The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1906-04-27
Earthquake Topples Over Big Buildings and Fire
Completes Work of Observation-Disclosures
Structures Dynamited i'm Futile Attempt
to Stay Progress of the Flames.

San Francisco, April 20.-This city
yesterday was visited by one OF the
most terrible calamities that has be-
fallen any city in modern times.
1t was 5:13 o'clock yesterday morn
ing when a terrific earthquake shook
the whole city and surrounding coun-
try. One shock lasted two minutes
and there was an almost immediate
collapse Of flimsy structures in all
parts of San Francisco. The water
supply was cut off and when fres
broke out there was nothing to do but
to let the buildings burn. Telegraph
and telephone communication was
shut off for a time. The Western
Union was put out of business com
pleteIy and the Postal was the only
company that managed to get a wire
out of the city. At 10 o'clock the
Postal, too, was forced to suspend in
San Francisco. Electric power was
stopped and street cars could not run.
Railroads and ferryboats also ceased
operations.
LeveIed With Dynamite.
The various fires ragged all day and
many fine buildings were leveled to
dust by terrific charges of dynamite
in the hopeless effort to stay the fire
horror. In this work scores of heroic
soldiers, policemen and firemen were
manned or killed outright.
The explosions shook the city and
added to the terror of the inhabitants.
Following the first shock there was
another within thirty minutes, but not
so severe. Three hours later there
was another short quake,
Never Was Fate So Disastrous.
Nearly every landmark that has
made San Francisco famous has been
laid in ruins or burned to the ground.
Never has the fate of a city been more
disastrous.
For three miles along the water
front buildings have been swept clean
and the blackened beams and great
skeletons OF factories and o fices
stand silhouetted against back
ground of fame that is slowly spread
ing over the entire city. The whole
commercial and office section of the
city on the north side of Market street
from the ferry building to Tenth
street, has been consumed in the rag
ing hell, while hardly building is
standing in the district south of Mar
ket street
Block After Block Licked Up.
Block after block of banking houses
are now masses of red-hot ruins, and
it will be months before the money
that was housed in their valuable
vaults can be reached.
Factories, hotels, wholesale houses
and residences, comprising the princi-
pal part of the business section, have
been destroyed. The city hall, a
structure costing $7000,000, was first
wrecked by the earthquake and then
destroyed by fire. The Palace hotel,
value estimated at $3,000,000, also
burned. The beautiful Claus Spreckles
building at Third and Market streets,
was gutted. The Rialto building and
dozens of other costly structures, were
also destroyed. The Hall of Justice is
threatened and will undoubtedly go.
The Examiner and the Call buildings
are gone and the Crocker building,
across the street from the Palace no.
tel, is destroyed.
Brave Men Lose Their Lives.
The earthquake caused the partial
wreck of the California hotel on Bush
and Kearney streets, and the falling