The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-16
DEFENCE By WESTERN UHIOA
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tftttetsm ehsf n tswmfstet FfsWs N
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mss -MeHsf messages ta,yIea trss
RoseftI tpwfv efr.tians N ~ Western
7 niuu feNaffpb CunTa8y rarsntq sieh aHin"
tnni ~ eel n frtsffef Nv have fsen fatsH
w = fseisi enniHltten n ~ taH FfaneisTt
Ufahd IHfv ferfira ~ iHerHtf eteNf aHi
fratwtiisAf 10 Hfviee n the e0mfshy
dufing and imeneilstelv sitter Tho ire
W. Ctswfy ,~hsritfes thai Ne camut'se's
findings ses - Intrrhfri o. fh~y sfc ins
efs'sfh
fhe en- Franrlsrp 0rsnd iiry cDsumlgte+
fetartei Nv aiiwfanc~ that ~ telsefaph
~cpmpsnies. euyreialty ~ Western untpn
cpitected q, ieesf o. GuSOue Throughout tbs
country for m@unaeuu fpcuieel In ,tl@ir ve
flrus Offices ehicb they Knew ootid mt
h. sunt, through crnarptlon and cDnftfeioa
In San Fanclsco The revof, fufthef crn'
.ihuea.
We believe tho csmrany committed tho
sfdasess fSaud IN maintatninR Ne sign, ptfs
porting ths, n Wa doing teleHSaphlc business,
when In reality n waa takinR peoples money
aud sending messages nv m-saenarr and man
A concluding sentence In the commi'tee's
retprt which sssefs that tho Western Union
Company contributed not . penny 10 The
ItltFl NtNu " NDHN IaNFHNEN particularly ~
President Clowry's breast
our company Gays Mr.. Clowry, did
more 10 help the stricken folk ~ san Fran
cisco after the FIRE than any ether company
or corporation In my knowisdge. This ~.
port upon the i~ncompetency and alleged
frauds practiaed by the Western Union
comes with a poor grace from the people
Of San francisco. concerning whose plight
we furnished free bulletins to 70 loo Offices
throughout the country during the progress
Of the fire,
Immediately upon receipt Of the frst
news Of the earthquake this Office gave
notice that kilograms, money orders or any
other Geographic communications to tho
various relief bodies in San Francisco would
be received in any Of the company's Offices
and forwarded absolutely without charge.
We also handled, and still are handling, free
Of tolls cables from Europe sent TO San
Francisco in reference to relief
report alleging that messages were ac-
cepted when the company had perfect
knowledge of the fact that they could not be
delivered as kilograms Mr.. Clowry makes
the following explanation:
We accep ed all messages on the strict
reservation by the company that they would
be subject to delay in delivery The delay,
We said, would be Understandable. knowing
that with the removal of many thou sands
from their former addresses and the congre-
CATION OF others into relief camps. the dim
Guilty in locating individuals addressed by
telegraph would be enormous. Yet the pub
lie swamped our offices with kilograms.
A special permit from the War Department
had to be obtained before our messengers
could go to and fro on the guarded streets OF
San Francisco. Further, all OF our lines with
In a radius Of fifty miles of San Francisco
were brought down by the earthquake. and
in some Instances the reestabiishment of COM
munications was not immediate.
When messages were delivered we found
the utmost difficulty in locating those to
whom they were consigned. The people OF
San Francisco we're scattered in Oakland
and adjacent cities to such an extent as to
make their location almost prohibitive. We
had to publish daily lists Of undelivered tele-
grams and nave the people call for them.
A few messages fled from towns near San
Francisco were mailed to that point. but
kilograms from a distance were sent to the
nearest central relay station possible and
thence forwarded by messenger. The mes
sengers were busy transcribing thousands
OF messages on the train.
It ia understood that considerable dis
satisfaction existed in San Francisco and
.neighboring cities during the two weeks
after the earthquake, both because OF he
delay in receiving MESA ges and the i'm
possibility of sending them out. On the day
following the earthquake MESA ges were
received in the Oakland office. Of the West
ern Union subject to a delay Of from "a to 4s
hours. The transmitting office was estab-
lished in a single story t~umpledown cot
tage on the line Of the main cable to San
Francisco and for four or five days not
more thai a dozen operators on a shift
could work and then found themselves
helpless to transmit the thousands Of mes
sages which had been accepted at the down
town Oakland office.
Finding it impossible to deliver messages
to San Francisco people whose homes had
been destroyed and who had scattered
through Oakland and surrounding bay
cities the telegraph companies requisitioned
the aid of the Oakland post Office after the
third day OF the fire. Daily alphabetical
lists OF undelivered kilograms were pub
lished in the newspapers and the consignees
called at the general delivery window, where
mail clerks handed out the kilograms.