Omaha daily bee., 1907-03-31

Il NAh AaAA VI ANa CITY - also 70 % .AbNNN
on the south side. around the Mission an
Potrero district Hundreds Of buildinA
have been erected and are occupied 4
Wholesale houses, commission merchant
and manufacturers while these structure\l
are not IN all instances. OF as substantial
material az those which we're there before
the FIRE, they are all strong and will serve
/ for several years until conditions in build
ing lines ease down.
Out Market street and Mission street
/ from the ferries 70 Eleventh street. build
| ing has been going on with feverish rapid
/ ity, and on McAilister, Golden Gate. Turk
Eddy. Ellis, O'Farren. Geary, Post an.
/ Suffer streets there Is constant and
steady growth out from Market street
| toward Van Ness avenue Leading down
/ from Van Ness toward Market the same
condition obtains, and It will be but few
months until these approaching buildings
coallesce. covering the entire territory.
Down Third street to the Townsend street
| depot and down Fourth street much
building Is being done, and all Of as good
or better class than previously occupied
the same territory.
According to the best estimates II may
be set down that one-third OF the burned
| district has been rebuilt and that in six
months more another third will be under
roof
scorehed Buildings Repaired.
The fire left thrty-ive class A buildings
| in condition where they could be repaired.
All Of these buildings are now occupied,
some entirely and some I'm part, and all Of
! these win be fully completed and occu-
| pied In another six months. 1t has been
found in many instances that the work
OF repair Of these big buildings consumes
more time than the actual building OF the
original structures. There was much tear
| ing out to be done before the work OF
reconstruction could begin. as in the i'm
stance OF the st. Francis hotel This build
ing completely burned out, so far AZ
| It's interior is concerned, and Il took sew
eral months 10 remove the debris and re-
| place the twisted and imperfect steel
beams. Much of the stone work on the
outside was Clipped and marred to stieh
an extent that IL had to be removed and
| replaced This work Is now almost COM
plete and it is announced by the company
! that the hotel will be reopened for BUSH
| ness on September /. Similar conditions
| confronted the owners OF the Fairmont
hotel, but in that building the interior de-
struction was very much less while the
| exterior was only blackened and was easily
repaired. This hotel viii open on April
1s, with the exception of its two upper
floors, which will not be quite ready at
| that time.
With the Palace hotel # is a different
story. This immense structure was a
total wreck. But the builders Of the
Palace did work that caused much trouble
to the contractors who had charge Of the
removal Of the ruins to make place for the
new building which Is to take the place Of
| the old one. So well was the old Palace
constructed that no contractor would I'M
dertake the noval of the ruins and debris
under six months. 1t costs $4,000 to get
the ground ready to begin work on the
new building and then win begin the
foundation Of a ss,OOOOOO building which will
require three years time to build.
The full significance Of the amount Of
damage done to the Class A buildings
which can be repaired may be understood
better when It is known that these altera-
tions 80 far as the Board of Works has
issued permits therefor, call for the ex-
penditure Of 100000. New buildings OF
the same class for which permits were
Issued up to the beginning of February
call for the expenditure of So 100000 while
Class B and Glass c, being reinforced
concrete and brick construction, call for
the expenditure OF more than $4,000, 600.
During the same period SIC, 1902 was the
amount called for in permits issued for the
frame buildings. The total OF expenditure
as called for in the building permits up to
February IS amounted to S45, 222, 753 but It
must not be taken for granted that this
amount represents the total which is to
be expended on the buildings for which
permits were issued. II is the experience
| of all builders that the computations for
structures on which acquisitions for build
! ing permits are made are usually 20 per
cent less than the actual cost. Going on
| this basis, IL will be seen that the building
! permits call for an expenditure of more
than $5O.OOOOO0.
An interesting comparison may be made
with the building operations OF Baltimore
after the big fire which visited that city a
! few years ago ard which swept over the
business district. During the two years
following that fire the permits Issued called
for the expenditure of $2s,OOOOOO. During
! the ten months following the San Francisco
! fire the permits called for the expenditure
of $I5.OOO,OOO, or more than so per cent in
crease.
| One OF the chief drawbacks to rapid
growth since the fire has been inadequate
housing facilities After the disaster every
dwelling in the city virtually doubled it's
number OF inmates, and there was no room
left for others to come in and live. This
condition materially hampered progress as
It was impossible to get workmen TO ob>4s
to San Francisco until some place coulo -
provided for them to live in. This condl-
ton has been materially ameliorated by
the building OF hundreds OF fats, apart
ment houses. cottages and hotels OF all
grades. Many Of these have been COM
pleted and occupied. while hundreds of
others will be completed within tho next
sixty days. II must be remembered that
the great majority Of the new fats and
dwelling houses have been built outside OF
the burned district. consequently they do
not count in the estimate of one-third Of
that district being under roof.
In this connection analysis OF the popula-
ton before. Immediately after the fire and
now, VIII give some idea OF what is doing
In San Francisco. Before the fire II was
estimated by conservative men that the
population OF the city numbered 10000.
Immediately after the fire, within two
weeks, $4,000 left the city All the cities
about the bay and for many miles around
were denseiy contested. A census made on
February ! this year showed a total OF
42s 900 people in San Francisco while the