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Show DISASTER ERASES CLASS DISTINCTION EARTHQUAKE AT BAIT VSANOIB-00 VSANOIB-00 PLACES BIOH AND POOR ON SAME LEVEL. 6IDELIQHT8 ON THE GREAT CATASTROPHE ' 'Millionaire and Pauper Now Prienda Duslnosa Being Conducted Amid the Ruins Heir to Wealth Born on Sidewalk. San Francisco, Cat. This town Is "on tho lovol" In evory sonso of tho word, writes Richard Barry. You can atnnd on Tar lint and seo Telegraph hill with no obstruction but a few skyscrapor skeletons. South of Vnn Ness avonue It is not oven a Junk heap. I No more ghouls nro shot bocauso there j is nothing to steal, and they will have to pay mon to curry off tho smashed bricks. Russian, Telegraph nnd Nob , hills, which formerly mado ouch i a magnlllcent metropolitan saddle $ ngalnst tho Golden Gate, look as they do In the prints of '49, when scrubby S. bushes rambled across tnelr barren fncos. They have been scraped of foul ! nnd inir by a mighty muck rako. Tho homes of threofotirths of the people aro annihilated, and as ono walks through the desolation he slowly real-Ires real-Ires that the world can never know what has happened; that 100 Pompells would bo swallowed In theso ruins and that California In tragody, ns In all else, has Bhnken her Jaunty list In tho faco of history and written "iluls" to the volume. Social Distinctions Leveled. Yet theso smnshed buildings nnd desolate des-olate streets do not present tho significant sig-nificant lovollng. The material loss Is groat, but It does not stagger tho Imagination. Imag-ination. A few hundred millions will piond tho hurt and thero nro many people peo-ple here to-day who think tho shake-up shake-up Is worth tho lovollng. Society Is on tho ground, face to faco. Every artificial barrier Is swept nway. Tho (oclnl distinctions built up In CO years liavo been obliterated with tho same twlftness and finality shown by tho llames toward tho property. Tho Ipss f life is small, tho loss of social position posi-tion colossal. Down to the elements, how nothing counts but human loss. Money has momentarily lost Its purchasing pur-chasing power. Sorvants, luxury, habits, hab-its, prcstlgo yes, amity, fouds, hatred, jealousy uiul contempt have dlsnp- ipenred. Humanity Is In the flat nnd evory one is on tho level. Hero aro a fow random Incidents picked from tho edgo of tho cataclysm: Fillmore Btreet, a thlrd-rato metropolitan metro-politan artery, has becomo for the moment tho business center of tho town. Hero, In dinky bakeries, cheap candy stores, tawdry photograph galleries gal-leries and Insignificant lodging nouses, ore found all that Is left of tho greatest great-est business Institutions on tho Pacific Pa-cific coast. A sawmill that formerly employed 4,000 men has Its olllco In ft hall bedroom that usod to rent for one dollar n week. A bakery that employed em-ployed 300 .carts beforo the nro is operating op-erating out of a hand laundry that was run by threo women. The largest department de-partment store In tho west is being resurrected from a soda water stand that has been roughly partitioned, the front 14 by 16 feet space being used foranolllce. in a rear roomof slmllnr extent ex-tent tho exclusive heads go for fri-Joles fri-Joles nnd coffeo warmed ovor an alcohol al-cohol lamp. Odd Quarters for City Officials. You can see the chief of police In Ban Francisco as easily as you could loo the sheriff of tho most backwoods rounty In Arizona. Ho sits In tho window of a corner grocery and as fou pass on tho sidewalk you glanco at his bright face and hear his hearty laugh. The mayor lssuos his orders from the lodgo room of n secrot so-$ so-$ clot;-. Tho superior court is being ' hold In a Jowlsh synagogue, while tho city and county records nro burled la a tomb In tho Masonic cemotory. Tho nowspapers thr.t onco occupied the principal skyscrapers In tho city nro b61ng oporated from four little rooms In tho samo block, no ono of which has more thau n 30-foot front or a 60-foot depth. On ono sldo of each room you can soo tho sign "Subscription "Sub-scription Department," on the other "Advertising Department," whllo on each rear wnll Is hung a rough sign, "Editorial Department." iOne Newspaper Office a Bedroom, One of tho most fortuua'.o papers, nfter much maneuvering, has managed to commandoer a socond-lloor bedroom, bed-room, tho naturo of whoso provlous occupants is attested by tho notlco atlll hanging from tho chandoller, which reads, "Don't Ulow Out the QaB." In this tiny room, around two small tables, Is congrcgatod tho Jour-nnllstlc Jour-nnllstlc talent that fnrmorly conducted a world-fnmoiiB orgnn from n suite of 15 rooms In ono of tho most magnificent magnifi-cent buildings In tho west. If furthsr proof were needed of Ilia svellng eheraMer of conditions It night hae been seen yesterday afternoon, after-noon, when "Mike" De Young, of tho Ohronlcte, millionaire and political eader, stood In front of one of those