The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-26
STAMFORD STUDENTS STORY.
HELPED DTG HIS FELLOWS OUT
or DORNITORY RUNS.

v w n hiE VI hhNao
gees From San Francisco Passed
Through PalO Alto in Automobiles
Clarence W. Waugh. a freshman at Stan
ford University. has written a letter to his
relatives in this city describing the earth
quake that hit the university and the work
he. and his fellow students did in saving
a lot of students who we're buried in the
ruins of one Of the dormitories. The letter
was mailed the day after the earthquake.
Young Waugh say that the damage
to the university Is estimated by the
authorities at 50, 500, 900. This is how he
describes the scenes when the earthquake
tnmbled the students out OF bed in Encina
Hall. where he had his rooms:
Yesterday morning about 5:ls I was
awakened by the most terrible sensation
and noise lima ginable. The bed was jump
ing up and down, in fact, all the furniture.
You could not walk on the floor 1t was
vibrating so. I finally got over to the
door, but could not open it All the time
everything was creaking and swaying in
the worst imaginable.
We'll, I jumped out onto the window
sill and spanned the large stone partition
between my window and that of the fell
lows next door Il am up three %stories)
| rushed out of this fellows room in my
pajamas and bare feet. / am in the CEN
tral wing and just above the clubroom.
The chimney had fallen through the sky
light and the stones and glass were strewn
on the landing in front of the annex.
I'VE had to walk over broken glass in
our bare feet. II I had been able to open
tho Iaar ,-hon I Rraf trial I wn,tlI ho Ia
been on the landing when those stones
fell. The night Waterman certainly must
carry around with him a horseshoe. He
was just stepping out Of our wing onto
the landing when a big stone fell down,
sliding along his arm. The only thing
he got out of 1t was a scratch on his hand
If he had been over to the right half a foot
he would have been killed.
well, when the shocks were over we
went back and dressed. We did not have
to look very far to see where the worst
calamity had taken place. There was a
large hole in the floor of the foyer, and from
the sides of it you could have a fine view Of
the sky. The massive chimney had broken
the roof and carried it dow with it. This
weight carried the next floor and
all the other floors with it down to the base
ment.
About five fellows were caught in this
big heap. The floors were torn out so
neatly that a human hand could hardl y
have lone better. All the furniture, beds,
wardrobes, chairs, &c, went down in the
heap. The wreckage was piled up FIR ON
the basement f1oor clear up above the main
floor.
"You should have seen us fellows work then.
We got in the heap and began clearing it go
to get at the fellows underneath. Some
OF the pipes had broken and the water was
pouring down into the pile. After a great
deal of effort the water was stopped. The
huge stones of the chimney and of the wal
were in the heap. Fellows clothes we're in
the heap. and also their books.
'One by one the fellows were hauled out.
Each one was unconscious and badly
manned. After two hours of digging into
the heap they finally came upon the body
c. the last fellow in the wreck. He was
dead. Poor fellow, I feel 80 sorry for his
parents, as he was their only son. His
home is in Bradford, Pa.
They had to press the stages into service
as ambulances. All rooms in Encina were
more or less wrecked. Our new $500. 900
library uncompletedl swayed to and fro,
and then suddenly the sides collapsed
and the roof fell in. The new grand
It's roof collapse. The steePle Of our magnid-
cent church fell over, breaking through
the church roof. The first mosaic of Christ
on the Mount fell down. The frieze on the
top of the memorial arch broke and n
foot of the arch is out Of place, Part Of
The chemistry building had considerable
damage done to it, as we'll as to the bottles.
The beautiful entrance tumbled down into
an unacceptable pile of stone, with the
roof on top. TIT tall chimney was broken
about twenty feet from the base. In its
fall it killed the engineer.
"One of the statues on the outside of
the geological building took a tumble of
thirty feet. 1t dived through the cement
sidewalk below and stopped at the shoulders.
Mrs. Stanford's residence was split in two.
The funny part about it is that the split
half. In truth, it seemed as if the world
had ome to an end.
San Francisco was the worst of all. We
could hear the explosions here. The smoke
was teri bly, dense and c0lored the sun red.
In the evening there was "a big red glow
the direction of San Francisco All the
telegraph and telephone Tres were down,
cutting us of from the outside world. 4 big
fissure in the earth a few miles south of
San Francisco prevented the Southern
Pacific trains from arriving or departing.
After a while The autos came piling
through Patio Alto from San Franoisoo.
Every n was filed Every time I'm auto
stopped in Palo Alto the people would crowd
about TO ask Questions. We learned that
there was martial law in the city and en-
trance was denied to every one and that
thieves were being shot down.
Finally autos came in so fast and thick
that it was impossible to count them. The
people in the autos told us that all San
Francisco was OF the march on horseback,
wheel. carriage or on foot.
IAN that night I slept out on the lawn in
trout Of Encina. We kept a guard around
all the university buildings. Roughly
speaking our loss is 81 800, 900. Everybody
thinks this a terribly low estimate. Presi-
dent Jordan just returned in time to witness
the catastrophe. Yesterdav m rning he
said that he hoped to have classes started
to-day, but he probably said that to try
to get the fellows TO stay. The COM
mittee which inspected the buildings de-
c,ded to discontinue instruction for the
rest Of the semester. Enc.na has been de-
clared dangerous and every one is moving
DoSsessions. intend to strike for a iob