Milford chronicle., 1906-05-18
Calnaqe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank Dewitt Talmase. D. D.

servations during a tour Of the wrecked
city Of San Francisco after the disaster
and draws some timely lessons from
the experience The text is Psalm civ
80, "He looketh on the earth, and II
trembleth; he toucheth the hills, and
they smoke"
Yes, l have been to San Francisco.
] have felt the earth heaving beneath
my feet. With my own eyes I have
seen the blackened, smoking ruins. l
have walked under the tottering walls.
have heard the exploding dynamite
razlng the ruins to the ground. q
Obstacles May BE Overcome.
Obstacles ahead always have i'm
pressed me like the steady stream Of
wagons and carriages and automobiles
and electric cars which go rumbling
down Broadway, in New York city.
The average countryman who goes to
the great metropolis for the first time
stops at the curbstOne and looks on
that steady line Of vehicles In amaze
lment He stands on the curbstOne, as
4 have often seen him stand, waiting
for a cessation of those revolving
wheels; but, like Tennyson's brook,
men may come and men may go, but
the vehicles Of Broadway, New York,
seem to go on forever. Not thus does
the old New Yorker do. He wants to
cross Broadway. He does not hesitate
half a minute at the curbstOne. He
steps out into the street at once He
lodges this way; he runs that way;
he grips hold Of the bride Of a horse
here, and In a few seconds he is over
the street That is the way got into
San Francisco, only. a few days after
It was burned People said could
not get In, but l went ahead. lodged
this way; pushed that way; showed
q little here and begged farther on un-
It'll 1 not only crossed the ferry, but by
Monday night following that catastro-
phe l had tramped over every nook
and corner Of the burned district.
From the encampments in Golden
Gs.e park into the burned out district |
of old Chinatown went Thus l am
able today to render an account Of my
islt and teach a few gospel lessons
rom the bright side Of an earth !
make"
.srhe bright side Of an Earthquake"
-'Ch." you say, there is no need Of
liking about the bright side Of an
arthquake' unless you are going to |
ak about the lurid flames which, with |
heir famished tongues, licked up near
~ ten square miles Of as fine buildings |
as any city ever had. Three hundred |
million dollars worth Of property was |
certainly destroyed. A friend Of mine, |
on the morning that San Francisco |
burned, was coming from Honolulu. !
Away off at sea they saw the black
ened clouds. They could not make out |
what was the matter. Nearer and |
rearer they came, until suddenly some |
o. cried out, "San Francisco is burn
ingP' Then as they came nearer and |
they saw the awful flames in their
work Of death no one spoke. All was |
silence except the surging of the |
waters as the PROV of the boat cut |
through them, and the steady painting
and puff, puff, puff of the machinery. |
Oh, do not, talk to me about the bright
side Of AN earthquake! Is there a
'Driey.,t side to Dante's inferno? Is
- bright side to streets strewn
F1rpses? Amid the ruins which
Pw there must have been hun
# unknown dead. Talk about
mics and the tears and the
al fortunes of this holocaust If
y, but not about its bright side"
9sy friend, I am going to talk
,the bright side Of this earth |
even against your protest For
my trampings about this ruined |
and in my intercourse with these !
people, l found more bright |
than sorrow, more joy and con-
ulatiOns than heart sobs and com
nts. This is why 1 have taken for
subject the sunrise Of the morning,
tead of the dark eclipse.
Not One Complaint.
The most natural course for me to
jursue, in the first place, Is to tell you
nat from the moment I put my foot
into San Francisco to the time that
stepped aboard the ferry to start back
for Oakland I did not find one tear or
one complaint from all the multitude
of people l saw and conversed with.
And when speak thus remember that
am not in the least minifying the
awful ravages of this earthquake. If
YOU have been to New York and could
imagine a fire starting at Forty-second
street. burning clear on down to the
Battery and sweeping away every ho-
tel every palace of Fifth avenue, ev-
cry store and factory and office build-
ing and leaving practically nothing
standing, you can imagine what this
fire desolation means. OF course New
York is a larger city than San Fran
cisco. hut the proportions have drawn
are about the same. Now, all through
shese burned districts, all through the
marks where the homeless are encamp-