The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-04-24
RAIN BEATS DOWN
UPON REFUGEES
Storm Adds to Suffering of
Those Who Have No Ade-
quate Shelter. -,
WOMEN AND CHILDREN
ARE DRENCHED AND COLD
Fathers, With Tears and SObs,
Appeal for Protection of
Loved Ones.

SAN FRANCISCO. April pa drench-
ing rain fell upon San Francisco last
night, From midnight until o clock It
poured and drizzled at intervals. while
high wind added melancholy accompanl-
ment, whistlng and signing about the
ruins of the buildings In the burned dis
trict, Five days ago. when the nro catas-
trophc was in It's infancy this downpour
would have been regarded as a Godscnd
This morning 1t could be regarded In no
other light than an additional calamity.
Brought More Suffering.
II meant indescribable suffering to the
tens OF thousands OF people camped upon
the naked hills and in the parks and open
places OF the city. Few of these were pro-
vided with waterproof covering For the
most part their only protection from the
wet was thin covering OF sheetlng
tackled upon improviscd tent poles.
Through this the water poured as through
a sieve, wettlng the bedding and soaking
the ground upon which they lay When IL is
understood that thousands upon thou
sands OF delicatcly nuTtured women and
infants In arms and old and feeble people
were In this plight nothing need be added
TO describe the misery OF their condition.
The downpour has aggravated the already
unsanitary condition or the camps, and
Will doubtless add great numbers OF pneu-
monla cases to those already crowding tho
regular and temporary hospitals OF the
city
All Possible Done.
What could be done was done by tho
guards In charge OF the camps TO relieve
the distress. Wherever covering could be
had for the women and children il was
taken advantage OF. They wero housed in
the chilly and cheerlcss churches, garages
ana barns In the Vicinage and those who
had been fortunate enough to save their
homes were called upon to take care OF
these unfortunotes, With few exceptions,
these people responded readily TO the new
not the butt ends OF kTag rifles quickly
forced a way through inhospitable doors.
Will Provide Tents.
While the storm mas added to the dim
culties of the general committee and
especially to those having in charge
the care of the sick. the sanitation OF the
city and the housing Of the homeless. il
has been a spur TO even greater efforts
TO bring order out of the chaos prevailing.
Regular shelter tents Will be provided as
well as cots standing of the ground 1t
Is realized that these provisions are i'm
perative, as much so as the providing OF
food
After several hours OF clear weather
there was another precipitation at a. m.
and again at o clock the fall was re-
sumed. and continued at intervals
throughout the ray
Instance of Suffering.
OF individual instances Of suffering the
number is legion, but one will tell the
story OF them all.
About o'clock. when the rain had been
railing heavily for an hour, middlc-aged
man, white faced In hs distress and
fatigue, appeared at the headquarters OF
the general committee He had walked
two miles from his camping place in tho
park to make an appeal for his suffering
wife and little ones
Could Not Restrain Tears.
AS he told OF their distress the tears
wellcd up In his eyes and coursed down
his cheeks. They were, he said without
covering other than sheeting over head
and were lying on the naked ground. their
bodies protected only by a quilt and
blanket, which of all his household
bedding were all he had managed to save
These had quickly been soaked, and while
unwilling TO complain on his own ac-
count, he has been unable to listen to the
walls of his little ones and had tramped
all the way from his camping place to the
committee headquarters in the forlorn
hope that there he might find some means
OF getting his family under shelter.