Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-04-26
Heavy Cold Rain Fell Upon Thou
sands of San Francisco's
Homeless.
UNDERSTANDABLE SUFFERING
lDov bpour tscraVntcs In.nnitary COM
atoms of the Camps and Great In
crease of Tncumnnia--Doors of
lDhosritablc Homes smash
cd In 10 Give shelter.

San Francisco, April GA drcnchinc
rain fell upon san Francisco last night.
I'om midnight until three O'Clock i,
poured and drizzlod az intervals while a
high wind added q melancholy accompaui-
mcnt whstling ANA sighng about the
ruins Of the buildings i'm tho burned dis
trIct. Five days ago when the fire odtaS-
truphe was i'm its infancy this dowupour
Woud have been regarded as a mercy and
GodSond. This morning il could I've re-
tardcd IN no other light than aS am addi-
ti"nal calamity 1t meant ind.scribable
suffering to the tens of thousands of PER-
CONS campod upon the naked hills and in
parks and open places Few Of these
were provided with water proof clothing
For IN" most part their only protection
from the water WAS II thin covering OF
Sh""iing tackled upon an improNised tent
pole. Through this the water poured as
through Il sieve wetting the bedding and
soaking the ground upon which they lay.
When it is understood that thousands
upon thousands of dclicatoly nurtured
women and infants in arms and old and
feeble persons were in this plight nothing
need bc added to describe the misery of
their condition.
Thc downpour has aggravated tho
already uusanitary condition ot the
camps and will doubtless add great
numbers of pneumonia cases to those
already crowdmg tho regular and
temporary hospitals of the city. What
could be done was done by tn" guards
in charge Of the camps to relieve the
distress. Whenever covering could be
had for tho women ana children. il was
taken advantage OF. They were housed
in chill and chccrlcss churches, in
garages and barns and those who had
saved their homes were called upon to
TAX" care Of the Uufortuuatcs exposed
10 tHr storm. with few EXCEPTIONS
thos" who had homes responded read
lily to the new call made upon them
and where they did NOT the butt ends
Of riloS quickly forced way through
inh"Spltahlc doors. While tin" storm
has added Ia the difficutics of the gem
cral committee. especially of those
having in charge III" car" of tho sick
tho sanitation of tn" city and the hous-
ing Of the homeless, il has been II spur
I" even greater efforts to bring order
out of the chaos prevailing. Regular
shelter tents will hc provided as well
rs cots standing off tho ground. It is
realized that these provisions are i'm
pcratiV" as much So as to the provid-
ing Of food
After several hours Of clear weather
th"r" was another precipitation at i a.
~. and again at nine o'clock the fall
was resumed ana continued at intervals
throughout tho day.
or individual Instances of suffering. the
nunbcl is legion. but one VIII tell the
story of thom all
About tuu o'clock when tho rain had
been falling heavily for an hour. a middle
aged man, white faced i'm his distress
and fatigue. appeared al the headquarters
Or tn" general committee. he had walk
ed two miles from his camping place in
INC park To max" an appeal for his suf-
f"r'hg wife and little ones. AS he told Of
tl"ir distress tears cuurSrd down his
'h''hs. His wife and children were. he
sHlI' without covering other than Il sheet
lNS over mead ana were living ON the naked
ground and their hodics protected only
by quilt ana hlanlio, which of his
household bedding were al he had man
aged to save. These had quickly been
soaked ana while unwilling to complain
on his own account he could not hear
to listen To the walls Of his lovoJ nnas