The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-04-24
( (By Associated Press.)

SAN FRANCISCO, April Pa drench-
ing rain fell upon San Francisco last
night. From midnight until 8 o'clock It
poured and drizzled at Intervals, while
Il high wind added a melancholy accom-
paniment whistling and signing about
the ruins OF the buildings In tho burned
district
Five days ago when the fire catastrophe
was In It's infancy this doWnpour woulo
have been regarded as mercy ana q
god-send. This morning 1t could be re-
gardcd in no other light than as an ad-
dtional calamity. 1t meant lndcscribaole
suffering to the tens Of thousands of
people campcd upon the naked halls and
in the parks and open places of tho
city. Few of these We're provided with
waterproof covering. For the most part
their only protection from tho wet was
a thin covering of shooting tackled upon
mprovised tent poles. Through this tho
water poured as through sieve, voting
\ the bedding and soaking the ground upon
which the people lay. When It Is I'M
derstood that thousands upon thousands
OF delicate women and Infants In arms,
md old and feeble people were In this
plight, nothing need bo added to describe
the misery Of their condition.
Disease Spreading.
The townpour has aggravated the al
ready unsantary condition OF tho camps,
and VIII doubtless add great numbers
of pneumonia cases to those already
crowdng the regular and temporary hos
pitfalls OF the city. What could be done
was done by the guards IN charge Of tho
camps to relieve the distress. Whenever
covering could be hnd for the women
and children, 1t was taken advantage OF.
They were housed In chill and cheerless
churches. in garages and In barns, and
those who had saved their homes were
called upon TO take care OF the unfor-
tunates exposed to tho storm. With few
exceptions those who had homes respond
ed readily to the new cnll made upon
them, and where they did not. the butt
ends of rifles quickly forced way
through the lnhospitable door.
While the storm has added to the diff
culties of the general committee, cspe-
cally of those having In charge the care
of the sick. the sanitation of the city
and the housing OF the homeless It has
been Il spur to even greater efforts Ia
bring order out of the chaos prevailing,
Regular shelter tents will be provided, AS
well MS cots standing off tho ground. 1t
il realized that these provisions are I'M
perative-ras much so as the providing Ut
food.
After several hours Of clear weather
there was another precipitation at
A, NJ, and again at . o'clock the fai
! was resumed and continued at intervals
throughout the day.
Terrible Suffering.
OF Individual Instances of suffering TIT
number is legion, but one will tell thu
story of them all,
Ahoiit o'clock. when the rain lar
been falling heavily for an hour a middle
aged man. whiie-faced in his distrcss anr
fatigue. appeared Mt the headquarters o
the general committee. He had walked
two miles from his camping place In tn
park 10 make an appeal for his suTerins
wife and little ones. AS lie told Of thei
distress tears coirsed dawn his cheeks
His wife and children were, he said
| without covering other than a sheetin,
| overhead and were lying on the naket
ground and their bodies protected onl.
by a quilt and blanket, which of his house
| hold bedding were all he had manage
10 save These had quickly been SOAKED
| and while unwilling 10 complain on hi
own account. lie could not bear to lister
30 the walls Of his loved ones. and n
he'd tramped all the Way from his camp
Ing place to The committee headquarter