San Francisco

Woodville Examiner, Volume XXII, Issue 3877, 23 May 1906, Page 3

San Francisco

ANOTHER. ACCOUNT. The most exciting earthquake story was told by Mr Stewart, a member of Mr Collier’s Theatrical Company. “Have you ever been in a haunted room you sometimes get in an exhibition P” asked be. “ That was what it felt like. The whole place shook with strong firm pulls from side to side, but 1 kept my presence of mind, and called out to my sister, ‘Don’t be frightened ; it’s only an earthquake ; go to sleep again.’ Then the ceiling began to fall in bits and the walls bend and crack. In 48 seconds, as I learned afterwards, it was oyer. It is only as 1 talk that hundred of incidents come crowding in upon me. I saw a man in hia undershirt crawl down a waterpipe of a wrecked house in which everyone else had been killed. Despite their own sufferings, the crowd were unselfish enough to cheer the poor refugees. Many of the women were sick all day long through a series of minor earthquakes, and the number of lesser . afflictions was endless. I saw two men shot for looting—the first for, cutting a ring off a dead woman’s finger, and the second was a man who was offered four or five dollars to carry some baggage. He demanded twenty, saying,‘lam out for stuff.’ ‘ Oh, are you P’ said a soldier, who was standing by, and

shot him dead. 1 never saw such a eight as that in Sacramento Square. People living near brought out their beds, but others, like ourselves, had to put up with the hare ground, and from these I counted 19 tires, each a block wide, sweeping impressively over the city, wondering when it would get us. A wonderfully pathetic sight was the hauling of endless boxes up the terrific bills which are so common about ’Frisco. For nights afterwards my sister bus been haunted at night by that sound of dragging trunks. Mr Stewart was also enthusiastic with regard to the Oakland people, and be told in this connection a delightful story. A ruined waiter from San Francisco came into the restaurant and said he was starving and asked for a job, adding that he had four children dependent on him. The proprietor said he had bad hundreds already, and conld do nothing for him. Another waiter was standing by and asked, “How many children?” “Four.” “Well, I’ve only two,” and be took off bis apron and gave it to the refugee. One more instance, said Mr Stewart. The Oakland shops with every opportunity to charge famine prices, actually put up these notices, “ Prices materially lowered on account of the general distress.”

CHINATOWN LOOTED. la spite of the efforts of the regular troops to check looting, robbers raided the Chinese quarter. “ Chinatown was looted yesterday,” says the Examiner of April 28. “ The place was looted by hundreds of relic hunters, people who three days ago would have shot down a man had he so much as touched his hand to a piece of valuable property. It was not long until the riff-raff of society learned what was going on in the locality recently occupied by the celestials. Then it was that thousands thronged that portion of the city which has long been given over to the opium pipe and the joss house. A tinge of respectability was given to the action of the looters by the presence of a lot of men in uniform. They seemed to encourage the workers to go deeper into the ruins. Men and women joined the ranks and Luge sacks of melted bronzes were carried away. It was the chinaware that attracted most. Some wise mortal among the motley crowd gave out the word that all china to be valuable must bo thoroughly burnt and that ware that would stand the fearful blaze that followed the earthquake would be enhanced ten times in value. It was the soldiers that got this cue first—that is the men who wore the khaki uniform and had done duty as national guardsmen. Everybody grabbed for the valuable china. There was a march of fully a thousand men to the late after? noon boats. They carried no end of valuable relics from Chinatown. One party of sis men had no less than 1000 dollars worth of ware, which they offered for sale on the boats. Plates brought three dollars a piece, tea cups two dollars, while pitchers and tea pots brought anywhere from two dollars to fifteen dollars. One individual, prompted by the good prices offered, for the loot, opened •two wicker baskets filled with the •best the Chinese Empire ever sent out in the way of ware. He came to grief, for then it was that the ferry travellers realised that the man and bis possessions could not be above suspicion. In the rush that followed the better portion of the ware was broken. • A detachment of regular troops arrived on the scene, and Seized ten men in the uniform of the National Guard. These individuals had several thousand dollars’ worth of chinaware in their possession. A warning was issued that looters would be shot when caught,”