Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1906-05-04
EAkTH0CAKN AT SAN FRANCIS
CO PLACES RICH AND POOR
ON SAME LEVEL.
GIcELlGHTS ON THE
GREAT CATASTROPHE
Millionaire and Pau:er Now Friends
business Being Conducted Amid
the Ruins--Helr 10 Wealth Born
on Sidewalk.

| RAuO On l6t max ana Sce leASSEdpi
hill with no obstruction but a few
skyscrapcr skeletons. South OF Val
Ness avenue II IN not even junk heap
No lore ghouls are shot because there
Is nothing to steal, and they will have
70 pay men to carry OF the smashed
bricks. Russian. Telegraph and Not
hills. which formerly made such
magnificent metropolitan saddle
against the Golden Gate. look as they
do In the prints Of 40, when scrubby
bushes rambled across their barren
faces. They have been scraped Of fou
and lair by Z mighty muck rake. The
homes Of .hrecfourths of the people
are annibilatcd, and as ono walks
through the deso,at!on he slowly real
lees that tie world can never know
what has happened; that 100 Pompeiis
would be swallowed in these ruins and
that California In tragedy, as in all
else, has shaken her jaunty fist in the
face Of history and written ''fnts" to
The volume.
Social Distinctions Leveled.
Yet these smashed buildings and des-
olate streets do not present the sig
nif1cant leveling. The material loss is
great. but 1t does not stagger the mag
ination. A few hundred millions will
mend the hurt and there are many peo-
pie here to-day who think the shake
up is worth the leveling. Society Is
on the ground, face to face. Every
artificial barrier is swept away. The
social distinctions built up in 50 years
have been obliterated with the same
swiftness and hnality shown by the
flames toward the property. The loss
OF life Is small, the loss of social posi-
ton colossal. Down to the elements,
now nothing counts but human loss.
Money has momentarily lost its pur-
chasing power. Servants, luxury, hab-
Its. prestige-yss, amity, feuds, hatred,
jealousy and contempt have disap-
ptared. Humanity is in the fiat and
every one Is ON the level.
Here are a few random Incidents
picked from the edge of the cataclysm:
Fillmore street, third-rate metro
politan artery, has become for the
moment the business, center OF the
town. Here, In dinky bakeries. cheap
candy stores, tawdry photograph GAL
leries and insignificant lodging houses,
are found all that is left Of the great
est business institutions on the Pa
cifc coast. A sawmill that formerly
employed 1000 men has its Office in a
hall bedroom that used to rent for one
dollar week. A bakery that en-
ployed 300 carts before the fire Is op-
Grating out of hand laundry that was
run by three women. The largest de-
partment store In the west Is being
resurrected from a soda water stand
that has been roughly partitioned, the
front IA by 16 feet space being used
foran Office. In rear room Of similar ex-
tent the exclusive heads 60 for fri
1eles and coffee warmed over an al
cohol lamp.
Odd Quarters for City Officials.
You can see the chief Of police in
San Francisco as easily as you could
tee the sheriff Of the most hackwoods
county In Arizona. He sits in the
window OF corner grocery and as
you pass on the sidewalk you glance
1t his bright face and hear his hearty
laugh. The mayor issues his orders
from the lodge room of a secret So
ciet:. The superior court Is being
held In Jewish synagogue, while the
city and county records are buried In
4 tomb In the Masonic cemetery.
The newspapers that once occupied
The principal skyscrapers In the city
are being operated from four little
rooms In the same block. no one of
which has more than 3O-foot front
Or a 60-foot depth. On one side of
each room you can see the sign Sub
Icription DEPARTMENT" on the other
advertising Department." while on
zach rear wall Is hung a rough sign,
Editorial Department"
One Newspaper Office Bedroom.
One of the most fortunate papers.
liter much maneuvering, has managed
to commander a second-floor bed
room, the nature of whose previous
Is attested by tho notice
IT'LL hanging from the chandelier,
which reads, Don't Blow Out the
Cas-" In this tiny room, around two
mail tables, is congregated the Jour
nalistic talent that formerly conducted
! world-hmous organ from suite Of
Is rooms in one of the most magnid-
sent buildings In the west