The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-05-18
AS SEEN BYA Will INGTONIAN
MIR. Grier kidder's Interesting Story of
the Fearful Earthquake and Fire That
Recently Destroyed all of San Francisco

have become insane and | have aad
10 control my originality TO a mos. IN
comfortable extent; for in their pres
ent suspicious state our people are
slow in discriminating between the
tdiosyncracies Of genius and the ex-
travagances OF vulgar lunacy. And.
worse still, Agnew's asylum for the
insane IS destroyed and the really
made article is swarming over h
country.
OF course. opinions differ rs 10 the
cause Of u troubles. The majority.
think tnat the earthquake was q warn
ing on account Of our unspeakable
cussedness. and the fire 4 punishment,
But here is the hitch. 4 warning
should allow time for repentance be
fore the punishment. But within two
hours after the earthquake the city
was in flames. Now. how in thunder
can a half million abandoned sinners
reform in two hours? | have, person.
ally, reformed several times in less
time ar so have a good a OF you
fellows; but head repentance and heart
contrition are quite different Others
say IL il TO be attributed to the IA
pacity of the rich (that lets ME OUT.
some lay il To the contraction of the
earthS surface owing TO the cooling Of
the internal fires: others To the in.iu-
ence of the heavenly bodies. II ihis
last Is true, | wish the heavenly bod
les would mind their own business.
and Professor Some Body from Some
where, claims that, when aqueous
| agencies are in conflict with abnormal
thermal intensities, which are insep-
arabic from the s-ubterranean limits OF
volcanic water, there Is necessarily a
violent diSassociation of oxygen n
| hydrogen resulting in violent and spas
| modic displacements." | thought about
| all this myself; but you remember
what | said about advancing original
IDEAS.
We are still having slight shocks
but looking for nothing serious; and
few people are running into the street
in their night gowns; none in fact but
the very nervous. But, as a writ Of
| ejectment, I'll stake our earthquake or
the 18th against any other dispossess-
ing process. Many have died of pure
fright and thousands expected the
! earth to open and engulf the city. |
looked for Il drop in real estate, but
not to so serious an extent. Taking il
altogether, il has been an historical
earthquake, but | hope to be present
at no more geological history making
There are neither restaurants nor sa-
looms left and though there has been
no suffering from hunger the wide
spread thirst is truly pathetic. Every
exertion has been put forth for our
relief and in five years San Francisco
will differ as much from what it II
as it does from what it was. As TO
the absence of saloons. OF course, the
first few days the community suffered
from 4 Federal Pointish sensation, but
we are ~reconciled. And, with few ex-
c~eptions, we would gladly welcome a
law to stamp out permanently every
future rum shop in San Francisco. So
we have tried liquor, politicians and
crime, useless each without h 9TH
err" we are trying water, military law
and morality; and, though We nave
but a few houses in a Sahara of ashes
we are proud of what we have-a com-
munity in which law breaking means
death on the spot.
Very respectfully,
N. GRIER KIDDER.