Arizona republican., 1906-04-30

soon as he could he went to San Fran cisco to place himself at the service cC friends he feared might be in danger The rest of the letter is descriptive of incidents in the city and of the safe ty of his friends referred to. Later
 on in the letter he says: 'I had been in the city forty eight hours and had had but one meal, but the excitement and work gave me little time for hun ger.'
 After describing the scenes of the first day there. and after himself and friends had retired to the Fort Mason dock, ne says: 'The bay swarmed with ferry boats, fire tugs, launches and steamers. They buzzed around like swarm of angry bees and mirac- ulously not one was injured by colli- sion. The fog, quickened by a high wind, swept through the Golden Gate and soon enveloped everything. One of the prettiest scenes I ever witnessed was just being unfoIded before my eyes. The torpedo boats had left t.Ie rest of the squadron just outside the bar and were racing with the fog to reach an anchorage alongside the Chi cago. Marblehead and AIbatross. just off Black Point. They won and as soon as they stopped began to dis charge sailors to assist in the patrol duty on shore. My, they were magni- ficent. They flew like birds and in spite of the strong ebb tide reached the point they were making for before the fog made further sailing dangerous"
 As an indication of the mental terror that must have pervaded the atmos- phere, leading many to believe the end of the world was certainly at hand. MT. Moore speaks as follows: We heard the most awful rumors at first New York inundated by tidal wave. Chicago sunk beneath the waters of Lake Michigan, and Los Angeles, Port land and San Diego in ruins, but are relieved to find them basefxss."
 Speaking of the efforts to stop the fire, he says: "The poor firemen fought like fiends until they dropped. The water. some of it being pumped by re- lay engines from the bay fifteen blocks away would often fail them. In their impatience they cried like children They had been on duty since the fire broke out and refused to leave tneir posts even when commanded to do so. They had to be dragged from the hose Finally they made their grand stand. A crew of gunners from the Chicago which had just arrived from San Diego came to their aid and blew up block after block of the finest residences of the city. and stopped the westward progress of the fire on Van Ness ave nue, the great boulevard of San Fran cisco, but not before it had Ieaped across the wide street and wiped out six blocks on the other side. The grand Spreckles mansion was gutted and the elder Spreckles joined the ranks of the homeless"
 He pays a tribute to the regular army and says that while they did many things that seemed cruel, it was the only thing to do under the circum- stances. He spoke of coming up from the ferry and seeing body propped against wall bearing a placard. "Shot for stealing" Of the army ne says General Funston was in command and the work of his forces was marvellous. The soldiers were on duty with hard ly a thing to eat or drink and with little prospect of early relief yet they were cheerful and strong through it all
 "One poor, half crazed fellow was driving a heavily loaded truck contain ing his family and chattels to q place of safety, and was just about to cross the only line of hose that the fire fighters had when commanded to stop. He chose to disobey the order and be- fore his wagon struck the hose he was shot from his seat and both his horses were killed. It was tne only thing that could have been done to save the prec- ious stream of water that was of so much aid to the firemen. It seemed hard, but what else could have been dOne?"