Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-04-18

San Francisco, April 1S.-Sar Francisco was practically wrecked by earthquake at 5:10 this morn ing.
 Shock lasted about three minutes; thousands of buildings being dam aged and destroyed. Loss of life re ported great. No water, and fires all over city. All wires excepting one gone. City hall, costing seven mil / lions, in ruins. Modern buildings suffered less than brick and frame.
 Terror and excitement indescriba. ble. Most people asleep, and rushed into streets undressed. Buildings swayed and crashed, burying occu pants. Panic in downtown hotels.
 Lick house badly damaged, but nc loss of life there reported.
 The Palace and St Francis hotels the telegraph offices to send mes, sages to friends and were frantic be. cause there were no wires. The greatest damage was done to build ings south of Market street, where mostly they are frame and tenement houses Fires occurred ! in every block in that district.
 $50 a. m.--A disastrous fire has broken out on the south side of Mar ket street and is now within one block of the Palace hotel. The water mains have burst and the fire depart. ment is practically helpless The ut. most confusion exists. All business is suspended. At this moment there is only one wire out of San Fran cisco. a Postal wire. The Postal building is badly damaged. The op. erating room is wreck. The power of every kind Is gone. and there are no lights, either gas br electric Neither the Palace hotel nor the St Francis Is gone, that is. as far as the outside goes, but the inside plaster. ing, etc, is greatly damaged. Be tween the postofilce and the water front there has been great damage by Ire, which Is burning fiercely, and there is little or no water.
 The fire is burning both on the east and south side of the Postal Telegraph building. The damage by the earthquake apparently extends all over the city. The shock oc- cured at 5:15 this morning and last ed three minutes. The streets are blockaded with debris and buildings are being blown up. The residence districts are safe so far as heard from.
 The business section of the city from Market street to Mission street and from the bay back has been al most completely wrecked. The Call and Examiner buildings are de- stroyed. Many buildings along Mar ket and Mission streets, including the department stores, collapsed. HuYlreds of people in the cheap ten enX.nt district are reported killed. H.es are raging and owing to the (carcity of water are practically be- Aond control. Business is practical S suspended. The offices of the Pos tai Telegraph Co in the Hobart build ing are wrecked. as Is the Associated Press building at 302 Montgomery street. The residence portion Is but slightly damaged, although nearly every house has been more or less injured.
 The Western Union has received a report from Sacramento that the Southern Pacific railroad will at- tempt to get train into San Fran cisco, starting from Sacramento and taking a roundabout route to Vallejo, which Is on the bay of San Pueblo. From that place the passengers will be taken by boat to San Francisco. This roundabout course was made necessary by the reported sinking of a three mile section of the railroad company's tracks between Suisuan and Benecia, which are on the direct line between Sacramento and San rrancisco. The road crosses some low land at the point where its tracks are reported sunk by the earthquake shock. The location of this reported sinking of the earth is about thirty miles from San Fran cisco.
 The Valencia hotel. a five story building broke in pieces and topplcd Into the street burying seventy-ii,e people. Houses all in the same neigh borhOd suddenly collapsed and most of the occupants were caught beneath the wreckage. On every side in the afflicted districts buildings of all kinds sank down in ruins creating the most terrible scenes. \ lodging house on Seventh street caused another awful sight as It suddenly collapsed carry fng down seventy five to eighty people with G. No sooner had the buildings faII-n than fires broke out on every stsle.
 The facts as far as known may he summarized as follows: Hundreds. perhaps thousands of people are gill e-i and many thousands injured. The enfire water front Is burning. The po<toffce building In entirely in ruins. Fire Chef Sullivan and his wife who vss aiding him. were badly injured. The Grand Opera house is burning f~r~~iy. The gss works blew mp 1ni started another bIx confngrztion- Fire per~ous were Killed as far as known n Oakland The newspapers. some Of them beinr destroyed. and more os them having the power cut of1. are sri Icing issu-f from the ofice Of the ChrunIeie Bsnks and saloons are