The National tribune., 1906-04-26
THE SAN FRaNcrsos DISASTER.

There are no words, there can be no
immeasurable disaster which has be-
fallen San Francisco. For almost every
other great calamity that can befall
mankind there is some explanation,
some reason, some moral. There is
absolutely none for this catastrophe.
foreseen it. human wisdom could not
have guarded against it. 1t is so far
beyond all mortal ken as to belong to
the supernatural. In a few minutes
time Il great city, built with all the re-
sources of skill and knowledge. was
large portion of its wealth destroyed,
hundreds of thousands rendered home
less, the product of innumerable years
of toll destroyed and hundreds of lives;
lost. 1t is Gods mercy alone that the
loss of life did not reach the tens OF
thousands, instead of a few hundred.
1t is the greatest single calamity in
all our history. The nearest approx
nation TO il is the great Chicago fire of
1879. At that time Chicago had Il
population OF about 100000. where San
Francisco must have had 100000. This
is without taking into account the de-
struction in towns outside of the city.
In the Chicago fire 10000 people were
rendered homeless, and about half of
the area of the city WAS burned over.
In Chicago the people had the open
country to fly to, while San Francisco
is surrounded on three sides by water,
with a barren country on the fourth
side and all access to the city by rail
and otherwise interrupted by the wide
San Francisco Bay. At this writing it
seems possible that fully 3OO,000 peo-
pie in san Francisco are without homes.
Fortunately, ii is in the mild pleasant
Springtimc, and people can be sheltered
in tents and quickly CONSTRUCTED shan
lies. The loss of property in Chicago
was figured at $4,000, 600. 1t is too
the loss in San Francisco, but ii will be
at least $500, 900. 900, and probably may
reach 100000, 0,000. The actual loss of
life in Chicago was about 200. The
present figures for San Francisco are
500, but it is likely that these will reach
Cinnamon living in excavations far
down into the ground who were buried
by the commissions, and the number of
these never Will be known.
Before this awful horror the whole
world stands aghast. While Mount Pc
lee was measureless calamity, in which
probably $4,000 people lost their lives,
they were--more is the pity-peopie of
whom we knew nothing and had little
communication with the great world.
On the other hand. San Francisco is
one of the worlds great cities. A CEN
ter of all manner of human activities,
the greatest port between Asia and the
United States. crowded with magnif-
cent buildings. great monuments of in
dustrial activity, works of at and other
the highest esteem. While it is an
Overwhelming misfortune to the people
OF San Francisco, million nerves of
connections and interest send thrills of
acute pain to every part Of the civilized
world. There is hardly a city or a COM
munity in Europe or America that has
not more or less intimate connection
with san Francisco, 1t is a thoroughly
cosmopolitan city. Active, enterprising
men from all other places have gone to
San Francisco and are numbered among
its inhabitants. They have left friends
and relatives who are deeply interested
in all that concerns them. Therefore
we have seen worldwide outpouring
of sympathy, interest and help watch
demonstrates that it was a world calGm-
ity to an extent never reached in his