
Earthquake and famine, fire and sudden death-these are the destroyers that men fear when they come singly; but upon the unhappy people of California they came together, a hideous quartette, to slay human beings, to blot from existence the wealth that represented prolonged and strenuous effort, to bring hunger and speechless misery to three hundred thousand homeless and terror-stricken people. The full measure of the catastrophe can probably never be taken.
Preface
Excerpt
The summary cannot be made amid the panic, the confusion, the removal of ancient landmarks, the complete subversion of the ordinary machinery of society. When chaos comes, as it did in San Francisco, and all the channels of familiar life are closed, and human anguish grows to be intolerable, compilation of statistics is impossible, even if it were not repugnant to the feelings. And when order is once more restored, after the lapse of many weeks, months and perhaps years, the details of the calamity have merged into one undecipherable mass of misery which defies the analyst and the historian. It is the purpose of this book faithfully to record the story of these awful days when years were lived in a moment and to preserve an accurate chronicle of them, not only for the people whose hearts yearn in sympathy to-day, but for their posterity.
Other frightful catastrophes the world has known. The earthquake which dropped Lisbon into the sea in 1755, and in a moment swallowed up twenty-five thousand people, was perhaps more awful than the convulsion which has brought woe to San Francisco. When Krakatoa Mountain, in the Straits of Sunda, in 1883, split asunder and poured across the land a mighty wave, in which thirty-six thousand human beings perished, the results also were more terrible.
The whirlwind of fire which consumed St. Pierre, in the Island of Martinique, and the devastation wrought by Vesuvius a few days previous to that at San Francisco, need not be used for comparison with the latter tragedy, but they may be referred to, that we may recall the fact that this land of ours is not the only one which has suffered.
But since the western hemisphere was discovered there has been in this quarter of the globe no violence of natural forces at all comparable in destructive fury with that which was manifested upon the Pacific coast. The only other calamity at all equalling it, or surpassing it, was the Civil War, and that was the work of the evil passions of man inciting him to slay his brother, while Nature would have had him live in peace.
The earthquake in San Francisco, which crumbled strong buildings as if they were made of paper, would have been terrible enough; but afterward came the horror of fire and of imprisoned men and women burned alive, and now to it was added the suffering of multitudes from hunger and exposure.
Public attention is fixed on the great city; but smaller cities had their days and nights of destruction, horror and misery. Some were almost destroyed. Others were partly ruined, and beyond their borders, over a wide area, the trembling of the earth toppled houses, annihilated property and transformed riches into poverty. The cost in life can be reckoned. The money loss will never be computed, for the appraised value of the wrecked property conveys no notion of the consequences of the almost complete paralysis, for a time, of the commercial operations by means of which men and women earn their bread.
When the weakness and the folly and the sin of men bring woe upon other men, there are plenty of texts for the preacher and no scarcity of earnest preachers. But here is a vast and awful catastrophe that befell from an act of Nature apparently no more extraordinary than the shrinkage of hot metal in the process of cooling. The consequences are terrifying in this case because they involve the habitations of half a million people; but, no doubt, the process goes on somewhere within the earth almost continuously, and it no more involves the theory of malignant Nature than that of an angry God.
If we contemplate it, possibly we may be helped to a profitable estimate of our own relative insignificance. We think, with some notion of our importance, of the thousand million men who live upon the earth; but they are a mere handful of animate atoms in comparison with the surface, to say nothing of the solid contents, of the globe itself.
We are fond of boasting in this latter day of man's marvelous success in subduing the forces of Nature; and, while we are in the midst of exultation over our victories, Nature tumbles the rocks about somewhere within the bowels of the earth, and we have to learn the old lesson that our triumphs have not penetrated farther than to the very outermost rim of the realms of Nature.
A few weak, almost helpless, creatures, we millions of men stand upon the deck of a great ship, which goes rolling through space that is itself incomprehensible, and usually we are so busy with our paltry ambitions, our transgressions, our righteous labors, our prides and hopes and entanglements that we forget where we are and what is our destiny. A direct interposition from a Superior Power, even if it be hurtful to the body, might be required to persuade us to stop and consider and take anew our bearings, so that we may comprehend in some larger degree our precise relations to things. The wisest men have been the most ready to recognize the beneficence of the discipline of affliction. If there were no sorrow, we should be likely to find the school of life unprofitable.
For one thing, the school wherein sorrow is a part of the discipline is that in which is developed human sympathy, one of the finest and most ennobling manifestations of the Love which is, in its essence, divine. In human life there is much that is ignoble, and the race has almost contemptible weakness and insignificance in comparison with the physical forces of the universe.
But man is superior to all these forces in his possession of the power of affection; and in almost the lowest and basest of the race this power, if latent and half lost, may be found and evoked by the spectacle of the suffering of a fellow-creature.
