Omaha daily bee., 1906-04-19


possible method Of saving any Of the city
FLAMES spread tn Town.
The flames were kept confined to the /
south Of Market street. in the business sec |
ton, until about o'clock in the after
noon. when the wind carried sheets of
flame into the richest part of the city /
The Palace hotel, a caravansary that has /
sheltered famous people from all parts OF
the world. was burned clean. Nothing ex-
cept the framework of its 1000 rooms now
stand Among the other notable buildings
destroyed were the Grand Opera house on
Mission street where the Conreid Opera
company opened up its season Monday
night. The members of the troupe are
now at the st. Francis hotel. one of the
few big hotels that are still standing. The
Majestic theater at Market and Eighth
streets was burned, the Columbia wrecked
by the tremor and the Central RACED BY
the flames The S2OOO,OOO Fairmont hotel
is still standing and suffered little dam
age The odd Fellows temple on Market
street. the ST. Nicholas hotel and the Gail
and the Examiner buildings and the Par
rott building are gone, while the big city
hall caved In completely when the earth
quake shook the city.
FIremen and Soldiers I<ined.
Nearly every big factory building has
been wiped out Of existence and a COM
plete enumeration of them would look like
a copy of the city directory. Many of the
finest buildings in the city were leveled to
dust by terrific charges of dynamite in the
hopeless effort TO stay the horror of fire.
In this work many heroic soldiers, police
men and fremen were MANNED or Killed
outright.
AT ! o'clock tonight the fire was unabated
and thousands Of people are fleeing to the
hills and camornig for places on the ferry
boats at the ferry building. ...f
The damage is now believed to have
reached S2OOOOOOOO and 5000 people are
thought to be homeless.
Large Area I'm Ruins.
OAKLAND, Cal, April 1S-Earthquske
and fire today caused the greatest calamity
California has ever known. In San Fran
cisco alone il is estimated that 1000 persons
have persisted, while as many more are
suffering from injuries. The entire business
portion OF the city is in ruins and the
! flames which, owing to the lack of water,
cannot be checked except by the blowing
up with dynamite of buildings in their
path, are still sweeping through the city.
! 1t is utterly impossible at present to es-
! innate the property loss, for the extent
of the coniagration cannot be told until
! the fire has burned itself out. Thousands
| of people are homeless and many are hud-
died in the parks and public squares, be-
side the household goods they were able
| to save. ..-..
| The city is under martial law and all
! the downtown streets patrolled by cav
! airy and infantry, Details Of troops are
also guarding the banks. Most of the
principal buildings have already been de-
stroyed and others are in imminent danger
over all the scene of desolation hangs a
great pail of smoke.
stanford University Touched.
! Communication with outside towns is all
most entirely cut of. but the report comes
from Palo Alto that all but one OF the
buildings of the Leland Stanford, jr. uni
versity have been wrecked and the splon-
did Memorial church, one of the finest
structures of its kind in the world, is a
mass of ruins one student is known to
have lost his life. In Oakland five persons
were killed, San Jose. Sacramento, Berk-
eley. Alameda and other places heard from
Suffered severely but report no loss Of life.
The dreadful earthquake shock came
without warning at precisely 513 o'clock
this morning, its motion apparently being
| from east to west At first the upheaval
of the earth was gradual but in a few
seconds It increased in intensity CHM
neys began to fall and buildings to crack,
lettering on their foundations. People be-
came panic-stricken and rushed into the
streets, most of them in their night attire.
They were met by showers OF falling build
ings bricks cornces and walls
Many Crushed to Death.
Many We're instantly crushed to death,
while others were dreadfully mangled.
Those who remained indoors generally es-
capped with their lives, though scores were
hit by detached plaster, pictures and ar
ticles thrown to the floor by the shock.
1t is believed that more or less loss was
sustained by nearly every family in the
city.
The tall steel structures stood the strain
better than brick buildings, few Of them
being badly damaged. The big eleven
story MonadnOck Office building, I'm course
of construction. adjoining the Palace hotel,
was an exception, however, its rear war
collapsing and many cracks being made
across its front Some of the docks and
. freight sheds along the water front Slid
, Into the bay. Deep fssures opened In the
filled ground near the shore and the Union
, ferry depot was damaged. Its high tower
} still stands, but will have TO be torn
, down.
City Hall wrecked.
! A portion of the new city hall. which
cost more than 100000, collapsed, the
: roof sliding into the courtyard and the
smaller towers tumbling down, the great
dome being moved, but not falling.
: The new postoffice, one Of the finest IN
the United States, was badly shattered.
The Valencia hotel, a four-story wooden
= building, sank into the basement a pile
OF splintered timbers, under which were
: pinned many dead and dying occupants Of
the house. The basement was full of water
and some Of the helpless victims were
drowned.
Scarcely had the earth ceased to shak,
! when fires broke out simultaneously II
, many places. The FIRE department
! promptly responded to the first calls fol-
{ aid, but It was found that the water mains
' had been rendered useless by the under
ground movement. Famed by a ligh
r breeze the flames quickly spread and soot
many blocks were seen to be doomed. TheI
dynamite was resorted to, and the sounC
!, OF frequent explosions added TO the terro
!. Of the people.
A All efforts to stay the progress of hi
. fire. however, proved futile. The soutl
. side OF Market from Ninth street to tn,
q hay was soon ablaze, the fire covering