Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-04-26
Measuring the Catastrophe.

A writer in the New York Sun sum-
marizes the worlds greatest losses
from earthquakes and fires in order to
give us a keener appreciation of the
magnitude of the San Francisco
catastrophy. While some of the most
remarkable fires in the worlds history
have not been caused by fractures or
movements of the earth's crust. but.
on the other hand, earthquakes have
almost always been followed by hres'
even in times when fagots were ex-
clusively relied upon for heating anu
tallow or wax for lighting purposes.
San Francisco's wreck is compared
with other exa xamples. first. of the havoc
wrought by earthquake. and secondly
of the devastation caused by fire. The
number of lives lost in San Francisco
has not vet been definitely computed.
and may never be known exactly.
Some reports have said hundreds and
aome have said thousands" The total
,e much more likely over 1000 rather
than less If it shall fall short OF
thousand it will seem small indeed by
rhe side Of the multitude-35. .OOO-who
were victims Of the earthquake which
ON November /, 1755. left Lisbon heap
of ruins. Relatively great must also be
the aggregate loss of human lives from
IN w AZ.
cording to Professor Milne, the
highest authority on the subject. there
Is al least one earthquake daily. AS
regards the area laid waste by fire in
San Francisco. this seems to have been
exceeded i'm some Instances. Thus the
burning of Rome in A. d. Ga lasted for
eight days and destroyed five-sevenths
of the city. In the great fire of London
C666), on the other hand, the flames
fire of 1871 covered a superficies of 2l2t
acres. There seems to be no doubt that
more people have been rendered home
less in San Francisco than have ever
before been deprived of shelter by
cOnfiagration, with the possible eXcep-
ton Of the burning Of Rome, which has
been imputed to Nero. 1t was
estimated in 1871 that the number of
persons made homeless by the Chicago
fire did not exceed 100000. Even if we
make some deductions from current
rough calculations. we may probably
many persons have lost their homes i'm
San Francisco.
AS tor the value of the property de-
stroyed, no data handed down concern
ing other earthquakes or cont1agra tions
approximate the figures tentatively put
forward for San Francisco. The total
value of the buildings burned in the
great fire Of London-most of them
were small wooden houses-fell short of
| s5i 0On.0 600. The loss incurred by the
burning of Moscow in 1912 has been
placed at sl5O, 600 COO The value Of the
DloWH vi set oIl llIt III
Paris by Communist incendiaries in
May, 1871. is set at sl60.000,000. The
loss caused by the Chicago fire in 1871
has been estimated at sl95OOO. 900. The
Boston loss in 1872 was about s15.OO0.-
600 and the Baltimore loss i'm 1904 was
about $50, 900, 0OO
None OF these figures are comparable
with those indicated by the san Fran
cisco catastrophe. which from a pecuni-
airy point Of view seems to have been
the most destructive known to history.
The total assessed valuation Of taxable
property in that city. real and personal,
was a little more than 1924 100000.
which was presumed to be about 20
per cent. of the actual value. If half
Of the actual aggregate value has been
annihilat,d the loss would be about
$31oG00. 600. OF course, large fraction
of this loss will be made good by insur-
ance companies. American and foreign.
| TO what extent, however, the com
panies will be liza BILE will not be exactly
| known for some time inasmuch as
many Of the local records and policies
may have been destroyed. and as. by
| the terms OF their contracts, fire
| insurance companies are not RESPONSE
| BILE for damages due solely TO earth
| quakes or for the burning of the wreck
of a building thrown down by an
| earthquake. On the other hand it
| appears that. by a California statute
| they are liable i'm the case of buildings
| destroyed by dynamite for the purpose
| of preventing the spread of cOnfia-
| grafton.
1t will probably turn out that the net
sum paid by the insurance companies
| will not fall much short of $50. 900 900:
| it may considerably exceed that
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