The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-05-08

the ccrter Of large square, ala not
escape.
An night long the steady stream Of
people burdened down with trunks and
such effects as could hastily be eath-
cred, trudged their weary way west
ward. Many dropped from exhaustion
and had 20 abandon the little they had
saved
The hills of Western Addition made
fine vantage ground from which TO
view the fire. At midnight 1t was at
its greatest height and what specta-
Gle!
The falling towers, the 'cppling
walls and explosions Of combustlbles
threw geysers OF flame and clnders far
into the sky, giving pyrotechnlcal dis
play beyond the power of pen to de-
scribe.
our own Kilauea In all its sp,endor
of eruption would be but pigmy
alongside of this seething mass OF fire
extending over thousands of acres. 1t
was hel's own cauldron.
All that night the fire ragged and day
light saw 1t still creeping westward.
Tons and tons of dynamite was used in
blowing up buildings in advance of the
flames in hopes of checking It. but the
fire would not be denied. The last hope
was Van Ness avenue. would that
wide thorouGhfare check the flames?
Every effort was concentrated there.
Buildings along the east side of the
street were blown up to make the gap
still wider and at last the work of the
fire fighters was rewarded. with the
~. l. Enss.
and there the fire was over on Friday
morning. Sixteen square miles, over
10, 900 acres, had been destroyed. AS
far as the eye could reach was ruin,
a mass of crumbling rock brick and
twisted iron. every building in this en-
tire area was totally destroyed with
the exception of five or six new modern
steel framed structures which. shorn of
their coating of stone and brick stood
like grim skeletons of their former
beauty.
Four-fifth the city had been de-
stroyed and over 100000 people were
homeless. and without shelter.
The suffering endured by thousands
was pitiful. Families were separated,
husbands and wives were parted; chill
dren were lost from their parents
The cry of the child for its parent, the
agonized wall of the mother seeking
her child could be heard on every side.
The parks were jammed with people all
seeking food and shelter
The millionaire and pauper We're on
an equal footing. Money could buy
nothing.
Relief work was quickly organized
and by Thursday noon the authorities
had confiscated all the food stuffs to
be had in warehouses and from grocery
stores, which were moved to places OF
safety.
Stations for food distribution were
erected and the bread line" became
fact. All day long a line of men, women
and children stood awaiting, their turn
to receive food. The society belle
alongside the servant girl, the banker
and the laborer. We're all in line.
Through 1t all one was astonished at
the fortitude of the people most of
them were even cheerful. Each family
pre- empted it's piece of ground and pro-
ceeded to erect temporary shelter.
The government sent tents and in
short time every one seemed to be en-
joying camp life.
When the fire stopped the first thing
to do was to clean the streets of the
debris piled high in all the roadways,
and for this every man who did no,
have a pass or badge of authority,
who happened in the neighborhood was
held up by the soldiers at the point
of the bayonet and compelled to work
cleaning up the piles of brick and NOR
identity was unknown to the soldiers
had to work and many anecdotes are
told of happenings at the rock pile.
However. in a way Market street was
clear and then began the rush for the
ferry. The fire caused a stampede to
the westward now the tide had chang
ed and every one seemed to be headed
for the ferry.
Such a glut and jam was never seen.
Every one wanted to get out of Frisco,
and the authorities were using every
effort to help them.
On Saturday it was free transporta-
ton for one hundred miles; Sunday,
free to any place in the State of Cali
fornia, and on Monday it was free
to any place in the
United states. In one week the South
ern Pacific took away 225,000 people.
AS soon as telegraph communication
could be resumed the messages of con-
dolence and relief began to pour in
from all over the world. Those from
Hawaii were published by all the daily
papers which by this time had estab-
lshed themselves in Oakland and were
getting out editions daily.
Train loads of provisions were arriv-
ing from all over the United States.
We We're getting more than we wanted,