-
Title
-
San Francisco Earthquake, 1906
-
Description
-
Regional Narrative
-
Date
-
1906
-
Creator
-
Frank H. Shoemaker
-
Identifier
-
321301-00629
-
Rights
-
To inquire about usage, please contact Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries. These images are for educational use only. Not all images are available for publication.
-
extracted text
-
5 [40e, Ape. 25]
etout many of my friencs, all unhurt tut noerly
every one stripped clean as rezards possessions. :
I remained until after eight o'clock and then es
sterted on the three mile walk to the ferry, in the
dark. :
‘That walk will not soon fade from uy mon0Ty.
I could not use Market, toomuse the dynaniting res
still under way, as the frequent dull explosions
indicated, And other strests hed not beon cleared.
I became involved in telegraph, telephone, trolly
and I know not wnat other wires. I would xun tnto
a wire end the impact would rattle the tinwrre a
plock away. The wires would grab for ny feet,
saw ay neek, knock my hat off. And every one mede
& noise, like a turgler slerm, Outside of pali-
ties, I hed before no conseption of the number of
wires necessary to-run this blithering mesa which
in spacious momenta we oAil ociviligation. on ‘
several occasiona I had to teke @ lateral stroet
to avoid massee of furniture end trunks and wreok—
ago wnieh I simply could not pens through op overs
At one point a barricade of two turned ceble carsy
@ grisly sutorobile end several phecton fremes
drove me to @ lateral, ‘rom which I sicwly angled =
back to keep well avay from Herkct. :
I tried to meke friende with several ravenous”
and distrected ‘dogs, tut their yearning was for
their masters end mistresses, ami tuey would have
noting to do with me, end pointedly told mo s0«
two or three cats with weird cries fled from ny
friendly sdvenoos; 1t ws notning short of pitiful,
fox they wore starving.
T have spoken of this trip es takcn tn the
dsrx; but that is not right, Many fires wore still
yurning on the water front and near it, and the
light trom these, reflected by the low drifting
clouds overnsad, cest an uncanny effilgence over
everything, at oneo helpful end distracting. 1
lost all sense of time, and simply plodéed along, :
knowing my generel direction, fully alive to every
new iuprasaion, tut with a strenge feeling o* :
drifting and endlessness, though with no feeling of
exhaustion, A fool's errand, in @ way; yes. 1
might have started sooner and hed deyti and :
would have missed one of the movt thrilling strolls
in ny cereers I am not sorry.
Feo the tine T Jeft Yar Mays until I reached
the down town section whore soldiers were guarding
the bank vaults with’their smoldering gold, I did
not mset @ humm being. And wsen i cea stumbling ©
out of the ruing to the noersst group of ecldiors,
I was challenged plenty, end hed to chow my vess end
