The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-04-26
he THOUGHT Time
HAD SURELY COME
R. ID. Cannon, of Denver, Gave
Himself Up for Lost in
Quake.
FINALLY PULLS HIMSELF
TOGETHER AND ESCAPED
Horrors of Scenes Described by
Colorado Insurance
Man.

Il have no objection to telling you the
story, sir. but II Is a painful subject to
me-" said r u. Cannon OF Denver
Colo at the Kenyon Wednesday.
Mr.. Cannon is in the insurance busi-
ness and travels all over the coast Tor
the home Office He will be In Salt Lake
several weeks arranging business AFFAIRS.
When he threw on the emotion that
NisibIy mastered him he said In sub
stance Il had n room at the Neither
lands hotel on Saturday preceding the
shocks / asked for change In my room,
and the proprietor said he would try 10
6x mo up on the fourth or NTH floor.
told him II he did not do 80 Ia 30 10 'he
Grand hotel
Top Stories Caved.
II remained In the same room, ana
when the shock came on wednesday
morning the fourth and nth hoors ceved @
in In a minute and came crashing down
ON the fourth floor. where L was
III | had gotten the room | souGht l
would certainly have been kiileo. Wnen
the shock came / tried TO get out OF bed,
and just as | rolled to the side the whoie
ma above me came through ana III IL
"a. ,.ushed bodies of woman ana her
ull The horrible sight of which is with
}. e even now, Their blood was all over
my bed and body. and the sight OF them
was slCkenlng.
Overcome by Shock.
Il Law there Just. so overcome by 1t all
that I felt was bound to die, and L gave
up and was ready TO meet my fate. Inc
great explosions and awful roar were
enough To Tighten any one, but add 10
Il the shaking walls, the creaklng and
groanIng OF Jlmbcrs, the cries OF men ana
women outside I'm the halls, and III made
a pandemonlum. The shocks came from
the east. then from the west. and finally
wound up with a circular motion most
slckcnlng u Cs all.
Left Raiment Behind.
Thirty minutes elapsed before 1 could
summon command of myself to do any,
thing and then found that nll my cloth
Ing and effects were cut off In the par
lor by intervening debris, and so. put
ting Oh what / could find, | ran for tho
street. Whom | got TO the street | found
the work Of caring for the dead going
on. and | sought 10 help
I'm the building at the corner OF Es-
sex and Mason streets four dead bodies
OF women were brought out, and they
could wake, called into eternity in the
twinkling of an eye. and the poor crea-
lures were crushed out OF all sembance
TO human kind.
Took Birds With Her.
II stopped one afrighted woman who
had scant clothing on yet had three bird
cages In her hands each having canary
bird In 1t. asked why she did not put
them all three in one cage and throw the
others away, and she answered, i never
thought OF that
Speaking of the fire. II was the grand
est. most terror-lnspiring thing / ever
dreamed OF. In all directions the great |
sheets of flame. at the sport OF the strong |
wind, advanced and retreated here and |
there and In the binding light made the |
horrors OF the hour more painful by their |
hideous glare than otherwise they would |
have been. All about us great charges of |
dynamite We're being exploded, and nil
things tended to hcighten the horror or |
the scene.
Driven by Soldiers.
II was driven by the soldiers and po- |
lice back and back till | finally got Ia |
Lone Mountain cemetery, and south un- |
der the shadow of that great cross there. |
ana slept on the ground from fatigue and |
munger, not having had morsel of food |
or drop OF water that day. The next |
day l fought my way to Oaklnnd and |
thence to Sacramento. where ] found |
friends and funds
want to speak IN praise of all I saw
mere. l never believed rich men and |
poor men could mix on an equal footing |
tlll ! saw men whom I knew to be |
wealthy helping to dress and care for a |
pa whose mother had been killed at |
the first shock. May God help them to a |
solution OF their burden"