Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-05-22
A VIVID DESCRIPTION
EDWARD X. cARNEs GIVES INTER.
EsTING WORD PICTURE OF
RECENT QUAKE
Former ottunnwan Writes His Brother.
in-LaW, Edward j. Rosenauer-TelIs
of Unfortunate San Francisco-Re-
lates His Own Experiences.

OF Unfortunate San Francisco-Re-
lates His Own Experiences.
A vivid description of the city OF
San Francisco Immediately after the
terrible horror which visited it recent
ly and the narration of his own indi-
vidual experiences during the earth
quake are included in an interesting
letter received from Edward K. Carnes
by his brother-in-law, Edward j. Rosen-
auer. Mr.. Carnes, who is brother of
w. A. Carnes, formerly resided in this
city, and his letter, which follows in
part, will be read with interest by his
many friends:
The Letter.
Gust the evening before the terri
BILE calamity befell our beautiful city,
| had written you lengthy letter. In
1t had enumerated the spots of inter
est and beauty, together with its ad.
vantages.
The morning Of the quake, which
occurred at 5:16 O'Clock, we were in
our beds asleep. Being somewhat used
to slight seismic disturbances we did
not awaken at the very first warning,
which usually is a heavy distant rum.
bling, but during the next forty.two
seconds | certainly lived years. Our
home was situated high on the hills ov-
erlooking the bay district and the city
for many miles, and we were rudely
awakened by being tossed here and
there by the house rocking and our
bed rolling out from the wall only to
be tossed back again. All over the
house everything was flying loose. All
the vases, pictures. statuary. chairs,
tables and dishes were being violently
thrown down and the noise Of hun
dreds Of buildings falling. chimneys
crashing through the roofs combined
with the screams of people, the baying
OF animals and the terrible whinny Of
the stock, the crack and crash Of
buildings falling, the cry of the dying
and wounded were heard as we were be-
ing tossed from side to side trying fran.
tically to reach the outside of the
house over a litter Of broken dishes,
furniture and plaster
Let me Impress upon you the fact
that one second of an earthquake
seems an hour Now magnify this If
you can by forty-two seconds and take
my word for it, you will live in that
short space Of time, seeming CEN
tury of such torture that it is beyond
description or human comprehension,
except by experience, to have the
slightest realization of the horrors Of
It. All this time had Katie in my
arms trying to reach the front door.
Immediately back of our room at the
end of the hall had my study stu
ated and in there I had $500 glass
walls filled with specimens on shelves
covering all four sides Of the room, to-
gether with my book case, secretary
and library.
All Of my Walls were thrown down,
the book case tossed across the room
and every piece of furniture upside
down on top of that tumble Of glass.
To pass through such an experiences
and not be injured was indeed a mira
Gle. All over the city the same thing
was in progress, and from apartment
houses sleeping occupants were dump
ed with beds and all among the plas-
ter and brick, two, three and four stor-
les, out into the streets, by the falling
apart OIL Ule houses.
Death and Destruction.
'The occupants fell under and
amidst the debris, sometimes to have
their lives snapped out like a flash.
The streets were filled with people.
crawling in their night clothes over
piles of bricks and mortar, and run.
ming here and there. Some Of them
were insane, others with CHASTITY
wounds covering their bodies, their
faces covered with blood, and every
where there we're scenes Of death de.
struction and panic.
Relatives In Danger,
"Your sister Sue and her husband
were in the third story of an apart
ment house and were confined in the
place one and one-half hours, as the
house had twisted so that they could
not get the doors open. A fellow came
up the dumb waiter and broke into
them that way and they got out. The
place where they lived was swept with
fire and they got out only very little
Of their possessions. Merely what
they could carry in their hands and
on their backs.
Park a Blessing.
Beautiful Golden Gate Park has
proven the greatest blessing to this
city, and every town and city in the
world should have an isolated park
where thousands of homeless people
would be safe in the event Of some
great calamity like this.
1T is virtually one great hospital
The sick and dying are cared for.
scores of babies are born, and opera.
tons performed and all this with no
covering other than the canopy of
heaven
well, I must close by saying we
are well and manage to get our share
OF eatables such as they are, and one
good feature and about the only good
have been able to see SO far is that
high livers' will have a chance to
give their stomachs a rest and you
don't hear complaints from indiges.
ton and no one says No thank you, /
never eat it, ETC. Everybody eats evs
erything with mighty relishSI can as