The San Francisco call. [volume], April 22, 1906, Page 1, Image 1

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
Temporary Of fiVe x
of The Cah^j.
1651 Filln>ore Street^
VOLUME XCIX-NO. 143.
SWIRL OF FIRE ENDS
AND HOPE RUNS HIGH
•People s Ochji^ §^ as the
I The fire has been stopped/ Relief wor^ outlook is bright.
Work of clearing the city has begun. The people are co-uragepus and cheerful Those who have not
reached homes of relatives or f rinds'^li^^^^^jß^S^|(^s^ii2| The situation is one of hope.
GREAT FIRE
STOPPED AT
CITY FRONT
Conflagration That Has Raged
Three Days Is at Last
At an End.
Saving of Wharves and Ferry
Building Accomplished
by Fire Boats.
Fire Department Loses Houses
and Apparatus, and Many
. of Its Hose Lines.
\u25a0Shortly after dawn yester
day morning the conflag
ration that brought suffering
and ruin \u25a0to San Francisco
reached Its limits and con
cluded Its work of destruction'
After raging for a. period of
three days, fought desperate
ly, In faco of Its tremendous
advantage. It subsided when
It had reduced hundreds of
blocks of valuable property to
ashes and rendered over 250
000 people homeless,
• .Dynamite accomplished the
Avork of staying of the flames on
V^n Ness avenue and in the Mis
sion District The water front
checked the hurricane of fire
pn the" north and east, while
Channel street served to good ad
vantage on the south- The area
• of ashes and desolation runs south
of Market street from the water
front along Channel as far west
as" Twenty-second, between Bry
ant-and Dolores streets. On the.
north of Market it extends beyond
Van ' Ness avenue as far as La
guiia street in Hayes Valley, but
• it continues along the line of Van
Ness avenue north of Golden Gate
avenue, except for a distance of
five blocks, where it reached
Franklin street It is bounded on
the north and east by the waters
of the bay.
In' this vast territory but few
buildings remain. Several sur
mcdint the summits of Russian
and Telegraph hills and scattered
about in the heart of the ruins are
a lew more. The appraisers'
building stands on Washington
street, though fire was all around
it. and a short distance up the
«. building known as the Washing
ton block, withstood the fire un
der the same conditions. On low
er' Howard street a large struc
ture was untouched and along the
The San Francisco Call.
witter front several warehouses
and factories resisted the fury of
the destroyer.
LAST STAND OF FIREMEN.
The last stand taken by the
firemen was on the water front
and ferry building, which latter
seemed doomed late Friday night
Fire and tug boats were utilized
ia keeping down the blaze which
swept around Telegraph Hill
from the wharves that extend
from Lombard street. The nu
merous streams of salt water
thrown upon the blazing struc
tures subdued the fire and saved
the sheds. Then the great blaze
had exhausted itself and the fire
fighters withdrew. The fire had
been stopped at Van Ness avenue
late Friday night
Just east of Telegraph Hill a
cluster of buildings, including the
Astt Colony's wine warehouse, the
plant of the American Canning
Company and the Merchants' Ice
and Cold Storage Company, es
caped destruction. The branch
freight office of the Southern Pa
cific Company was also spared
and a number of freight cars on
the Belt Railroad were moved
from time to time and saved. The
contents of these cars were taken
by the Government and hauled to
the food headquarters. About ioo
cars were burned on sidetracks
and adjacent freight landings at
the foot of Broadway.
REMOVING THE DEBRIS.
Work of clearing away the de
bris from the principal thorough
fares used for transportation be
tween the ferry and the inhabited
districts was begun yesterday.
The military authorities pressed
men into service and heaps of
brick and other wreckage Were
moved from the center of the
streets. Trolley and other wires
were taken down by the Board of
Electricity, and the work of tear-
22. 190 a
ing down dangerous walls will be
gin very soon. The Government
will undertake the task of remov
ing the bulk of the wreckage.
This will occupy a great deal of
time and will give employment to
a large number, of men. The
street repairs will be attended -to,,
by the Board of ; Public Works
and the street railway companies.
Many of the thoroughfares are in
extremely bad condition, dve \u25a0\u25a0 to
the earthquake, and in the burned
district the street railways .will all
have to be rebuilt; Tracks are
warped and twisted and : cable
slots closed. The rolling stockof
a number of lines, including:. the
Powell, Jackson, Sacramento,-
California, O'Farrell, Sutter': and
Union street lines, together -with
their power houses, were cprh
plef ely destroyed. " ' \ ,
DEPARTMENT^ CRIPPLED^
After, the fight to save the ferry;
bir'lding^and; the "wharves^ had
been won by the fire fighters ; Ghief.
Shaughnessy found "the .depart
ment in a dilapidated.; condition-
Twelve ' engine : houses had .' been :
iqif Areas|pf City Rex
V duced to Ruins by Flames.
destroyed and the; Central fire
alarm station was' out 6i) exist
ence. There were several engines
and? hose wagons lost, along the
; two • sections of the seawall when
the fire •swept from North' Beach.
Th c ) flames approached \so rapidly
thf t ; the^ firemen ; were; obliged- to;
abandon the machines and run : : for
their -Hves to places of "safety. &
large nnumberr -r of - - horses ; \vere
killed and' some of the engines are
badly scbrclied and put » outf -of
commission. , As ; soon as the -tele-;
plione -service isr restored^in| the;
aty,vit^will;;be^ui;iliz:eci /.for^Ttiie
sending >in- of \ alarms - .until . the
Board • of ; Electricity {can secure a
l tew 'CerirraK station.','; J ; ': ' ' :;;< ,V -.:'
•The' department isalso sadly- in
need of ; hose;!; ;Tnousands .of Tf eet '
were , destroyed {during the '\u25a0\u25a0:con
flagration - arid ' but little ' is; avail-:
able for; use. ; Yesterday .. ' Chief
Shaughnessy telegraphed to Los
Angeles, Sacramento.; and" Oak
land for chemicals with which to
charge the tanks of the chemical
engines. Small fires 1 , still blaze
among the ruins ' and the: depart
ment, in the absence of a water
supply, "must rely 'on its chemical
engines to extinguish them.
