My sister was in Dresden, Germany, and was like others in an excited condition, until she could hear by mail from San Francisco. She says the first knowledge of the disaster reaching her was from a small evening newspaper printed in English, which in a very brief item said that "San Francisco was destroyed by an earthquake this morning [April 18th]." This was all the information which she could obtain that afternoon and evening. A neighbor, a German lady, came in the next morning and told her that the German newspapers of that morning said that the city of San Francisco was on fire, and that the loss of life was enormous. That day, the 19th, she visited the bulletin boards of the different newspapers, and with her daughter endeavored to translate the brief cable telegrams which were posted. The news came to London in English, and there cut down as brief as possible and translated into German, so the information was very brief. San Francisco people who were there sought one another for news. Within a week the New York papers came, which gave more particulars. While waiting for authentic information, such items as these were in circulation: "Golden Gate Park has been withered by the intense heat, and people are crowded to the beach," and that "Typhoid fever has broken out"; that a tidal-wave had swept over the city; that the earthquake shocks continued; that all communication with the interior by rail or otherwise had been cut off; that thirty thousand people had been killed. Whether her family and friends were alive she did not know. In this state of mind, she found in a New York paper a picture of the Spreckels residence which showed mine. This was the first information that she received in reference to her family or their belongings. Mr. and Mrs. Dohrmann and his sister, Mrs. Paulsen, of San Francisco, were in Dresden, and did much to allay the fears of the San Franciscans. During the first few days the German people got over the excitement, but not so with those whose homes were in this city. A letter which I mailed to her on April 22d reached her on May 8th, which was the first one she received, and which assured her of the safety of her family and friends. Charles Stetson Wheeler, Jr., who was in school at Belmont, sends me an interesting account of his experiences. He says: