A TERRIBLE DISASTER

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIV, Issue 17, 26 April 1906, Page 3

A TERRIBLE DISASTER

EARTHQUAKE AT SAN FRANCISCO {views was received m this Colony on Thursday that San Francisco had been visited on the previous day by a violent earthquake, which ruined the greater part ot the business quarters ot the city, this being lollowed by hres ■ winch bro^e out in various directions, causing immense destruction ot property. Owing to ihe destruction of the cable and telegraph offices only very fragmentary items of information were available at hrst, and the estimate of the number who perished iwas given at 15UU persons. In times ot panic the losses ot lite and property are almost invariably exaggerated,- ajid it was thought suoh was the case an this occas.on, 'but> unfortunately it turned out to be the reverse, ag later messal^qs s i et down the l^oss of human lite at 10,UUU persons, and the damage is estimated at iiIiu.UUU.UUu, a sum sufficient to liquidate the public debt oi .New Zealand. As the disaster occurred between live and six o'clock in the morning, most ot the residents were asleep, and they rushed Horn their beds into the streets in their night attire. At tins time tiuildings were tottering and crashing, while there were showers of falling chimneys, cornices, and walls, crushing and mangling many people. -The terror and excitement are mdescrioable. It only tcok three minutes to turn a great part ot the city into a mass of debris. The first shock was so severe that tali building^ rocked like poplars in a storm. Ihe gasworks blew up with an awtul report, and the escaping gas and the sewage trom the broken mains created a tearful stench, which it was .learecf would cause an epidemic, 'ihe escape ot gas caused hres to start in various directions, and uwin ; to the bursting ot the water mains the authorities were powerless to arrest the progress of the conflagration, with the result that hundreds of blu-il dings thaH withstood the earthquake shocks succumbed Mo une lires. 'ihe hremen tried to stop tile progress of the hres 'by dynamiting whole blocks of buildings, but, owing to a strong wind and want of water, their efforts were of little avail. The business quarter, with its immense warehouses, hotels, banks and public olhces, rand the cheap tenement quarter, "with, its crowded population, were the hrst to iall a prey to the conflagration, which in a short time had extended over an area ot eight square milos. The following are the latest details :—: — The havoc extends everywhere within a radius of IUO nines trom San Francisco. Many ot the richest banks and commercial houses in Montgomery street were and hundreds of people were roasted in the debris. Keuter states that it is impossible to trace individuals in the present confusion, but the Englishmen and toreigners who were staying at the big hotels are doubtless safe. The casualties so tar are confined to thi {Oorer tenement section. General Funston has telegraphed to President Roosevelt stating that 29,1), 0UU people are homeless, ana that fuod and tents scarce. Ail the Government buildings have been destroyed. Every building in the business part of the district and netaxiy half the residential section are destroyed. No large building is left startling. 'Jhe greatest Joss of life occurred in South Market street. Six hundred bodies have been recovered. The Jesuit 'Jhurch and College of St. Ignatius, which cost 2,01MJ.0"'0 dollars, were demolished. The l Daily Mail ' purlishos an Oakland despatch stating that 10,000 people have been killed and an equal number injured.

