The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-10-09


gally, and the avenue is brilliant with
electric signs. One may procure along
Van Ness avenue the richest fabrics
n costliest jewelry, as we'll as any
thing else procurable in any city. With
flags flying and gilt signs glittering in
the sun, this long and wide thorough
fare has become the business center,
and is continually crowded.
Judging by the experience of other
cities, it seems probable that Van Ness
avenue will remain the center of the
shopping district. It too an earth
quake to shift the crowds from Kearny
to Van Ness, and perhaps nothing
short Of an earthquake can shift them
back again. One or two big firms,
seeing this, have let contracts for the
erection of permanent concrete build
ings on Van Ness n and others
are likely to follow. Rents are enor-
mously high, and property owners
along the street are getting more for
ground rent now than they obtained
for buildings before the disaster.
The quake shook the life out Of
some old firms and fastened the birth
of many new ones. Dozens Of stores
bear the names of men who were
clerks before April Is. Merchants from
other cities nave stepped in and es-
tablished houses here. Competition is
hICIi, anu IIioll1y appears ~ Ne ~
plentiful than for many years.
City's Financial S%OundnesS.
The financial sOundness of San
Francisco has been demonstrated in
various ways. The bank clearings are
much larger than before the fire.
Some of the new money comes from
insurance companies, Of course, but
not all of it. The business Of the banks
is greater han ever. In some of them
Iv;tl,J ~ u-oI G ovooa1 lanncifc hr1t the
money withdrawn is going into recon-
structiOn. Other banks are piling up
deposits. The other day a little furry
was caused by an attempted run on the
Hibernia bank, one of the largest in
situations in the country. 1t was a
grotesque failure as a bank run. The
bank a $4,000 accounts, receiving
no deposits exceeding $4,000. 1t is
reckoned as solid as the treasury. 4
few frightened women formed a line,
obtained their money and then return
ed and deposited it. With this eXcep-
ton, public confidence in the banks
has been absolute.
The scarcity of skilled and unskilled
labor is the chief drawback to rapid
construction. Wages are exorbitantly
high; but this is the fault of c~Ontrac-
tors and prOprietOrs rather than OF the
labor unions. The plumbers and sta
llolId1S tISlllCC1S lIlooSlI SliSy %" q
nance to get rich quick n raised
their scale, out were not sustained by
the labor council, which is an ANAL
gamatiOn of all the unions, and the cd
wages We're restored. But the owners of
buildings which were nearing compile
ton at the time Of the disaster are
feverish in their anxiety TO complete
their buildings and obtain famine
rentals and their tactics in raising the
wages Of ~workingmen nave caused Ia
Dor prices to oar. On this emergency
work plasterers are getting soto 81 a
day; bricklayers, $40 a day; carpen-
tiers, 81 and IS; stone masons, IS to
SO, and other skilled labor in proper
ton. San Francisco is a paradise for
a workingman.
Need is for Laborers.
Unskilled labor is hard to find. The
city needs 10000 skilled men and could
employ 10000 unskilled laborers. Some
of the shrewder unskilled men have
dubbed together and formed little
companies of their own They take
a contract to remove debris for a price,
and perform the work during the noon
! hour and in the night. AS unskilled
labor is getting 81 a day, these willing
| workers who put in extra ulnle are
getting more money than hey ever
saw before. In much Of the burned
district work is carried on by electric
light.
There is some complaint that the
construction of big steel and concrete
buildings is not rapid. 1t is true that
few such buildings have been started
since the earthquake. But there are
excellent reasons for it. Only five
months have elapsed. The ashes were
hot for weeks after the fire. The in
companies, fearing bankrupt
cy, forbade the removal of debris on
the ground that the salvage questions
must be settled first. Soma Of the in
tending builders may have decided to
wait until the emergency prices paid
by other proprietors and contractors
had been reduced. The chief eXpla-
nation. however, is the simple fact
that five months is a short time in
which a firm can reorganize its plans.
remove debris, plan new building.
make it's financial arrangements, and
begin construction. On the whole, the
progress that has been made is Moth
ing short Of marvellous
No Doubt of the Future.
Will San Francisco ever be rebuilt ?
is the question asked by people in the
east. The answer is hat a Francis
co is now being rebuilt. It is not a
question. of the distant future. The
process is visible to the naked we.
Every steel building that was under
construction at the time of the disas-
ter is being rushed to completion.
Other buildings have been contracted
for, and with the removal of debris
and the arrival Of materials the work
will proceed. Nothing could be more
absurd than to doubt the recovery Of
San Francisco from its great misfor-
tune. in the face of the work that is
actually in progress. The contract for
the reconstruction of the Palace hotel
on its old site, on a grander scale
than ever. has been let. The ST.
Francis is now completing its great
steel annex. Business houses are ar
ranging to build newer and stronger
structures than those which succumb-
ed to the conflagration of April 1921.
The city will not be rebuilt in a day,
or a year, but it will go up with re-
markable quickness.
The municipality is not governed as
1t should be. There is laxity Of man
agement, and constant charges Of
graft. The city hall lies just as it
anooroeS FROM tho diSa cfor n q