~ START MICROFILMED 1985 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - BERKELEY GENERAL LIBRARY BERKELEY, CA 94720 COOPERATIVE PRESERVATION MICROFILMING PROJECT THE RESEARCH LIBRARIES GROUP, INC. Funded by . THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES THE ANDREW W. MELLON FOUNDATION Reproductions may not be made without permission. THE PRINTING MASTER FROM WHICH THIS REPRODUCTION WAS MADE IS HELD BY THE MAIN LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY, CA 94720 FOR ADDITIONAL REPRODUCTION REQUEST MASTER NEGATIVE NUMBER 75 - 29111 AUTHOR: Way, 6eorge PR TITLE: Story of enthquake .-. PLACE: [ Detroit) - CALL 5.43 MASTER ©- Wi | NO. NEG.NO. 3177 Way, George P Story of earthquake, as experienced in San Francisco on April 18th, 180C. [Dertroit, Stafford Print, Co. , 150-] 20 p. illus., port. 16cm. Cover 1itle. 1. San Francisco = Earthquake and fire, 1906. I. Tite, : N CU-5 69 Tm vem. ete abe noose ome. CR NR RE EE £8 SRR ' FILMED AND PROCESSED BY LIBRARY PHOTOGRAPHIC SERVICE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY, CA 94720 soeno. 8/6] ofelol2 DATE A hl 8[5 REDUCTION RATIO g | DOCUMENT - . i "SOURCE | THE BANCROFT LIBRARY = N © o = w nN EEFEEE | > 3 E Is o FE F oo ND On o- lI MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) Retake of Preceding Frame [| | STORY OF | | EARTHQUAKE AS EXPERIENCED IN SAN FRANCISCO ON APRIL 18th, 1906 BY MR. GEO. P. WAY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN. Geo. P. Way, 10 WIOAE Ge Loy 1315 Mdjestic Bldg. , Detroit, Mich. INTRODUCTION. My principal aim in writing this little book is to give to my friends a correct idea of the Earthquake in San Francisco, the awful calamity that has befallen the Golden City of the West, and to tell you my expe- rience in the terrible disaster. You no doubt have read it from ‘the newspaper standpoint, and. have some doubts in your mind whether it was really as bad as the papers tell it. I have read most of the accounts printed in the press and must say there has been nothing come to my notice that has exaggerated the calamity. I was sound asleep’ in my room in the Palace Hotel when the first shock of the Earthquake came. I passed through the whole thing, and will try in this pamphlet to give you a short story of my experience. Yours truly, GEO. P. WAY. The’ Story of the Earthquake in San Francisco, Cal., April 18, ’06, as. told by Geo. P. Way, of Detroit Lay On March 29th, 1906, I left Detroit, Michigan, my dear old home, and wishing my family good-by I boarded the train at the Union Depot and was soon on my way to Chicago, Ill, arriving there at Dearborn Street Station on Friday, March the thir- tieth. I changed to No. 9 train, leaving Chicago on the Santa Fe route, which makes straight for Los Angeles, California. The scenery in going through Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma did not strike me as being particularly fine, but on reach- ing Arizona I was much impressed with the majestic mountains on either side of the train as the two big puffing locomotives pushed us up the pass about twenty miles, through the tunnel to the other side. Then, leaving one of the engines behind, we had it easy going down about the same distance, stopping at a station at the foot of the mountain to supply the train with new brakes, the former ones being worn as thin as paper on the down run. We steamed on to Williams, Arizona, arriving there at night. Some of our pas- sengers stopped here to visit the Grand Canyon. It was a cold night, everything covered with snow. I shivered as I sought my sleeper, closing my eyes upon a very wintry scene. But upon awaking in the early morning, I was very surprised and delighted to find that we were in the land 3 of sunshine and flowers. During the night we had passed through Arizona, across the lines, to California, and the change was marvelous: from winter to beautifdl sum- mer. - My heart was all lighted with joy as I looked at the beautiful California moun- tains, passing around them, all covered with foliage and wild flowers, the green plains stretching out beyond, and the clear sky over all, and I said, “This is certainly God’s country.” Further on, coming to Pasa- dena and San Bernardino, with their groves and groves of oranges, the trees just laden down with their golden fruit, here and there a gardener picking the ripe oranges and every tree in bloom for another crop, I felt awe-stricken, for the sight was a strange one. to me. It is here that the law of contrast is strikingly demonstrated, for around us were trees of figs and olives, the meadows covered with golden poppies, the grass green and fresh looking, while in the distance each mountain, capped with snow, and making a line against the hori- zon. Yes, the trip was well worth the time spent in taking it, and I shall ever remem- ber the beautiful sights along the path, even though I saw later terrible scenes that are stamped forever in my memory. I stayed two weeks in Los Angeles, and visited several of the beach towns, places of resort for Northerners and Easterners. On Easter morning I boarded a train for San Francisco, and again felt the inspi- ration of the far West. The train travels along the shore of the Pacific ocean, the latter being easily seen from the window of the coach, expanding out into the west, while on the east are the tall mountains and graceful valleys. You can’t imagine the beauty unless you have taken the trip, nor can I desc-ibe it to you, but