Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-05-18
Calrnage
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase. d. d.

Los Angeles, Cal, May 13.-In this
sermon the preacher records his OBJ
servations during tour of the wrecked
city of San Francisco after the disaster
and draws some timely lessons from
the experience. The text is Psalm civ,
-, He looketh on the earth. and It
trembleth; he toucheth the hills, and
they smoke"
Yes, 1 have been to San Francisco.
have felt the earth heavlng beneath
my feet. With my own eyes 1 have
seen the blackened. smoking ruins.
have walked under the tottering walls.
L have heard the exploding dynamite
razing the ruins to the ground Some
people said l could not get into the city
IL 1 went there. and some said might
be able to get into the city. but IL
did l would certainly be put to work
cleaning the streets and piling ND
bricks. And some people said that II
l got into the city would be quaran-
tined and not be allowed to come out
because the smallpox YVES rigging there.
And some people said would get Kill
ed by the falling walls if j entsred the
burned district. And some said would,
have to drink water out OF the broken
sewers and get typhoid, fever II ever
entered the ruined city What some
people said OF course did not happen.
king Solomon understood this. fact
thousands Of years ago when he wrote
the prOverb, HE that obseryeth@ the
wind shall not SOW" The man who
simply goes ahead doing his work as
God gives 1t to him to do VIII accom-
plish that work And the man who is
always looking for obstacles and dan
gers ahead will find these obstacles by
the hundreds and thousands IL he will
only turn his timid ears and listen TO
what other people may say.
Obstacles May BE Overcome.
Obstacles ahead always have i'm
pressed me like the steady stream OF
wagons and carriages and automobiles
and electric cars which go rumbling
down Broadway, In New York city.
The average countryman who goes to
the great metropolis for the first time
stops at the curbstone and looks on
that steady line OF vehicles In amaze
ment- He stands on the curbstone. as
L have often seen him stand, waiting
for cessation of those revolving
wheels; but, like Tennyson's brook,
men may come aud men may 60 but
the vehicles of Broadway, New York,
seem to go on forever. Not thus does
the old New Yorker do. He wants to
cross Broadway He does not hesitate
half a minute at the curbstone. He
steps out into the street at once. He
lodges this way; he runs that way;
lie grips hold of the bride of horse
here, and in few seconds he Is over
the street. That is the way got Into
San Francisco only a few days after
it was burned. People said l could
not get in. but went ahead. lodged
this way; pushed that way; showed
little here and begged farther on I'M
I'll not only crossed the ferry, but by
Monday night following that catastro-
phe i had tramped over every nook
and corner Of the burned district
From the encampments In Golden
Gate park into the burned out district
or old Chinatown I went. Thus am
able today to render an account of my
visit and teach a few gospel lessons
from the bright side of an earth
quake"
s'The bright Side of mn Earthsuake."
oh" you say. ''there is no need of
talking about the bright side OF an
earthquake unless you are going to
talk about the lurld flames which, with
their famished tongues. licked up near
~ ten square miles Of as fine buildings
as any city ever had. Three hundred
million dollars worth OF property was
certainly destroyed. A friend OF mine,
on the morning that San, Francisco
burned. was coming from Honolulu.
Away on at sea they saw the black
ened clouds. They could not make out
what was the matter Nearer and
nearer they came. until suddenly some
one cried out, "San Francisco is burn
ing"' Then as they came nearer and
they saw the awful flames In their.
work OF death no one spoke All was
silence except the surging of the /.
waters as the PROV OF the Boat cut
through them, and the steadX papfsng
and pun. pun. 'puR of feka64ShtAary.
Oh. do not talk to me about The bright
side OF an earthquake II there q
bright side to Dante's infernof IL.
there bright side. to. strpets .strewr,
with corpsesl Amid the ruins which
You saw there must have been hun
dreds OF unknown dead, Talk about
the agonies and the teerb and the
wrecked fortunes OF this holocaust II
you Will. but not about its bright side
Yes. my friend. I am going to talk
about the bright side of this earth
quake even against your protest For
In all my trampings about this ruined
town, and In my intercourse with these
noble people. / found more bright
ness than sorrow. more Joy and con-
CALCULATIONS than heart sobs and COM
plants. This Is why have taken for
my subject the sunrise OF the morning,
instead Of the dark eclipse.
hot One Complaint. ..-,
The most natural course for me to
pursue. IN the first place. Is to tell you
that from the moment ! put my foot
into San Francisco to the time that I
stepped aboard the ferry to start back
for Oakland / did not find one tear or
one complaint from all the multitude
OF people saw and conversed with.
And when speak thus remember that
l am not in the least minifying the
hwfui ravages of this earthquake. IL
you have been to New York and could
imagine fire starting at Forty second
street burning clear on down to the
Dattery and sweeping away every ho-
tel, every palace OF Fifth avenue. ey-
cry store and factory and Office brild.
ing and leaving practicallys nothing
standing. you can imagine what this
nre desolatlon means or course New
York is q larger city than San. Eran