Includes:
Chapter I. San Francisco and Its Terrific Earthquake.
The Early Days of San Francisco.
The Character of the City.
The Foundations of the City.
The Bane of the Earthquake.
The Great Disaster of 1906.
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Rescuers And Fire-Fighters.
The Horror of the People.
official Record of the Earthquake.
Freaks of the Earthquake.
Skyscrapers Earthquake Proof.
Chapter II. The Demon of Fire Invades the Stricken City.
The Resistless March of the Flames.
The Care of the Wounded.
Fire Attacks The Mint.
The Palaces On Nob's Hill.
A Vivid Fire Picture.
The Landmarks Consumed.
The Fire Under Control.
Chapter III. Fighting the Flames With Dynamite.
Fighting The Flames.
The Struggle Against The Fire.
A New Supply of Explosives.
The Savers of the City.
Chapter IV. The Reign of Destruction and Devastation
An Editor's Narrative.
Wreck And Ruin.
The Ruin of Chinatown.
Loss To Art And Science.
The Danger From Thirst.
How Looting Was Hindered.
Stories By Sightseers.
Death For Slight offense.
Chapter V. The Panic Flight of a Homeless Host.
The Panic In The Slums.
The Flight For Safety.
The Exodus From The Burning City.
The Wild Rush To The Ferries.
Scenes of Humor And Pathos.
The Golden Gate Camp.
Chapter VI. Facing Famine and Praying for Relief.
The Food Question Urgent.
Food For The Hungry.
Water For The Thirsty.
The Camps In The Parks.
Comedy And Pathos In The Bread Line.
The Exodus From San Francisco.
Worship In The Open Air.
Chapter VII. The Frightful Loss of Life and Wealth.
Estimates of the Death List.
Burying The Dead.
Victims Taken From The Ruins.
The Free Use of Rifles.
The Loss In Wealth.
Looters In Chinatown.
Chapter VIII. Wonderful Record of Thrilling Escapes.
Misery Drives Some Insane.
Society Folks Compelled To Camp.
Terrible Scene At The Ferry.
Great Singers Escape.
Teddy's Picture Proves "Open Sesame."
Chapter IX. Disaster Spreads Over the Golden State
The Destruction of Santa Rosa.
The Stanford University.
The Earthquake At Other Cities.
At The State University.
Chapter X. All America and Canada to the Rescue
Right of Way For Food Trains.
Cargoes of Supplies.
The Sympathy of the People Awakes.
Foreign offers of Aid.
Enterprise In San Francisco.
The Problem of the Chinese.
Chapter XI. San Francisco of the Past
Agriculture Brings New Wealth.
A Peculiar Yet Delightful Climate.
A Mixture of Races.
Chapter XII. Life in the Metropolis of the Pacific
The 'Frisco Restaurants.
The Famous Poodle Dog.
The Bohemian Club.
The Wickedest And Gayest.
An All-Night Town.
Chapter XIII. Plans to Rebuild San Francisco.
Chapter XIV. The Earthquake Wave Felt Round the Earth.
Widespread Earth Tremors.
Records of Foreign Observations.
Chapter XV. Vesuvius Devastates the Region of Naples.
The Rivers of Lava.
The Crisis of the Eruption.
A Reign of Terror.
Disasters At San Giuseppe And Naples.
The Eruption Resumed.
Scenes of Horror.
An American Observer.
The King At The Front.
The Canopy of Dust.
The Heroes of the Observatory.
Chapter XVI. The Great Lisbon and Calabrian Earthquakes.
The Great Lisbon Earthquake
Water Adds To The Destruction
Wide-Spread Destruction
Characteristics of the Lisbon Earthquake
Earthquakes In Calabria
Most Calamitous of the Landslips
Immense Destruction
Chapter XVII. The Charleston and Other Earthquakes of the United States.
Chapter XVIII. The Volcano and the Earthquake, Earth's Demons of Destruction.
The Wind Is A Demon In Chains
The Subterranean Powers
Ancient Awe of Volcanoes
Rarity of Ancient Accounts
General Description of Eruptions
Great Outflows of Lava
often Rest For Long Terms of Years
Chapter XIX. Theories of Volcanic and Earthquake Action.
Enormous Force Displayed
Volcanic Cones Have Similar Curvatures
Lava Varies Very Much In Liquidity
The Volcano A Safety Valve
Eruptions of Quiet Type
Mountains Blow Their Heads off
Cause of Earthquakes
The Radius of Disturbance.
Transmissions of Vibrations
Floating Pumice
Chapter XX. The Active Volcanoes of the Earth.
