The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-05-04

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! iiraiman. a travelling salesman, ~ho
auiysA in Portland last nirht urou the
arsi train from san rrsnelsco When
Mr Rrayman arrived az ths hctei
Portland and 8, became kn0wl that he
, had passed through pari ~ the terrible
catastrophe which had befailcn the un-
fortunate city he was immcd .aicly sur
rounded by a large crowd Of San Fran
/ olsoans. who listened several hours 10
HE narration 0f the frightful scenes
that were enacted.
4 saw only two bodies. but I saw
on my way 20 the ferry acres ~ frame
tenement buildings whish had coll
lapsed. undoubtedly killing hundreds
OF persons" said he The horror of
the scene II indescribabio. ! was In
san Francisco less than an hour after
the first shock, but ] must have seen
q hundred or more fres which were
raging In every part OF :ise city. "a 9''''
HAD A ROOM IN .sv .
OCCIDENTAL HOTEL.
=" ! had room on the fourth floor of
the Occidental Hotel, and WIS lying in
bed awake when the first shock came.
When | felt the building trcmble |
jumped from my bed and opened the
door of the room. / stood in the open
door. where ] was sheltered from the
| falling plaster. The shock lasted fully
| two minutes, and ] only managed to re.
main on my feet by holding on with all
my strength 10 the sides Of the door.
way. Later other guests told me that
they were thrown TO the floor several
times during the shock, and that il was
absolutely impossible for them to re.
main on their feet without holding to
something.
ut was sufficiently light in my room
20 see, and ! hurried down the stairs
10 the street, making my way over the
fallen plaster, broken glass and debris.
! was in my bare feet, and tho only
thing ! had on was my pajamas. After
] had reached the street ! decided TO
return TO my room and secure some
clothing. No sooner had ! reached my
room than there was another shock.
WhDc very severe it WAS not quite 80
violent as the first one. | grabbed my
trousers this time and again ran to the
/ street. Later j returned to my room
and dressed.
1.-THE first shock came at precisely
! 5:l2 O'Clock in the morning, az nearly
every clock in the city stopped at that
time. The second shock came about 10
minutes later Every bit Of plaster in
the hotel was torn loose and the inter.
ior of the building was wrecked con
| siderably, although the walls Of the
| building remained intact.
Great heroism was displayed by the
| guests. Most of the men assisted the
women and children in the rush TO es.
cape and but few persons lost their
heads. There were some army officers
| staying there and they were brave and
rendered great assistance TO the other
guests. After practically every one
| had escaped from the Occidental Hotel
] understand the root OF the building
caved in.
! TWO DEAD BODIES
IN THE STREET.
"Whcn ] left the hotel the first time
there were but few persons on the
| streets. Across the street upon the
| sidewalk lay two bodies of men who
| evidently had been killed by falling
| stones and cement. These were the
only two bodies that | saw.
"All Of the heavy stone buildings
were standing, but the sidewalks were
| Uttered with stones and cement. There
| were large crevices IN the street and
J in some places they had sunk below
the sidewalks many feet. Many Of the
stone buildings were out Of place and
leaning either toward the northeast or
| the southwest. The wires were down
and everything was confusion
Within few minutes the guests
were pouring out of the hotel by scores
and | think most of them escaped be.
fore the roof caved in. ! have no inter.
ests in San Francisco, and knowing that
I the city was doomed, started for the
! ferry as soon as had donned my cloth
ing j nlu not lGN 10 thkc any OF my
effects with me. When left the Occi.
dental Hotel fire was raging in II build.
| ing only few steps away.
~ saw most OF the great destruc
| tion that was wrought when ! was
walking TO the ferry. Blocks and
blocks Of frame buildings had collapsed
the same az though they had been con
structed of pasteboard. Fire seemed
to be in every direction. The police
men were pressing all the vehicles into
service, presumably TO carry the dead
or injured or for salvage purposes
~ did not 60 direct TO the ferry but
had to make roundabout trip, ~ part
Of Market street was roped OF by the
fremcn because Of the FIRE, which was
on both sides Of the street Eysry
| direction ! turned my eyes ! saw
flames. The O'Clock ferry left on
time and there were not mor3 than 50
persons on board. The ferry mado two
more trips and then stopped | under
stand that the ferry boat was crowded
to lis utmost capacity during the last
/ two trips.
| PARTS OF WHARVEs