it was a blessed Easter morning to me with no church to worship in, and this being the 4 first Easter morning that I had not gone to church in my life, I somehow felt that Heaven and earth were very near together. Upon reaching San Francisco, and inquir- ing at the Palace hotel for my room which had been engaged a week before, I was told that on account of the Grand Opera Com- pany, which had arrived before me and filled the hotel, I could not have my room but would have to take one on the sixth floor. The boy took me to room 612, where I was sleeping when the terrible crash came, on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, at 5:15 a. m. There are some things in our lives that we never forget and sometimes they are little things. I shall never forget 612, April 18th, the year 1906, and 5:15, the time of day when the earthquake occurred. I was awakened from my sleep by a sen- sation as if a strong man were under my bed trying to turn it over. I jumped to my feet on the floor, thinking that the building was on fire and hearing the roaring and cracking of falling timbers and the swaying of the building, the breaking of glass, and falling of plaster, my first thought was of escape. 1 jumped through the window, landing in the conservatory of the hotel, in my night clothes, not knowing just where I had put my key to my door the night before, and ran towards the elevator shaft, the only place of escape that I knew of. When I saw no fire and the great hotel swaying and waving like the top of a tree in a heavy windstom, I then thought, being an engineer formerly, that the boilers had exploded in the base- ment and torn out the foundation of the hotel, and that the building was on the verge of collapsing and I would be buried alive. I placed my hand on my heart, and prayed, “God save me.” I must say, that in all my terrible fright after uttering that short, fervent prayer, and expecting every 5 moment to have my life crushed out, I be- lieve that I would have died without an ache or a pain, so wonderful was God’s grace. I rushed on to the elevator. When I saw the ropes, I thought I would break through the glass door and slide down the cable, making a quick descent. But I thought then of the fire, and knew that the elevator shaft would be the first place to burn, so I changed my mind and ran to the window at the end of the hall for the fire escape. Then I spied the stairway, down which I rushed, making the descent quicker than I had ever done in my life to the side- walk of the street below. There was one man ahead of me, but in a few moments there were a hundred or more, many of them members of the opera company, all standing in their night clothes and all ter- ror stricken. Then for the first time I was told the shock was from an “earthquake.” One woman said to another, “Oh, look at that poor man’s feet,” pointing to me. I looked down and saw that my feet were terribly cut and bleeding. In running down the stairs I had stepped on the broken glass, and my feet were torn and lacerated, but just then I did not experience any pain, the excitement keeping my mind on other things. The lady who had first noticed my trouble handed me a towel to stand on, and to wipe my feet with. We stayed on the street for half an hour or so, and then 1 decided to go back for my clothes. I was advised to be careful as the building might collapse at any moment. Just here I must remark about the wonderful strength of the Palace hotel. It was built in 1875, by Flood & O’Brien, and was a steel structure of marvelous durability. It swayed and shook, but withstood every shock, only the inside being destroyed, until the fire, unchecked because of the bursting of the water mains, burned it to the foundation. I was advised 6 to wait a while longer before attempting to get my clothing, but on seeing that all the other buildings around were on fire, I said to the people standing by, “We shall die of the cold if we stay here without clothing; we must get some of our clothes.” So I started back with a prayer on my lips: I reached the top floor and made for my room. It looked as if there had been a cyclone. The great heavy dresser was out in the middle of the floor, chairs and tables turned over, the doors sprung open, and everything in a mix-up. I dressed, put my shoes, hat and overcoat on, and rushed to the street again, lacing up my shoes on the curb. By this time the blood was flowing freely and I felt weak: I wished for some- thing to eat or drink, but I had no friends in San Francisco, and I was at a loss to know what to do. I had but three dollars in my pocket, having put all my money in the safe the night before. So, I went to the clerk and said, “I want my money, please.” Everyone else was putting thei money in the safe, and the clerk, surprised at my request, said, “You had better leave your money in the safe, Mr. Way, where no harm can come to it.” I said, “Do you know that this hotel is on fire? "I have but three dollars in my pocket, and what will I do in this strange city, ‘thousands of miles away from home, with no money, and my feet and legs cut as bad as they are. I want my money.” And I got itt When I . walked out on the street, it was terrible to see the beautiful city of San Francisco in ruins, and on fire, with no protection against the flames. I said to myself, “the city is doomed,” for the fire was sweeping toward the residence district. I first. went to the telegraph office and sent word to my