Disaster, 1906

[Music] just 58 years had passed since the California Gold Rush San Francisco a village in 1848 had become a great city of more than [Music] 400,000 Market Street Heart of the City bustled with activity at its foot the new Ferry Building towered as a symbol of progress Montgomery Street built on motherload gold and Comstock silver was the financial heart of the western United [Music] States San Francisco's people had come from all corners of the world Chinatown Was a city within a city and Fisherman's Warf was a touch of old Italy ships from many ports sailed into San Francisco Bay to dock along the busy Embarcadero where cargos of every kind were traded ferry boats shuttled across the bay to Oakland and other cities to the East and North San Francisco had become the Hub of a growing metropolitan area [Music] it was a fashionable fun-loving City a cultural center and Golden Gate Park accented its natural charm and [Music] Beauty San Francisco early 196 a vigorous and Charming city with a brief but Rich past and an unlimited future [Music] winter that year had been long and rainy but by April 17th spring had come Union Square was bright with color and on Montgomery Street the stock market was active Bankers talked of business and of baseball and politics at day's end the streets quieted many relaxed to read their evening papers news of a deadly eruption by Italy's Mount vvus headlined late editions but Italy and disaster seemed far away as DUS came the Cliff House and other restaurants welcome the evening crowd and at the famed Palace Hotel carriages of the fashionable set kept footman busy after the dinner hour theaters and cafes attracted many Pleasure Seekers but the evening's big event was the appearance of the great tener enrio Caruso as Don Jose in [Music] karma as the early morning hours came only the Rowdy barbery Coast carried on most of the city slept [Music] peacefully Wednesday April 18th Dawn softly with the promise of another beautiful day [Music] [Music] oh [Music] the earthquake lasted little more than a minute but to a million Californians it seemed an eternity every section of the city had felt the fury of the Quake many lives were lost in the wholesale district North of Market Street South of Market scores of buildings had collapsed death and injury were widespread the new city hall was a shambles six million doll and 20 years work had been laid waste people spoke in Whispers The Quakes violence had still their voices [Music] slowly as the minutes passed curiosity and concern replaced fear but new trouble was in the [Music] making fires kindled by the Quake blazed in many buildings [Music] more than 50 fires broke out most in the wholesale and south of Market areas dozens raced out of control before the city could muster its defenses as they swung into action more bad news confronted the firemen water mains had been broken by the quake and hydrants were running dry raging out of control the south of Market fires burned toward ruins where many Quake victims were trapped Rescuers struggled to reach them before the Flames did some were saved many were [Music] lost unconcerned by the earthquake damage around them San franciscans watched the mounting flames and smoke there was no Panic crowds roam the streets in almost leisurely fashion but as the early hours passed and the fires continued to spread Spectators began to fear that all the city might burn City Hall was beyond use but early in the morning mayor Eugene schmidtz established headquarters in the Hall of Justice downtown his First Act was to issue an emergency [Music] Proclamation at the same time officials were organizing disaster facilities and first aid was given the injured mechanics Pavilion a huge entertainment Arena became the central emergency hospital the Army moved into action quickly soldiers patrolled fire lines and joined police in maintaining order the National Guard and later the Navy and Marine Corps also sent units to Aid the stricken City by midm morning much of the wholesale and south of Market districts was gone or going the fires had burned through to Market Street in a dozen places but at third in Market Hub of the city the 18-story co building stood untouched amidst the Raging Flames the fire north of Market moved slowly toward the financial district firemen fought to keep the Flames from reaching Montgomery hydrants had run dry but engine companies pumped water from sewers and underground [Music] ssts more trouble was brewing in Hayes Valley far beyond the fire lines a housewife cooking breakfast had sparked a blaze which quickly jumped to adjoining buildings this Blaze later called the ham and eggs fire ran and wild at 11:00 the situation on the south side of Market was desperate but the Palace Hotel and call building still defied the Flames then just after 11: fire broke out in the call building and it burned like a giant torch by this time tens of thousands had been driven from their homes abandoned possessions line the [Music] streets the smoke over San Francisco was visible for many miles but people outside the city scarcely noticed it they had problems of their own the Quake had caused serious damage along a 200m stretch of the ancient San Andreas fault that morning massive Subterranean rock formations along the fault had slipped shaking the region violently damage was concentrated in the central coastal region but every California town and city had felt the power of the quake at Fort Ross a chapel built by early Russian colonists collapsed at tomalis the Catholic church and other buildings were totally destroyed Santa Rosa was struck with walloping Force no American city has ever been hit harder by an earthquake more than 75 lives were lost beneath falling roofs and walls in Oakland east of San Francisco property damage was limited but five deaths were reported Alam and Berkeley though damaged were spared the tragedy of death to the south in San Jose damage was Heavy 19 were killed and 8,000 left homeless and of all the quake's tragic scenes none was sadder than that at Agnew state hospital for the mentally ill more than a 100 patients and a dozen attend attendants perished under falling walls Stanford University was almost completely ruined its magnificent church and other buildings were badly shattered but here the Quake had added a touch of Whimsy to the Grim scene no town in the earthquake region from Selenas in the South to Fort Bragg in the north was spared the streets of every Community were littered with rubble as afternoon came the fires in San Francisco moved on unchecked much of the south of Market area was in ashes and the Flames Advanced West toward historic Mission Dolores at 2:30 the battle to save the palace mounted in intensity soldiers dynamited nearby buildings hoping to save the old hotel in the financial district the fire had crossed Montgomery Street and the Flames ate slowly toward Chinatown and the retail section the ham and eggs fire spreading rapidly drove thousands of refugees before [Music] it at 3:00 the