The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1906-04-26

San Francisco, (SpeciaD-A drench-
ing rain fell upon San Francisco Mon,
day night From midnight until 3 o'clock
1t poured and drizzled at intervals, while
a high wind added melancholy accom-
panlment, whistlin9 and signing about
the ruins of the buildings in the burned
district
Five days ago, when the first catas-
trophe was in its infancy this downpour
would have been regarded as a mercy
and a godsend. Monday morning il
could be regarded in no other light
than as an additional calamity. 1t meant
ndescribable suffering to the tens of
thousands of people camped out upon
the naked hills and in the parks and open
places of the city. Few of these were
provided with water proof covering For
the most part their only protection from
the. wet was thin covering Of sheeting
tackled upon improvised tent poles.
Through this the water poured as through
sieve, wetting the bedding and soaking
the ground upon which they lay
When it is understood that thousands
upon thousands of delicately nurtured
Women and infants in arms and old and
J feeble people were in this plight, nothing
| their condition.
The downpour has aggravated the al
ready unsanitary condition Of the camps,
and VIII, doubtless, add great numbers OF
OF pneumonia cases 10 those already
crowdIng the regular and temporary hos
pitals of the city
What could be done was done by the
guards IN charge Of the camps TO relieve
the distress. Whenever covering could
be had for the women and children it
was taken advantage of. They were
housed in chill and cherries churches,
IN garages and barns, and those who had
saved their homes were called upon to
take care Of the unfortunates exposed to
the storm. With few exceptions, those
who had homes responded readily to the
new call made upon them and where
they did not the butt ends OF rifles quick
ly forced a way through inhospitable
| doors. While the storm has added to
the difficulties OF the general committee,
especially of those having in charge the
care of the sick, the sanitation of the city
and the housing of the homeless. it has
been spur TO even greater efforts to
bring order out of chaos prevailing. Reg
ular shelter tents will be provided as we'll
as cots standing off the ground 1t is
realized that these provisions are imperAx
tive, as much so as to the providing of
food
OF individual instances of suffering
the number is legion, but one will tell
the story of them all.
About 4 O'Clock, when the rain had
been falling heavily for an hour, mid
dle-aged man, white-faced in his distress
and fatigue, appeared at the headquar-
tiers of the general committee. He had
walked two miles from his camping place
in the park to make an appeal for his
suffering wife and little ones. AS he
told Of their distress tears coursed down
his cheeks His wife and children were,
he said, without covering other than a
sheeting overhead, and were lying on the
naked ground and bodies only protected
by quilt and blanket, which of his
household bedding were all he had man.
aged to save These had quickly been
| soaked, and while unwilling to COM
plain on his own account, he could not
listen TO the walls of his loved ones and
had tramped all the way from his camp
ing place to the committee headquarters
in the hope that he might find some
means of getting his family under shelter.
The condition of the 5000 persons
camped in Jefferson Square is terrible.
Not more than 5 per cent have even an
army tent, and makeshifts are construc-
ted of carpets, bed sheets and every
imaginable substance. They were made
quate to keep out the heavy rain. Houses
are requisitioned for these people as fast
as possible Glenn A. Durston. of the
Spanish War Veterans Relief Com
mittee, has immediate charge of the re-
lief work