AN ACTOR'S EXPERIENCES.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12506, 19 May 1906, Page 11

AN ACTOR'S EXPERIENCES.

«A GREAT SOCIAL LEVELLER

(special to "rne pr*ss.")

AUCKLAND, May 18. William Collier, the eminent American actor, who was on the point of 1 ving jf;in Francisco for Australia tciien tho earthquake occurred, eaid:— ••The diMiit' , ' - ban been a great aocwl lpvelier, it spared neither claj-e nor creed- I Wiis laying et ,fl ° iit - francis Hotoi when it happened—l was asleep, in iact —but I was rudely awakpnod by twing pitched out of bed n«ht across in l o * bathroom next to my room. I was bruised a bit, but n-.vt ),:irt much. Tho whole building wae * n ,o7iDg—wriggling to to upeak. All h round wero to Ik) hoard the thunder of tdllin2 buildings, the elu'iekts aud grooiw or tho injured aud vying. Ha,if an 1 hour after the earthquake a firo broko out in the hotel. VVa all wett out '' and sat in a little park opposite ttio hotel, with as much baggage ac we ' could carry in our hands. We all bad to sleep iv tho little park, for nobody flKjUgfamof sleeping under a roof ni"hc. Then we tramped out to liol<ieu Gate park. I shall never forgei the ecene there ac long ais 1 live. Kiiormous crowds 01 men, women and little children wcro ther<.—e»onie lying iK«oefuUy asleep, others* iJttiuy on VHm ■'rikss Kwayiua u>. ujiU fro uiitiaci*Ki, iiuuy weeping lor tuma one wuo woa iii*rtiog, ijoniape killed in tno juiu ot / Uie city. jUinietere of religion div tlicir bust to comfort tho In Mime ca«3s servious were nel<i la tho ' nuns of the wrecked chuicueti. The worst teat ure of the dieaeujr wan biuort- ; jute of tno lood supply, and tiie luuiri\i[Mon of the water supply, ior all the pipes had burst. liwiie was an tnormous amount of buJioring amoug ' tho very poor, and even ihe woaiuuier . clajjGee Uau to euifer too, for goode were ■ et enormous prioee immeduiteiy, anil oarters charged a pretty penny tor removal ot goode. bo btift were the demands, tjiat many people had to leavo their things to chajice in the (.treete. " Well, on leaving U olden Gate park we went over to Owkjantl. Wo could

get no cables through, nor receive any. ur' course wo wero all snort of money,

and tho banks did no business. Aβ a matter of fact, I lost, in American and English gold, about £ouo. Wo had no clothes, excepting those into Wiiiah wo had jumped when we got out of bed --or, I fchould say, when wo wece thrown out of bed. We waited over in Oakland, and the first wire wo got from headquarters wae, ' You leave for Vancouver.' We gathered a. httlo money to buy a few little things for tiho trip. My lose had been very heavy. All our properties wero stored ab tho hotel, and all tho dreases of the company were among them, but the nro burned everything. Luckily the scenery wee to be made in Australia, tx> vre wero eparod that loss. Tiie memory of San Prancisco immediately

filter tho earthquake will never ibo effaced from my mind. The hotel St. Francis ie, or was, a great high brick building, but it rocked about like a cork in the water. When I rushed <!<r,vii*-<airs and reached tho vestibule I

huird a sharp crack above mo, and theio clattered down at my heels a great chandelier. I was hit by a few fnaglncnts, and) ifc was a very close ehavo,

for the thing wae about 15 feet acrcee,

T!iere were no elevators at work in tho lmlel, and I had , to got down six flights of «to ins as quickly as I could. I think ereryono got out of the building all right—l know all our company did, for . which lam very thankful. It was most fortunate for us that the hotel had a little park in front of it in which wo •ould take refuge, for I believe many persona lost their lives when rushing out tjai the hotels, being crushed by falling masonry and ironwork. The loss of my rerap-book, with Press notices, k one of tne greatest misfortunes that could happen, because they are irreplaceable, but I am thankful to have got away pafely, end thnt no raembor of my company has suffered any loss that cannot oo replaced." Mr Collier remarked, that Americans nre thoroughly in earnest in everything, but in nothing more than tho enforcement: of martial hnv. Tho military in Kan Francisco gave short shift to looters, nor did they argue with anybody—if a man did not etop< when spoken to, lie was ehot there «uid then. The troops, police, and special constables received orders to shoot any rebellious person, ' find they executed their instructions to tlie letter. Officers with drawn revolvers foreod citizens to work, whether they wantwi to or not, and no distinc- ; tion was made between rich or poor. Mr Collier lost eleven trunks, but he saved . lii-s jewcll-pry. Mias Collier, who travels with the cjynpany, drew a. touching picture of tho lionielcßj in the rmrbl. "Yes," she enid, "they wore all brave. Ono man who vas selling coffee at 25 cents a cup, i without milk and .sugar, was doing a roaring trade in Golden Gate park. —o

.was making his coffee on a gasoline fctove. Then someone raised the cry j <«at ho was selling Government bread, I provided for the moneyless refugees. Hβ denied it, but a crow<l gathered "quickly and then a military officer forced his way through the crowd, revolver in 3iand. The repeated his etory, but the officer said "Give the i>eople tho coffee, and semi in your claim tfl tho Government," The people had to obey tne military. If they did not, woJl. — A Japanese, who for some reason fired "<» the soldiers, took refuge behind svn automobile, and held the men at bay until he was despatched. -"1 think tho people n« a whole realised that sucli etern measures as were ■taken were for their benefit. At any r*te, the majority of them readily ao-qaiesce-d in evorythi-j; that was done to ■maintain order, and considering the terrible ordeal through which they had i *»pas"wd, they behaved spiendidlv, and as J V *H as one exprcts Americans ' -to behave in a tune of nation;;! disaster. Almost immediately after the, Earthquake had urought t!n> city to i"nins, there was talk of rebuilding; even . /while the flames were sweeping away *wcks nt ji time. The San Franei.*:**n's ere pos;=efi>s«d of any amount of arid their prediction Ih;it a larger * n 4' nobler city will arise cut of the i *»W will. I "have not tho elightast «*Mtbt, be fulfilled."