The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-05-21

Mr.. Waltz. There was great rejoicing
when | arrived. they not knowing my
fate. 1t was three days before | could
get letter or wire to my mother. ]
worried over Sallie Madigan, not know
ing what she had suffered She was to
have left for Portland Thursday morn
ing. I had her ticket and berth check
Her Hawaiian souvenirs were all
burned, for they were in trunk in the
baggage room of the Palace.
Now [ have given you only bit of
my own experience. The press cannot
| tell the half. San Francisco looks like
| charred forest, with blackened
stumps here and there. Every park and
cemetery is camping ground Hun
dreds live in the burned district. Rel
atives and friends are still seeking lost
ones. Hundreds, yes thousands, / am
sure, are hungry, with the limited
rations and the variety is not ample
I for the laboring people
] A lady friend of mine (whose hus-
band is an upholsterer busy making mat
| tresses for the government) stood in
| line for three hours, then she got two
| hard-boiled eggs and lemon. Over
here we have plenty to eat. Of course
| just now [ am not dressing for dinner
or looking up summer styles, and prob
ably it viii be some time before I get
| back to real living. Have no idea
| where my business is or whether [ have
any or not. However, | am not going
! to run away, but will remain and help
| to get things started again.
The National Teachers Association,
which was to have met here, is called
off and will have no convention this
year. / was busy arranging for side
| trips to Alaska. As soon as the steam
ship companies get located and ready to
think and talk business, [ am going to
approach them on the matter of Ha-
waiian excursions. I have so many
now asking me if [ will chaperon an.
other party this winter and am telling
them yes.
Have no idea where Mr.. Walter
Scott is-your representative here.
1t is very hard to locate any one. /
have been advertised for several times
never realized before I had so many
friends. The messages and letters are
rolling in. And those dear girls of mine
are dividing their wardrobe with me-
1t is very hard to buy anything yet.
Every store that sold drygoods was
swept away in San Francisco, and
iIdt t.Ooc WIN were
enough to have some money on hand
have cleaned the stores out here and in
Oakland
Fifteen square miles in the heart of
city like San Francisco has made a |
small village of it. People cannot build
fires in their houses or have lights at
night. Along the streets where homes
were not burned is one continuous row
of cook-stoves, parlor heaters and brick
ovens. Neighbors, previously unknown |
to one another, are swapping supplies |
and exchanging pleasant greetings. |
The bread and potato line is very in |
teresting. Three to FIVE hundred slowly |
advance to the ration quarters. Rich |
and poor, great and small, side by side, |
receiving like and like. Have seen a |
woman with silk dress use it for an |
apron to get her potatoes and hurry |
home. You can read of all these con-
ditions, yet it cannot seem real that it |
is right here in the metropolis of the
great West.
1t is remarkable how brave these San
Francisco people are. Every one is
hopeful and cheerful. They have the
greatest faith in the upbuilding of their
city. IT'S true, they have all that God
gave them-the ocean, the harbor, eli
mate, wonderful resources, the markets
of the nation and the world s demands
The esprit of San Francisco is I'M
like that of any other locality in the
universe, and within few years the
pioneers, native sons and daughters of
California can point with just pride to
the Greater San Francisco
Now, l am afraid I have tired You
with this lengthy letter, but it seems
there iS So much to saw relative IN this
greatest of American disasters. A few
days after being in Berkeley on the car,
met a sweet, pretty girl taking an old
lady Gone of the refugees) to some
place of safety and rest. The young
lady saw my hat and at once recognized |
the Hawaiian emblem. She at once in
CURED if [ was from Honolulu 1t was
a Miss Ashley, who is attending college
at Berkeley. She had heard many
rumors relative to the destruction of
the Islands. The young lady was wear
ing a red-cross badge and with the
other college girls was busy caring for
the homeless.
Yes, for several days we kept hearing
of the disaster in Honolulu.
There are several matters of which / |
want information. One is of the yacht |
club races-are they to take place from
here to the islands, When will the
Hawaiian Band be heres I presume
they Will make the tour any way, leav-
ing out San Francisco. How about the
Hotel Convention and Trans Mississippi
Congress2 Please remember me to the
Promotion Committee and the good peo-
pie in general of Honolulu Tell your
Committee that though having been
frightened and unnerved almost beyond