17 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF SAN FRANCISCO. 



The following graphic letter from a valued Associate describing 

 the disasters in which he was involved in San Francisco will be read 

 with interest : — 



San Francisco, 

 Edward Hull, Esq. May mii, 1906. 



Dear Sir, 



Your very kind letter reached me a few days ago, and I am 

 very grateful to you for your feelings towards me. 



In God's love and mercy I w^as kept safely through the calamity 

 which wrecked and burnt completely over 10,400 acres of the finest 

 section of the city of San Francisco. A great number of the people 

 lost everj^thing they possessed ; a few like myself with great effort 

 saved such things as could be carried in a valise. Traffic was almost 

 stopped owing to the condition of the streets and military rule. 

 Hardly anyone had with them enough money to pay exorbitant rates 

 when a chance offered to hire part of a wagon. The predominant 

 opinion is expressed when I say that everyone feels they were 

 fortunate to escape alive ; almost all else can be replaced in time. At 

 no time could one see any pessimistic spirit, and even while the fire 

 still burnt and smouldering ruins sent up clouds of smoke, the 

 thought was " how quickly can we get back to our old quarters 

 again 1 " the energy and spirit shown has been almost as wonderful 

 as the great fire itself ! I have travelled all round the world, and 

 my mining business has taken me all over this great Western country 

 and Alaska. The great wonders of nature in their magnificence and 

 grandeur have impressed me with the ideas of beauty and reverence, 

 but nothing has ever so impressed me as the infernal horror — the 

 weird and awful effect of a city of great buildings turned into one 

 immense furnace for the destruction of the works of men ; nothing 

 remaining but ruins. From a distance of ten miles I took the angle 

 of the smoke outlnied in a clear sky, and found it reached an 

 altitude approximately of four miles. 



It will be a great pleasure to me if I can do anything to help 

 forward the interests of the Victoria Institute, and I trust ere long 

 the day will come when I shall be able to do more for a Society 

 whose good work I so much appreciate. 



I remain. Yours very truly, 



H. B. Ward. 