family that I had “lost everything, am safe. Thank God.” . They did not get this telegram until the next day 7 at noon, as the wires were nearly all down and the one that was in use was monopo- lized by the press. : The excitement was terrific. I walked around to some of the cheaper lodging houses and hotels. They had nearly all collapsed from the shock and hundreds had been buried alive. I felt faint as I watched them digging out the dead from the ruins and placing them all in wagons or any convenient vehicle and carting them out of range of the fire. Many of those pinned in the ruins were alive! To think that they must many of them stay there and be burned to death! I had to leave the sight and go away to the park to find a place of rest. I began to feel pain in my feet and legs, and was suffering from hunger and thirst. On a street corner near by there was a small muddy stream of water spurt- ing up through the pavement and there many were drinking but I could not bring myself to drink it. I finally found a gro- cery store with the plate glass in the win- dows all broken, and a large number of people standing around waiting to get something to eat. I succeeded in getting a drink of water and some crackers, which cost me one dollar. I was thankful for that and made my way back to the park. By this time, the soldiers had been called out and the city was under martial law, which was a wise move on the part of the officials, as the pickpockets and thieves had already begun their work, and the dead were being robbed of their valuables. When I reached the park, a horrible sight greeted me. The place was crowded with refugees that escaped with their lives from the burning district. They had lugged all their belongings here, which they had left, such as bedding. food, trunks, and clothing. The rich and the poor were faring alike. with nothing but sorrow and sadness on 8 *ods1duURL] ueg ‘(90H deed AWA I TR General View of Business District of San Francisco. é 9 = ow Qo £ s Ll i g d 0 < £ 0 g 2 ° = » 0 3 0 Aa 9 = KC! - 1] < 3 g wn 2 © .o- gE 2 E a —_ 0 hed © xX St. Francis their faces. Little children were crying, women and men wringing their hands, cry- ing, “God help us.” They could feel the heat of the flames a few blocks away, and realized that they would have to leave soon what they thought was a place of safety. I succeeded in getting a place to sit down for the first time, on the marble slab of the Dewey monument erected to Dewey’s honor upon his entrance into Manila bay on April 13th, 1898, and dedicated by President Roosevelt, May, 1903. While sitting there | saw many pitiful sights: A whole family, mother and father and two children, were. brought by their friends dead, to the monu- ment, and laid on the steps. It was indeed pitiful. ‘I looked up and saw the city all in flames: automobiles, wagons, vehicles of all kinds rushing through the streets that were passable, to see and hear strong men, and helpless wumen crying. Then I looked up to the heavens with the smoke and flames of the burning city between, and lo, the sun was red as blood! I felt sure that the world had come to an end, and what a pity that I was alone! Then the strains of “Nearer My God to . Thee” came to me from a piano somewhere, and looking in the direction of the music, 1 saw a lady sitting at a piano that had been moved out of a shattered home to the street, playing softly and sweetly. First one and then another gathered around her, until there was quite a crowd. Then as she came to the chorus, someone began to sing the words, and we all joined in, singing the grand old hymn with saddened faces and breaking voices. But along in the afternoon, I began to wonder how I was going to spend the night. I stood up and found that I was unable to walk, for my feet had swollen and my shoes were filled with blood. But I must walk. So I started off in this crippled condition 13 to try to make my escape from the doomed city. I wanted to make Oakland, across the bay. I asked the way of a man on the street and he told me, but I found a soldier there guarding the crossing. I went to walk by, and he said, “Halt,” and pulled his gun in my direction, telling me to come back,. I readily complied with his request, but my heart nearly burst in my anguish, for 1 never felt so lonely, in my crippled condi- tion, with no one to offer a word of encour- agement, to have a young soldier level a gun at me. I went back to the park again. I was afraid to rest my feet by sitting down, fearing they would swell and I would lose their use entirely and would be stranded. Money I had, but it was a friend that I wanted just then. How I prayed for cour- age to sustain me through the strain. I knew there were many dear friends in De- troit that would gladly help me if they could only get to me. I asked still another man to tell me the way to the dock and he poin- ted me out a route through Chinatown, and I started out again. I soon met other soldiers who commanded me to turn back, but on my going to one of them and ex- plaining that I was hurt and that I wanted to get to Oakland to find a physician, he pointed me around the burned district and I started toward the dock. A poor woman was cuddled in a doorway of a large store with three little children, and one little one at the breast, with tears running down her cheeks, partly dressed, with no hat on. She had a few bundles of clothing and bedding. I forgot my own sorrows for a moment and asked her where her husband was. She said that he went out yesterday to find work and had not yet returned. I said, “Have you any money,” and she answered “A little.” I gave her a dollar, and a man who had been standing by offered another, and another became interested, and in a few minutes we had collected four dollars for her. A man with an automobile drove up and stopped at the curb, to find out the trouble. 