The San Francisco call., 1906-07-08

On the early morning of April Is the
proud city of San Francisco suddenly
awoke TO find herself in the grasp of
some mighty and destructive force All
humanity has heard the story of those
awful days of terror which followed
that sudden awakening. when fire fol-
lowed earthquake so closely as to rem
der naturally courageous people al
most panic-stricken. Men, women and
children poured out from their homes
into the streets, clad in all kinds of
attire. With scarce time to investt-
gate the damages O. the earthquake,
men FASTENED TO their business places,
trying 70 save a few valuables from
the rapidly advancing flames which had
already begun their sweep Of destruc-
ton. These days are past, but they
have become a part OF history, and.
phenix-like, the city IS rising from her
ashes: already one may hear the echo
OF the hammer and see the busy
artisans at work building the greater
San Francisco.
All humanity has been disturbed and
its sympathies aroused as never before
by the awfulness of this calamity. Why
not? Nothing like IL has ever occurred
IN the previous history OF the world.
Adversely draws men together, which
shows the bond Of brotherhood that
exists beneath the surface Of all hu-
man nature. San Francisco has many
friends who remember her generous re-
sponse 10 all calls OF suffering in the
past. so that in her hour OF distress
the world poured out its tribute Of love
and laid it at her feet.
Now that the mind begins TO regain
its normal calmness and one is able TO
10 ra "a
minds OF all is, what caused this calam-
ity?
All know that the fire was the great
destructive element and that the earth
quake caused the fire, but the great
question Is. what caused the earth
quake? Scientists have many theories,
each OF which has its strong and
weak points Perhaps there is q grain
OF truth in each idea of the subject, but
the investigating mind is not Yet salts
fed with the conclusions reached
Ny own experience with the earth
quake causes me TO believe it to be a
colossal electrical phenomenon. I was
sleeping in the seventh story of a steel
frame brick building, when l was sud
denly awakened by a tremendous
rumblinR noise and the falling Of brick
and plaster from the walls ] jumped
10 my feet instantly, but found ii diff
fcult 10 stand. The whole building
3 was SndklnS ana lWlSLlnS Win q mo
tion which seemed similar in char
acter 10 that OF zigEag lightning. 1t was
these zigzag interruptions in the vibra-
tions which wrought such awful havoc
in the walls Of the buildings. In spite
of being frightened I fully realized
that was in the midst of an immense
electrical disturbance and 1 tried to
note its effects.
AS these rapid electrical impulses
passed through the substance Of the
building I could hear the rivets screak-
ing and twisting in every beam; at
each pulsation of the force more of
the brick walls loosened and showers
OF brick and plaster fell, eliminating,
after a number of these awful impulses
in the fall OF the end wall, which went
down with a crash, carrying with il
the fire escape and about six feet OF
brick and mortar, all of which added
TO the horror Of the situation The
falling OF the end wall left a great
open space in the building, which gave
me a panoramic view of a wide portion
Of the city, which was jumping and
swayfng like q choppy sea
In the distance I could see the City
Hall tower dissolving like snow.
Great clouds of dust and sand filled
the air. giving IL a weird, pinkish hue
The swaying building in which 1 lived
trembled and vibrated in every atom;
I could feel the whole structure raise
and sink like a vessel laboring in
storm at sea Indeed. il was q mighty
electrical storm which caused the solid
earth 10 vibrate and pulsate like the
ocean
No words can ever describe the eX-
perience OF that forty-f1ve seconds;
they seemed like an age in duration !
remember distinctly my impressions