The fire insurance risks amount to £50,000,000. The Brit/ish otiices are the hardest hit. The commander of the San Francisco Fire Brigade stated on Thursday evening that more than two-thuds oi the city had been destroyed. It was decided on Friday to dynamite all the residences on the east side of Van Ness avenue, between U olden Gate and Pacific avenues, a distance of a mile. This is the most iashionable quarter. Despite the dynamiting of a mile of residences on the east side of Van Ness avenue, the hre spread to the westward, involving the whole of the millionaires' mansions and the suburbs. Great guns bombarded the millionaires' quarter for hours, and unsparing destruction was wrought. Eventually the progress of the fire was stopped. The Mayor of San Francisco hopes that one fourth of the city will be saved, chiefly the suburbs, but the best and richest sections have been destroyed. Arrangements have been made to bake 50,000 loaves daily in the undamaged area, also to deliver daily 10,000,000 gallons of water. The disaster to the Agnew Asylum is minimised. Eleven (officecst and a.tte.ndanls w^re killed, and 120 injured. Fifty-five patients were killed, and 130 injured. Several New York firms have each subscribed from £20(10 to £15,000. All cities are viemg, in their contriboit.kms, agid already 10,000,000 dollars have ke>en raised. The Hamburg-American line cabled offering a gift of £5000, but 'President Roosevelt declined the offer with warm thanks, the Cabinet having decided that foreign assistance is not needed in view of the bountiful response made by Americans. The Dominion House of Parliament has voted 100,000dol, and the San Frafncisco, Carnegie, and Standard Oil Trusts have each donated 100,000dol. The Right Hon. the Premier has cabled his sympathy to the President), and has offered to forward £5000 to thy relief fund, on behalf of the people of New Zealand. Catholic Statistics. ' San Francisco is one ol me gre^t archdioceses of the cnitea £> uites, anu v is noted ior Uie number oi its bjuautiiul cnurui^s, Laihoiic colleges, and mbiiiuies oi chanty, as vie arciiuiocese uoes not cover a Ikrgq aiea, coiiijjiacauveiy speaking, forming a strip along the coast Loih nortn and south oi ban Francisco, and therefore wuhin the zone of the ternble visitation^ it 16 to Le teared that it has sunered a loss whicli wih not >Le fully repaired tor many years, 'lhe present archbishop is me Most Key. PairicK William Riordan, D.D., who was consecrated Coadjutor-Archuishop in 1&«3, and succeeded the late Dr. Alemany in the following year. The Catholic population ol the archdiocese is nearly 250,000 and as the greater part of this was located in the city and the adjoining towns, all of which sufiered from the awful catastrophe, it is to be feared that many hundreds of our co-religionists have been swept into eternity with very little warning, whilst num.bers who escaped this fate have .been rendered homeless, and have lost their all in the terrible conflagration, lhe clergy of the archdiocese (secular ami regular) numbered 280 ; churches, 160. There are 17,000 pupils in \he parochial schools (boys and girls), 96 students in the ecclesiastical seminaries, 1700 children in the orphan asylums, 250 inmates in industrial and reform schools, there being 25 ( ,0(00 children altogether under Catholic care. The other charitable institutiens include an infant asylum, protectory for boys, deaf-mute asylum, three hospitals, home for aged poor, etc. Among the religious Orders of men in the archdiocese are the Jesuit Fathers, whese fine church and college (St. Ignatius') have been destroyed ; Marist Fathers and Marist Brothers. Franciscans, and Dominicans'. The Sisiten of Mercy have a Magdalen asylum, hospital, home for the aesed, and schools in the city; the Sisters of St. Dominic have a ccnvent, conduct an academy, and nave schools in the city : the Sisters of St. Joseph are at Oakland, across the harbor. Other religious Orders having houses in the city and suburbs are the Sisters of Charity, Sisters of Notre Dame, Ladies of the Sacred Heart. There were over 300 students in the J-esuit College (St. Ignatius'). Of the churches. 35 are situated within the city limit. Nearly one-hair of the clergy were attached to the citr . churches or were connected wrth the colleges,. The staff of the Jesuit College consisted of 25 professors, and the studpnts lumbered "jver 300. Of the Catholic news^apprs published in S?n Francisco, the ' Monitor ' is tho best known and Ihe roost generally quoted by its contemporaries. As its offices

were situated in Mission street, it' is to be feared that it had overtaken by the general ruin which v seems, befell everything in that district. On Friday evening (says the Christchurch 'Press'), though busily occupied in preparations for his visit to Europe, his Lordship Bishop Grimes courteously accorded an interview to a member of the ' Press ' staff on the subject of the Church of St. Ignatius in San FranSoytd ISI reporled t0 be amongst the buildings l AVhjen I way in San Francisco in 1898, said the it happened to be the Patronal Feast of the Church of fet. Ignatius. The Jesuit lathers asked me to sine Pontifical Mass in the church, and I did so. The church which was situated on Hayes street, was a beautiful ? fi» H1?H 1 ? n ? the Cathedra l of San Francisco but it deserved to he from the majestic character c the J?n &H S / ng Pontlfical M *ss on the Feast Day as requested, and one of the staff of the Jesuit College composed some excellent Latm verses in my honor. In these reference was made to New Zealand, and to mv rW r h T'- Ther f a college connected with iZ and S«^T gg + a Sta /L° f 21 P r ° fe ss°rs, 12 scholastics? Jnf f students. After this, I visited San Jose, and one cf the professors took me over the Lick ObservaPhf&* IV 6 refe F Feee £ cc to th ? museum in Christchurch, which he sa>d he had heard was a very fine one ITie Marist Fathers have aWe parish in sL Fvlt ci-co, with churches, schools, etc. As these were situ-