THE
VALLEY OF HEART's DELIGHT
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CHAPTER
XIV------------------- LEST WE FORGET-
RUINS
AND HAVOC IN COAST CITIES
San
Jose, the Prettiest Place in the State, Wrecked by Quake-State insane
Asylum
Collapsed and Buried Many Patients Beneath the Crumbled Walls-Enormous
Damage
at Santa Rosa
Outside
of San Francisco the earthquake did immense damage
for fifty miles north and south of the Golden Gate City.
San Jose, the prettiest city in California,
sustained the severest shock, which killed a score of people and left
the
business section a pile of ruins. The
loss in this one city alone amounted to $5,000,000.
Among
the buildings wrecked in San Jose are St. Patrick’s
church, the First Presbyterian church, the Centella Methodist Episcopal
church,
the Central Christian and South Methodist churches.
Every
building on the west side of First street from St.
James park to San Fernando street either went down, toppling or was
badly
cracked. The Auzerias building, Elks
club, Unique theater and many other buildings on Santa Clara street
went down
to the ground.
On
Second street the six-story Dougherty building and
several adjoining blocks were destroyed by fire. A
new high school in Normal Park was a complete wreck.
The
Nevada & Porter building on Second street, the
Rucker building on Third and Santa Clara streets were also ruined.
The
annex to the Vendome Hotel was completely wrecked, and
one man was killed therein.
Sheriff
William White, of Los Angeles, who was in San Jose,
at the time attending a convention, thus describes the scenes following
the
quake:
“San
Jose, which was the prettiest city in California, is
the worst-looking wreck I ever saw.
When I left here nineteen dead bodies had been recovered and
there was a
possibility that others would be found. I reached Agnew Asylum a few
hours
later in an automobile and was one of the first on the spot. There I helped to carry out sixty corpses.
At noon, when I arrived at San Jose, it was believed that fully 100
bodies were
still in the ruins.
“The
shock came to san Jose exactly at 5:12:45, according
to the clock in the St. James Hotel, which was stopped.
Supreme Court Clerk Jordan, my young nephew;
Walter Jordan and myself occupied apartments on the fourth floor of the
St.
James Hotel. The shock awoke the three of us, but only seemed to
disturb my
nephew, who commenced calling out.
“There
was not a brick or stone building of r two stories
or over in San Jose that was not leveled to the ground or so badly
damaged it
will have to be torn down. Some fires
started after the quake, but the fire department soon had them under
control.
“I
secured an automobile at 7 o’clock and left for Agnew,
where the insane asylum was located, with two or three of the visiting
sheriffs. The sight there was
awful. The walls were standing, but the
floors had all fallen in.
“Scores
of insane persons were running about in the
grounds, unwatched and uncared for. I helped to take out the body of
Dr. Kelly,
the assistant superintendent of the asylum, who had been instantly
killed. A nurse who was also taken out of
the ruins
by me died a little later.
“After
getting away from San Jose I saw evidences of the
earthquake at Niles and even as far as Livermore in the shape of fallen
chimneys and broken glass.”
The
main building of the State hospital collapsed, pinning
many of the patients under fallen walls and debris.
The padded cells had to be to broken open and more dangerous
patients were tied to trees out on the lawn in lieu of a safer place. The doctors and nurses stuck heroically to
their posts and 100 students from Santa Clara College went over in a
body and
assisted in succoring the wounded.
State
Senator Cornelius Pendleton, who escaped the
earthquake chock at san Jose, thus narrated his experiences:
“We
were all at the Vendome Hotel. The shock
of the earthquake was so severe
the floors and walls of the building collapsed at once and those of us
who
escaped made our way as best we could out of the ruins. On the side of
the
hotel where my room was there was a large tree. The side wall of my
room fell
against this tree, which also sustained that portion of the roof,
preventing it
from falling in on us.
“My
room was on the second floor, but when I picked myself
up I was in the basement of the building.
I crawled up and out over the debris and escaped through a
window on a
level with the ground. After getting
out I found this was one of the third story windows.
Those of us who were uninjured at once set about assisting the
less fortunate. I saw one dead woman in
the hotel. We carried her out. The
remainder of the dead were in various parts of the town.
The residence district was not badly
damaged. Martial law had been declared
in the city when we left.
“Among
the large buildings that were totally demolished
were the Hall of Justice, the First Presbyterian Church, the Catholic
Cathedral, The Hale Block, and the Vendome Hotel. Fire
broke out following the earthquake in several quarters, but
fortunately the water mains were uninjured and the spread of the flames
was
checked.”
At
Salinas the immense plant of the Spreckles Sugar
refinery was completely destroyed, and the loss of property aggregated
$2,000.000.
