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

of the San Francisco people he laws
| particular stress He cannot say too
much in praise Of those who. losing
| everything themselves. still had time
| to minister to men and women injured
| by the crashing walls OF buildings and
| by the fire, and did not find time t. be-
| moan the loss Of what II had taken
! them lifetime 10 accumulate.
REALIZATION CAME QUICKLY.
II was asleep in the Cosmos Club at
| the corner of Suffer and Oetavia
! streets, when the earthquake first made
| itself felt, - said DR.. Peterkin at mis-
! home last night. - cannot describe
| what my feelings were when I awaken
| ed. l think they were those of aston
ishment at the suddenness with which
| the world seemed TO have become askew
! more than anything else Like count
| less thousands | jumped out of bed, or
| rather tumbled out, without knowing
what was happening. All that I ap-
| preciated was that the earth had ap-
| parently lost its balance and that every
thing was falling about my ears in an
| unaccountable manner
Probably nobody outside of the dan
that it was very serious ] remember
| that my first feeling when I got out
of doors and saw the motley throng
that was pouring from houses was one
of amusement. Anyway when I saw a
Jap from the club rush out clad only
in a night robe and carrying in his
hands a pair of gloves, which he en-
deavored to put upon his feet thinking
they were shoes, | laughed heartily. At
the time l thought it the best joke /
ever saw or heard of.
8 But it did not take us long to re-
aliZe what it all really meant Grim
eyed men soon told us of the havoc that
had been wrought-of the hundreds of
dead and dying downtown. And then
the fires began to break out in all parts
of the city, and we knew we were to
witness sights a man wants to see but
once in lifetime
Amid all the terrors OF the next two
days ] can truthfully say that I saw
no panic. no cowardice Or no drawing
back from the work that had to be
done. Men, women and even little chill
dren acted lil;e-well, like true West
erners, and / don t know that I can say
anything better than that. Some men,
there must have been half hundred,
had found somewhere a lot of printed
cards with the inscription upon them,
Dom Worry They wore them in
their hats az they worked fighting fire
or assisting the people to move their
valuables or their injured to place of
safety. 1t was inspiring and helped
tremendously to cheer the people.
WATER SCARCITY TERRIBLE.
1.-The scarcity of water was the worst
thing. [ saw little babies not more
than two or three months old being
given coffee to drink. The water used
in it's making was too bad to drink. At
the house of a friend we boiled eggs
in Shasta water. Water was selling at
all sorts of prices, dollar and half a
quart being considered not too much. -
DR.. Peterkin was detailed for hos
pital work and, as a physician, had ac-
cess anywhere within the line of the
military. He was therefore enabled to
90 everywhere and see everything. His
story of the bringing of the injured to
the makeshift hospitals and the moving
of them from place to place as the fire
advanced is pitiful. A remarkable fea
ture, however, that he brings out in his
story is the fact that those who were
were not. as a rule, very badly hurt.
Those who died were apparently killed
quickly. Few Of the wounded died
Many of the sights on the streets
would have been very humorous, the
doctor says. were it not for the awful
circumstances People in their anxiety
to get their household goods to the
parks and other places of safety drag
tn af
every conceivable way. Anything that
had wheels was pressed into service.
Families would go past dragging trunks
heaped with clothing, and sofas and
couches piled high with va!uables. |
Many in the residence districts dug
deep holes before the fire reached their |
houses and put their silverware and |
bric-a- brac in them. carefully covering |
them up. Anything that would with |
stand the flames was pressed into SER
vice as q depository for valuables.
The St. Francis Hotel, destroyed later
by fire, did not feel the earthquake
shock very severely the doctor states.
Only downstairs did the earth's dis !
cause any damage. IN the
toilet rooms downstairs marble was
cracked and broken but that was about
all the damage. Many people went
from the Palace Hotel to the st. Fran
els, believing that the latter place was
safer.
Some queer pranks We're played by
he earthquake. The tower of the city |
nall. the doctor informed a Times re-
porter. was moved three feet from its
1ase but did not fall. The statue in
ront of the St. Francis Hotel had its
Knocked all askew but
stood erect throughout the earth
quake. Houses on Van Ness and other
venues were moved forward many
eet in some cases but did not col
apse. Sidewalks upheaved in places
lmost to the second story windows
4 houses and in other places sunk
nany feet The deep crevasse on
Iarket street caused more real terror
han anything else. DR.. Peterkin says
HEAVY DEATH LOSS.