The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-05-07
CONTINUED from page II

was being done we could Ieei the Lem
BILE over here. AT night we would go
I'D to the hill near US and there couih
see the fire at a command view. re-
called to my memory the stories VI
tfThe Last DAYS of Pompeii' or the
er,nt;on of Mt. Vesuvius. The water
in the bay was very calm and the re-
aeet;o, of the fire on it was beautiful
The sky looked as if it was ablaze, so
red was it. When the Russian Hill was
burning it looked exactly like vol
cano in eruption, so high did the flames
leap
We could plainly see the st. Francis
Hotel burn, it was at night. The Pal-
ace burned in the daytime Seven
times they thought they could save
this building but finally it went, with
all lives saved. but in the st. Francis
there were nearly two hundred killed.
A friend who was at the Occidental
told me the story that was connected
with that building. All lives were
saved but no books or money. The
puests of this hotel were driven to
Union Square When the fire reached
that section they were driven to North
Beach and Mob HILL There they
stayed for twenty hours, and those VINO
could make their way to the ferry
came over here.
The Paramount Hotel was burned,
but the frame of the building is still
standing. 1t was one of the best ire
proof buildings in the city. Hopkins
Art Institute was burned and the rest
of the beautiful mansions near there.
The CITY Hall was wrecked by the
EARTHQUAKE All that stands OF the
great dome is the steel frame and the
statue of Liberty still stands looking
over the ruined city. 1t is picture
in itself The Call building is like
piece of wire all bent from the shock
The woodwork is all burned and 1t IS
thought that it will have to come down.
The army was called and all of the
militia from the largest places IN the
state are guarding both in San Fran
cisco and Oakland. Yesterday one
thousand soldiers came up from Los
Angeles to guard the people OF Oak
land, Alameda and Berkeley.
1T is just the same as IN time or war:
Martial law prevails in the city ana
Oakland No lights to burn after ten
O'Clock, no one on the streets. People
are shot if they do not obey orders or
if they are found stealing. In San
Francisco the men who fight for their
lives to get out of the city are made
To 90 to work when the fire was on
they had to help battle the fire and
now they have to pick up bricks from
the streets. If they resent they are |
shot on the spot By making the men
pick up the bricks they are cleaning !
the streets up very quickly. was /
very fortunate in being able to go over !
to the fire when it was IN its highest
rage The Governor can only give |
passes to go over, no women were al /
lowed to go over, even for their reia-
tives until yesterday april 23). l can
say that I was the only woman that
went through the ferry building, which |
was condemned and will have to be |
torn partly down. Only trained nurses |
and women on the relief committees |
were allowed to cross. A friend got a
pass from the Governor so that was
how I got over to the city of ruins. L
was over when Telegraph and Russian
hills were burning, also the warehouse /
districts on the waterfront. 1T was |
very pitifui sight to see the people /
They were living in the cutters and on /
the streets dead When | was over 1t |
was the worst sight of all because the
fire was driving the poorer class out
and they were all foreigners and they |
did not know what to do One instance !
was when we were walking along East
street soldier came up to us and I
challenged the friend | was with (the
fire was in front of us), but when he |
showed him badge, as he is a county /
official, the soldier passed him. For I
moment l thought L would have to
tackle also, but we escaped all right.
After he passed us he stopped an 1tal- I
ian, but he did not offer to go. The
soldier then drew his revolver and |
pointed it at his face. The man said I
he could not leave his family and the /
soldier asked where his family would |
be if the fire came down another block.
The man at last gave in and said yes
In few minutes l counted thirty men
who were gathered together at the .
point of the revolver, and they had to +
draw the hose and fight the fire.
Tt was very hard to see the children
and old people trying to escape the
fire. The infants were dying for the
want of air and something to eat or
drink The smoke was something aw
full and terrible wind arose and one
could hardly see with the awful dust
coming from the ruins. The people
were driven from block to block like
cattle, some of them trying to save
little baggage, but they would have to
leave it behind after carrying it prob
ably for two days. At the ferry | saw
three pianos that had been drawn down
from Russian Hill by the members of
the family. Beds, machines. buggies,
etc, were piled on top of one another
along the wharves. Piers 3, 5 and ,
are complete wrecks from the earth
quake. Very few of the piers escaped
damage. Meiggs wharf was burned,
also the Southern Pacific boat landing
was partly destroyed. From Mob Hill
it looks if the ferry building was
only two blocks away. Looking from
the Paramount Hotel, on the very top
of Mob Hill, everything has been swept
in the business portion of the city The
last renort was that it did not go be-
yond Valencia street in the Mission
district and Goth street on the north
side. 1t swept as far west as Van Ness
avenue and in some places it reached to
ENrar IL