The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-06-20

had gone into the house to get their
clothes. The street was black with
people, or rather white. for they were
mostly in strict undress.
Then l turned to dress myself What
change in values, / had no thought
for the dress 1 had cherished the day
before. l was merely considering what
was warmest and most substantial. A
coarse wool skirt, and a long coat lined
with white silk and highly decorated
with trimmings. Did l choose the lat
ter because it was pretty? No, indeed!
but because it was warm and long. My
diamonds and money were thrust into
hand-satchel, and We hastily made our
way to the street.
The electric poles stood in the most
inebriated attitudes the length of our
street. Chimneys on roofs, chimneys in
the street. bricks and broken glass
everywhere. stone steps gaping apart,
wooden ones spiintered, and buildings
themselves at strange angles! We
walked around to the Park Emergency
Hospital. three blocks away. We were
anxious about the great buildings in the
business section, and hoped to obtain
some news there. The street was ele-
waited at one point several feet, and
that section. The hospital is a one
story, low stone structure, with tiled
roof. It's stone facing had nearly all
fallen away, the chimney was gone, and
the tiles We're twisted and broken All
the timhering that supported the roof
was exposed to view; the stone arch
over the entrance was crumbled and
just ready to fall The matron had
just been removed unconscious from
heap of brick, mortar and general
debris. The attendants We're making
frantic efforts to get the ambulance
out. Tumbled piles of stones We're in
front of the doors, and one door was
so wedged that it could not be moved
Lut the ambulance was found to be
narrower than the remaining door.
willing hands were lifting and turning
the great stones out of the way, and
finally the frightened horses hauled it
out over an amount OF debris that in
ordinary times would have been con-
sidered insurmountable.
After a half-hour we came up to our
fiat to take an inventory of the situa-
ton l walked over the remains OF
my choicest china, porcelain and cut
glass, without a feeling of regret or a
sigh or tear. Everything seemed so in
significant and the world so far away.
That is. the world we lived in. All
estimates of value were annihilated-
Human life seemed the only thing
worth consideration.
Thin spirals of smoke now began to
ascend from various places in the bust
ness section. and we realized how COM
pletely we were at the mercy of fire,
WIN the broken water-mains, and res
ervoirs perhaps destroyed. The gas
ma water had been cut off Immediate
Y in most of our homes. The power
houses were down and the electricity
gone too.
We took a few bricks and built a fire
between them in the middle of the
street. like every one else. and ate our
breakfast on the steps of our home.
Frequent 'tremblers'' sent us scurry-
ng to the road, and as night came on
We gathered some bedding together and
vent into the Park the Mecca of all the
,ity. All day I had been feeding home
ess ones who had drifted out from the
Mission district. where great clouds of
lngry smoke were rising and large
areas had already been devastated.
AS L took my load to go, I saw
mother and daughter sitting in the
next alcove, into which four doors
rom flats opened. They were weary,
md the girl almost fainting. Every
hing they had was burned, and they
lad had nothing to eat all day.
told them they could go up in !
ur flat and sleep, if they wished. t
hey were afraid; SO was [. Then L
all the door-mats in the al
owes about. went upstairs and found !
.wo old comforters, and made them a I