The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-30
HOMECOMING OF REFUGEES.
SHOCkS FOR HiNY WHO FLED
FROM THE BURNING CITY.
They Fine tho Houses They Abandoned
Occupied by Undesirable FOlks-Rellc
Hunters and L.ootcrs Brave Danger AZ
They Seek for ValuableS I'm the Itu!ns,

Hunters and L.OOtcrs Brave Danger as
They Seek for NaluablPS In the Nu!ns,
san Francisco, April 20.-Among the
depressing sights that arc 10Y daily feat
ures Of life in the uptown part Of the city
are tbe homec0mings of refugees who
fed the city on tho three nights of terror
and flame last week. Hundreds left their
homes with doors open and hurried across
the bay or down the peninsula in carts,
automobiles, milk wagons anything with
supporting wheels, taking with them only
the very precious treasures of their homes.
Now they are dropping back into their
city to find that the soldiers have appro-
priated their homes and lodged therein
families whose roofs no longer stand.
Under the orders of the military head
quarters all empty houses were impressed
into the service of sheltering the home
less. On Oak street this morning AT old
style bus, with n woman, her father and
her four children variously placed in the
crevices Of the household baggage dis
posed therein, drew up at a small white
cottage. All Of the children scrambled
out with shouts of JOY and the housewife
climbed over the rolls of bedding to the
street. Her face frightened with the smile
Of anticipation.
Behind a wooden shelter against the
west wing stood a cook stove, propped
up on piles Of brick, and over this bent
an Italian woman cooking the morning
meal. When the returning family had
walked around the wooden shelter they
discovered that the stove was theirs.
Almost at the same minute there ap-
pea red in the open front door Of their cot
tage a heavy, ~slovenly man in red under
shirt and carpet slippers. He dragged a
plush patent rocking chair to the stoop and
sat down to read his paper. That chair
was theirs and the stoop which the tattered
italian had appropriated was what had
once been theirs also. The woman who
had returned from the fight sat down on
the steps Of the bus and wept.
At another residence on Page street-a
stone front apartment house "a returning
family found that some kind faced Ger
mans had been moved into their quarters
during their absence.
oh, my Dickey; have you taken good
care of my Dickey?' was the first question
hat sprang to the lips of the matron who
had returned to claim her home.
'Dickey, is it?' queried a buxom house
wife. with her sleeves rolled up over red
arms. you mean the birdie? oh, he is all
right and. smiling, she pointed to a hook
above her head where swung a canary.
Now I don't care" announced the mis-
| tress of the house. with a deinitive nod Of
her head.
hut with the return Of panic stricken
families comes also to the city a horde OF
! people like hyenas to the ruins of Babylon,
who seek spoils among the fallen stones
of the burnt district. The fine distinction
that has been forced upon the recognition
of the military, that distinction between a
looter and a curiosity hunter, has saved
more thar one vandal from being shot
out right within the last few days.
RELIC HUNTERS rus RISKS.
San Francisco is being overr1ln with an
army Of idle relic seekers, who rummage
beneath perilous walls, invade half burned
houses and ever search the stones of the
streets for curios of greater or lesser value
which they can take home with them,
Satchels. suit cases, even gunny sacks
are requisitioned to carry of loot that
would make even a Russian in Pekin blush
with the recognition Of his own modesty.
Anything that does not need to be carried
'l " IL tiuN 10 l"i Bal'i' W. ave IVA
The stuff that they are hourly carrying
away from the ruins lie not all lacking in
%ntrinsic value. 1t comprises china ware
miraculously spared destruction in the fire,
twisted brasswork from old curio stores,
jewelry that has been dropped in the mao
flight of terror stricken househo!ders in the
days of the fire, even paintings, torn fromthe
frames, which had been carried from high
sI .I.- - .t.,,l -, tipNA &c I,.tN
in some insecure spot.
The persistence of these curio looters
knows not fear Of death. either from top
ping walls or the bullets of a sentry's gun.
In the ruins of the Emporium, which are
enclosed by a shell of masonry so weak
that a strong wind woul send it crashing
down. n score of busy folk dug and prodded
in smouldering heaps Of stun until driven
out Of the premises by guards employed
by the managers Of the firm themselves.
SEEKING CHI%ATowN LOOT.
Jp in Chinatown. where the baHaars Of
the wealthy merchants once housed art
{ treasures in silver, ivory and bronze, a
small army Of providers has been busy
poking the ashes and straining treasures
from the Stag. A great deal Of porcelain
by some freak of the flames has been spared
and this offers the particular field for the
vandals' endeavor.
On the sites Of the pawnbroker-' shops
much rich stuff has been recovered. Bits
of silver, random scraps of jewelry in
which a precious stone may remain I'M
by the heat, and even parts Of
burnt fur muffs and boas have been pulled
from the ashes and busted and carried off.
Where the Crocker and Hopkins mansions
once stood there has been such a persistent
attempt on the part of the looters to get
their fingers into the sm%ouldering piles of
ruins that guards have been established
about the premises and no one is allowed
to approach. Along the west side of Van
Ness avenue, down the length Of Golden
Gate avenue and on the sites Of the Suffer
and Bush street apartment houses are
other favored fields for the looters delv-
ing. Here humps of molten silver, orna-
ments Of glass and stray pieces of jewelry
are the lures that call for this curio mining.
One m was seen this morning carry
away from the ruins of a house on the
corner of Jones and Suffer streets the drive
wheel and upper works Of a sewing machine.
The iron was stripped of its paint and the
machinery was hopelessly twisted, but the
feminine mind is quick to divine the ways
of economy and the particular loo in this
case may even serve as the pulley on some