The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-07-11

the earthquake itself, and Of subsidiar
water mains. and the simultaneou
breaking out of fires, within the arti
fetal area, was responsible for at leas
nincteen-tWentieths of the entire loss
including human life. The testimon,
on this point, accommodating day by day
beyond the facts already cited, is vir
tually unanimous. Two or three eX
tracts may be in order. Thomas P
Woodward, the city engineer, says
considering the severity of the shock
a comparatively small portion of tn,
sewer system was damaged, and thi:
was largely confined to the filled il
portion of the city" Professor c
Derieth, Jr., Associate Professor Of
Structural Engineering at the Univer-
sity of California, furnished a report
to the Engineering News from which
the following passages are taken:
The earthquake destruction was
most marked on soft and sandy soil
and upon made ground. The Ferry
Building at the foot of Market Street
is decidedly damaged. Its tower must
be taken down. Bad cracks are found
running horizontally between the win
dows on the second story. This build
ing rests upon excellent foundations,
but it is supported upon material
which seems to have acted like Wis
cous fluid" + "All of the made
ground between the Market street wa
terfront and the region of Montgomery
street has been decidedly moved and
transformed. Wavelike effects are
common along lower Market street and
the waterfront. Wavelike depressions
and crests amounting to four and five
tlrn1,uhn11f hi O.
gion. The same observations can be
made in other localities of the city
where soft ground is met The mag
nificent postoffice building corner of
Mission and Seventh street rests upon
sand and under one end of it at one
time ran an old creek bed"
Professor Omori of Japan, famous
earthquake expert in land where
seismic commissions, far more intense,
have been frequent, tells us that "steel
buildings would be the best for future
structures. if on good foundations and
not built on made ground
This last quotation brings me to the
main purpose of this communication,
which is to convey some views on the
reconstruction of San Francisco. The
underlying question is whether public
or private interests are to control and
it must be confessed that. so far, 1t
appears that, while the public inter
ests, which include the concern of the
whole civilized world in the reproduc-
ton of a great commercial metropolis,
have not been altogether ignored, pr1-
vate interests, sometimes difficult to
reconcile, are nevertheless likely to be
predominant. 1t is with fear and
trembling and with genuine diff1dence
that any layman can even discuss the
oracular positiveness of the scientists,
who are rarely tolerant of unlearned
observations. loft with his head-so
much for Buckingham is the motto
of many of these gentlemen, when an
ordinary layman dares to express even
a doubt of their theoretical conclu-
sions.
There is some apparent justice in
.whistling down the winds" the crude
views of unscientific men. But. after
all in the United States, independent
citizens of whom there are many
left, are apt to have ideas of their own,
even if they do not disturb the solemn
circle of dogmatic science. There are
three kinds of scientists-those who de-
pend upon mere notoriety, those who,
like certain alienists, use genuine
kIOWiSuSS anu capacity LOT the DSIlSIl
of any combination or interest that
can afford to pay large fees. and those
who live and work simply to dissem-
useful ends. To the last class govern
ment engineers usually belong, and
the views of such man as Captain
Slattery, after having seen the PENN
sua at San Francisco, would be of real
value, because they would be- not only
practical, but impartial and sincere.
1t is said that when piles are driven
into soft ground to such a depth that
they become fixed by friction, the eX-
act weight they will bear can be math-
ematically determined and, in this
way, solid foundations can be secured.
Here may be an argument for the re-
construction of the wholesale district
of San Francisco on the made ground,
which represents an enormous value to
owners. 1t is likely to be
effective and no average citizen can
answer it except by the utterance of
a mon credo' based, not upon reiec-
ton of a general scientific truth. but
upon his localized observation under
special conditions. L notice. however.
that even the few scientists who have
spoken in favor of tall steel buildings
nave generally objected to them on the
filled in portion of San Francisco. The
business men, too, who have moved in
the direction of reha bilita ton are most
active in the region west of Sansome
and First streets
When the fires We're yet burning, it
s easy to perceive, from the subse-
Iuently published utterances of i'm
'ortant railroad men and other CAPT.
-alists at the East that plan
IF reconstruction was instantaneously
evolved and announced that may have :
'een inspired by disinterested motives.
'ut, if carried out, would consum-
nate one of the greatest speculations ,
Il modern times. 1t is not often that
m opportunity occurs to contract for ,
he rebuilding of a city with half a ,
million of inhabitants. 1t was propos- i
d that a few eastern men should com +
line half a billion or even a billion of :
ollars that could be advanced for re- 9
obstruction. So far as the money is T