The San Francisco call., 1906-04-22
CARRIES DISMAY
TO SISTER CITY
Tidings of Doom Cause Horror in Los
Angeles and Her People Are
Slow to Believe Reports.
Thousands Gather on Streets and Fran
tic Efforts Are Made to Get
News of Loved Ones
PRoM THE Los ANGELES TIMEs3

(FROM The LOS
While huge structures of stone and
steel rocked TO their doom, and whole
streets of tenanted buildings crashed
to earth, while flames and explosions
were blotting out lives by the hun
dreds, property by the millions, one
slender span of wire 500 miles long
withstood the forces of ruin that were
turning. city mad.
Over this fragile cable, linking the
first and second cities of great State,
a heroic operator, keeping his post
while others fed away, flashed TO the
world the first news of the worst. the
most spectacular disaster in the an
nails of this country.
The destruction of San Francisco by
earthquake and fire was made known
to Los Angeles in the early morning of
yesterday through the Postal Tele-
graph Company, and with almost in
credible quickness the first Of the
fearful tidings was spread broadcast
through the streets by an extra edi-
ton issue by the Times.
1t appeared on the curb at 7:30
o'clock. an hour before any other
newspaper got it's first extra off the
press 1t caught the early outgoing
trains and conveyed the appalling
news to all surrounding towns and
settlements hours ahead of every com
petitor. In every city and town around
the first startling news was given by
the Times.
AS fast as additional details, telling
Of ruin multiplied and chaos increased.
came thrilling over that solitary wire,
later extra editions were reeled off the
great presses in the basement of the
Times building, and corps of carriers
rushed away with them, calling the
further news. Thus at $3.50 o'clock the
Times second extra appeared, at 10
O'Clock the third. at IL the fourth. at
noon the fifth, at 3 o'clock the sixth;
and so on throughout a day of terror
and suspense that never in this city
can be forgotten
STORY SEEMED TOO AWFUL.
Los Angeles was stunned, dazed. At
first call the story seemed too awful TO
be true As the cries of the newsboys
shrilled through the streets the news
fled far ahead of them on those mys-
terious wings that bear abroad calam-
ity's tidings while devastation is in the
act, and almost in a breath the fabric
of disaster had cloaked the city in
gloom.
"San Francisco has been destroyed
by an earthquake" leaped from lip 10
lip. "AIl the great buildings are tum-
G,ing down-ffre is raging everywhere
hundreds are dead" So crowded
one terrifying detail upon another. un-
til hearts were sick with The hopeless
ness of the sudden, overwhelming tale.
Flags were run to half-mast.
Every street corner was a common
meeting place, every newspaper and
telegraph office dreaded goal Thou
sands of people in Los Angeles had
thousands of relatives and friends in
San Francisco: How would il be with
them? Mechanics Pavilion has been
turned into a Morgue, and there are al
ready 300 bodies laid out there" read
the second extra; and the next said
400, and soon the estimated dead had
grown to 1000 or more. The people,
some of them half-mad with fear for
the lives of loved ones in the doomed
sister city, besieged the newspapers for
names-names-nam But who shall
know of names when a city is falling
down?
They ran to the telegraph compa-
nies, many of them with white faces.
some with tear-wet eyes; and there
with shaking fingers they scribbled
messages, messages and jostled each
other heedlessly for foot of room
at the blockaded counters, holding their
bits of paper above each others heads
and thrusting them forward and shak-
ing them in the faces of the clerks
who were swamped
THOUSAND TELEGRAMS.
One thousand of these teIegramS