- THE 1906 SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE Page 2 of 3 He and other guests waited outside on the hotel's landscaped grounds "in all stages of undress" watching as workmen "hammered down the torn timbers and hanging window-frames, or pulled over the chimneys. 'The verandahs are spoiled by heaps of brick, and the roof is patched with boards and tarpaulins. The tall kitchen chimney in the court was the only one to remain intact, so we have had no interruptions in the service." Mack and Magee described an eerie, unnerving sense of isolation, with little news trickling to the Monterey Peninsula from San Francisco Bay, no mail or telegraph service, and the railroad spur bridge to the main rail line down. "We have comforts, good weather, and a wonderful park to rest in," Magee wrote, "but all means of communication are so utterly demoralized that we shall feel better to be somewhere more in touch with the outside world. "The railway bridge between here and the main line is down, so that all those who do leave here have to walk across a road bridge, which is hanging by its trusses, supported only at one end." In addition to wondering what was going on in the outside world, county residents were anxious to let friends and relations know they were safe and sound. "None of us, for a moment, realized what was going on elsewhere," Mack wrote. "But as the day wore on, we found that we were isolated from the rest of the world. Then parties got through from Salinas and reported over $1 million damage there, but all communication from the rest of the world still cut off." The real tragedy, it soon became apparent, was centered in San Francisco and the cities surrounding San Francisco Bay. Mack wrote that the northern night skies in Monterey were lit red from fires that engulfed San Francisco. "The captain of the torpedo boat destroyer Paul Jones, which brought orders here for the troops this morning (April 20) from Mare Island, stated that as he passed out of the Golden Gate, San Francisco was a wall of fire." Restoring orderl The orders to Army soldiers at the Presidio of Monterey and National Guard cavalrymen in Salinas were to march north and help restore order. "Thieves and criminals of all descriptions are bent on crime," Mack wrote, "and are being shot on the spot if caught at their work." Magee reports in his letter that on April 20, "some people from San Francisco arrived in a most depressed condition in a small motor car." They said they were glad to escape the flames in what they had on. Several people here have lost their houses, others all their luggage which was awaiting them in hotels in San Francisco." "We all have many friends, and many of us relatives, in the city," Mack wrote. "... the suspense is dreadful. We have not yet scarcely begun to realize the extent of the disaster. Thousands upon thousands of destitute people are headed this way and we must help take care of them. Congress has voted $1 million for relief of S.F. but what is that among so many? San Jose, Palo Alto and other wealthy cities in the line of march are themselves damaged to a great extent. It is said that Stanford University buildings are nearly all wrecked, and $5 million will not replace them. "Some people are beginning to draw their deposits from local banks and as a good deal of their cash is locked up in safes that are still red hot, they may create a money panic, but I trust that this will be prevented by getting in gold from Los Angeles." 1 Mack ended his letter on the confident note that San Francisco "will be rebuilt and in a far grander style than before... in 2,000 years San Francisco may be again destroyed. But I expect to move before then." San Francisco was again rebuilt, but it was a long haul, according to Lloyd Koster of Salinas, whose grandfather owned a grocery store in the city. Army engineers blew it up, along with other buildings on the block, to make a firebreak to control the spreading flames, he said, and grandpa gave away the grocery store's food "but kept the barrels of whiskey for bartering. In those days, people brought their own bottles and filled them from the store's barrel." http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/14355814.htm?template=conte... 4/17/2006 , OCR Text: - THE 1906 SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE Page 2 of 3 He and other guests waited outside on the hotel's landscaped grounds "in all stages of undress" watching as workmen "hammered down the torn timbers and hanging window-frames, or pulled over the chimneys. 'The verandahs are spoiled by heaps of brick, and the roof is patched with boards and tarpaulins. The tall kitchen chimney in the court was the only one to remain intact, so we have had no interruptions in the service." Mack and Magee described an eerie, unnerving sense of isolation, with little news trickling to the Monterey Peninsula from San Francisco Bay, no mail or telegraph service, and the railroad spur bridge to the main rail line down. "We have comforts, good weather, and a wonderful park to rest in," Magee wrote, "but all means of communication are so utterly demoralized that we shall feel better to be somewhere more in touch with the outside world. "The railway bridge between here and the main line is down, so that all those who do leave here have to walk across a road bridge, which is hanging by its trusses, supported only at one end." In addition to wondering what was going on in the outside world, county residents were anxious to let friends and relations know they were safe and sound. "None of us, for a moment, realized what was going on elsewhere," Mack wrote. "But as the day wore on, we found that we were isolated from the rest of the world. Then parties got through from Salinas and reported over $1 million damage there, but all communication from the rest of the world still cut off." The real tragedy, it soon became apparent, was centered in San Francisco and the cities surrounding San Francisco Bay. Mack wrote that the northern night skies in Monterey were lit red from fires that engulfed San Francisco. "The captain of the torpedo boat destroyer Paul Jones, which brought orders here for the troops this morning (April 20) from Mare Island, stated that as he passed out of the Golden Gate, San Francisco was a wall of fire." Restoring orderl The orders to Army soldiers at the Presidio of Monterey and National Guard cavalrymen in Salinas were to march north and help restore order. "Thieves and criminals of all descriptions are bent on crime," Mack wrote, "and are being shot on the spot if caught at their work." Magee reports in his letter that on April 20, "some people from San Francisco arrived in a most depressed condition in a small motor car." They said they were glad to escape the flames in what they had on. Several people here have lost their houses, others all their luggage which was awaiting them in hotels in San Francisco." "We all have many friends, and many of us relatives, in the city," Mack wrote. "... the suspense is dreadful. We have not yet scarcely begun to realize the extent of the disaster. Thousands upon thousands of destitute people are headed this way and we must help take care of them. Congress has voted $1 million for relief of S.F. but what is that among so many? San Jose, Palo Alto and other wealthy cities in the line of march are themselves damaged to a great extent. It is said that Stanford University buildings are nearly all wrecked, and $5 million will not replace them. "Some people are beginning to draw their deposits from local banks and as a good deal of their cash is locked up in safes that are still red hot, they may create a money panic, but I trust that this will be prevented by getting in gold from Los Angeles." 1 Mack ended his letter on the confident note that San Francisco "will be rebuilt and in a far grander style than before... in 2,000 years San Francisco may be again destroyed. But I expect to move before then." San Francisco was again rebuilt, but it was a long haul, according to Lloyd Koster of Salinas, whose grandfather owned a grocery store in the city. Army engineers blew it up, along with other buildings on the block, to make a firebreak to control the spreading flames, he said, and grandpa gave away the grocery store's food "but kept the barrels of whiskey for bartering. In those days, people brought their own bottles and filled them from the store's barrel." http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/14355814.htm?template=conte... 4/17/2006 , Heritage Society of Pacific Grove,Historical Collections,Names of People about town,E through F File names,L through M File Names,Mack,MACK_009.pdf,MACK_009.pdf 1 Page 1, Tags: MACK_009.PDF, MACK_009.pdf 1 Page 1