Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-04-21

share of tall buildings. one being eight
 cen stories in height. The major pagt
 of them are eight, ten and twelve stlI9
 ries, the eight storied being most nu'
 merous.
 The Call and Examiner buildings
 were almost totally destroyed in the
 earthquake and many other skyscrap-
 CTS were severely shaken, cracked and
 damaged.
 One of the chief buildings which col;
 lapsed was, the new postofice. This
 was substantial structure of granits,
 costing to exceed $5,00OO0O. While
 not striking from an architectural
 standpoint, the postofice was impress | i've from its massiveness.
 The Postal building was badly dam
 aged, and the operating room was q
 wreck. Power of every kind was de- stroyed, and there were no lights, eii'
 ther gas or electric. Neither the PaI- ace hotel nor the St. Francis was de-
 stroyed as far as the framework goes,
 but the inside plastering and decora- tions were greatly damaged.
 The business section of the city from
 Market street to Mission street and from the bay back was almost com pletely wrecked
 The most conspicuous building in San Francisco, the city hall, Is almost totally ruined. It cost from $6,OO0,O0 to $7,000,OO0, took twenty-five years in construction and was surmounted by a dome 332 feet high. It was thought to be very solidly constructed, being built substantially of brick, with the walls covered by cement The interior of the dome was decorated with ex. pensive marbles taken from the Pa cific coast mountains.
 Another very fine building, which cost over S5,OOO00O, is the splendid ho- tel erected by Mrs. Herman Oelrichs on fashionable Mob hill. Mrs. Oelrichs, who Is daughter of the late Senator Fair, has shown fine taste in the ar- chitectural plans of Fairmont, the ap- propriate name of the new hotel. Seen from the bay this structure, with itsc classic outlines, makes the beholder think of a Greek temple. White and graceful, it looms above the busy mar ket places, the great wholesale district. the crowded business section and ric. turesque Chinatown, which, by the way, Is fast disappearing owing to the encroachments of commerce and the 1windling of the Chinese population.
 Other imposing edifices, many of which have been more or less severely injured, are the Hotel St. Francis, the Palace hotel, the Hall of Justice, the Mutual Bank building, the Pacific Mus tual Life building and the Callaghany building. The greatest property dam.H age resulted in the manufacturing dlssr trict and the greatest loss of life inni the tenement house district. sbi
 The chief street of the city is Mar ket, running diagonally for many miles. The destruction of many of the depart ment stores and other business blocks on Market and Mission streets was al- most complete. Fire added to the hor- TOTS of the situation, and, as the water mains had been burst by the shock, the fire department was helpless. The flames ate their way along Market street, and other fires started in differ ent parts of the city.
 As the earthquake occurred but aT little after s o'clock in the morning, practically the entire population was In bed. Men and women rushed wildly forth in their night robes and ned In panic through the streets. Many were caught by the falling roofs and walls, and in the poorer districts the tene- ments collapsed like eggshells. crush ing and suffocating their inmates be- fore they had time to escape. In many cases fire finished the work of death. catching the victims as they were pinned still alive under the debris.
 To arrest the spread of the fire along Market street many buildings were ei dynamited. tol
 The track of one railroad was desoi pressed four feet or more for a dis tance of three miles. At one point iufs the city the earth cracked open for 2 distance of six feet. leaving a yawning Nbdom VI idtlOllitoo 0Ckths
 The destruction of all telegraph wires. except one belonging to the Postal union, made 1t almost impossible for the stricken city to communicate with the outside world. The severe injury to the Western Union and Postal of- fees, also the Associated Press, greatly added to the difficulty.
 The practical destruction of six or eight blocks, coupled with the immense . loss of life and damage to property q San Francisco and the enl tire coast region. makes this the worst earthquake disaster in American his. tory, exceeding even the historic Charleston earthquake of a few years ago.
 San Francisco has suffered from many slight seismic shocks. one of hem occurring about a year ago. At hat time long article appeared in me of the papers. signed by c pro- essor in one of the observatories near y, stating that there was no partic- liar danger from these tremors of the 'arth's surface. The coast region. ac- ording to this writer. was newer than arts of the country farther east and vas therefore settling. He said peo- 'le should feel no alarm. as nothing erious was liable to happen.
 Evidently the earth's crust in the solden Gate rprion has been doing one more settling"
 The most severe earthquake San -ranrlz~o has krourr r,-so- s,. sho r,-o~