New-York tribune., 1907-04-15
NEW SAN FRANCISCO.
PEBUILDING BURNED CITY
FOrty Thousand Men Haze ReceiUed
$50, 900 900 IN Wages.

fFrom a Special Correspondent Of TIE Tribunal
san Francisco, April 11.-One year after the
,srthouake and fire which wiped out all the
business section OF San Francisco and at least
half Of the residence portion the transformation
from acres Of gaunt skeletons Of ruined build
,nes and heaps OF brick to the beginnings OF
,rell ordered city is little short OF marvellous
All the skyscrapers are restored or I'm process
20 restoration, so that they present few traces
az the whirlwind OF fame through which they
have passed. and scores OF substantial build
sngs OF brick and stone have arisen on the main
business streets TO mark the confidence Of prop
erty owners in the future OF greater San Fran
cisco than the one that was swept by fire.
In the residence sections OF North Beach and
the Mission the reconstruction has been moth
ing short OF marvellous. Here the fire ordi-
nanoes permit the erection of wooden buildings
and whole blocks have been rebuilt in far bet
ter style than before the disaster One feature
uf the rebuilding al North Beach has been the
large amount Of work done by the owners with
their own hands. This section is largely Ital-
fan and Spanish. and these Latin races have
uhOwn fine disregard OF the exactions OF the
labor unions. With carpenters demanding Sc a
day and bricklayers IS a day. these people
have suddenly discovered that building is not
q black art. They have laid their own brick
walls and they have handled the saw and plane
es though they had actually learned the ancient
trade Of the carpenter. Many OF these homes
actually have been constructed at evening and
early morning. in the owners hours Of leisure
and on Sundays and Saturday half-holidays
Many of these men have not only built the
woodwork OF their homes bun they have
thingled the roofs. plastered the walls and
painted their new homes. Any Sunday the
rbr ~ ord he .,Frr
graph Hil may see hundreds or swarthy men
completing the homes which would never have
been theirs had they waited 10 hire workmen
ct the present excessive cost of labor.
REMOVAL OF BAD ORDINANCE
Down IN the main business street one great
check to more rapid reconstruction has been the
ordinance adopted 3ust after the hre limiting
the height Of all buildings TO one and one-half
times the width Of the street. This foolish meas
ure was strongly advocated by Supervisor
Duffey. head OF the Board OF PIlbIic Works. un-
der the mistaken idea that it would compel the
widening of streets like Kearney, Montgomery
and Geary II did nothing of the sort. as the
city was not in a position 10 pay for the con-
demnation OF very valuable land. Its only
suit was To check the construction of Glass A
buildings. the high cost OF the steel frames
of these structures precluded their building unless
fneN COu4Q De AHelR6 stories OF more " nat
made this regulation worse was that the Class A
buildings are those which should he erected in
the new san Francisco as they were the only
ones TO pass through the earthquake unscathed-
Had not the fire swept the business section OF
San Francisco not one Of the big office buildings
would have been injured materially. Here and
there a chimney a cornice had fallen, but for
all practical purposes The buildings were un-
harmed.
EXTENT OF THE DISASTER.
The following facts will give an idea of the ex-
tent of the disaster: The fire. which lasted
seventy-two hours burned over an area OF four
square miles 2,G31 acres. or 5l4 city blocks. Inc
fire line was over lO1e miles. The loss Of life
was $50. and the total property loss was $1,000
100000 The insurance loss Vas S225eO0.OCO. or
which SlSOO00OOO has been paid. The IRE
stretched from Mission Creek on the south TO
the Harbor. OF North Beach shore, on the nortn.
and from the waterfront on the east to Van
Ness avenue the west. At McAllister street
the fire Jumped Van Ness avenue and the flames
ran out about three blocks and then bent 20 ne
south sweeping over the Mission as far as 2otn
street In all this great space only abou-
score Of buildings remained unburned A-cng
these were the Appraisers Building the Mint
and the Postofice. all Of which have wells on
the premises and pumps worked by steam. A
few scattered homes on Russian Hill escaped,
but for blocks in the residence district not wall
eft standing. only the tall. gaunt CHM
neys showed where many homes had been.
WHAT RECONSTRUCTION MEANS
The work Of reconstruction, especially in the
business district. meant the repair Of streets
and sidewalks. the installation Of electric light
gas and power. the rehabilitation OF the sky
scrspers when we're merely gutted and the
clearing away Of bricks and twisted steel and
the rebuilding OF Glass 3 ard Class struct-
ures. The extent Of this task can be appreci-
ated only BY who has actually taken part
IN such work. And II was made more difficult
IN san Francisco by the distance from the East.
which supplies structural steel terra Gotta and
many other kinds Of building material Orders
tor materials had 20 be in three four months
before they could oe filled. ana then there
another long Talt before the railroads could
deliver them
THIRTY MILLIONS FOR LABOR.
It IS estimated that 10000 men have been
engaged IN this work OF rebuilding San Fran
cisco. none Of whom received less than 50 day
Tor their labor. Bricklayers received IS a day.
carpenters IS 10 Sc, plumbers Sc lathers Sc
painters 50, and even the unsidlled men who
nave removed debris and cleaned bricks have
received s2 a day. A careful estimate gives