The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-19
TELLS OF Vivid Description of the Great Terror. WAS LIKE A SHIP AT SEA Description of the City of San
 Francisco. ' One Who Experienceds the Esrthquake of 1897 wrfses vividiy of the Unseen Terrcrs of the
 Nssht.
By W. X. Ryas.

citizen of san Francisco He was
 for seven years a reporter on The
 San Francisco chronicle. Az re. ].
 of 1897. which was terrible enough:
 but infinitely less SC, than that Of
 yesterday MT; Ryan, i wno w;..,sss ls Son-
 Teiegraph Company is a guest of the
 New Exchange.).
 .If you have ever been awakened at midnight at sea by the pitch and roll of storm tossed ship; If in hte wild terror succeeding you have have run blindly silently out upon the deck and in the inky blackness sought to feel your way across the deck to some pot of safety that your sub conscious mind told you must be at htnd If you have had some such ex- pericnce you can realize something Of the awfulness the terror. the despair of the 2,500 persons who lost their lives in y:sterdays earthquake at San Francisco.
 q went through the experience once in 1S97 while a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. l was one of the occupants of the police reporters room at the City Hall said to have been partially destroyed in this disaster. I recall distinctly the terror of that experience. There were half dozen of Us busily writing tho final copy for the night when the first shock came. There were perhaps a dozen officers in the police station and jail. Absolute panic seized upon all.
 The concrete floors of that mighty structure heslved and rolled as a ship that labors in a heavy sea. We ran madly into the corridors seeking to es- cape It. was like running across the deck of vessel tossed by strong winds No one spoke nor screamed. Each was intent only upon saving himself. We ran out into the night, and once outside, in the brea Unless awe that succeeds to great fright, we turned to one another our terror blind ed eyes in mute questioning. What was it?
 Behind the dark mass of the loom- ing structure above us the moon shone calm and serene. Everywhere was si- lence. The awfuIness of that moments experience made speech patry.
 At lasty the terror removed, our tied tongues were unleashed. And we talked; oh how we talked-hysterical- ly, laughing and crying in one voice: shaking each others hands. Those Of us who had wives, thought of them and of their possible fate. And then from all part of the city the claugor rose. Fire bells sounded. Whistles blew the alarm. Voices took up the cries, and pandemonium succeeded to the moments of absolute quiet. There was no need to ask what had happened. We trem- bled lest the first shock should be fol- lowed by another greater and more de- structive than the first. Then came the call to duty.
 There was work for all the report CTS and policemen from that moment forward The busy hours succeeding took our minds off the terror of the moments before. Hundreds had been injured by falling buildings. but the damage was comparatively small if re- ports of yesterdays disaster are not exaggerated. After my experience. however, I am inclined to believe them somewhat exaggerated, for know how the rumors and reports that flew for the first hour on that occasion were magnified.
 san Francisco has been periodically visited by earthquakes about once every decade in its history. Some have been serious in their effects. some in significant, but all have taught the need of precautions, and If many mod ern buildings have been destroyed 1t will be surprising. It is curious that reports show that now. as before, wooden buildings have suffered most.
 The earthquake of '97 convinced people that modern steel construction is quake proof" and there has been much building since then.
 ITO thoroughly understand the sit uation at San Francisco one should know something of its geographical situation. The city Is located on a peninsula connected to the mainland by a narrow arm.
 The Golden Gate entrance to San Francisco Bay is a very narrow inlet bounded upon its northern side by a forbidding beadland of srock that has been the cause of many marine disas- ters. Upon it's southern or San Fran cisco side are the cliffs and seal rocks so famous throughout the world as one of the show places of California.
 A range of lofty hills traverses the center of the peninsula and divides the city into two seperate districts. The Richmond district lies to the north west of the range and the Mission dis trict to the southeast, sheltered from the ocean winds and leaving much miIder and pleasanter climate than the Richmond district, and therefore fa- vorite home section.
 The business section of the city, that portion apparently most affected by the earthquake, occupies third divis- ion to the northeast of the hills. This section is divided by Market street in- to two localities differing as greatly