Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-20
LOST LOVERS
ARE MARRIED
SEPARATED BY SAN FRANCISCO
EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE
The TWO Mourned Each Other as Dead
since the Great Catastrophe.
Reunited In Chance Meet
ing on Train

Special to The Herald.
NORTH PLATTE, Nco.. oct. 19.--Af-
ter having nourned each other as dead
for nearly five months, each believing
that the othor had been killed IN the
San Francisco earthquake of last May,
James Turner and Miss Mabel Porter,
his sweetheart, met face to face on
train near here @ few days ago They
were married soon afterward
They were living and working i'm san
Francisco at the time of the earth
quake and had been lover and sweet
heart for several years. The marriage
had been set for day in june The
evening before the earthquake the
couple had been at theater and wnen
about midnight he kissed her goodpy
not a cloud appeared upon the horizon
OF their lives.
Turner'S lodgings were in frame
building in the business district of the
city, while Miss Porter lived at the
home of q friend and schoolmate three
miles away. Turner was awakened
from sound sleep soon after he re-
tired by an earthquake shock ana
gripped by fear of he knew not what
and with the confused sense that the
world was coming to an end, he sprang
from his bed and went to window 10
look out. The building from which he
looked out was trembling violently and
a big seven-story building of brick and
steel directly across the street was
writhing and twisting. Dressing hast
lily, the young man went down STAIRS
and out into the street, where he found
excited men, women and children,
many of them in their night clothes.
Tried to Find Sweetheart
The young mans thoughts turned to
the sweetheart from whom he had
parted but a few hours before Hun
dreds % of people had been caught and
crushed to death in their homes. Could
she be among those who had met this
cruel fate? His heart we'll night
stopped beating at the thought.
Fires We're breaking out in many
parts of the business district OF the city
when he set out afoot for Miss Porter $
home Crowds of women and children
filled the streets and the fire companies
We're fighting desperately to eXtinguish
the flames.
1t was after noon when he reached
his destination, and .the cottage in
which the woman he loved had lived
lay in a heap Of ruins, while its occu-
pants, as he firmly believed, lay buried
in the wreck Crazed with grief, he att
once began to dig into the heap Of
ruins in all effort to recover the body
of his sweetheart. He labored desper-
ately and INCREASINGLY for several hours
without making an appreciable prog
ress. The neighborhood was well-nlgh
deserted. A boy came along and told
him that all of the occupants OF the
wrecked house had been killed by the
earthquake and that their dead bodies
had been removed from the ruins and
taken to the morgue-
Making his way in a half dazed men
tai condition back to the ruins or tnel
building in which had been his lodg-
ings, Turner was pressed into service
as a fireman and for days fought the
flames that were destroying the best
part of the city. The flames destroyedI
the ruins of the house In which Miss
Porter lived.
when the fire was finally brought un-
der control Turner decided to leave the
scene of his suffering and grief HeI
went to Oakland. intending to take
train for the east, but the day he was
to leave there he was stricken of a
fever and taken to a temporary hos
pital, where for weeks he lowered be-
tween life and death. When he was
strong enough to leave the hospital he
was penniless and the railroad COM
panies had long since ceased to trans
port earthquake sufferers without pay
ment of fares
The mercantile firm by which he had
been employed before the earthquake
and fire had suffered a total loss of it's
business and had nothing to offer him.
He obtained work as hod carrier at
last and worked all summer. A Few
weeks ago, with his summers earn
ings in his pocket, he left San Francis
co and went to South Dakota to visit
an uncle on his ranch. He had made
up his mind when he left San Fran
cisco never to return to the city. but
a few days ago, tired of the country
and longing for the life he had been
accustomed to, he started to return.
Meets Girl on Railroad Train
On the train which was carrying him
to San Francisco he met the sweet
heart who for five months he had
mourned as dead. The family with
whom she had made her home were
all killed in the earthquake, but she
had escaped. For days she had
was told that he had lost his life, as
had so many others in the building in
which he had lodged. Her heart was
well-nigh broken with grief and she
went TO Oakland and took refuge
train for the east.
She. too. had made up her mind when
she left San Francisco that she would
her mind and was ON her way
there when she met him.
They continued the, journey together
to San Francisco with the understand
ing that they were TO be married i'm
media tely on their arrival there.
Miss Porters parents at one time
lived on ranch in the north western
part of Nebraska. where they died a
of years ago. Soon after their
death the daughter. an only child, went
west, where she has since made her
home. Turner'S parents also are dead
and he has lived in the west for many
years Neither OF them, however, has
lived long in San francisco.