Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-10-31

So a. 80 = ~AASAoSO. -Ouc VI Iu6i WOTlQ S
great sights is San Francisco. Cities
! nave been ruined and ashes have
Il covered them, but never before un
& ger II modern conditions. "A city ruined
3EDy@ earthquake and fire in the old
Gays meant that the time of recovery
! would equal the age Of the city up to
i the ne. hour t,u of it's destruction. In this
age the very evidences of destruction
4 are turned into agencies of repair and
! Il: Improvement. Fire has rarely failed
Ho bring about better conditions in q
CITY, and San Francisco is no excep.
ton to the rule. 1t is not the i'm.
'.provement of the city. that will make
.tnem marvel, however, as much as
the rap1dity with which the work
viii be accomplished.
:; The earthquake of April 10 caused q
few million dollars damage-possibly
$40, 100000 would cover that loss The
fire, which had full play after the
quake had broken the water mains,
burned over 514 squares, or 1850
acres, or four square miles, the total
loss being estimated at $500, 1000, 900.
On this property there was insurance
amounting to about s315,oo0,ooo. Of
this insurance about $3.50, 100000, had
: been paid in cash to policyholders up
to September Is.
The fire, as everybody knows, de-
stroyed the business district of San
:, Francisco, but left the shipping and
residence districts intact. Commerce
continued without interruption, ex-
cept such incidental disturbances as
the location of new storage places and
the accumulation of freight. Thou
sands of people left the city immedi-
ately after the disaster, but compe-
tent. authorities estimate that SO per
cent1sof these refugees have returned.
Their homes being intact they find
that San Francisco is the place for
them, after all, and they are turning
to rebuild the city, either with their
capital or their labor.
Bringing Order from Chaos.
When the fire died down on April
81, the people of San Francisco were
confronted with mighty problems,
some of them demanding instant solu-
tion. AS this article deals with the
San Francisco of the future and not
of the past, it Is not necessary to go
into details regarding the remarkable
ability shown by the committee of fiji
ty 'ip providing for the wants of the
hungry and shelterless, writes Ira E.
Bennett, in the New York Press That
is story by itself, and a most inter-
esting and inspiring one. Another
pressing problem, however, was that
OF clearing the streets in order that
communication might be restored
Thirty-six miles of streets were piled
high with debris. Within five months
this enormous mass of material has
been removed, trolley wires have been
strung, street car traffic reestablished
and a system of debris removal inau-
gurated which disposes of 100 car
loads day. If more labor were to
be had the work would go much
faster.
= Admission day was celebrated this
year on Monday, September 10. saw
the city on that day for the first time
since the disaster. The scene was
appalling. With the exception of q
worker here and there, the destroyed
district was destitute of laboring men.
Ruins, ruins in every direction, as far
as the eye could see; millions of tons
5of bricks and mortar piled up in half
destroyed easements; strong breeze
blowing dust and ashes everywhere;
2writhing steel beams and crumbling
granite marking the sites of once i'm
posing buildings, and the very thought
of bringing order out of chaos sufh
3cient to stagger the imagination.
5:H f% on the next day far different pic
5tures was presented. In every base
4ment was a gang Of workmen. They
struggled with Orders, piled brick,
sifted good material from refuse, han
died pick and shovel, mixed mortar
and loaded wagons with debris. Thou!
sands of busy hands were to be seen
down every street Thousands of
teams went about on the simultane-
GUS task Of removal and reconstruct
ton. -,
, !. Little Loss of Population.
To one familiar with the crowds
that made Market street and the fer
Eries famous, there does not appear
to, be, any diminution of population.
The: car system is wholly mad equate,
although herculean efforts have been
made to establish communication.
The ferries are. as crowded. as ever,
:Theaters are filled to suftocation. The
St Francis hotel put up a temporary
structure in Union square, and 1t is
turning away a hundred guests daily
Other hotels are filled and turning
n ss *sS re-. " !: r M