Complete Story of the San Francisco HorrorWhite, Trumbull
History
Complete Story of the San Francisco Horror
White, Trumbull
Disasters; Earthquakes; San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, Calif., 1906; Vesuvius (Italy) -- Eruption, 1906; Volcanoes
Mr. Anthony says that he was sleeping in his room at the Romona hotel
on Ellis street, near Macon, and was suddenly awakened at 5:23 in the
morning. The first shock that brought him out of bed, he says, was
appalling in its terrible force. The whole earth seemed to heave and
fall. The building where he was housed, which is six stories high, was
lifted from its foundation and the roof caved in. A score or more of
guests, men and women, immediately made their way to the street, which
was soon filled with people, and a perfect panic ensued. Debris
showered into the street from the buildings on every side.
As a result, Mr. Anthony says, he saw a score or more of people
killed. Women became hysterical and prayed in the streets, while men
sat on the curbing, appearing to be dazed. It was twenty minutes
before those in the vicinity seemed to realize the enormity of the
catastrophe. The crowds became larger and in the public squares of the
city and in empty lots thousands of people gathered.
It was 9 o'clock before the police were in control of the situation.
When they finally resumed charge, the officers directed their energy
toward warning the people in the streets away from danger. Buildings
were on the brink of toppling over.
Mr. Anthony says he was walking on Market street, near the Emporium,
about 9 a. m., when a severe shock was felt. At once the street filled
again with excited persons, and thousands were soon gathered in the
vicinity, paralyzed with fear. Before the spectators could realize
what had happened, the walls of the building swayed a distance of
three feet. The thousands of bystanders stood as if paralyzed,
expecting every moment that they would be crushed, but another tremor
seemed to restore the big building to its natural position.
Mr. Anthony said that he momentarily expected that, with thousands of
others who were in the neighborhood, he would be crushed to death in a
few moments. He made his way down Market street as far as the Call
building, from which flames were issuing at every window, with the
blaze shooting through the roof. A similar condition prevailed in the
Examiner building, across the street.
He then started for the depot, at Third and Townsend streets,
determined to leave the city. He found a procession of several
thousand other persons headed in the same direction.
All south of Market street about that time was a crackling mass of
flames. Mr. Anthony made his way to Eighth and Market, thence down
Eighth to Townsend and to Third street, and the entire section which
he traversed was afire, making it impossible for him to reach his
destination. He attempted to back track, but found that his retreat
had been cut off by the flames. He then went to Twelfth street and
reached Market again by the city hall. San Francisco's magnificent
municipal building had concaved like an egg shell. The steel dome was
still standing, but the rest of the $3,000,000 structure was a mass of
charred ruins.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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