San Francisco's great disaster : a full account of the recent terrible destruction of life and property by earthquake, fire and volcano in California and at Vesuvius and a brief account of ancient and modern earthquakes and volcanic erruptions in all parts of the world

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Preface

San Francisco, ninth of the great American cities, has been visited by the greatest disaster which ever visited a community on this continent. Indeed, in all of the annals of the world, few calamities equal it, and, perhaps only the annihilation of Pompeii and Herculaneum, exceed it in the totality of destruction. The civilized world has stood aghast at the spectacle of a proud muncipality laid in ruins. To the sudden horror of earthquake has been added the devastation of fire. Together these destroyers have swept away three-fourths of a magnificent city. Where rose great marts of trade, public buildings of every kind, temples of worship, temples of the drama; earthquake and fire left only shattered and smoldering heaps of debris. Where were reared fifty thousand homes, centres of social life, monuments of the people’s thrift, tokens of civilization, prosperity and happiness, only gnarled skeletons of charred timbers and blackened bricks remained. Like lightning from a sunlit sky, like knife thrust in the dark, as dramatic, as unexpected as though the sky itself should fall in a molten deluge and engulf the earth, so fell this catastrophe. A great city reared by the faith and toil of half a century well nigh perished. The world stood appalled.

PURPOSE OF THIS VOLUME.

History must open her pages to have enrolled among the tragic events of time, the story of this horror. Not only will the awful story remain the vivid possession of every man who has lived in the year and through the days when it hes been unfolding, but future generations will pause é, PREFACE.

in awe to read. This volume is designed to give, with arcuracy, in graphic detail, the story of the destruction of San Francisco. The publishers have had in mind, not only the present generation, but those to come after. The work, therefore, has been broadened. To give the readers of to-day, and of the years to come, a basis of comparison, to determine the tremendous extent of the catastrophe, the volume includes equally graphic descriptions of the notable visitations of Providence, which in the past have left death and havoc where they have fallen. It is a compendium of the great tragedies of history, a glossary where will be found descriptions of the moments in the history of the world, when mankind has stood at bay before nature and the elements locked in deadly struggle. In such crises the puny might of man stands revealed before the limitless power of the elements. Nature, herself, seems to shudder at her very power and after brief spasms of riot and anarchy, calls off the forces that threaten universal annihilation. In an hour a mighty mountain disembowels itself under the influence of Titanic, unknown, uncontrollable, internal forces and two great cities are buried, to remain lost for centuries. The mighty ocean, breaking for an hour from the laws of its control, engulfs a coast, gluts its receeding waves with the carcasses of the dead, and leaves a city, flourishing an hour before, only a barren waste. In the bowels of the earth there is a shudder, as though a giant writhed in his deep, rock-ribbed prison, and, lo! a monster city, spreading for miles in prosperity over densely peopled hills, totters ond falls. Where was peace, prosperity and happiness, in an hour is only the scene of indescribable desolation. Where were tens of thousands, secure in the enjoyment ef life, accepting to-day’s realities and calling to-morrow their ewn. new are ranks on ranks of the dead, and tens

PREFACE, 7 of thousands of the living paralyzed with the fleeting giampse they have had of the awful might of powers hid in the far, mystic chambers of nature.

UNCERTAINTY OF FINITE THINGS.

The world seems secure on her foundations, the heavens eternal, the universe unshakable, man supreme, until, in one of these dread hours, the narrow border between order and chaos, between law and anarchy in nature’s realm, ends man’s dream of supremacy, ends his faith that the universe is unshakable, that the heavens are eternal, that Old Earth is secure on her foundations. Such a revelation is the destruction of San Francisco. It is not alone the possession of the people of the day on which the awful visitation has fallen, but the property of all the ages, a pointed lesson of the mutability of the finite, a grim fable whose moral points to the realms of the Divine and infinite. The lesson is for all peoples, everywhere, for who can tell where next nature will run riot? Who knows that the next outbreak of elemental anarchy will confine devastation to a single locality? Who can give security that the globe in its entirety will not crumble into dust when next the natural law is violated?

AWFULNESS OF THE CATASTROPHE.

