The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-06-13

- AN FRANCISCO. Cal.-Never
again while | live, though II be
~ a million years, shall I doubt the
rightness and goodness of hu-
man motives and impulses Not the
show motives, mind; not the gild and
filigree of uneventful days made mp of
vacant hours when men and women.
out of sheer WEAKNESS, trick them
selves with the artifces of social face
paint anu enamel an. pomade, tryinr
to make themselves believe that of
such is the kingdom OF life. Not these,
but the profounder impulses. those the
race had at the beginning, the ones
with real blood and fibre and bone in
them, which now and then make the
whole wide world thrill with a com
mon understanding and sympathy.
People are kind: that's clnch.
Here's this San Francisco case to
prove 1t all over again from the be-
ginning. 1t has been worth year OF
ordinary life tc be upon the ground
these last two weeks ani witness this
outpouring the worlds unstlnted
generosity. to meet this great need.
1t is not necessary to speak much Of
that the giving was no parade O. vir-
tue for the reward of a chatter of pub
lcity. 1t am thinking, rather, Just
now. of the spirit of those called the
victims.
Oh. these Caifornians! What do
you think they are saying now in San
Francisco?
"Well it came high" they say, with
q wide. jaunty grin, "but we pulled Off
the biggest show the world ever saw,
now didn't we?"
They ere taking to themselves all
the credit for that awful happenings;
they are actually glOrifying in its stu
pendousness as spectacle. Chicago
and Boston and Baltimore and Calves
ton, as dlsaster-breeders. must now
drop back into the second class; Her
culanaeum and Pompeii have been
beaten to standstill; Nineveh and
Babylon aren't in it for Il minute.
Here and there, within the last week.
tucked away in obscure corners of the
newspapers, you may have read scraps
of quotation from the quaint, old
fashioned utterances of few thin
booded folk who have been trying to
make out that the wreck and ruin
came as a special visitation, brought
down by the city's wickedness. san
Franciscans refuse to think that way.
The experience has left them
strapped'-sufferers from just about
the most acute attack of "broke" that
ever I have looked upon-a perfect
epidemic of pennilessness. Yet they
are referring to the incidents of these
days as a blessing!
1--WE are glad it happened!' they
say. / have heard this again and
again: not from the habitually desti-
tute, but from men whose money loss
in the fire was vast. This is the sum
of their argument: "When San Fran
cisco was started, nobody dreamed 1t
would ever be great city. We didn't
build for that, at first. We have made
a lot of mistakes. Lately we have
been wondering how the dickens we
were going to get those mistakes cor
rected. Our streets were too narrow,
and they weren't laid out right for con-
venience or business. There were too
many ugly spots; architecture wasn't
right; the doubtful part of the popula-
ton was congested too near the very
heart of the city. We had been dub
bing along for years with public SER
vices that were away shy of our needs.
Besides. social life was little on the
bum: the rich were too rich and the
poor were too poor. Anybody could
see that we needed shaking up. And
now we've had it-heaven be praised.
We can start it all over again and dc
it right this time. It's pretty fair
start. too-we're off in 4 bunch; now
watch us go"'
If old man Jove seriously intended
this as a thunderbot of His wrath,
then lie needs a little hard target
practice out back of the barn, because
this was awfully poor shooting. He
never touched them at all.
OF course we shall lave to grant
that the San Francisco disaster was
the biggest thing that ever happened.
There are the figures TO prove it. And
it seems as though we must grant the
honesty Of the people when they say
they are rejoicing in their new oppor-
tunties. The test Of mans convic-
tions lies in the manner of his actions;
and these San Franciscans are making
protestatlons and actions match one
another. They are going to make an
other city; 1t is already begun; and 1t
will be wonder.
Save for the mood of the people, this
disaster would have been the greatest
catastrophe in history, so far as catas-
trophe may be expressed in dollars and
cents. Within two weeks time the
people of the nation have raised relief
fund of twenty millions Of dollars-a
performance also unique. Grant all
that. But that is not the heart and
soul of the matter, as l have watched
1t express itself here. The vital part
OF it lies in the relations Of man to
man, here on the ground. Society has
been startled into letting fall its mask