The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-30
ODD NOTES FROM BURNING CITY
ONE CAVE on 4 GIRL STENOGRi-
Pliers LINEN CTR.
Some Forwarded Unstamped- Letter and
Telegram From BroOkdale Arrived
OH the same Day and Reported New
York shaken and Chicago submerged.

A lot Of queer things ha We filtered through
the mails into New York from the dolbly
afflicted city of San Francisco, now that
the mails are working regularly. The post
Office authorities apparently stuck 1t out
to the last and made SOME effort to collect
the letters in the mail boxes ahead of the
fire; for some of the letters of the first and
second days, while postma rked Oakland,
seem from the contents to have been
mailsd in San Francisco. A part OF them
bear no stamps; Uncle Sam let the stamps
go for once.
One OF the queerest OF these came 10 a
steuographer employed in a Wall Street
office. Her sister, fleeing from the fire the
first morning, had a pencil. but no paper.
She scratched Burned out, but all safe, y
on y linen cuff, and that came through,
potnarked Oakland.
A woman living with her two daughters
in Berkeley writes that they have eight
refugees packed into their house. Among
them are two music teachers, a domestic
servant and n Spanish woman. They are
cooking meals for the whole family on ono
small oil stove; the gas stove is out of bust
ness. The servant, when she ran away
from her house. snatched up a pet maltese
cat. For three days she wandered through
Oakland, making her way finally to Berkeley;
and all the way she car FRIED the cat. which
she fed from her own bread line supplies.
A newspaper man on Park row has a
family living at ~Brookdale, in the Santa
Cruz Mountains, eighty miles from San
Francisco. For three days they could
send no news, because the broad gauge
railroad which runs in that direction had
an a., 4, - roo l~, ty.ig oil nnl fha nrr
gauge had a caved in tunnel. Az the post
mark showed, the first letter and a tele-
gram were sent from Santa Cruz on the
same day, and both letter and telegram
arrived in New York on the same da y
This family had taken to the hills because
Of the succession Of little earthquakes .
and at night they were watching the light
which showed where the city was burning &,
eighty miles away, News had got through
to them in the mysterious way news has Of
travelling when the wires are down, and they
had a pretty fair idea Of what was doing in
San Francisco, but the letter adds:
We hear that New York was badly shaken
up and that Chicago has been overrun by a
tidal wave from the lakes
Another hurried and confused letter
which came out of Oakland the second
dav said:
The whole front of Delmonico's fell out
at once. This Is a good oke here. We
are so full of horror that we are glad to
have something to laugh at"
To a resident of San Francisco the things
which might be revealed by an oren face
view Of Delmonico's are compelling to
the imagination.
ESCAPED with my cigarette case: other
wise everything is gone" a a mes
sage scratched on a postal card.
You came pretty near finishing me
when you gave me that big Winged Vic
tory" roads another letter. Just az |
stampeded through the door it dropped
within an inch Of my nose and broke on
the floor. At least. it made me spare n
moment Of thought for you"
Have been digging on the streets all day;
as the building is a wreck and there seems
to be no chance of. resumjng / suppose
that is what III be doing for some time.
Still. I'm alive and the exercise is dong
me good, writes a San Francisco bust
ness man.