The Washington times., 1906-04-20
PaniC-Stricken People
Half Clad Filled the
Streets.
CHASED BY THE FLAMES
Survivor EXClainS That Bal
tinOre Fire Was Not ACE
High" to Catastrophe.

Los ANGELES. Cal. April 2o.-"I be-
Ncve that II IL had not been for the fires
;hat followed the earthquake, San Fran
cisco would have been but slightly worse
than after the one which occurred in
Oakland" said Richard Cole, who came
To this ci,y late yesterday. "I was In
the Palace Hotel at the time OF the
shock. was aroused by its force. and
had 10 cling 10 the foot of the bed to
Keep my footing. As soon as 1 could I
grabbed my clothes and made my way
70 the street
Panic in Palace Hotel.
Tile scene in the hotel was indie
scribahlc- Men and women were rush
ing about in their night clothes. scream
ing and panic stricken. I did not try
20 take the elevator. but went down
the stairs at a Evely gait The hotel
did not suffer much from the shock.
Some plnsterins fell and 4 few cracks
appeared, but the building succumbed
later 10 the flames On Market street
there was pandemonium. The fire en-
Sines were rushing about, and people
staggered around as il crazy. l could
see little damage due to the shock. but
Hamcs commenced to start I'D at every
point. This was due TO crossed electric
wires; The fire spread with incalculable
Tapidity.
AT the Palaces Market street en-
trance woman and a man were stand
ing. when the woman glanced al her
husband. saying; John, YOU go right
back and get some clothes
WHAT'S the matter with putting on
some NouTSeltE' said the husband. and
Inc woman realized that she was Clad
only in 4 nightgOwn.
Chaos on Ferryboat.
''On the ferryboat there was chaos and
al the Mole il was worse. The people
seemed TO have gone daffy. / saw one
woman who carried her sewing machine
all the way from San Francisco
Another woman was walking about talk
Ing 10 herself. holding her bonnet in one
hand and waving a baby's rattle in
another One woman only had a skirt
and night gown as her attire and cIung
piteoUsly to a parrots cage
In Oakland little harm was done
four theatrical people We're killed in a
lcuglng mouse, but there were no other
fatalities. Every chimney in the city is
down and two buildings wrecked
Il drove about the place and saw one
house had slid four feet from the found
alton 1 then returned to the Mole.
Two corners Of the depot nftv feet
SQUARE, had fallen. but that was all the
damage there. l went out on the pier
The sight opposite was indescribabIe.
For mile ard a quarter the city was
In names AT intervals of a few mo-
ments there would be tremendous
charges of dynamite or gun cotton ex-
ploded In buildings that stood i'm the
way Of the fire. Tongues of flames
hundreds Of feet long. swept the skies.
Like Dozen Great Battles.
BY the earthquake do not estimate
over 500 people were killed. possibly
loss. OF what casualties followed from
fires. 1 know nothing. but II was
like watching not one but a dozen great
battles, to look across the bay to San
Francisco. No wOrd-painter could be-
gin to picture that awful scene For
twenty miles south of Oakland the
Southern Pacific railroad tracks were
sunk about eight inches and we had
to run very slowly. The conductor
told me that seven watertanl<s had fall
en-. How he kept the engine boiler full
don't know.
The whole country for a hundred
miles south Of Tracy semed to have
suffered more or less.
I'm all my Investigations ! found
that with frame buildings the only
harm done was from falling chimneys, |