The diamond drill., 1906-05-12
DISASTER grasses
Class DISTINCTION
EARTHQUAKE AT SAN FRANCIS
CO PLACES RICH AND POOR
ON SAME LEVEL.
SIDELlCHTS ON THE
GREAT CATASTROPHE
Millionaire and Pauper Now Friends
Business Being Conducted Amid
the Ruins-Heir 20 Wealth Born
on Sidewalk.


on Sidewalk.
San Francisco. Cal.-This town IS
ION the level in every sense OF the
word. writes Richard Barry. You can
stand on Tar fiat and see Telegraph
hill with no obstruction but a few
slyseraper skeletons. SOUTH of Van
Ness avenue IL IS not even junk heap
No more ghouls are shot because there
IS nothing 10 steal. and they viii have
20 pay men 20 carry OF the smashed
bricks Russian. Telegraph and Mob
hills. which formerly made such
a magnificent metropolitan saddle
against the Golden Gate. look as they
do In the prints OF 40, when scrubby
bushes rambled across their barren
faces They have been scraped OF foul
and Iair by a mighty muck rake The
homes OF threefourths OF the people
are annihilated. and as one walks
through the desolation he slowly real
izes that the world can never know
what has happened: that 100 Pompells
would be swallowed in these ruins and
that California in tragedy. as in all
else. has shaken her jaunty fst in the
face or history and written "hnis" 20
the volume
Social Distinctions Leveled.
Yet these smashed buildings and des-
olate streets do not present the sig
nihcant leveling The material loss Is
great. but il does not stagger the imag
4natt,n foty bunaraJ ,,,fItt1ua viii
mend the hurt and there are many peo-
pie here to-day who think the shake
UP Is worth the leveling. Society Is
on the ground face 20 face Every
artificial barrier is swept away The
social distinctions built up in 80 years
have been obliterated with the same
.swiftness and finality shown by the
flames toward the property. The loss
OF life is small, the loss OF social posi-
tion colossal. Down 10 the elements,
now nothing counts but human loss.
Money has momentarily lost its pur-
chasing power. Servants. luxury. hab-
its, prestIge-yes, amity, feuds. hatred,
jealousy and contempt have disap-
peared Humanity Is in the fiat and
every one IS on the level.
Here are few random incidents
picked from the edge OF the cataclysm:
Fillmore street. third-rate metro
politan artery, has become for the
moment the business center OF the
town. Here, In dinky bakeries, cheap
candy stores, tawdry photograph gal
leries and insignificant lodging houses,
are found all that is left OF the great
est business institutions on the Pa
clhc coast A sawmill that formerly
employed 1000 men has its Office In
hall bedroom that used 10 rent for one
dollar a week A bakery that en-
ployed 300 carts before the fire IS op-
Grating out OF hand laundry that was
run by three women. The largest de-
partment store in the west is being
resurrected from a soda water stand
that has been roughly partitioned. the
front IA by 1G feet space being used
foranofIce. Ina rear roomof similar ex-
tent the exclusive heads so for fri
telcs and coffee warmed over an al
cohol lamp.
odd Quarters for City officials.
You can see the chief OF police In
San Francisco as easily as you could
see the sheriff OF the most backwoods
county in Arizona. lie sits In the
window OF corner grocery and as
YOU pass on the sidewalk you glance
at his bright face and hear his hearty
laugh. The mayor issues his orders
from the lodge room OF a secret So
ciety. The superior court Is being
held in a Jewish synagogue, while the
city and county records are buried In
a tomb in the Masonic cemetery.
The newspapers that once occupied
the principal skyscrapers in the city
are being operated from four little
rooms in the same block, no one OF
which has more than n 30-foot front
or a bO-foot depth On one side OF
each room you can see the sign Sub
scrIption department" on the other
"Advertisilh Department" while on
each rear a ~ hung a rough sign,
Editorial kpaftment"
One Newspaper Office Bedroom.
One OF the most fortunate papers,
after much maneuvering. has managed
20 commander second-noor bed
room, the nature OF whose previous
occupants Is attested by the notice
still hanging from the chandelier.
which reads. Don't Blow Out the
Gas" In this tiny room, around two
small tables, is congregated the Jour
nalistic talent that formerly conducted
n world-famous organ from n suite OF
15 rooms IN one OF the most magnin-
cent buildings I'm the west