Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1906-06-20
Working At Frisco
In Midst of Alarms
How the Employees of Business Concern Fought the
Flames and Then Carried On Work As Usual

| left in working order in San Fran
cisco. Thanks to the saving of the
works this exchange was enabled to-
furnish an emergencv telephone ser
vice for the police and fire depart.
ments and for the civil and military
authorities.
In addition to furnishing this tele-
phone service the men at the works
managed to fill an order for a $50
cells gravity battery for the use of the
fire department. The order came in
the shape of a lead pencil scrawl on
a paper bag and t bore the signature
OF man unknown to anyone in the
electrical plant. But it was realized
that this was no time for ordinary bus
mess methods and the order was filed
with a lush
So, indeed, was the order for dry
batteries for the automobiles used by
the Red Cross workers. Without
these batteries the automobiles would
have been useless, and without the
automobiles, which were the only We
hicles thet could make their way
around the burning city, the relief
work would have been seriously handi-
capr. d, Fortunately the electrical
works had in stock large supply of
dry batteries, and orders were filled as
soon as received. Owing to this the
work of caring for the sufferers con
tirued uninterruptedly.
The women were as brave as the
men during the strenuous days imme-
diately following the fire. Clerks and
stenographers reported as promptly
and punctually as the electricians
though no one who was not in San
Francisco at that time can begin to re-
alize the pluck shown by those girls
who walked two or three miles every
day from their temporary homes to the
office, making their We. over disor-
dered pavements and piles of brick
and plaster and working steadily while
the city was being shaken by dyna-
mite and by the minor earthquakes
which followed the first heavy shock
No nurses on the battlefield ever
showed more courage or more loyalty
than these young women who helped
to reorganize and resume business in
the plant which had been saved by the
male employees.
The resumption of business was nat
urally attended with great difficulty.
Ordinary means of communication
were at a standstill and it was neces-
sary to establish what was practically a
private ferry service across the bay to
Oakland. Supplies were coming in
rapidly from Los Angeles and from
the east, skating rink at Oakland
was converted into a general ware
house and printing Office was taken
over from top to bottom and given the
work of furnishing circulars and sta
tionery. Automobiles were pressed
into service to carry employees and
supplies and all the while the tele-
phone line running from the Frisco
plant to the west exchange kept the
nard pressed men in the midst of the
ruins in touch through the long dis
lance lines with Los Angeles and
other important points. At the same
time the company fed and housed in
these days of emergency $50 people
The beds were made of excelsior, bur
lap and old blankets and everyone
had hot and substantial meals regu-
larly. Food supplies were obtained for
the asking simply and by sending
automobiles to the nearest relief sta
ton.
This is only one of the many sto-
ries that are beginning to come from
the wrecked metropolis of the Pacific
coast. But it is one of the most re-
markable, particularly as an illustra-
ton of what can be done when all
those concerned in an enterprise pull
together.