Omaha daily bee., 1906-12-30

first San Franciscans have to thank them
selves. and for the second they are in
debted to the relation that this city bears
and must always bear, to the rest Of the
world. To their own courage at the time
of the disaster and during the few SUBJ
! sequent days of indigence, TO the energy
of the men who directed the public and
quasl-public utilities. to the confidence of
the capitalists who had undoubted faith
in the future of the city, to the prompt
ness with which merchants built and re-
stocked their stores, and to the fortltudc
with which everyone went about his daily
duties is partly due the most remarkable
achievement of modern times-the re-
Mobilization Of San Francisco.
The World Needs san Francisco.
The other case is external, but is no
less important. The rest Of the world could
no more do without San Francisco than
San Francisco could do without itself. The
Importance of San Francisco TO the Pacific
slope can hardly be overestimated. A vast
and rich territory is of necessity tributary
to San Francisco, and this city can always
depend on large tax which this territory
must and is willing to, pay for the ad-
vantages which San Francisco and it's port
| offers-advantages that cannot be obtained
elsewhere. This territory had as vital an
! interest in the rapid reconstruction Of this
city the city itself had, and the stream
of wealth continued to flow undimnished
from this territory.
| With a portion of the city undestroyed
and with the confidence of the citizens of
| the city and those of the tributary country
| San Francisco started. During the eight
months that this city has been in the
course of rehabilitation the achievements
| have been somewhat underestimated here,
| but they have positively amazed the rest
| of the world, and the list of broken records
is so long as to be almost unbelievable.
| In a few weeks public or semi-public serv-
| ices had been partly or wholly restored
| In attempting to get supplies to this city
| the railroads broke all previous records
| for the amount of freight hauled over
| single track divisions. No such amount of
| street railway construction was ever be-
| fore completed in the same period as has
| been done in this city since the fire. The
| building permits issued here in the last
| eight months, in the cost of buildings repre-
scented. surpassed those issued in Baltimore
in a period of two years following the fire
In 1904. The greatest activity was dis
played in the erection Of buildings Some
i ol the temporary structures were quilt
in a single night, and the rapidly with
which the steel frames of the permanent
buildings are rising is attracting the at
tention Of architects and engineers through
out the United States.
! Shopping districts and stores sprang up
| with amazing celebrity. Streets which be
fore the fire We're lined with homes now
present the spectacles OF metropolitan shop
ping districts, with block after block of
plate glass and displays of merchandise
that are not surpassed anywhere With
! practically all the stocks of merchandise
destroyed by the fire, eight months later
there is no article of modern trade thai
cannot be purchased here, and as cheaplv
as 1t could have been bought before the
disater.
Necessities and Luxuries Supplied.
Hotel accommodations. amusements and
menus have been supplied by their re-
spective purveyors in a space OF time and
with a completeness and excellence that
Is scarcely credible. The length of time
required to erect the buildings necessary
for hotel or a theater has not permitted
| these adjuncts of modern city life to as
sumo their former sumuptuousness or dis
play but the buildings are being rapidly
constructed, and in the meantime the best
dramatic talent shows here in temporary
quarters, and visitors to the city are en-
tertained well as is possible in an
nexes and hastily erected buildings In
the inexpensive structures the proprietors
OF hostelries have installed all the appur-
tenances Of modern hotels, and the excel
lence of the service is maintained as il
was before the fire The proprletors of res
taurants were among the first to re-estab-
fish themselves and now offer menus that
for variety and the taste with which they
are served were not eXcelled before the
fire.
Outside the commerce of the city, which
was scarcely disturbed by the fire. perhaps
the least affected interest was the financial
institutions From the nature OF the Sc
curities Of the banks and trust companies.
their soundness was never endangered, and
with the revival of business their prosper
ity has been greater than ever before.
As an illustration OF this, San Francisco,
during the period OF its recovery has
passed in the amount of its weekly bank
clearances, Pittsburg which is admitted TO
be the center of the greatest manufactur-
ing district in the world.
The great mass OF the people Is better off
at the present time than 1t ever was be-
fore, In San Francisco or anywhere else.
Twice as many mechanics and laborers
are employed here as there were before
the fire, and the number still remains about
one-fourth OF what is needed to meet the
demand and these men are being en-
ployed at unprecedented wages. The
average professional man throughout the
United States, the teacher, the lawyer, the
doctor the minister. is in receipt OF an
income which amounts to about one-half
what a hrst-class plumber or brick mason
receives in San Francisco, and architects
and builders say this condition cannot help
but continue for ten years to come
With health assured, happiness is chiefly
dependent on prosperity, and prosperity IS
measured by the ratio between income and
the cost Of living. There is no question
but that the purchasing power OF a days
wages is greater in San Francisco at pres
ent than II ever has been here or any
where else in the history Of the world.
II you have anything TO trade advertise
It in the For Exchange column OF The
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