1 asked him if he would do a kind act and take this poor woman and little children upon one of the hills away from the fire. He said he would, and did so. How many times have I been thankful that I was the means of helping at least one poor soul to safety, for after I reached Oakland I felt condemned that I had run away from the doomed city like a coward, from all those poor needy souls. In passing through Chinatown to the dock, I saw many dreadful sights, for the Chinamen, many of them, would not leave their falling houses, and hundreds of them were buried alive and many burned to death. In places also, they became frantic and nothing could per- suade them to leave the tenements when the authorities came around with dynamite to blow up the buildings, that the fire might be kept from spreading, and many of them were blown to pieces with their homes. Most of them, however, had moved out to the streets and were panic-stricken. It was getting dusk and I feared they would take my money and perhaps my life, for many believed that the white man was to blame for the dreadful calamity, so I turned back, almost giving up in despair. As 1 walked along, now very much crippled, a man said to me as I was passing, “Say, mister, don’t you want to sit down on a part of my grip? You look tired.” I thanked him for his kindness and sat down for a little rest. He said again, “Don’t you think this is a judgment on this wicked city?” I said, “No, I do not. Look at that church across the street all torn to pieces. The good and the bad, the rich and the poor, have all fared alike in this disaster. It only goes to remind us of the littleness of man and his works compared with the greatness of God 15 and His work.” The fellow shook my hand and wishing that I might be spared to meet my family, he left me. I had gone but a few blocks, meeting hundreds of people walking in the middle of the streets, as the walks were covered with bricks and broken glass, when a woman, frantic with terror, threw her a ms around me and screamed, “Oh, mister, take me with you, take me with you.” She was covered with blood and was only partly dressed, and had just escaped from a falling building. My heart almost stopped again, for I could hardly look after myself and had to shake her off. The people standing by paid little attention, as they were all rushing to a place of safety from the fire. While T was wondering what to do next the woman grasped me again, so I said tc her, “Let us sit down, my poor woman.” I took her to the window sill and we sat down, she disengaging her arms, and at that moment I slipped away. I have often wondered since, what became of her. and have been sorry that I was not able to render her the assistance she needed. Hailing a cabman I asked what he would take me to the dock for, and he said fifty dollars. The distance was about two miles. Just then another man came up and said, “If you will go to my hotel and get my wife and daughter and some baggage 1 will give you one hundred dollars.” The cabman assented. I met that same man in Oakland the next day at the Metropole hotel, and he said that he paid the cabman a hundred dollars, and two bell-boys $25.00 apiece to help with his grips. beside his fare across the bay, and he thought that he had gotten out cheap, when the price under ordinary circumstances for the whole trip would have been about oné dollar. After walking about a mile, T reached a street that went straight to the dock. On my way down this street I had a very narrow escape. The buildings were all burned down on both sides. The fire was still burning on the edge of the sidewalks so I walked in the middle of the street. A little to one side, the fire was particularly fierce, the flames shooting up into the air. and I wondered what was burning that made such a terrible fire. I was about to step nearer, when the whole street caved in, and there was nothing but a great chasm of .fire within a few feet of me. Area ways had been dug under the street and oil tanks had been placed there for fuel purposes for the factories and they had taken fire and had burned for hours. I again thought my life had been given me once more. It was dark when I reached the dock, and was told that the boats were not running on account of the dangerous condition of the wharfs for they were likely to collapse at any moment. I was not only weary, but in great pain, and completely heart-broken. After all I had endured that day, was I to at last be denied escape? But I believed that some way would be found, and my heart leaped with joy when I saw a boat approaching, and it landed near me. 1 boarded it for Oakland, glad of an oppor- tunity to sit down and rest a little. While sitting there a young man came up to me and said, “Sir, you look pale and sick. Is there anything I can do?” I said, “I do wish you could help me to get to a hotel, when we land in Oakland.” He very kindly said “Alright” and when we landed in Oak- land, we had to walk ten blocks to the hotel, for no street cars were running. I thought I would drop on the street and no doubt