CROWDS OF REFUGEES.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12506, 19 May 1906, Page 10

CROWDS OF REFUGEES.

SHELTER AT OAKLAND

"The only other route was to Oakland, a large town on the buy opposite San Francisco, and about iix miles away.' J I was imported to be> choked with refusees, aud no accommodation was possible-. Even in wn Jose, nUy miles from the city, the stricken people were flocking in, many bearing tign* of pergonal injury, and there were not roots lor them all. . ••However, I went on, trusting to find temporary hospitality from an old hehool maty. Mr Morris Isaacs, fonnody ot Dumdin, who has been living at OakLand tor many years, and I was not di:i|ip.;int«l. 1 had not seen him lor iiin'.v years. Ha house was already mil/but he found room for mc, and 1 (~-t about reaching the city. Anyone v.is allowed to go out of it. but no I one to go in without a. pats troui the i Covcrnor of California. 1 went to his i ..dice, and found hundreds in a qucuo I waiting their turn. At the telegraph I oflico there was tho same sight—no i chance for hours even of getting a cable •nonage to New Z«i!aad. By Uie good services of tho staff in the •Bulletins' ! local office a {xass to srciired. 1 eroded the bay. and late in the afternoon m>i foot in the .still burning s:':y. S\N FRANCISCO'S PALL OF SMOKE.

"From Oakland, and even from the water front or Sun Francisco nothing could bo been. A thick pail of smoke covered everything, and the position was like that often .seen in Now Zealand dining heavj bush fires. Indeed, all the way from Santa Cruz the air had been thick with smoke. Tho great Ferry building was still standing, its lofty tower denuded of some of its wall, and its flag-nolo broken, but not visibly much hurt by the earthquake, and untouched by fire. It stands right at tho bottom of Market street, the main thoroughfare of the city, of which it was justly proud. Starting from the water it (roughly speaking), bisected the main portion of San Fiancieco, and stretched 120 ft wido. For more than two miles on tho left or south Ride, tho ground is mainly flat, and is mcetJy occupied by a humble section of the population. On tho right it swells into low, but often very steep hills, covered with block upon block of tine residences, while on both sides of Market street, in immediately ad.yining streets, especially to tile north; have been erected large, costly buildings, each representing millions of dollars." FIGHTING THE FLAMES. "It was hoped on Wednesday, even when the fire had gathered strength and assumed proportions, that the conflagration would not crass this grand avenue. Doubtless it could have been stopped had there been water enough, but stones rolling from the hillside crushed the principal main where it enters the city, and there ivero too many tree to cope with at once without an abundance of water. "As I stepped out of the Ferry building the smoke was blinding, and ashes were falling fast, driven before the strong wind. Though it was reported that the fire was under control and practically extinguished, it was still, sixty hours after the earthquake, raging fiercely in one corner, and was not actually checked till three in the morning. It had crept round the hill, and spread until it had wiped out every building on it. It then lodged itself in the big lumber yards and factories on the water's edge. "Aided by fire tugs, firemen, soldiers, and enilore fought desperately to prevent it fastening on the wharves. These had suffered badly by the earthquake. Many of the sheds had collapsed, nnd the piles had canted, but the fire had not touched them, and if they were now licked up the ruin of the port would indeed have become complete. More than once the contest was almost given up, but human endurance proved stronger than the fire, and it was stopped some distance from the Ferry building, but not before a portion of the wharves was destroyed. So great wa6 the heat that, from this direction, you could not get within a mile of the scene. Further, on people were coming away bearing strings of fowls and other provisions. When it was Keen that the storehouses her© could not be saved they were thrown open, and everyone was allowed to oarry away all they could—and badly they needed it, poor people. "On emerging into the open, and getting temporarily clear of the smoke, I looked round in bewilderment. Market street was not recognisable by ' a stranger, for all its eiz-s, and I had to ask my way. In turn my informant be-gged mc to give him my handkerchief. He was a young doctor who, in the hurry and excitement, 'had forgotten to wear any badge, and had Been fired on twice by patrols. Jie wanted the handkerchief to tie on hus arm."