The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-23
Insurance Estimated at|
 $175,000,0 900. l
WORK OF GEARING DEBRIS
San Francisco in First Stage of
 Regeneration.
Gaunt Spectre of Starvation Has Been Ranished By the Liberal Response of the People of the Nation
 to the City's Need.


 mated today by competent insurance authorities that the loss will aggre- gate $500, ,0vv,0e0 and on this vast amount of property the insurance com panies carried approximately $l1o'ooo'- GOO insurance.
 Had 1t not been for the sight of the rude altars set up in the open air wherever San Francisco's homeless thousands were camped. one would have some difficulty in finding any of the peaceful associations of the ,S-obath Tn the city today. Everywhere through out the burned, as well as the remain ing section of the city. there was the greatest activity. :. Streets were being cleared of debris. laborers were re- pairing broken water pipes, sewers and gas mains, electricians were seeking to untangle the almost hopeless con fusion of wires--in fact San Francisco was in the first stages Of its regenera- tion.
 There are no hungry people tonight. The gaunt spectre of starvation has been banished by ,the magnificent re- sponse of the people of California in particular and by the entire nation in general to the appeals that went ont for assistance. Food by the carload and boatload poured into Oakland last night and today in sufficient quantities to overwhelm the committee which has in charge it's distribution. So great was the volume of foodstuffs brought into the general depot at Oakland Mole, that the general committee to- day made an appeal for skilled labor in the handling of these supplies. Grocers, butchers, and commission men have been requested to secure men who are familiar in the handling of food stufs in order that the confusion att tendant upon the distribution at the scores of statons established might go on without confusion.
 Hot Coffee and Cake.
 The homeless people are no longer obliged to subsist upon bread and carl- ned stuffs entirely. as they had been during the previous days of their try- Ing experience, but were today given hot coffee. canned meats and even cakes and oranges. Oranges have come in in plentiful supply from Southern California and the sight of California's famous product was everywhere hail. ed with words of delight
 Ii must not be understood by the charitable people of the country that there Is surfeit of food for the .suf- ferers. While the supply Is abundant at this writing 1t is well for the pub 1 lio to remember that the homeless thousands must be fed and cared for by the organized committees for an indefinite period. It is desired, there fore. that contributions be continued until the people who have been render ed helpless and destitute by the citys misfortune can care for themselves.
 The water situation. while causing ineonveniences. Is no longer such problem. About two-thirds of the re- maining section of the city Is being supplied with sufficent water for the pressing domestic needs, but of course. there is not yet enough to be had for fire fighting purposes. Because Of tnis haVa been issued by the military and the civil police that no fires shall be built within any house and no lights, not even candle, can be shown at night in the houses. All cooking for the present must be done on the sidewalks or in the open streets and in daylight
 Caring for the Homeless.
 One of the noteworthy features of the situation is the remarkable prompt ness with which the work of syste- matically caring for the homeless has meen thoroughly organized and put in to operation. The fear that existed two days ago that the immense task of caring for the destitute and help less people could not be organized quick enough to save thousands from hunger and possible epidemic exists no longer.
 The administration of the city af- fairs Is progressing most harmonious ly Mayor Schmitz and General Fun ston are. working in perfect accord. There was slight confusion yesterday owing to slight misunderstanding of orders by some members of the Ma tional Guard, but this has been min imized. The system put into force by the Mayor and General Funston today is working order out of confusion and the city Is as orderly as before the fire. Orders having been issued by 50 many heads of departments as has been the case during the past few days, there has been necessarily more or less con fict of authority. 1t should be ob- served, however, that there have been no complaints made anywhere concern ing the actions either of the Federal troops or municipal police. 1t Is only of the National Guard of the State of California that complaint has been made Many citizens have reported many arbitrary acts of the militiamen.
 Contributions Come In.
 Contributions of money continue to be made from every part of the United States. Chairman Phelan of the Fi- nance Committee today reported ad6i- tional subscriptions of about $tG2, 2,000, the largest of these being one of S100,- 0OO by the Chicago Commercial Asso- ciation. The Finance Committee will tomorrow consider some plan for the use of the large sum of money which will soon be available for the relief of the sufferers.
 The total number of bodies recovered and buried up to Sunday night is five hundred. No complete record can be had at this time as many bodies have been buried without permits from the coroner and the board of health. The searchers of the coroners and the board of health departments found not more than twenty bodies today. They were buried immediately A few of these bodies could be identified and tho graves were marked by numbers. It Is possible at the present time to ob tain any sort of death list or even make a reliable estimate of the number of casualties. Whenever body is found it is buried immediately without any formality whatever. As these bur ials have been made at widely separat- l ed parts of the city by different bodies l