The population of the ] last dis
trict . to\be destroyed . spread ; :in
many directions.; Most of .the
poorer 'classes 7are ; destituteV and
helpless andibut little of -their per
sonal -effects were saved. Fisher
men's..wharf -', was not
and' Meiggs wharf survived.* Both
of j these; are \u25a0 crowded vyy ith; human
ity. -Many people;haye taken ref
uge along, the waten front.-but the
biilk'.bf people- from this.district is
quartered on -.vacant lots and *at
Fort Mason:
:|S p^ACE/ OF REFUGE.
There: are- two public . squares
in ,the'idistrirt~Was|iihgton ;and
\u25a0Pcrtsmquth-^the'; latter opposite
the 'Hall ; of Justice.*. *It \u25a0 J is!,.- in
charge -; of :'.'. Sergeant
/Taylor and contains many;
of tHe Police : Depaitmeht'recoiilsw;
With the assistance of many brave
policemen and citizens, who have
remained with him since Wednes
day afternoon, Taylor has estab
lished a model place of refuge,
kiried the dead, while fire raged
around, and fed thousands who
were victims of the disaster.
'The Chinese and Japanese pop
ulation, for the most part, have
decamped. The few that loiter
in the vicinity of their homes are
fed in 'the square, but the major
ity stampeded to Oakland and
huddled into the heathen quarter
cf that city. They are. cared for
by their fellow-countrymen and
by the various relief committees.
-j A. police officer, a sailor and
John C. . Ennis of Company. E,
First Artillery, prevented the fire
from crossing- Van Ness avenue
at California street at the risk of
their lives." .They extinguished a
rmall. blaze on the corner of the
building and would have saved
the structure had not the fire come
from the south.
Thousands
Homeless
Fierce Flames ; Sweep • Over
Two Towns i n . the ; Prov
ince of -Rizal.
Government Officials Rush Aid
ho 'the Many Starving; and
Shelterless Natives.
WASHINGTON. April 2Lr— The War
Department received : the , following ca
blegram from General -Wood, at Manila,
dated . today: ; . ; *"
\' z "Fires ; swept the : town of Mariqulna
In Rizal \u25a0 Ptovince. j Many, tho- lands are
homeless ; and \u25a0 and ; houses are
ruined., s . The Govern 111 *^ rushing as
sistance to the soGerers. Fire also de
stcai-ed Paail near tho town of Ccbu."
Oakland Office I
of The Call,
1016 Broadway.
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
MEN SHOOT
FIENDS WHO
TRY TO ROB
Three Are Killed by the Sol
diers Guarding the Sub-
Treasury. _ _i£>
Son/of Ji P. Riordan Is Shot
University: of California Stu
dent Receives a Bullet
> Wound in Thigh.
Three men were shot and killed by;
the guards of the feabtreasury on Com
mercial street last night The men
were attempting to " tear away the
bricks . near one corner of the building.
When ordered to throw up their hands
and give an account of themselves
they attempted to escape. The guards
at once shot them down.
The troops guarding the Hibernia
Bank building at Jones and McAllister'
streets found four nten attempting to
j break into the building. The soldiers
j captured them without firing and
turned the men over to their superior
officers.* They will be court-martialed.
Looters broke into SchoenfelcTs gro
cery, on Octavla street, near Geary,
yesterday tfternoon. "Women tried in
get some of the provisions, but meo,
after liquor trampled them down. Ser
geant Giovanessl and a detail of tea
men from Company B, Sixth Regiment,
were passing the place on their way to
Fontana's warehouse, and* some # of the
women appealed to the sergeant. He
immediately ordered his men to clear
the place. J. B. JUordan. son of the
real estate agent, who lives In the
neighborhood, grabbed the gun of one
of the guardsmen and called nim a "tin,
soldier.** Riordan was shot at once. He
died in a carriage containing Father
Yorke and a party, into which he was
lifted. !
An unknown workman employed; at
the Gerson Tanning Company on "Web
ster street, near McAllister, was oh-hla
way home yesterday morning, and was
ordered to halt by " a sentry. The
workman explained that his wife was
dying and he wanted to see her, and
tried to pass. The sentry shot at him
but missed, and the workman ran back
to the tannery.
JAPANESE THIEF IS SHOT.
Shanto Komata, a Japanese, was
shot early yesterday morning ln> Lau
rel Hill Cemetery' by one of the Uni
versity of California cadets. He was
holding up some of his fellow-coun- .
trymen and relieving them of their
valuables.
-'\u25a0 "Wong Hung Chang was killed oa
McAllister street," between Gough and
Octavia streets, yesterday morning by -
a guard while he was going through
a trunk. • Wing Lee, a companion
of the robber, stood at a distance from
the scene of the crime. He was placed
under arrest.
"Fred Kohler, a - twenty-three-year
old youth, murdered an aged man
named : Prlngle on Melggs wharf about
6:30 o'clock last night. Conflicting
stories are told about the cau-es which
led to the killing. Police Corporal Wil- ,
11am Ferguson captured Kohler and
charged him with murder at the Park,
police station.
Kohler says Pringle objected to hia
rowing away a skiff from the wharf.
The lad and ' bis brother Jumped Into
the'boat and were rowing out into the
stream when, Kohler alleges, Pringta
Continued on Page 2, Coiuum 1.