The
estimated loss
of life and damage in California cities outside of San Francisco is as
follows:
Oakland,
$500,000, 5 lives
Alameda,
$400,000
San
Jose, $5,000,000, 19 lives
Agnew
(state hospital for insane) , $400,000, 170 lives
Palo
Alto (Stanford University),. $3,000,000, 2 lives
Napa,
$250,000
Salinas,
$2,000,000
Hollister,
$100,000, 1 life
Vallejo,
$40,000
Sacramento,
$25,000
Redwood
city, $30,000
Suisun,
$50,000
Santa
Rosa, $800,000, 40 lives
Watsonville,
$70,000
Monterey,
$25,000, 8 lives
Loma
Prieta, 10 lives,
Stockton,
$40,000
Brawley,
$100,000
Santa
Cruz, $200,000
Gilroy,
$500,000
Healdsburg,
$25,000
Cloverdale,
$15,000
Geyserville,
$12,000
Hopland,
$10,000, 9 lives
Ukiah,
$50,000
Alviso,
$20,000
Niles,
$10,000
Hinkley
Creek, $10,000, 9 lives
Deer
Creek Mill, $10,000, 2 lives
Santa
Clara, $500,000
Pacific
Grove, $50,000
Wrights,
$75,000
Delmonte,
$25,000, 2 lives
The
beautiful city of Santa Rosas was a terrible sufferer
from the quake, both in loss of life and property:
The
entire business section was left in ruins and
practically every residence in the town was more or less damaged,
fifteen or
twenty being badly wrecked. The damage
to residences was caused principally by the sinking of the foundations,
which
let many structures down on to the ground.
The
brick and stone business blocks, together with the
public buildings, were all thrown flat.
The courthouse, Hall of Records, the Occidental and Santa Rosa
hotels,
the Athenaeum theater, the Masonic temple, Odd Fellows’ block all the
banks0everything-went, and in all the city not one brick or stone
building was
left standing except the California Northwestern depot.
It
was almost impossible for an outsider to realize the
situation as it actually existed there.
No such complete destruction of a city’s business interest ever
before
resulted from an earthquake in America. The
very completeness of the devastation was really the redeeming
feature, though, for it put all upon exactly the same basis,
commercially
speaking. Banker and millionaires went
about with only the few dollars they happened to have in their pockets
when the
crash came, and were little better off than the laborers who were
digging
through the debris. Money had
practically no value, for there was no place to spend it, and this
phase of the
situation presented its own remedy.
Almost every one slept out of doors, being afraid to enter their
homes
except for a short while at a time until repairs were made.
There
were plenty of provisions. Some were
su0pplied by other town and much was brought in from
the surrounding country. Two entire
blocks of buildings escaped being swept by the flames, which
immediately broke
out in a dozen places at once as soon as the shock was over and from
the
tangled ruins of those buildings complete stocks of groceries and
clothes were
dug out and added to the common store. Then before the fire gained
headway
several grocery stores were emptied of the contents in anticipation of
what
might follow.
The
city was put under martial law, company C of Petaluma
having been called to assist the local company in preserving order. Many deputy sheriffs and special police were
also sworn in, but no trouble of any kind occurred.
The
relief committee was active and well managed and all in
need of assistance received it promptly.
The work that required the principal attention of the
authorities was
removal of the wreckage in order to search for the bodies of those
missing and
known to have perished.
Forth
marines under command of Captain Holcombe arrived
from Mare Island and did splendid work in assisting in the search. Forty-two bodies were buried in one day and
the total dead and missing numbered upward of 100.
Santa
Rosa, in proportion to its size, suffered worse than
San Francisco. M. Griggs, who was in the employ of a large firm at
Santa Rosa,
tells a story which sufficiently proves the earthquake’s fury, so great
as to
practically reduce the town to ruin. In
addition to the deal roll a large number of persons were missing and a
still
greater number were wounded.
As
in the case of San Francisco, and admirable organization
had the situation well in hand. Forty
sailors from Mare Island, fully equipped with apparatus, were at work,
while
volunteer aid was unstinted.
Santa
Rosa suffered the greatest disaster in her history,
but the indomitable spirit of her people was shown all along the line. Even so early as Friday an announcement
was
made that the public schools and the college would open as usual on
Monday
morning, the buildings having been inspected and found to be safe.
At
Agnews the cupola over the administration department
went down and all the wards in that part of the building collapsed. Twelve attendants were killed and Dr. Kelly,
second assistant physician, was crushed to death. There
were 1,100 patients in the hospital. C. L.
Seardee, secretary of the state
commission in lunacy , who was in Agnews and attending to official
business,
declared that it was a marvel that many more were not killed. Dr. T. W. Hatch, superintendent of the stat
hospitals for instance, was in charge of the work of relief.
Friday
morning 100 patients were transferred to the
Stockton asylum. Forty or fifty patients escaped.
Dr
Clark, superintendent of the San Francisco County
Hospital, was one of the first to give relief to the injured at Agnews. He went there in an automobile, taking four
nurses with him, and materially assisted the remaining members of the
staff to
organize relief measures.
Tens
were set up in the ground of the institution, and the
injured as well as the uninjured cared for.
A temporary building was erected to house the patients.