fight to save the palace was lost the fabled hotel was abandoned to the Flames with the passing of the palace the hopes of many faded [Music] at midnight the heart of San Francisco lay in Ruins and the fires continued to burn Westward the south of Market area was totally destroyed all of the downtown business section was gone and the ham and eggs fire had merged with the other firefront [Music] more than 100,000 people were [Music] homeless at dawn on Thursday clouds of smoke 2 mies high still darkened the sky Market Street where Flames had towered the day before streamed with refugees only two major firefront remained one moving through the Mission District Advanced block after block unchecked and sweeping West from KN Hill and Union Square was the combined front of the north of market and Hamond eggs fires broad vaness Avenue was set as the final battle line Beyond it lay thousands of homes in the western addition at one point Flames jumped the Avenue and leveled six blocks before the firefighters by extraordinary bravery checked this threat the struggle to hold the fire at vaness was to continue into the next day all day Thursday refugees lined the streets leading to the proo and Golden Gate [Music] Park many had already set up housekeeping and improvised shelters and to meet the Urgent problem of feeding the homeless authorities had set up bread lines throughout the [Music] city night came and as it passed the Mission District fire was brought under control the north of Market fire checked at Vans turned back toward the [Music] bay on Friday the third day of the fire thousands more were driven from their homes as the Flames ate around Russian Hill and into crowded North Beach the Latin quarter near the crest of the Hill soldiers saved an isolated house where an old man had raised a flag in final salute as the Flames approached but most of the area had to be abandoned as the fire swept toward the bay along the Embarcadero fireboats and weary firemen battled through the day and night on Saturday morning the fight to save the city's Lifeline the Waterfront was one the fire had run its course [Music] the worst fire in man's history had ravaged 490 blocks more than 28,000 buildings had been destroyed 250,000 people were homeless 450 lives had been lost in San Francisco and 300 more had been claimed outside the city [Music] never before had so much of man's work been sacrificed to a single [Music] fire Union Square was surrounded by ruin and [Music] desolation on Sutter Street once busy commercial buildings had been reduced to nameless piles of rubble in the Financial section destruction had been ruthless and almost complete businesses had been struck down never to come back at the foot of Kerne the remains of newspaper row stood empty and [Music] Silent the Palace Hotel was a pale ghost of the past nothing had been spared in the retail District stock worth many millions had been consumed as flames gutted the great stores all of the downtown theaters had been stricken little was left of the California and Colombia show houses which had given much to the Ci's Rich theatrical Heritage Mission Dolores stood unharmed at the fire's westernmost limit but 80 other churches were in Ruins Grace Church was beyond repair and only the St out brick walls of Old St Mary's had withstood the fire's blistering heat beyond the ruins of lower Market the ferry building still stood proudly the wholesale District bordering the Waterfront was a total loss Chinatown on the Eastern Slope of Knob Hill was a jumble of Ash and Fallen brick above Mansions of the wealthy lay in Ruins on Russian and Telegraph Hills a few homes had been saved but that was all the wounds were deep but the victim would [Music] live as the streets cool the city came alive with activity sightseeing was the first order of business but at the same time the city got down to the serious job of restoring order and rebuilding police and other City agencies quickly reorganized and within days were functioning smoothly Postal Service had been interrup Ed for only one day not a single piece of mail had been lost makeshift bulletin boards were crowded with missing person reports and personal messages of all kinds military forces remained in the city to patrol the streets and guard the health of the people although several looters had been shot during the height of the fire punishment for some was mild the big problem was feeding and Sheltering the homeless authorities had commandeered all food stocks relief stations were set up all through the city but San Francisco depended heavily on the nation's generosity California cities responded first sending hundreds of tons of food in the first days after the fire Los Angeles alone sent 75 car loads in a week in all 1,800 box cars of supplies were contributed by the nation in the the first month drinking water brought in by barges was doled out sparingly until the mains were repaired the people waited patiently for the daily ration of bread and milk meat and vegetables almost everyone accepted the long lines good-naturedly because the city couldn't afford another ham and eggs fire every family was required to do its cooking in the streets oh [Music] many not only cooked but ate their meals Out of Doors those who couldn't prepare their own food were fed at huge public kitchens camps for the homeless sprang up in many of the city's parks and squares housing was makeshift at first anything and everything was used for shelter in time the camps took on a more permanent look the crude shelters were replaced by army tents and Provisions for sanitation and simple Comforts were quickly made families with no other place to go settled down for a long stay life in the camps was uncomplicated and everyone pitched in to help with the chores for the children it was a long holiday there were few complaints the weather would was good and the surroundings Pleasant faith in the city's future [Music] mounted the people received a new lift when the city's lights went on again San Francisco's rebirth had begun tottering walls were dynamited the job of clearing the debris could begin [Music] countless tons of rubble were to be hauled away and dumped into the the bay and ocean it was a job bigger than the digging of the Panama Canal in a matter of days the first signs of business life appeared [Applause] [Music] as the rubble was cleared activity in the downtown section intensified many big companies opened their doors for business wherever space was available Mansions along vaness Avenue housed the fashionable retail stores strong new buildings Rose against the city skyline Skeptics said the job of rebuilding would take many years but San Francisco couldn't and wouldn't wait a [Music] then one day when no one noticed San Francisco was whole again busier and more beautiful than [Music] ever today the scars of 196 are gone but San Francisco's memory is long it remembers the pain of course but it also remembers with pride the courage and determination which lifted a new city From the Ashes [Music]