Ittle omces. Down the street In an Automobile belonging to ex-Mnyoe James D. Phelan rnme Abe Iteuf, tin triumphant Itepubllcan boss. Whn ho saw De Young ho waved his hat and called out n hearty greeting, to which Do Young responded with a fay inlute. For ono not Intimate with San Frnnclsco to fully reallie what this moans ho must ba told that Iteuf, Phelnn nnd De Young nre the rpec-tlve rpec-tlve lendors of tho most bitter nnd antagonistic political factions In the wost. It you still doubt that tho mlllenlum Is upon us go down tho streot two' blocks to where tho relief committee Is working 24 hours a day from the showroom of a vegetable grocer and you will find Gavin McNabb and Abo Iteuf with chairs and arms touching, laughing nt tho same grim earthquake Jokes nnd putting tho two craftiest heads In San Francisco together for tho lmmodlnte relief of tho nffllcted. A week ago ns tho bosses respectively respective-ly of tho Itepubllcan nnd Democratic ranks, America could have afforded no more striking Instnnco of deadly rlvnlry thnn would hnvo been adduced by mention of theso two names. Resurrecting a Dry Qoods Store. From another clgnr stand whlto-halrod, whlto-halrod, esthetic Itnphncl Well Is resurrecting resur-recting tho most fnshlonnhlo dry goods storo In tho city. Ho Is old, wealthy nnd prnctlcally retired. Ho could easily turn his back on San Francisco and live tho rest of his days, tho one other place of his delight; but says he: "I shall stay here and seo It all up again Just as It was with perhaps ono difference. It will bo about twice as good." Up nnd down all tho streots one can see curbstono fires, where the people peo-ple nre cooking their menls In obedience obedi-ence to tho municipal ordor to light no fires In tho houses. They being without largo ranges, small kitchen stoves, Improvised shoct Iron ovens nnd the old brick Dutch ovens nre used nnd from which nro turned out somo wonderful concoctions. Most of the servants hnvo either run nwny or been sent awny nnd tho people peo-ple who get their own meals out of doors nre among the best In tho city. Cooking their dinners In tho stroets mny bo Been girls' who hnvo been educated edu-cated at Stanford, Dorkeley, Vnssnr nnd Bryn Mnwr. Spreckels Heir Born on Sidewalk. nut of nil tho nstoundlng lovollng fonts accomplished by tho flro and earthquake the most romnrkablo oc curred In front of the Pacific avenue home of Rudolf Spreckels, son of tho president of the sugar trust. There on the sidewalk, behind somo screens, Mrs. Spreckels was snfely delivered of a handsomo nnd healthy son. It Is n freo state, everyone beginning over again, rich nnd poor alike, Just) ns tho front rank broke from tho line tho day Oklahomn territory wns opened to settlement. Not Fair Shnke; Start Again. Young men who can swing a small capital to-day will bo millionaires la a fow years. Millionaires who to-day are walking tho streets mourning over their Ill-luck will never again be flush. San Francisco, queen city of chance, born of tho gambling fovor, bred of tho gambling energy, dreamed out of a gambler's visions of wealth and glory, with a fierce and terrlblo grandeur, has smitten all who loved her and said to tho half million who had sworn by her: "It's not a fair shnke; start again." Rescue Insane People. Mnny stories of heroism lie burled In tho ruins, but somo tales that make the heart tingle are slowly Altering through official sources. This is tho story of tho, noblo work performed by Mrs. Kane, matron of the Detention hospital, and Policeman John McLean, who was detailed de-tailed there tho night of tho great earthquake. earth-quake. Tho Insane patients at tho ruined city hall were kept In locked colls, from which only tho keys of tho stewards could freo thorn, At tho hour of dawn on that fatal Wednesday morning, tho structure In which tho courts wore housed was the first to fall. Tho weight) tenso nervous energency and tho otllcer tho detention hospital, which was on tho ground floor. Steward Manvlllo waa so bodly Injured by tho falling ruins 'that he died two days later. Mrs. Kane and Policeman McLean, howover, managed man-aged to rush outsldo to momentary safety. Both of them nro woll ndvnnced In years, but tho nurso Is a woman of ln-teiiBo ln-teiiBo nervous energy nnd tho officer' Is a man of giant frutno. As Boon ns they reached tho open court thoy wore greeted greet-ed by tho torrified shrloks of tho Insane that plercod through tho smoking ruins around, Thoy refused to loavo tholr helpless charges, and both went back Into tho chaotic debris. New Buildings Are Planned. Tho work of rebuilding San Francisco Fran-cisco will procood rapidly. Mrs. Herman Her-man Oolrlchs of Now York has agreed to repair the Klalto building and to build again on tho slto of the Crossley, She nnd her sister, Mrs. W. K. Vnnder-bill, Vnnder-bill, Jr., huvu nlso stated thnt they will put up solid olllco structures on their Montgomery Btreet site. |
