EIGHT SQUARE MILES OF FERE.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12483, 20 April 1906, Page 7

EIGHT SQUARE MILES OF FERE.

FLAMES WHICH OVERLEAPT ALL BARRIERS.

THOUSANDS OF BUILDINGS DESTROYED. GREAT LOSS OF LIFE IN |THE TENEMENTS. (Received April lStTi;~ll.9 p.m.) LONDON, April 19. Many of the buildings which withstood the earthquake Shocks succumbed to fire. At eigfrt o'clock last -raghit the fires extended over an area of eight square miles, involving several hundred city fclooks. The damage dan© by fire amounted at that time to at least 100,000,000 dollars. The district surrounded by Vallejo, Howard, East, and Sansome streets, embracing almost the whole of the wholesale dfatridt, was swept clean.by fire. The dfctriet 'bounded by Market, Eighth, and Folsom streets were also devastated. This included most of the fines* and most substantial bnii'ldings in the city. Crevices six feet wide opened' in several of the streets, entire sidewalks were torn up, a.nd tramway tracks twisted into sbra-nge shapes. The Palace Hotel,- the largest in the city, and famous throughout the world for its great size, was burnt. Two ships anchored in the bay were sunk. The continuation of the shocks in the afternoon, caused a flight from the city. Thousainoß of buildings were destroyed. The greatest loss of life occurred in the cheap tenements near the water front Tho ©as and water supplies woj wrecked, and the- firemen w.ere powerless to check the flames, which leapt at barriers. Block after block in Lower Market stnx-et, tihe main thoroughfare, was destroyed, and » number of htage buildings in Edtiy street collapsed. One of these hitter w.is a dodjgKig house, and 200 people were killed by its destruction). The chief of the fire brigade perished in the ruins. The offices of the newspapers "CaM." "Examinor," and '•Chron.iclo" were destroyed, also the Western Union Postal and Telegraph Offices, the Grand Opera Hoiiwe, the Pacific States Telephone Exchange, tlio llialto Store, the Mutual life Office, the Anglo-California Bank, and tho Fish Market.