Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1906-06-16
BY WILLIAM r. fGHTON.
Especial Correspondents Of she piston Trsnseriril

vacant hours when men and women
ont Of sheer WEAKNESS, trick hem
selves with the articles OF social face
paint and enamel an pomade, tryini
10 make themselves believe that o
such is the kingdom of life. Not these
but the profounder impulses, those tn
race had at the beginning. the one
with real blood and fibre and bone II
them, which now and the make thI
whole wide world thrill with com
mon understanding and sympathy.
People are kind: that's cinch
Here's this San Francisco case Il
prove 1t all over again from the be
ginning. 1t has been worth year OF
ordinary life tc be upon the ground
these last two weeks ani witness this
outpouring o. the worlds unstinted
generosity, TO meet this great need
1t IS not necessary to speak much OF
that; the giving was no parade &C. viz
tue for the reward of a chatter OF pub
1icity. 1t am thinking, rather, just
now. of the spirit of those called the
victims.
oh. these Ca,ifornians! What 90
you think they are saying now in San
Francisco?
well. it came high" they say, with
a wide, jaunty grin, "but we pulled on
the biggest show the world ever saw,
now didn't WEI"
They ere taking 10 themselves all
the credit for that awful happening;
they are actually clarifying in its stu
pendousness as a spectacle. Chicago
and Boston and Baltimore and Calves
ton. as disaster-breeders. must now
drop back into the second class; Her
culanaeum and POmpeil have been
beaten TO a standstill; Nineveh and
Babylon aren't in it for a minute.
Here and there, within the last week,
tucked away in obscure corners of the
newspapers, you may have read scraps
of quotation from the quaint, old
fashioned utterances of few thin
blooded folk who have been trying to
make out that the wreck and ruin
came as a special visitation. brought
down by the clty's wickedness. San
Franciscans refuse to think that way.
The experience has left them
"strapped''-sufferers from just about
the most acute attack of broke" that
ever / have looked upon-a perfect
epidemic of pennilessness. Yet they
arc raferring 10 the incidents Of these
days as blessinsl
I'VE are glad it happenedr' they
say. have heard this again and
again: not from the habitually desti'
tute. but from men whose money loss
in the fre was vast. This is the sun
of their argument: when San Fran
cisco was started, nobody dreamed II
would ever be great city. We didn'i
h.,ssla 60 ..las. 4 sirst. W., have made
a lot of mistakes t1ateIy we na~e
been wondering how the dickens we
were going to get those mistakes cor
rected. Our streets were too narrow
and they weren't laid out right for con
yenience or business. There were loo
many ugly spots; architecture WASH
right: the doubtful part of the popnla
ton was congested too near the very
heart of the city. We had been dub
hing along for years with public ser
vices that were away shy of our needs
Resides. social life was a little on th'
bum; the rich were too rich ana 1h'
noor were too poor. Anybody coui'
saa that we needed a shaking up. An'
now we've had it-heaven be praised
we can start it all over again and d'
if right this time. It's a pretty fai
start too-we're of in bunch; nov
watch us co..
II old man Jove seriously INTENDED
this as a thunderbot of His wrath
then He needs a little hard large
practice out back of the barn. 0ecaus
this was awfully poor shooting. ID
never touched them at all.
OF course we shall Rave TO gran
that the San Francisco disaster wa
the biggest thing that ever happened
There are the figures to prove it. An
fl seems as though we must grant III
honesty of the people when they sa
they are rejoicing in their new oppo'
tunities. The test Of a mans conVl'
1 tions lies in the manner of his actions
and these San Franciscans are maxim
protestations and actions match on
another. They are going to make al
other city; it is already begun; and
will be wonder.
Save for the mood of the people, TIL
disaster would have been the creates
catastrophe in history, so far as catai
trophe may be expressed in dollars an
cents. Within two weeks time ID
people of the nation have raised relle
fund of twenty millions of dollars
performance also unique. Grant
that But that is not the heart an
soul of the matter, as l have watche
it express itself here. The vital pa
of il lies in the relations OF man
man. here on the ground. Society ht
been startled into letting fan its mas
of manners, product of a half centur
of differentiation. EOr the time bein
during these two weeks, there nay
been no rich and no poor; the VINO
artificial scheme has been resolve
hack 10 its elements. If real Soela
list knows real Socialism when he SCI
II this situation would make him d
lirious with joy. There has been l
fakery about it. either it has been u
real thing. 1t is too good to last
course, but while it last it is hear
softening, soul-satisfying. Let me gi'
I, you some true stories. samples out
! the crop of thousands that might
harvested.
This first one bears the stamp of 4
!. ton. but it is sober fact no less.
parrot started 1T. The old S;
!. Francisco was a city Of parrot cage
census enumeration would ha
shown their presence in every four
house; they are q feature Of all {
4 refuge camps; next TO saving their eh
e aren. the householders seemed TO CO
slider these fswl their chiefest resDo
b sibility.
d This particular bird was among I
elect. On that dreadful Thursd
---l. -, 81 Co INropofuan zrae AZ