Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-07-26
"WHATA PEOPLE" SAYS
A GERMAN Traveller
Marvels at Recuperative Abil-
tiles Of Residents Of San
Francisco.
REBUILD STRICKEN cITN
"Hurry Up and Put Out the Fire That
We May Start Rebuilding," and
Such Sentiment Startling to
Travelled Teuton.

steamer as saying, What a peopleA
Here their city Is in ruins. and they
are talking of a worlds fair in 1872
Ar. Palmer says he saw him Il week
later. His steamer had not yet gone
because it was having difficulty in pros
visioning; crowds of refugees were de-
parting by every rain. He was looking
at the first poster to be put on the
boards since the fire-a poster laid over
bills OF plays in theaters that were
ashes. 1t declared that everybody must,
get to work to make Frisco IA city OF
II million population by 1915. and incl
dentally told you the best medium OF
advertising. Two hurrying men with
Greater San Francisco" labels in their
hatbands went hustling past us as I
stopped to speak with the German.
What u people," he repeated. And
very likely they VIII do It,"
Returning to New York in less than
three weeks after the earthquake, as
look oyer the morning papers L won
east and the city ut the gateway OF he
west can possibly belong to the same
country. You turn over the pages oc
IN inside column to find anything about
the great seaport which is in ruins,
and where over a hundred thousand
people are living on rations dispensed
from u public bread line.
what a People!"
What a people," repeat with tha
German, Even the greatest catastrophe
In the history OF the United States can
isot hold our attention for long. For
a few days every bit OF information
was welcome. Now we turn to other
things Just mt the m When San.
Francisco itself begins to comprehend
its own situation and faces the most
amazing problem that has aver con.
fronted any American municipality.
From he descriptions of the disaster
which I have read you might judge that
unbroken line from waters edge to
waters edge OF the peninsula of which
the ferry at he foot OF Market street
Is the toe. On the contrary, the APP
proach was irregular and spasmodic.
rushing for a space through a block Of
wooden buildings, hating again in tho
race OF skyscrapers or structures Of
stone. There We're times before one
third OF the eventual damage was done
when the use OF the city's usual wa
ter supply for n half hour would have
altogether stopped the march OF the
flames. You annot fight an earth
quake: you .cannot fight fire without
water. But you may triumph over
heir results. The combutive spirit OF
the San Franciscans rose the higher
Wednesday, earthquake day, they were
saying defiantly: The Almighty can't
beat us unless He slides us into the
sea; We viii rebuild our city better
and bigger than ever" On the second
day they were saying: Hurry up and
put out the fire so that we can start
building" On the third day they were
saying: IF you don't put 1t out soon,
we shall have nothing to start with"
Hopeful of Aid.
Mr.. Palmer a that every San
franciscan is asking the very concrete
and practical question: WHO is going
TO furnish us the three hundred mill
lions In order to replace the buildings
and the furnishings and the stocks tina
have been destroyed"
l suppose that If ours were a So
sialistic state instead OF an individu-
money for rebuilding would come out
Of the public treasury. But now it
must come out of the pockets of those
capitalists. who. trusting in the future
Of the stricken city, see a good invest
ment there. This disaster has shown
us how our captains of wealth and In,
austry are masters Of the land. AS
head of the Southern Pacific, Harri-
man was the biggest of them all in
Frisco's eyes. The Southern Pacific
and the Santa Fe as we'll carried refu-
gees away from the city free OF charge.
Thu public did not ask what the beard
Of upe visCrs was doing. Everybody
had fairly forgotten the city fathers
upon whom theoretically should have
fallen the duty of reorganization. Their
own mayor brushed these professional
politicians aside turned to what
are known as the Influential men,
What would Hartman do? How much
capital would he bring to reconstruct
ton? Would the Crockers and the
Spreckelses rebuild? What was the at
titude of the New York banks and
eastern financiers generally?
OF course. Hartman was an optimist.
With only half OF It's old population,
the city would be only half as valuable
to the Southern and Union Pacific. OF
course, every real estate owner was
an Cptimist. Land on Market street
is worth Il hundred dollars Il front foot
only because it is in the heart of Il
city. not because 1t Is good land for
raising vegetables. The rap!dity with
which Sun Francisco will be rebuilt.
then. firstly resolves itself INTO a ques-
ton OF the ability of the big men to
bring outside capital, which means in
n word public confidence in the city's
future throughout the United States:
secondly. INTO the question OF enough
he speed with which material for
building can be furnished.
Confident Of Future.
When the leaders OF men among this
urban population were speaking Tost
confidently of the future, they We're be-
set with the fear of the migration of the
thousands to other cities. Their first
move to the confidence of the
people as well as of capital. was to
prove coEclusively that The fire can not
happen again. For the fire did most OF
the damage not the earthquake. The
fire chief vino was crushed under Il
falling building and did not survive to
lead his men in battle. is reported as
having said that he never answered an
alarm without the fear that many
blocks instead CT a building might go.
Of course. the skyscraper is safe, but
r city is not made of skyscrapers. They
are the expensive exceptions. and com
inand rent which only the we'll to do
can pay. After the monster steel
frames. It was found that reinforced
cement stood both fire and shock best.
The ban which the board OF supervis-
ors put Oh that at the request of the
trades un:On will be removed.
If the weak hearted who are leaving