The
St. Rose and Grand hotels at Santa Rosa collapsed and
buried all the occupants. Thirty-eight
bodies were taken from the ruins. There
were 10,000 homeless men, women and children huddled together about
Santa
Rosa. As the last great seismic tremor
spent its force in the earth, the whole business portion tumbled into
ruins. The man street was piled many
feet deep with the fallen buildings.
The
destruction included all of the county buildings. The
four story courthouse, with its dome, is
a pile of broken masonry. What was not
destroyed by the earthquake was swept by fire.
The citizens deserted their homes.
Not even their household goods were taken. They
made for the fields and hills to watch the destruction of
one of the most beautiful cities in the west.
C.A.
Duffy of Owenboro, Ky., who was in Santa Rosa, was the
only one out of several score to escape from the floor in which he was
quartered in the St. Rose hotel at Santa Rosa.
He went to Oakland on his motorcycle after he was released and
told a
thrilling story of his rescue and the condition of affairs in general
at Santa
Rosa.
Mr.
Duffy said when the chock came he rushed for the
stairway, but the building was swaying and shaking so that he could
make no
headway, and he turned back. He threw
himself in front of the dresser in his room, trusting to that object to
protect
him from the falling timbers. This move
saved his life. The dresser held up the
beams which tumbled over him, and these in turn protected him from the
falling
mass of debris.
“I
was imprisoned five hours, “ said Mr. Duffy, “before
being rescued. Three times I tried to
call and the rescuers heard me, but could not locate my position from
the sound
of my voice, and I could hear them going away after getting close to me.
“Finally
I got hold of a lath from the ruins around me,
poked it through a hole left by the falling of a steam pipe, and by using it and yelling at the same time
finally managed to show the people where I was.
There
were about 300 people killed in the destruction of
the three hotels.
“The
business section of the place collapsed to the ground
almost inside of five minutes. Then the
fire started and burned Fourth street from one end to the other,
starting at
each end and meeting in the middle, thus sweeping over the ruins and
buring the
imprisoned people.
“I
saw two arm protruding from one part of the debris and
waving frantically. There was so much noise, however, that the screams
could
not be heard. Just then, as I looked, the flames swept over them
cruelly
finished the work begun by the earthquake.
The sight sickened me and I turned away.”
Fo
rt Bragg, one of the principal lumbering towns of
Mendocino county, was almost totally destroyed as a result of a fire
following
the earthquake of April 18.
The
bank and other brick buildings were leveled as a result
of the tremors and within a few hours fire completed the work of
devastation.
But one person of the 5,000 inhabitants was killed, although scores
were
injured.
Eureka,
another large town in the same county, fifty miles
from Fort Bragg, was practically undamaged, although the quake was
distinctly
felt there.
Relief
expeditions were sent to Fort Bragg from surrounding
towns and villages and the people of the ruined area were well cared
for.
The
town of Tomales was converted into a pile of
ruins. All of the large stores were
thrown flat. The Catholic church, a new
stone structure, was also ruined. Many
ranch houses and barns went down. Two
children, Anita and Peter Couzza, were killed in a falling house about
a mile
from town.
The
towns of Healdsburg, Geyserville, Cloverdale, Hopland,
and Ukiah were almost totally destroyed.
The section in which they were located is the country as far
north as
Mendocino and Lake counties and as far west as the Pacific ocean. These are frontier counties, and have not as
large towns as farther south. In every
case the loss of life and property was shocking.
At
Los Banos heavy damage was done. Several
brick buildings were wrecked. The loss was
$75,000.
Brawley,
a small town on the southern Pacific, 120 miles
south of Los Angeles, was practically wiped out by the earthquake. This was the only town in southern
California known to have suffered from the shock.
Buildings
were damaged at Vallejo, Sacramento, and Suisun. At
the latter place a mile and a half of
railroad track is sunk from thee to six feet.
A loaded passenger train was almost engulfed.
R.
H. Tucker, in charge of the Lick observatory, near San
Jose, said: “No damage was done to the instruments or the buildings of
the
observatory by the earthquake. ”
At
Santa Cruz the courthouse and twelve buildings were
destroyed. Contrary to reports, there
must have been a tidal wave of some size, for three buildings were
carried away
on Santa Cruz beach.
The
Moreland academy, a Catholic institution at
Watsonville, was badly damaged, but no lives lost.
In
a Delmonte hotel a bridal couple from Benson, Ari. – Mr.
and Mrs. Rouser- were killed in bed by chimney’s falling.
At
12:33 o’clock on the afternoon following the San
Francisco quake Los Angeles experienced a distinct earthquake shock of
short
duration. Absolutely no damage was
done, but thousands of people were badly frightened.
Men
and women occupants of office buildings, especially the
tall structures, ran out into the streets, come of them hatless. Many stores were deserted in like manner by
customers and clerks. The chock
however, passed off in a few minutes, and most of those who had fled
streetwards returned presently.
The
San Francisco horror has strung the populace here to a
high tension, and a spell of sultry weather serves to increase the
general
nervousness.
Santa Clara County- The Valley of Heart's Delight