The publishers of this volume have approached the subject in a serious spirit. They have undertaken to unfold the story of the destruction of San Francisco from every standpoint. Such a catastrophe has many aspects. In the first hours of shock and dismay the human side is foremost. The minds of civilized peoples were filled with the thought of homes destroyed, of people fleeing in awful

8 PREFACE.

terror from a foe in the bowels of the earth, pursued, too, by leaping flames, devouring what the throes of the disturbed earth had left standing. They saw thousands hungry, without water, threatened by pestilence. They saw the unburied dead, they heard the cries of the wounded, and millions of hearts went out to the victims; millions of purses flew open to send gold to succor and save. ‘This aspect will always be uppermost in the history of the catastrophe. But a blow so sweeping paralyzes commerce and all of the linked activities that make a city prosperous and great. The effect of this aspect of the tragedy has been little less great in interest than the human sacrifice and suffering. The tide of humanity will close over the dead and only isolated hearts will ache. The blow to commercial life involves the whole community, and its wounds heal less slowly than those of the heart. San Francisco, for a quarter of a century, will feel in her industrial and commercial life, the effects of the blow that has fallen. This aspect has been seriously considered. There is a scientific aspect. Earthquakes, fortunately, are rare on this continent. For half a century scientists have been studying this problem, aided with every decade by broader conceptions and improved mechanical appliances. To-day, science confesses that, so far as seismic influences are concerned, little progress has been made. Every such visitation adds to the information at hand. The San Francisco earthquake will be the subject of study far more thorough, made by men far better equipped for their task, than any study of a similar phenomenon ever made. The whole world may profit by the results. It 1s too early to give results, but full credit has been given to the men and the means which will be employed. It is an aspect of universal concern.

This catastrophe has given fresh AS, that man is

PREFACE. g linked in an universal brotherhood. Here is an important aspect. The fact that the government of the United States, every individual State and the whole body of the people flew to the aid of their stricken fellows in the Empire City of the West will appear in flaming letters on the shaft thag to-day has reared to her memory in the plaisance of his tory. It has been demonstrated, too, that ties of sympathy unite the remotest sections of the earth, for, from the sovereigns of the nations of the world have come words of sorrow and sympathy. No student of his time, no future student of our time, can overlook the marvellous development in recent times of the spirit of brotherhood among men, and the San Francisco tragedy has proved a climax in this development. Just as, in the history of the country there has been no such other event to unite men’s hearts, so there has never been so noble a demonstration of the power of men’s hearts to feel the griefs and reach out to share the burdens of others. This is an aspect to which attention has been paid, commensurate with its importance.

OTHER VISITATIONS.

Vesuvius, after twenty centuries of acitvity, has only recently added another to the many tragedies it has occasioned. This fresh work of destruction is reviewed, together with the ever-old story of the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Other notable earthquakes, floods, and volcanic eruptions are recorded, with the accuracy which historical perspective permits.

In the author, the publishers have been fortunate. Mr. Tyler is even now before the public as the author of a brilliant historical work, “The Japan-Russia War.” The publishers called upon Mr. Tyler to tell, in his well-known graphic style, the story of the catastrophe, and were greatly

19 PREFACE.

pleased to immediately receive his accentance of the task. His work speaks for itself. The publishers feel assured that the same welcome will be accorded this timely, splendidly, if quickly done chronicle, that has been given to the several notable historical works from the pen of the same author. i

As in the case of the recent history of the great Far Eastern war, Mr. Tyler has illuminated his theme with a notable collection of photographs. These are an admirable complement to the text. They bring before the eye, more graphically than any pen could tell, the story of havoc, jointly wrought by earthquake and fire. They show the city in its pride and they show that same city levelled and crumbled in ashes. The publishers believe that this volume represents a chronicle of the San Francisco disaster that will not be excelled, and present it to the public secure in the belief that it will prove, not only of interest for the moment, but a permanent contribution to literature, an invaluable possession in the homes and libraries of those who would have their knowledge extend to the most dramatic, and aweinspiring events unfolded from the scroll of Time.

THE PUBLISHERS.

CONDENSES:

Earthquakes and Their Causes.

By Pror. Rarpu S. Tarr.

