El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-04-18
e I'VE years ago today the newspa-


francisco had been shaken to its
foundations by a Ereet earthquake,
! ana that great fire, uncontrolled
and uncomfortable, was completing
the ruin and devastation On that
day and the one which followed the
most terrific blow which ever descend
ed upon an American city fell upon
the great metropolis of the Pacific
coast.
Today nearly every scar left by that
frlghtful so hours has been obliterated.
A new and prouder San Francisco
mas arisen from the ashes of the old,
,, and greets the world as the highest
example Of civic greatness to which
community can arise in times when
nothing is left to men but hope. and
that hope is semi-despair. The fire
destroyed rs 900 houses; $1,000 have
taken their places 1t demolished 514
city blocks, leaving them strewn with
such hopeless mass of debris that
SIC, 1000, 5000 had to be raised to reclaim
the bare earth itself-no mean fash
for ruined. desolated city. Today
each of these city blocks is built up
better and handsomer than ever before.
More Beautiful Than Ever.
Yes, San Francisco Is a better and
a more beautiful city than, ever,
Where before the fire there were 27
as class A buildings there were 1O4
in 1903 and this list has been added
to since then. The same proportion
| holds with class B buildings. One de-
partment store alone spent 100000 for
furnishings and decorations Every
where the same strife for perfection
has been in evidence and today San
francisco is metropolis of nearly
half million busy people with a bus
mess section only five years old.
Financial Scare Passes.
Not only have the physical scars of
| the great calamity been obliterated, but
the financial scars as well OF course
thousands Of families were financially
| ruined by the catastrophe and never
will recover from the blow, but the
community as a whole is in better fl
nancial condition than before the ca
lamity occurred. The assessed values
Of the city before the fire amounted
to s402, 000 900; today these values ag-
ings before the fire were $1,000, 600, 900
| a year; now they amount to nearly
two and a half billions. The savings
bank deposits in 1911 are greater than
they were IN 1906 All OF this tells
the story of municipal victory and indi-
vidual triumph, a story unequalled in
its completeness and magnificence in
But the end is not IN sight. With its
business and industry amply housed
and Its population properly sheltered.
San Francisco is now turning to other
considera lions 1t is building one of
Americas most modern opera houses
1t is providing one Of the worlds most
splendid municipal buildings 1t is
preparing 10 rescue itself from the
domination OF a privately owned water
system. In short. it is now giving its
attention to the larger problems of
municipal life in way that promises
to make 1t exhibit number one Of the
big show which will greet the visitor
to the Panama exposition.
And the San Francisco people are en-
thusiastic about that fair. When the
question was put before them. al
though they had spent s2OO.OO0.00O in
repairing the damages Of less than
five years before. and still face vast
expenditures. they voted S5,000.000 to
the exposition by the largest majority
ever given to any proposition. Yet
with all this, San francisco has the
smallest debt in proportion to the as
sessed valuation Of its property than
any large city in the United States
a year or two ago it was only is per-
cent. as compared with 80 in New York
SO in Pittsburg. and Sc m Boston
Water Question Important
One of the things confronting San
Francisco is the question whether the
city will be allowed to get a munich
pal water supply from the Hetch-
Hetchy valley. This water, coming
out of the very heart of the Sierras,
Is one of the finest supplies in the
world Cold and pure and abundant,
Il has everything to recommend It
But there are two forces at. work
against its utilization. The nature
lovers Of America assert that it will
ruin one Of the worlds most beautiful
spots. Then there is the Spring val
lev Water company which now sup
plies San F'rancisco's water. The Fed
eraI courts have fixed the value OF
this companys hold 'ngs at S32.OOOOOO'
and San Francisco wants it as an aux
Hilary supply at that price. But the
Spring Valley people want a higher
figure and ex-mayor Phelan declares
they are financing the opposition to
the Hetch- Hetchy project. 1t Is said
that Mr.. Roosevelt, James R. Garfield,
and Clifford Pinchot all favor San
Francisco's being permitted to use the
waters of the Hetch- Hetchy valley.
The matter is scheduled for determine
ton in June. when president Taft and
secretary Fisher of the Interior de-
partment will decide the issue.
The rate at which San Francisco
has been rebuilt is the greatest exhi-
bition of pluck and courage the world
has seen In many century. When
the city lay in ruins, with its million
aires homeless and its poor all but
starving the world said that in ten
years San Francisco could not rally
from her plight But when three years
had passed, San Francisco had cell
ebration and invited the world to look.
In those three short years it had done
more than the greatest optimist
thought could be accomplished In TO-
But there was work to do-rea1y
more work than to build brand new
city on a virg n site. Think of pile
Of debris so large that it cost S2O,-
600, 600 to get down to the ground; so
large that $4,000 horses died Nin its
removal brute heroes who were lit
orally worked to death; SO large that
10000 workmen were engaged in the
task That was what stared the SEEM
ingly ruined San Francisco in the face
when it began cleaning off its lots
while the ruins were still smoking.
The people were so quick to rally from
the feeling of desolation and despair
that within six days after the fire
there was signed, sealed and delivered
a contract for a ma gufficent new fire