would have, but for the kindness of the young man. On arriving at the hotel I was told by the clerk that I could have no room, as they were all taken. He said, however, that he would give me a blanket 17 and I could sleep on the lawn. I begged for a room, telling him that I had written to them from Detroit engaging a room for next week. He asked me my name and when I told him, he said he would give me the clerk’s room for he saw that I was hart and sick. Let me say here that, this being the evening of the earthquake, every stair step to the third floor of the hotel was taken by people who kept and held them as they would a theater seat. After getting my room I bade the young man goodby and offered him a dollar. But he refused to take any money, and promised to come back the next day to see me. But he never came back. Probably he was engaged help- ing some other unfortunate. I should now like to know his name and address, and if I ever find him, he will get his reward. He acted the friend to me, and although I had money, all I wanted was a friend. They called a doctor who dressed my wounds and put me to bed. My window faced the doomed city across the bay, where the fire was still burning into the night, eating its way through the city. I could not sleep and I was in constant fear of an- other earthquake. I was reminded of my terrible experience by the bare walls of my room, with the plaster torn from them by the shock. I was thinking of my friends in Detroit, and worried about the probability of their not hearing from me, and lost no time in the morning in sending a telegram again but was told that it would not reach them for two days. I had to stay all day Thursday in bed and I lay there figuring out how to reach dear old Detroit. Toward the end of the day I hobbled down stairs and got something to eat, and made ar- rangements to leave for Detroit the next morning. Friday morning the sun was high, and the fire in Frisco was still burning. The 18 streets in Oakland were crowded with thou- sands of refugees from San Francisco, and thousands of hungry and homeless men, women and. children were standing in line at the City Hall waiting for food from the relief committee, who were giving away bread and canned goods. Large wash tubs, both wooden and galvanized, were placed on the corners of all the streets filled with water and the people went there and drank thirstily. All the churches had their doors thrown open and the seats were being used for resting places for the sick and dying and it seemed to me that the entire mem- bership had turned out that day to relieve the needy. I succeeded in getting a train Friday about noon, and this was the first step to- wards home. After leaving Oakland, at every station that we stopped at, friends boarded the train with large baskets of sandwiches, and coffee and oranges, asking anyone who wished to take all he wanted. When we arrived at Sacramento the capitai of California, where we made a half hour's stop, there were hundreds of people at the station awaiting the arrival of our train as it was the first one out from San Francisco, after the disaster. The train was cheered by hundreds of voices as the brakes brought us to a stop. It made the tears come to my eyes, and I thought of my friends in De- troit who would give me the same welcome, but alas, I was thousands of miles away from home yet. A gentleman passing through the train, seeing my distress and my crippled condi- tion, wanted to take me off the train to his home and keep me for a few days, free of charge. I thanked him, but said I would go on, asking him to send a wire to my family saying that I was on my way home. He did this without charge, and gave me his card, on which was written, “Mr. Frank 19 Brown, P. O. Dept.,, Sacramento, Cal.” 1 found friends all along the road, but the ride was tiresome. On reaching Denver, I was taken to the Brown Palace hotel, and had to stay there for three days, before I could continue my journey home. I lost no time in sending another telegram, asking if they had re- ceived any of my wires, and was happy to get back the first reply, saying they had received them all and were ready to receive me with open arms. Another doctor dressed my wounds and 1 went to bed and got my first night’s sleep since the disaster. In Chicago, my wife met me at the depot. She had come from Detroit to give me the first greeting.. We arrived in Detroit that night and quickly drove to our home at 172 Park Street, where my daughter had the house all aglow with electric lights, and the table spread with a bountiful supper, to welcome me home. The earthquake could not have happened at a better time of the day, 5:15 in the morning, just at the peep of day, as it gave the people all day to escape with their lives, and many cases with food and clothing, whereas, had it happened at night, or at any time during business hours, thousands and thousands more lives would have been lost, as the people would have been in their buildings and offices and thousands killed on the streets by falling walls and build- ings. This Earthquake is an event that will be a part of our history and is considered the greatest calamity that has ever befallen any American city. But San Francisco is being rebuilt and within a short time she will again stand as the Queen of the West. GEO. P. WAY. . fg Ary 5 1367-5 STAFFORD PAINTING COMPANY, ° . GETROIT. Retake of Preceding Frame "END OFTITLE END OF REEL. "PLEASE ~ REWIND.