PAGE Vesuvius and the Earthquake—Location of Earthquakes and Volcanoes—The Growth of Mountains— Distribution of Earthquakes—Cause of Farthquakes—Earth Crust Being Broken— Causes of Earthquake Shocks—Slipping of Rocks along Fault Planes—Mountain Growth in Progress—Future Earthquake Shocks—Place of Greatest Violence—Tidal Waves........... 17

The San Francisco Disaster.

No Terror Like the EKarthquake—When the First Shock Came —Thousands in Peril of Death—A Brood of Destroyers—An “Earthquake City’—Have Always Feared Disaster—First Big Building in 1890—The Business District—Why Water Mains Failed—Bedlam Follows Earthquake—Awake to Death and Doom—Business Section Stricken—Searched Ruins for Human Victims—Sweep of Destroying Angel—Streets Become Impassable—Mechanic’s Pavilion Morgue—Federal Troops on Guard—“The Dynamite is Gone’—Scene of Death and Destruction—Danger from Falling Walls—Valuable Records Found Intact—Mint and Post Office Open—A Day of Weddings—The Turn in the Tide of Flame—High Prices for WV arr tok ING 5 oi, Aes oe Oct Canoes Sette Nae ake ae PAbeipi dlatateveai Hoets 47

In the Path of the Conflagration.

Became a Metropolis—Great Ferries—Many Big Buildings— Magnificent City Hall—Burned Area Twenty-six miles Around —Streets Sunk into Great Gaps—All of the Old Landmarks Gone—Famous Stanford Home—Reduced to Ruins—Fine Old Hotels—Apartment Houses—Fine Papers Burned Out—Palace and Grand Hotels—The Cliff House—Other Prominent Buildings—Loss of the Sutro Library—Collection Never Classified— Ancient Newspaper File—Stanford University Lesses........ 97

II 12 Contents

PAGE Fighting Flames Without Water.

Success Achieved at Last—The Last Stand—Credit for Work Accomplished—Million in Property Blown to Dust—Dynamite’s One Victory—How the Mint was Saved—Mint Employees Work Rapidly—Tongue of Fire Licks Inner Walls—Defenders.a Hxhausted—Mint& Saved>....2 tom cc aoe cee oe eae 137

Caring for Three Hundred Thousand Homeless Victims.

Safe on the Hillsides—Still Burning on Thursday—Shelter for the Homeless—Oakland Houses 50,000 Refugees—The Second Night in Camp—Ample Medical Supplies—AIl Social Barriers Down—15,000 Sleep Under the Sky—Procession of the Homeless—Schmitz to Roosevelt—Supplies by Trainloads—Military is Placed in Charge—Cooked Breakfast in Streets—A Difficult Problem Solved—Medical Attention Increased—Plenty of Food and Water—The Rain Climax to Misery—Suffering in Hospitals—System in Feeding Homeless—Chinese Suffer Severely—Race Track a Camp—Work of Relief Soon Under Way —300,000 to be Fed—American “Nerve” to the Fore—Cheerful in Misfortune—The Committee of Safety................. I51

Survivors Tell Heartrending Tales.

Everybody Just Walked—Joked While They Shivered—Sailors Using Big Guns—Shoes Cut from Women’s Feet—Merchants Threw Stores Open—Were on Twelfth Floor—The Scene from the Harbor—Some Prominent Victims—Metropolitan Opera Company—Guarded His Valise—Slept Near the Lions—Mme. Eames Tells Earthquake Story—Experience of Adolphus Busch —Saw His Companion Killed—A Woman’s Description—Shot to. End Their -Agony—The Story of a Prisoner 2... 1.2% 201 -

Death the Penalty for Looting. t Orders to Shoot on Sight—Public Opinion Sustains Order— Thieves Hanged by Civilians—Robber of Dead Shot Down— Roweteen Lives: Pay thé: Penalty.0.2o53 54. ied eee ee 233

Nation Gives Millions for Relief.

Limitless Generosity—Americans Prompt to Aid—Government First Appropriated a Million—Secretary Taft’s Letter—Asks Another Million—Congress Gives Two and a Half Millions— Cities, Villages, Churches, Societies and Individuals Respond seP otal OusriDilots ese ne ya oa tasers Sie Gnd Coe at