Number of Active Volcanoes
Asiatic Inland Volcanoes
Volcanoes of the Pacific
Thian Shan And Hawaiian Volcanoes
Volcanoes Parallel To Mountain Chains
Areas of Upheaval And Subsidence
Chapter XXI. The Famous Vesuvius and the Destruction of Pompeii.
Buried Cities Excavated.
Pliny's Celebrated Description
The Voyage To Stabiae
Death of Pliny The Elder
Pliny's Second Letter
Fear Versus Composure
Dion Cassius On The Eruption
Lake Avernus
How Pompeii Impresses Its Visitors
Streets And Houses of Pompeii
Value of the Discovery of Pompeii
Chapter XXII. Eruptions of Vesuvius, Etna and Stromboli.
The Birth of Monte Nuovo
Lava From Vesuvius
Great Eruption of 1767
Padre Torre's Narrative
Breislak On The Eruption of 1794
Strange Effects
Hardihood of the People
Mount Etna
Similarity In Etna's Eruptions
The Eruption of 1669
Villages And Cities Buried
The Stones Ejected
Etna In 1819
Effect of the Eruption
The Lipari Volcanoes
Hoffman At Stromboli
Chapter XXIII. Skaptar Jokull and Hecla, the Great Icelandic Volcanoes.
Volcanoes In Iceland
Dreadful Floods
A Torrent of Lava
Enormous Quantity of Lava
Eruption of Mount Hecla
Later Outbreaks
Electric Phenomena
Chapter XXIV. Volcanoes of the Philippines and Other Pacific Islands.
Eruption of Galung Gung
The Luzon Volcanoes.
Bulusan And Taal
Volcanoes In The Southern Islands
The Great Eruption of Tomboro
The Volcanoes of Japan
Hot Springs Near Hakone Lake
Bandaisan's Work of Terror
Mr. Norman's Narrative
The New Zealand Volcanoes
The Pink And White Terraces
Tarawera In Eruption
The Antarctic Volcanoes
Chapter XXV. The Wonderful Hawaiian Craters and Kilauea's Lake of Fire.
The Island of Hawaii
A Volcanic Island Group
Crater of Haleakala
Miss Bird In The Crater of Kilauea
Mr. Ellis Visits The Lake of Lava
Mauna Loa In Eruption
The Eruptions of 1859 And 1865
The Lava Flow of 1880
Kilauea In 1840
The Sinking of Kilauea's Fire-Lake
The Goddess Pele
Chapter XXVI. Popocatapetl & Other Volcanoes of Mexico & Central America.
Sulphur From The Crater
The Volcano Jorullo
Effect On The Rivers
Eruptions In Nicaragua
Chapter XXVII. The Terrible Eruption of Krakatoa.
Awful Premonitions
Far-Reaching Destruction
A Graphic Description of the Eruption
Detonations Heard For Many Miles Away
Series of Atmospheric Waves
Sir Robert S. Ball's Description
An Extraordinary Noise
A Constant Wind
Extraordinary Red Sunsets
The Red Sunsets Described
Chapter XXVIII. Mount Pelee and its Harvest of Death.
A Peaceful Scene
A Graphic Description By A Sufferer.
The Fateful Eighth of May
A Tale of Sudden Ruin
Heat Caused Explosions
The Cooper's Story.
Consul Ayme's Statement
A Woman's Experience On The "Roraima"
Captain Freeman's Thrilling Account
Awful Results
The "Etona" Passes St. Pierre
Chief Engineer Farrish's Story
Captain Cantell Visits The "Roddam"
The Vivid Account of M. Albert
What Happened On The "Horace"
Great Flashes of Light
Ashes Rained On The Ship
The Engine Became Choked
Mate Scott's Graphic Story
Prepared To Trust To Luck
The Strange Experience of the "Nordby"
Fiery Stream Contained Poisonous Gases
Chapter XXIX. St. Vincent Island and Mont Soufriere in 1812.
Descendants of Original Indian Population
The Appearance of the Soufriere
The Eruption of 1812
The Terrible Earthquake At Caracas
The Mountain Stones A Herd-Boy
Barbados Covered With Ashes
Kingsley's Visit To Saint Vincent
Black Sunday At Barbados
Incidents At Barbados
Chapter XXX. Submarine Volcanoes and their Work of Island Building.
An Eruption Described
Building Up of An Island By Submarine Volcanoes
How An Island Grew
In The Icelandic Seas
Off The Coast of Alaska
Chapter XXXI. Mud Volcanoes, Geysers, and Hot Springs.
The Great Mud Volcano of Sicily
The Mud Volcano of Java
The Geyser Is A Water Volcano
Eruption Can Be Induced By Artificial Means
Geysers of the United States
The Yellowstone Geysers
A Description of the Geyser At Work
The Mammoth Hot Springs
8¼" height 6¾" width - 335+ pages
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