Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-18

heat bore down upon them ana the a.
tincf roar OF the dynamite squad r1ttied
the windows an about u.
s.Up the street came man on q HftnG
horse and called to the man at the corner
OF the block He turned and called to the
man next to him. In an instant erery
window Was opened In the block. both sides
Of the street. for word was. Open win
dowss we are going to Dynamite three
blocks away Oh. what mockery was the
telephone and the telegraph this day. A
man could give a word OF warning mile
away and from mouth to mouth II would
fly until 1t had reached every man In town
A good instance of this IL the news from
the outside. When we learned that Los
Angeles was practically safe the WORD
came uptown perhaps as quickly as II It
had come to each individual over separate
telephone wire. Every man was alert and
active. Every man was hoarse with calling
and herofnes will go down to their graves
unnoted, save by the One who notes all.
and the work of exodus went on and on.
General Family Consultation.
ION one block we held great general
family consultation. Every hour one OF
us men would go to the front and re-
turn to report. Those Of us who owned
teams had them In front of the houses
Most OF US had bicycles. and many were
the dispatches carried-precious messages.
ALI of US were taking in our friends that
had long since been burned out, for. unlike
other American cities, great part OF the
population of this place was tnterlarded
into the great business center In the form
of hotels and apartment houses, and before
noon of the first day these were all mass
Of scrap iron and tumbled brick and blue
smoke. Late at night our own family OF
refugees came In and our home was piled
high with suit cases rugs, Chinese lanterns,
vases. account books dress suits. picture
hats in pillow cases, rolls OF butter and
loaves OF bread, cans of coal oil and bum
dies of candles. tubs of drinking water and
rolls OF bedding. Never in one mans house
has such chaotic conglomeration OF LIES
necessities and Injuries been thrown into
one unrecognizable heap. And this house
was counterpart of them all
In the forenoon I went downtown and
was impressed into line assisting the dyna-
mite squad With a, scantling In my hand
for a club and badge on my coat worked
with the mounted officers and the regulars
In hurrying the still remaining people from
their homes to the safety lines ahead OF the
fire. This was perhaps the hardest task
ever attempted by body of armed men.
It Is difficult thing to demand Of a man
that he leave his worldly goods whether he
carried bodily in full fight. In other cases
men had to be knocked down and dragged
away by citizens hastily impressed into
service. Women stood on the corners and
screamed with agony as their husbands
rushed back to get some lost thing and
begged us not to shoot and kill. I saw no
killing, though reports have been given out
to the contrary. Through 1t all. through
binding smoke. through flying rafters and
splintering beams and slate and falling
glass, we worked each as black as night
with great white spots for eyes. with SCOT
trailing from our hair like crepe on
woman's mourning bonnet, with sweat
streaking the black. with heart and brains
on fire, toiled at saving human lives and
beating back men and women from their
beloved homes.
Walked Away to Cool.
TN places the heat was SO great and In
tense that we walked away to cool and
returned to the work. Then. when the
street was at last clear, with the peril Of
being killed by blast that we did not
know of. we had to enter each house and
search for helpless people. Many were re-
moved IN this way. Through 1t all came the
chug chug of the treless automobile with
the officer In charge, his little book in
hand checking up his men. At his hip was
a Colt revolver, and each soldier knew It
was instant death to daily. There was no
confusion and no excitement among those
trained at their work. The dynamite squad
would place their charge and run back with
the battery box and give the signal to
man on q bicycle. He had on a rubber coat
and a scantling In his hand with white
rag tied to It.. When we saw him ride to-
ward us we fell hack block and turned
our faces away and waited for the shock.
When It came we resumed our work amid
the roar Of the flames. In places I saw
houses take fire from the heat thousand
feet away from an actual name. Thus we
fought against man, and fire, and explo-
sives against wind and falling buildings,
until from sheer exhaustion we retired to
the last street of all. where the superhuman
effort was made to save the few remaining
homes on the far side Of the wide thorough
fare Of Van Ness avenue. Through the
center of the burned district rose a great
hill-Nob Hill they call It, The fire was
stayed here when. with cunning known
only to inanimate and terrifying danger
undevised by the brain of man, it crept
along the wharyes and stole in upon US
again ON the far side, at the base OF the
hill, and licked up the grain and oil
wharves. One after another they burst,
putting the dynamite to shame and sending
up clouds of inky black smoke that made
the day turn into twilight.
Many times l lay prone in the street to
get strength enough to go on with the work.
The heat was SO great that we were unable
to do much more than half our usual work
under normal conditions Late in the after
noon / returned to my home and took my
wife and baby and put them into the buggy
and had them driven to the ferry building.
Base Of Mob Hill.
at made my way over to the other side
of the bay and. after sleep of fourteen
hours again came back to the city and to
work. This time went down and was put
at the same work with the marines, who
were using guncotton to stay the remaining
flames from the water front, which had
crept all night long around the base of Mob
Hill and were fast gaining on the fringe
OF remaining homes near the Preside.
House after house doomed away skyward.
and still the scathing flames kept on. There
was not drop OF water and the wide
street was the fighting point. With fever
ish haste these brave men worked amid
dangers that no battle line shall ever equal
and by nightfall had won. l saw one man
give a signal from horseback and another
man back an automobile up beneath the
actual flames and, with his very hair
scorching, load five cases of guncotton into
the back of the automobile and chug chug
away block and set it down again An
other man, In his haste dropped a cracker
box full of sticks of dynamite and then
hurriedly collected them and put them back