The Washington times., 1906-04-18
CITY WAS TOSSED
LIKE A FEATHER
AS SHOCK CANE
Great Buildings Rose
Into the Air, Then
Collapsed.
EARTH SEEMED TO SINK
Walls Rocked and Wobbled
Like Frail Things in
a Storm.
EARTH SEEMED TO SINK

SAN FRANCISCO. Cal. April 1s-
Amid a heap Of bricks and mortar
which heap up about the telegrapher.
this story of the awful calamity that
has befaIlen San Francisco: a calamity
that In seriousness and magnitude makes
the recent eruption OF Vesuvius appear
trivial. is being sent.
1t was exactly at 5:15 o'clock this
morning that the city was tossed about
like feather by the wind. The earth
seemed to sink for a moment and then
the buildings 10 rise IN the air like
balloon. Then there was a sort OF sink
ing. the like Of which no mortal ever
experienced a second time. Then the
buildings Of the town rocked and wob-
hled like a frail thing in the storm.
No mortal can ever experience the
Tecul 1r sensation that ACCOMPANIED
this upheaval twice. for no city can
twice Withstand such a shock. Three
minutes after the awful earthquake the
town was a mass of torn streets and
the city flied with automobiles and
hacks Immediately a force of volun-
tcer rescUers appeared and the work of
gathering the dead and injured began
without delay
The shock Of the trembling earth was
followed by a multitude of fires, which
swept the water front and the south
ern portion Of the city, destroying with
in an hour over $20,O00.oOO worth of
tenement and business property.
The catastrophe came like a thunder
bolt out Of "A clear sky. Tuesday was
an ideal Western day. made up of
bracinE breezes and a soothing sunset.
The night came on like a quiet sleep.
Hundreds Of hacks and automobiles
wheeled and whiTled To the opera 10
hear Fremstadt and CarusO in Car
men, as the day died away and the
night stole on
The Grand Opera House was thronged
with music loving people. Then came
the end OF the show and the after sup
per. Later diners had scarcely reached
their homes when the entire peninsula
was rocked like reed in the wind.
At first the bystanders thought the
trembling of the earth was an ordinary
quiver. Then the COrnices of the main
buildings began to drop into Market
street The rattling OF the brick and
the shrieks of the wounded mingled in
sound of horror.
The Postal Telegraph Building is still
rocking like ocean waves. in conse-
Qeunce Of a second shock a little more
than three hours after the first shock.
Word has just been received of the
death OF Fire Chief Sullivan and Po-
nceman Fenner. They died like heroes
fighting the fire.
Already the ghouls are in action. and
In consequence a regiment of soldiers
has been detailed from the Preside to
watch the business district Martial law
viii, in all probability. prevail as a re-
suit OF the advent of the ghouIs
The public library, donated TO the city
by former Mayor James ID PheIan is
n1EOrnaTn6 nj 1,A
picturesque tower Of the new city hall
is mere skeleton Of rusted steel
Emergency Hospitals Opened.
At the morgue twenty-five bodies have
been received, and the authorities have
pressed the Mechanics pavilion and the
basement of the Hall of Justice into
service as an emergency hospital.
The magnificent office Of the Postal
Telegraph Company. on Market street.
opposite Second, is a mass of broken
telegraph instruments and heaps of
bricks and plaster. Hysterical women
and frenzied men are rushing about Of
fering to do anything in their power to
get the news of San Francisco's fate 20
the wo--- Word has just been received
OF the burning of the Winchester House.
on Third street. between Mission and
Market. and of the magnificent Aronson
building. on the corner of Mission and
Third streets
The sight of the thousands of Door
who have been rendered homeless bV
the combined efforts of the tossing
earth and flames is pathetic in the ex-
IRENE Women are seen by the hum
oreds heaped up on piles of blankets
appealing TO the firemen to save the
remaining sticks of their furniture.
Mothers with babes in their arms rush
about frantcally screaming for their
husbands The shrieking of these
women and the cracking of the flames
produce sound that ia simply ap-
palling.
Word has just come in that Police
Sergeant Bunner was crushed in the
collapse of a fire house
Numerous fires are reported from the
Potrero district This is the section of
the city that surrounds the Union Iron
Works, where the great battleship Ore
gon was built Throughout the entire
Southern portion of the city buildings
arc momentarily reported TO have col
lapsed. This section of the city is made
ur OF small tepements.
The Grand Opera House, where the
Metropolitan Opera company was play.
ing, Is now In flames, and the adjoinine
buildings, which are occupied by manu-
featuring concerns. are rapidly giving
way 10 the flames.