust is so unsettled.
Makes Dire Prophecy.
And, as though to make the stu
alton more troublesome, the some
what reckless prophecy Of Profess
sor Jordan, of the university, that
San Francisco MAY some day slide
off from its precipice into the deep
watery abyss just outside of the
Golden GGate, is being passed on
from mouth to mouth, carrying
with 1t disquiet and unrest among
the people of the stricken city.
That the situation, as a whole, is
still desperate, is shown by the
constant outflow of population from
the stricken city. Every train
leaving for the east, north or south,
is loaded to its capacity with refu-
gees, while incoming trains bear
curiosity seekers and men of bust
ness.
| Mona ~ 4ba - a.,