The Washington times., 1923-09-08

ne decided the city would in
evitably be wiped out, and that
safety lay only in flight. Wilbur
urged him to come out to his
house. which being near the
Preside, was as yet far removed
from danger, but Philip could
not bring himself to consider de-
sorting Mrs. Grotenberg. It
struck him as an odd circum-
stance that at such a petilous
time, neither Wilbur nor Lucy
should know anything of his
relations with this friend. He
had never mentioned her to any
one. and his partner presumed
he was still living at the Abbey.
Now the woman's helplessness in
the face Of the menacing flames
had its own appeal. It never &C.
CURED to him to abandon her.
Thursday night he slept sound.
ly, worn out by the nervous ex-
AoASSAOA " "AASA SNCI yOAS "6S q
prey. He and Mrs. Grotenberg
decided that, when the morning
broke, they would take what they
could carry with them, and make
for Golden Gate Park, but Fri
days early hours brought the
joyful tidings the conflagation was
finally under control and was rap
idly burning itself out.
1t was another cloudless, scor-
ching day; a murky blur over
hung the city through which the
suns disk shone redly. A stencil
of things burned checked the at
mosphere-offensive, q u Gus,
the smell of the incinerator. The
hills, with their blackened ruins,
their scared and tragic |monu-
ments, their waste Of cinders and
charred embers. lay gaunt and
stark, swimming in heat still ling
ering about them, the SCARED is
olated stacks and skeleton walls
made more ghostly by spectral
scarfs of white ash-smoke that
constantly stirred and billowed
up around them. An appalling
task, a herculean labor awaited
the people of San Francisco.
Not a single person among all
Philips acquaintances, or among
those with whom he casually
hesitated for a moment
to undertake it.
A Realty Boom.
The earthquake and fire had
important results for Philip. The
most immediate was a sudden
boom in rental values along Fill
more street. His private income
was trebled over night. A piano
house leased the entire building
he owned at huge price. He
reserved one of the small stores
Ground the corner, facing the
side street and here he and Wilbur
re-established themselves in a
new office. He persuaded Mrs.
Grotenberg to move across the
bay to Berkeley. For a few weeks
she lived in one Of the cheap new
frame hotels which had recently
cropped up, mushroom-like, in
the neighborhood Of the University
campus. but at the end Of 4
month she moved into a shin
gled, peaked-roofed cottage that
stood high on a hill above the
college town. hiding itself behind
a ragged cluster of thick pepper
and acacia trees. 1t was a haven
of peace and beauty for Philip
to come to when he was worn
out with the avalanche of work
that now descended upon him.
During the past four years
he had written a fair amount of
fire insurance. The question now
arose, were the fire and earth
quake to be regarded as one and
the same act of God-in which
case the insurance companies
would be protected from loss,
by virture of a clause in their
contracts providing for such dis
asters-or was the fire a separate
and distinct calamity? In the
latter event they would have 10
pay. Some companies repudiated
their obligations entirely, leaving
the decisions to the courts; a few
acknowledged them in full and
paid the face value of their
policies; many compromised on
seVenty-five cent on the dollar; 4
less number offered to pay half.
The business entailed an i'm.
mense amount of correspondence,
endless interviews with dissatisfied
clients. troublesome negotiations.
Philip was worn out by the end
OF every day. Two Of the larger
companies for whom he wrote
insurance, sent adjusters to San
Francisco to assist him and other
agents, but these emissaries
proved to be only a nuisance.
(TO Be Continued MOndayJ