Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-05-11
Calrnase
sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talrnaae. d. D.

Los Angeles. Cal, May Gin the
terrible calamity which has befalleu
San Francisco the preacher today finds
lesson for the whole nation. The text
is Kings xix, IL. -, IAN earthquake.
but the Lord was not In the earth
quake; and after the earthquake fire.
but the Lord was not In the fire: and
after the fire still small voice"
Extra! Extral Extrar' cried the
newsboy In the street. Like the fish
monger's call. the voice echoed I'D aud
leaped through my study window. 1t
did not cause even the tremor Of the
hand that held the moving pen. Why.
have heard that call OF "Extrai Ex-
trar' so often that II was like the cry
of wolf! Wolfr' In the legend of old.
did not even have interest enough to
say. Another railroad accident" or
Another eruption OF Mount yesu-
Nius," or Another threatened war he
tween France and Germany over the
African troubles" But suddenly nv
self complacency was reused to yehs-
ment action. 4 member or the family
rushed into the room aud saids Have
you heard the pewsf San.sFxnneEsco
Is destroyed by an earthquake. The
Palace hotel and the Call building ana
the great city hall are In. complete
ruins. All the great hotels nre gone.
All the places or amusement are IN
flames. A thousand people are dead
The city has taken fire. and the water
mains are burst" God help ~theut
God help themr' was my answer.
But very probably, like all, first ru-
mors. there is exaggeration In the re-
port. San Francisco. with its splendid
buildings, could never have its founda-
tons ruined. Let me end out from
headquarters" So stepped to the
telephone and called up friend at one
of the prominent city newspaper Of
ices and asked. Are reports as bad as
the first kilograms intimate?" "Much
worse, much worse" he answered.
The city is In flames, and we fear II
will be completely destroyed. The city
Is said to have sunk. What the earth
quake did not upheave we fear that
the holocaust will obllterate That is
the last report received. but the COM
munication is broken now. The wires
are all down"
oh, the horror OF It! The city OF Los
Angeles lay stunned. Two-thirds OF
all our population had friends or rela-
ttves or business interests in the city
OF San Francisco. The bleeding, moan
ing, helpless cry OF Americas metrop-
oils OF the Pacific was nowhere an
swered 10y deeper sob of anguish
than that which arose from the City
OF the Angels. We were one-one In
family love. one in business interests.
We seemed to be more than sisters.
San Francisco's sufferings were Los
Angeles suiferings. We are next door
neighbors in the family of cities.
The wait For News.
Then the long wait. No uews-wIres
down: communication stopped. All.
Los Angeles knew then what must
have been the feelings OF the fathers
and mothers and brothers and sisters
when the telegraph wires thrilled and
the news flashed over the northern and
the southern states that the battle OF
fredericksburg was being fought. oh,
the anxious moments of waiting for
the dead listl They say 1t is hard to
so TO the front and die. / do not think
IL Is nearly SO hard as to stay home and
live and think that your dear ones
are soon TO be numbered among the
dead. They say that all OF $4,000 men
were killed at Fredericksburg. The
rumors at first declared that 10000
were dead In San francisco. what
VIII my telephone bell never stop ring
Ing" "My husband Is In the Palace
hotel" says one. MY mother and SIS
tiers are living there" says another
Il have two brothers there" says an
other. MY son Is there" says another.
Aye. they could say Ii. but what could ]
say? Nothing. The wires were down.
There seemed TO he no hope Then the
telegraph instrument began to click.
The streets about the different bulletin
boards were blocked. "News, newsfI
Give us the newsr' was the cry. But
when the news began to come In, In
stead OF n smile upon the lip. the
Dianched cheek became paler, IL that |
were possible. 40. II
Point Richmond has tumbled into
the sea-" was one notice s~Yhs CHG 4
House has disappeared" was another |
notice. "One hundred x and thirty |
blocks OF business houses anuihilated,.
The scavenger carts are cArryIng the \
dead through the streets blocked by !
falling walls" was still another report. II
The ghouls robbing the dead are bel
Ing shot by the soidiers.v stCity II NM
der martial law. Five, rniies OF wa.
ter front ablaze." People fighting |
each other In the streets, Hike stamped,
Ing herds OF CATTLE" q God. II there TO
be no end to this horrorf Agony seems
10 be piling Itself upon agouy.ss Then
the old and feeble--what are thew do (
ing? Then the mothers with their new I
porn babes by their side. Think OF the
hospitals being turned into charmed
houses! But still the telegraph instru-
ment ticks on. Every little movement
or that instrument seems to be a
siedge hammer beating against the suf-
fering heart OF a nation.
Cries For Help.
Then. as the crowds grow thicker
and denser, we find men fighting their
way out. What is the matter with
your we ask. LET me outr' they cry.
Let me out! / want to get the train
and start north at once. I must GET
into that doomed city and go TO INV
dear ones" Crowds are now bIockad.
Ing the railroad offices for passage: but.
though n thousand ears were to start
1t would not be long enough train to
accommodate those who wished to 90
TO San Francisco to rescue their
friends. Then the reports came In aw-
iuhy monotonous regularity: sFlames
spreading Buildings being dynamitesi
10 stop onward progress OF confiagra-
,on. General Funston forbids any one
TO land i'm the CITY Wafer fa,,tno |