The Yale expositor., 1906-06-01

ashes and smothering smoke of perish
ing Pompeii or Herculaneum. Let him
imagine the tide of refugees, stripped of
all human attributes but the primal in
stinct of self-preservation, madly hur-
rying along the avenues of their
doomed city, ferociously struggling
with each other to make their way
through the narrow streets. Then
imagine the jostling mass suddenly cleft
by a column of khaki-clad troopers,
blue-shirted sentinels flung out on
every corner, skirmish lines intercept
ing with bayonets the human tide to
keep it from flowing down the most
perilous streets and byways. Think of
the United States army, through its
signal corps, its quartermaster depart
ment and medical service, rushing
the frantic Pompeiians, in tugs,
launches, ferry-boats, automobiles, es-
cort wagons, Doughertys and ambu-
lances, out from the smother and foul
gases, away from the totlering walls,
the burying ash, into the green, unde-
vastated fields of the countryside,
across friendly arms of the sea, keep
ing up the Samaritan work, day and
night, until, after week of such battle
as even the defenders of Badajos might
be proud of, the soldiers, who had never
changed their clothes, never unlaced
their leggihgs during the whole terrible
time, hardly had snatched one hours
sleep in AZ or stopped even to wipe the
sweat from their grimy faces, saw old
Vesuvius stand smoking in sullen,
malignant but futile wrath, cheated of
all but a few hundred--perhaps a
thousand-victims, instead of the tens
of thousands whom the demon of the
earth caverns had hoped to claim.
Imagine not only this, but the Amer
lean forces, by desperate feats of dy-
namiting imperiled palaces and blow
ing down menaced villas, checking the
onward rush of confiagration, and
finally defeating parent Nature in
her work of destroying her children.
Let one picture all this to himself,
and then, with a slight change in the
setting of the scene he will have an
adequate idea of how the United States
regulars fought to save the people Of
San Francisco and the remnant of
their city.
The shocks began to heave the
foundations of the city at precisely
5:13 on the morning of April Is. 1t
was 131 years ago that night that Paul
Revere started on his ride that reused
the minute men of Sandy Middlesex.
Longfellow was "A prophet when he
wrote:
I'm hour of darkness and peril and need
the people shall walxen, and listen
TO hear
The hurrying hoof-beats OF that steed,
and the midnight message of Paul
Revere"
Soldiers Presence a Blessing.
u 1t was Godsend to the people of
San Francisco that 1000 soldiers were
quartered at the Preside, so near at
hand. No human police force. of any
city, no matter how brave and eff
cient its personnel, how splendid its
discipline and organization, could have
COPIED alone with such a situation. The
work of ghouls and hooters had 20 be
anticipated and reckoned with. Be-
fore the day OF disaster had grown
hardly three hours older plunderers
and despoilers of the dead met sud
den death at the hands of the soldiers.
No questions were asked, no chance
for an explanation were given. Judg-
ment was Prim and summary. p was
only by resolute sternness that loss
OF life could be curtailed. People
would rush into the very core of FIRE in