Milford chronicle., 1906-05-11
Ca(n1aqe
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee. D. D.


but the Lord was not in the earth
quake; and after the earthquake a fire.
but the Lord was not in the fire; and
after the fire a still small voice"
''Extral Extra. Extraw cried the
newsboy in the street Like the fish
monger's call. the voice echoed up and
leaned through my study window 1t
did not cause even the tremor of the
hand that held the moving pen Why,
/ have heard that call of "Extral Ex-
trar' so often that it was like the cry
of "Wolf! WolfH' in the legend of old.
1 did not even have interest enough to
say, Another railroad accident" or
"Ahother eruption of Mount Vesu-
Wits" or "AnOther threatened war be
tween France and Germany over the
African troubles" But suddenly my
self complacency was reused to vehe'
ment action. A member of the family
rushed into the room and said: Have
YOU heard the news? San Francisco
is destroyed by an earthquake. The
Palace hotel and the Call building and
the great city hall are in complete
ruins. All the great hotels are gone.
All the places of amusement are in
flames. A thousand people are dead.
The city has taken fire. and the water
mains are burst" God help them.
God help them" was my answer.
"But very probably. like all first ru-
mOrs, there is eXaggeratiOn in the re-
port San Francisco. with its splendid
buildings. could never have its fOunda-
tions ruined Let me find out from
headduarters." So I stepped to the
telephone and called up friend at one
of the prominent city newspaper Of
fees and asked. Are reports as bad as
the first kilograms intlmate?" "AIuch
worse, much worse" he answered
"The city is in flames, and we fear it
will be completely destroyed. The city
is said to have sunk. What the earth
quake did not upheave we fear that
the holocaust will obliterate. That is
the last report received, but the com
: munication is broken now. The wires
are all down"
Oh. the horror of IT, The city of Los
Angeles lay stunned TwO-thirds of
all our population bad friends or rela- !
tives or business interests in the city !
Of San Francisco. The bleeding, moan |
ing, helpless cry of Americas metrop- !
oils of the Pacific was nowhere an |
swered by a deeper sob of anguish |
than that which arose from the City |
of the Angels We were One--One in |
family love. one in business interests. |
We seemed to be more than sisters. |
San Francisco's sufferings were Los |
Angeles sufferings. We are next door |
neighbors in the family of cities.
The wait For News.
Then the long wait No news-wires |
down; communication stopped. All. |
Los Angeles knew then what must
have been the feelings of the fathers |
and mothers and brothers and sisters
when the telegraph wires thrilled and
the news flashed over the northern and
the southern states that the battle Of
Fredericksburg was being fought. Oh.
the anxious moments of waiting for
the dead listi They say it is hard to
go to the front and die. do not think
It is nearly so hard as to stay home and
live and think that your dear ones
are soon to he numbered among the
dead. They say that all of $4,000 men
were killed at Fredericksburg. The
rumors at first declared that 10000
were dead in San Francisco. "What-
will my telephone bell never stop ring
ing?" "My husband is in the Palace
hotel" says one. "NIy mother and sis
tiers are living there" says another.
81 have two brothers there" says an
other. my son is there" says another
Aye, they could say if, but what could J
say? Nothing. The wires were down.
There seemed to he no hope. Then the
telegraph instrument began to click.
The streets about the different bulletin
boards we're blocked. News, newsl
Give us the newsw was the cry. But
when the news began to come in, In
stead of a smile upon the lip, the
blanched cheek became paler, If that
were possible.
"Point Richmond has tumbled into
the sea- was one notice. "The CllG
House has disappeared" was another
notice zone hundred and thirty
blocks Of business houses annihilated."
1.-THE scavenger carts are carrying the
dead through the streets blocked by
falling walls" was still another report.
"The ghouls robbing the dead are be
ing shot by the soldiers" "City Is I'M
der martial law" give miles of wa
ter front ablaze." People fighting
each other in the streets. like stamped
ing herds Of cattle" o God. is there to
be no end to this horror? Agony seems
to be piling itself upon agony TneD
the old and feeble-what are they do
ing? Then the mothers with their new
born baess by their side. Think of the
hospitals being turned into charnel
houses, But still the telegraph instru-
ment ticks on. Every little movement
Of thut instrument seems to be a
sledge hammer beating against the suf-
fering heart Of nation.