New-York tribune., 1906-07-15
CALIFORNIA DISASTER.
Spirit Developed in San Francisco
Citizens.

In the midst Of the distress Of the IRE a Lead
ing citizen OF san Francisco met one Of the citys
matrOns fleeing for shelter. II have lost every
thing she said. But not your beauty.
madam" ''NOr you your good breeding" she
rejoined
The most interesting thing to-day in San
Francisco is the spirit of its citizens, men and
women. II might fairly be said there is moth
ing else left, for it was marvellOusly clean
sweep. But IL alone Is wealth
Nobody talks much about his individual losses.
Sometimes the grotesqueness OF the misery the
very Joke Of the thing. IS too good TO be lost.
and they tell IL. Not thing left but the suit
l am standing in" says one business man ule
day after the fire; but the next day he meets
the cheering word of friend Its all right:
we've found you anOther-yOUr portrait was res
cued from the Art Institute" and they rejoice
together
Factions. elmities and politics have all dis
solved in the universal solvent OF common loss
ana common sympathy In a united endeavOr
Of public service San Francisco has found itself.
SO the public spirit of Chicago had its birth
from the stress Of disaster.
The work of relief Is passing now from the
emergency type to the orderly and professional
form. The army has become the mechanism for
OF supplies At first three hundred and fifty
thousand were fed for the first two or three
days, probably four hundred thousand. A hun
cred ana twenty-five thousand OF these were on
the east side of the bay. To-day ths number is
reduced to only few thousand
Work Is reviving- Everyone Is seeking to find
his place again in normal social existence and
on the basis OF earning and buying. The wise
charity has now TO exert itself in the direction
OF helping the complicated social machine get
into working again. The tools Of life from
saucepan to chisel must be restored. The shop
keeper has no goods or sign, the dentist no for
ceps. the dressmakeT no sewing machine, the
musician no violin. the lawyer no library. One
sewing machine given not long ago to a dress
maker started her work going. and, to my knOwl
edge. provided the nucleus OF employment for
five girls. each of whom help support others
When the dressmaking starts. the shop viii feel
II
The real estate which a month ago was a
field of ruin, is beginning TO bear It's frst crop
ShantieS and shackS are Springing up like q
crop Of weeds on every hand There are two or
three hundred of them already. and some have
stocks Of goods Meantime. the buildings that
We're burned out, but not ruined, are oelnR
cleared. Some OF them will be in use within
sixty days Some OF them, with imprOvissd
windows and partitions, already serve for Ousl-
ness purposes.
The retail trade Is now on it's feet though IL
liuops In three years the new San Francisco
viii have taken its shape. and in hve years It
will be worth any mans while TO come ana see
Its people have been tried IN hre ana has9 ,sS
proved their grit. They have learned that soma
buildings Of steel and concrete are good oulio-
ings to have. but that surer than any oulIdlus
and frmer than the crust OF mother eaFtn are
the Ioyalties Of human brotherhood and tns
tender nercies of human love.
IL was the experience in San Francesca az
we'll as in Charleston, that the destructive et-
fects Of the earthquake were greater on mace
ground than firm native soil. This IS largely
a question OF foundation. but II Is alsO q IaCS
fbor when a wave passes from firm soil To
sp0ngy. light soil. the amplitude OF the wave is
Increased. The lesson TO be taken is that
foundations on such soil should be especially
deep massive and thoroughly bonded steel
bonding is there perhaps as necessary as In
the SupeTstructure.
Sober second thought viii be clear on the point
that the earthquake will not be a serious factor
in limiting the population Of the affected dis
trict 1t is true that five hundred people were
killed bur fOrty-nine out of fifty deaths Oc-
CURED firusy poorly constructed buildings. n
burning excursion boat in New York HarbOr de-
stroys it's eleven hundred souls, and cOlliding
French transatlantic steamer carries down its
six hundred. yet increasing numbers so over the
sea in ships. The cyclones OF the Mississippi
Valley. fer instance. that at St. Louis. are more
destructive Of human life in almost every year.
Railway accidents claim their thousands OF VIC
Tins annually. yet people Will not stay at bone
Galveston has recovered from the great storm
that claimed its thousands OF lives. The de-
structive foods Of Kansas and other states. the
fatal heats OF the Eastern summer and the biz
yards OF the Middle West winter destroy lives
immune rable. vet they are endured by a happy,
prosperous population If the residents OF the
Pacific Slope should devote TO the Strengthening
OF their buildings such sums as the mildneSs
and uniformity Of their climate enable them 20
save during ten years on the winters fuel ana
the summers ice. earthquakes would soon have
few terr0rS for them--Benjamin Ide Wheeler, IN
The Pacific Monthly for July.