The Paducah sun., 1906-04-28

engineers to have constituted the Sc
verest test to which the modern
buildings ever have been subjected.
| It Is conceded that San Francisco
architects and builders have been
slow TO accept the eastern methods
of construction, which. roughly, is
1.-THE resting of both steel frame and
masonry work on one foundation,
the latter securely tied to the for
mer. Until very recently Pacific
coast builders have seen fit to rest
the skeleton and the masonry each
on its own foundation. AS illus
trated by the effects of the double
disaster the results of these two
plans of construction are remark
able.
Postonice Little Harmed.
The new postofIlce building, con-
structed on piles, largely of masonry,
with some steel, withstood the shock
and the flames well. Before the
earthquake the district south of
Market street, especially toward the
water front, was given over to frame
tenements of the cheapest class, and
for years had been inaccessible on
that account to wholesale houses
and factories, for which it was a
natural location. There is supposed
to be little doubt that the fire limits
WEI be extended and that nothing
but buildings of high character can
be erected in this district, thereby
not only insuring tho city against
danger of another holocaust, but
opening a greatly needed wholesale
and manufacturing section.
The San Francisco Real Estate
Exchange fully tealizes the import
anee of this change, and steps al
ready have been taken toward estab-
lishing new fire lines. The double
buildings have been subjected also
has proved that frame buildings
erected under the present specifica-
tions of the board of public works
are strong. flexible and amply able
TO withstand such seismic forces as
they have recently undergone. 1t is
likely. however, that changes will be
made in the "olass A" specification
which will include all future sky
scrapers, so that all features of the
highest type of that kind of con-
struction may be embodied in them.
All Ready for Work.
The interest being taken in the
reconstruction of the city is evident
on every hand. The newspapers are
filed with advertisements of rail
roads and contractors Offering al
vice and aid-incidentally bids for
business-to firms that expect to re
build One of the contracting firms
advertised in a local paper as fol-
lows today:
Personal examination has forti
fed our unshaken confidence in the
stability of the best type of class A
construction, and when capitalists
have confirmed this conclusion from
reports of their own experts we ex-
pect that the business district of San
Francisco will be rebuilt with speed.
''If it is correct that earthquake
conditions can be provided for safely
in tall buildings, then our frst-class
risks will be practically eliminated.
since all business will be only one
type and no one will have an ad-
jacent exposure"
In ordinary English, then. the big
contractors who know whereof they
speak. look for the rebuilt city to be
almost a facsimile of Chicago within
the loop, or New York in the vicinity
of Twenty-third and Broadway.
The enthusiasm of San Francisco
is so strong that they are not wait
ing upon cart or cleaner to reopen
temporary places of trade. Where
ever an opportunity offers mer-
chants, lawyers, insurance men and
wholesalers have hung out cards and
are endeavoring to rehabilitate their
affairs.
The Emporium, the largest store
in the stricken city has obtained a
foothold in a shattered residence in
Van Ness avenue, Just out of the
burned section, and has hung out a
little placard upon which is written
"Open for Business"