The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-19

things up in the wholesale district OF made
lands, devastated all Market street and
tumbled about the tenement district.
1t IL highly probable that the loss of life
was almost entirely confined to this tene-
ment district. 1t is hardly necessary to
add that the time Of the Disaster was its
only mercy. The peculiar local condi-
tons, which have packed most Of the bust.
meas traffic in one street, have made Mar
ket street one Of the busiest t~horoughfares
lin the United States. In business houna
1t is far more thickly congested than any
street in New York. The falling ~stnppings
OF walls alone would nave killed hundreds
n thousands Of people.
Just across the Bay from San Francisco,
and on the eastern shore, lie the suburbs OF
Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley. Oak
land, a city OF something more than 7 10000
inhabitants, is to San Francisco what
Brooklyn Is to New York, except that it Is
further away-about six miles by ferry
Here are all the terminals OF the direct
overland lines, and all passengers. except
those coming by the Southern routes, take
ferry at Oakland for San Francisco. Fur
Their along the bay shore and adjacent to
Oakland is Alameda a residence town on
very low land. Hitherto Alameda has
suffered from the. slight earthquakes in
that region more than San Francisco. On
the other side Of Oakland, eastward Of It
on the overland routes, is the college town
Of Berkeley, the site Of the University Of
California. Carrying out roughly the paral-
lei to New York, Oakland would represent
Brooklyn, Alameda Flatbush and Berkeley
Long Island City.
Although the water supply OF San Fran
cisco was ample, and was helped out for
fire purposes by a system of salt water
mains, the system was made to be the
prey Of earthquakes. The greater part Of
the supply came from the Spring Valley
lakes, some distance south Of the city on
the peninsula. The chief main ran along
the backbone Of the peninsula for some
distance, but upon approaching the city
it took an abrupt turn to the east and ran
along the made lands until it reached the
business district. From that point 1t was
pumped to reservoirs on the crests OF the
city hills, where it got the fall to supply
the residence district. That disturbance
Of the made lands, which. Of course, broke
the water mains, cut Off at once nearly
the whole supply Of the city. That posi-
bility had not been foreseen In planning
the San Francisco water mains.
The San Francisco newspapers never
mentioned the possibility of a disastrous
earthquake, but the subject was always
in the public mind. A common subject Of
discussion in San Francisco was the effect
Of a shake Upon the new tall buildings.
Almost all the architects declared that
they stood a vastly better chance than low
structures OF brick and stone or ordinary
frame buildings. The interlocking steel
structures, they declared, would sway
and give; the worst that could be expected
would be the bombardmept OF the streets
caused by their shaking off their shells.
In this opinion many made an exception
of the Chronicle building. which was built
on a rigid iron frame, As a matter of
fact, the Chronicle building, according to
reports, came out Of it we'll.