20 Apr 1906
Page 1
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This newspaper page contains 21 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
New York Tribune
Location
New York, New York, United States of America
Date
Apr 20, 1906
Page
1
Reports from San Francisco to Santa Rosa describe a severe earthquake disaster. Santa Rosa towns report two hotels destroyed and many buried. A survivor cites about 500 dead. Los Angeles experienced a powerful shock but no damage noted.
Reports from Santa Rosa California detail a catastrophic earthquake and blaze that destroyed the city and surrounding towns. Duffy of Owensboro Kentucky escaped the St Rose Hotel, recounting about three hundred killed in Santa Rosa and five hundred in nearby Shoe Town. The entire business district lay in ruins with the courthouse collapsed and homelessness widespread.
An earthquake tremor struck Los Angeles at 28 o'clock in the afternoon causing fear and brief evacuations of tall buildings. No major damage reported. some survivors from the San Francisco quake were on trains passing through the area, with nervous tension increasing. Franklin of the U S Bureau noted the tremor lacked unusual strength and appeared as a single undulation.
Reports from Brawley California near the Southern Pacific line south of Los Angeles say the town was practically wiped out by the earthquake. Brick bank and principal merchant buildings were destroyed along with many houses. no fatalities reported so far.
Latest reports state several people killed as a strong quake wrecks the Hall of Records, soon to be called the Hall of Justice, with extensive damage to surrounding buildings and observatory instruments under the Lick Observatory in charge.
A black and white view titled California Street looking west toward Nob Hill shows the Fairmount Hotel at the hilltop with all surrounding buildings reported destroyed. The image, copyrighted 1904 by Detroit Photographic Company, captures post disaster urban ruin.
In Nob Hill, the district from Powell to Jones along California Street suffered a devastating fire. The Stanford and Hopkins estates, the Fairmount Hotel, Flood and Huntington mansions, Crocker residence, and other grand homes were described as among the area’s palatial properties, with Pacific Heights later noted for new but untouched mansions.
President Roosevelt issued a national proclamation requesting aid for San Francisco. He urged contributions through the American National Red Cross, to be allocated by Red Cross officials and agents, with Dr. Edward Devine assisting in California. Donations may go to Red Cross treasurers in Washington or New York or local branches.
A fragmented listing shows large donors including Mrs Phoebe A Hearst and M M Rothschild & Co of London via August Belmont & Co contributing amounts around 5 000 each. Other names appear with 2 500 to 10 000 figures, indicating a broad pledge total of half a million dollars.
Washington reports concern at the Navy Department over three government ships under construction in San Francisco. The armored cruisers California and South Dakota, each about 13,680 tons, and the protected cruiser Milwaukee, about 9,700 tons, sit on the stocks and would be badly affected by earthquake or fire if damaged.
D C Mills stated yesterday his intent to begin reconstruction of the Mills Building in San Francisco at once. He expressed confidence in a quick revival of hope and said he had no private information but assumed the building was destroyed by the fire based on published reports.
A morning earthquake in Sarajevo measured as a short undulatory shock, moving west to east, was felt at 11 o clock. The report notes heavy losses in the San Francisco disaster with Hermann Oelrichs and Mrs William K Vanderbilt Jr among those affected as much property there and in San Francisco is reported destroyed.
President Roosevelt learns with deep regret of the destruction of the University of California and Leland Stanford buildings by the 1906 earthquake. He dispatches telegraphs to University of California President Wheeler and Stanford President Jordan offering earnest sympathy and concern for California.
Manila reports tremors twenty minutes after the San Francisco earthquake on April 18. Seismic waves were felt with mainly horizontal oscillations and minor vertical motion. No damage occurred.
Manila reports at 2:30 a m that Honolulu says there are no cen iaries with San Francisco. Advertisement notes twenty trains daily between New York and Buffalo by the New York Central Lines.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art reports the loss of nearly all paintings bequeathed by Collis P. Huntington in a Nob Hill fire that destroyed the Huntington residence. Many works in the Huntington collection were stored there, with others hanging in Mrs. Huntington’s Fifth Avenue and Throg’s Neck houses. Huntington fears the disaster may be vastly understated, foretelling a citywide ruin.
Telegraph report from Boston dated April 19 notes Walter Scott Hale offering 1000 dollars for a ten word message from San Francisco regarding his wife and children believed trapped after the earthquake. A Boston woman sought 2000 dollars to reach her daughter in law in San Francisco via Guam. Cable office at Rockport could not fill the request. A Guam route message to Mrs Kinsman Gloucester stated a relative of hers alive but endangered by fire.
Officials reveal that a vault in the Union Trust Company building in San Francisco likely held $2,000,000 from the estate of Mrs. Leland Stanford. The money was turned over to the trust company thirteen days before the earthquake to hold as trustees pending inheritance tax litigation. Heirs fear they may lose their share as the case proceeds in court.
A railroad advertisement lists 1 25 PM Saturday specials to Atlantic City on April 2 and 28 via Pennsylvania Railroad with buffet sailor cars and coaches. A special train of hot cars and a dining car leaves Atlantic City for New York at 4 30 PM Sundays April 22 and 2, with a Newark stop in both directions.
The fire rages across Van Ness Avenue crippling the western addition. Fire crews dynamite mansions to stem the blaze while city buildings, hotels, theaters, and many apartments burn. Relief funds issued, bread lines planned, and transit aid offered as San Francisco fights a total ruin.
An advertisement promotes the Atlantic City automobile races set for April 25 26 and 27. It highlights superior service via the Pennsylvania Railroad and states fast express trains run every day to the event.
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