Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-05-14

Following is the official report Of Paul
Corles. superintendent of the western
division of The Associated Press. with
headquarters in San Francisco, written
under date of April 27th, telling how he
struggled 20 get the news oi the great
disaster on the wires
/ herewith submit a report of the work
81 the San Francisco Office of The Assoc
ciated Press in reporting the disaster 10
San Francisco When the earthquake
came at SIS In the morning ol April
18TH Night Editor John Finlay and
Operator Ben Mclnerney were on duty
ia the office The building. which WAS
eccupied by the Western Union 1olo-
graph Co and The Associated Press. did
not fall, but plaster and chandeliers came
down with a crush. Our wire To the east
had closed a. 5 O'Clock, but the state
wire was In operation. Instantly all tele-
graph communication with the outside
world was lost
Finlay and McInerney did not leave
the building Finlsy wrote a bulletin
telling Of the earthquake and Mcluemey
rushed M stairs to the Western Union
office TO get il of 10 New ork. The tee-
graph operating room was a wreck and
there were no wires. He filed the bulletin
however, IN the hope that "a wire would
be secured In the meantime iinlay was
at his desk turning ont copy Chief
Operator Geistlich had left the office at
B O'Clock. and when the shock came went
back He saw the hopelossness Of the
situation. and taking Mclnerney with
him rushed for the boat TO Oakland To
make wire arrangements. They arrived
in Oakland about $50 and found con-
ditions there almost as bad as in San
Francisco, 40 they returned.
] arrived a. the office at about 5.45
after q rapid sprint through the streets.
a. took but a moment TO ascertain the
telegraph situation 40 far as the Western
Union was concerned. so / went TO the
Postal office, few blocks away There
Chief Operator Swayne was found tinker
ing with a feeble wire 10 Chicago. He held
ont faint hope for n wire, so ! wrote a
bulletin and stood over him while he
tested and manipulated. The Pacific
cable Office was in the same building, so
] filed a cable bulletin addressed to you,
10 be sent across the Pacific around the
world TO New York. The cable operator
declined 20 take tho message, saying il
was irregular and hel did not know the
rate / offered 20 pay any rate that
would be charged, but the cable man was
confronted by an emergency that the cable
company's rules had not provided for,
and he declined 20 take the massage. He
did send A message 10 Honolulu however.
Then I went back TO Swayne and
nursod that bulletin. Finally, there was
q hopeful click and away went the news
10 Chicago. In the meantime Night
Manager johnson Of The Associated Press,
Day Editor Curtis and my stenographer,
I'rninshN.r kuI n.rf.snI a..I -. a4. -
the earthquake was being written rs
rapidly as the typewnters could work
We were At last given a wire by tho Postal
Co. and the news commenced 70 20 out
Just after fair start the wiro failed, and
We danced up and down with impatence
We eventually got another start. hut at
II O'Clock we had to leave the Postal
Building, as the fire was close by. While
All this was going on ! realized that the
Federal troops would be called TO guard
the city, SO I sent a man to Gen. Funston s
headquarters for passc- for our men. The
general issued half dozen and on Wednos-
day The Associated Press men were the
only ones who could pass the guards with
out difficulty. I also sent for an auto
mobile and secured the water front for
launch in which TO send men 20 Oak
land, as the ferryboats had stopped. Not
ANNAl'n WIS W Nt lWMlN0r UMN Mm NNH
hihition Of nerve and the magic name of
Funston on a pass induced the captain
Of the government tug Mcdowell TO take
Operators Geistlich and Lynch and a
newsman across the bay 20 Oakland
There. through the efforts of the Western
Union and the Postal companies work
able wires we're secured early in the after
noon. and the operators got busy. They
had plenty of copy.
l went back to the office and found All
the force there except jerry Carroll, ono
Of the night editors. The men were sent
out 70 various sections Of the city 20 asoer
tain the damage was alone in IN,
Office at ] o'clock when soldiers ordered
rae out. as the building was about to b,
blown up TO stop the progress OF the FIRE
! moved in A hurry 10 tho Bulletin ofiic,
on Bush street and waited for the meI
10 appear. They had lost the trail. how
ever. and ! sat in solitary state waitini
for them to turn up. Finally I com
nnenced TO write a night lead for thu
morning papers. lwrote the story, hu
] can't remember now how IL got 70 Oak
land, All / know is that it got Their
somehow
About dusk Carroll arrived IN badly
battered condition. A wall had fallei
on his house and he had spent the dav II
being patched up by surgeon He i'm
nnedistely went 70 work and early Thurs
day morning went over 20 Oakland witt
his story. There he found johnson .Curti
Mcdonald and Finlay. Az noon oi
Thursday Moore arrived from Los Angelo
snd came over to San Francisco FRIDAY
and never was a man more welcome.
had been appointed member of tn
mayors committee 20 assist in the ad
ministration Of the city. 7 was mad
chairman of the Press Committee an,