like a mountain torrent that, meeting rocks in its path,
dashes over them. Those who fell saved themselves as best they could.

"I left Oakland at about 5 o'clock. At that time San Francisco was
hidden in a pall of smoke. The sun shone brightly upon it without any
seeming penetration. Flames at times cleft the darkness. This cloud
was five miles in height, and at its top changed into a milk white."

* * * * *

Mrs. Agnes Zink, Hotel Broadway, said:

"I was stopping at 35 Fifth street, San Francisco. The rear of that
house collapsed and the landlady and about thirty of her roomers were
killed. I escaped simply because I had a front room and because I got
out on the roof, as the stairway had collapsed in the rear. Out in the
street it was impossible to find a clear pathway. I saw another
lodging house near ours collapse--I think it must have been 39 Fifth
street--and I know all the inmates were killed, for its wreck was
complete. In ten minutes the entire block to Mission street was in
flames."

* * * * *

Mr. J. P. Anthony, a business man who escaped from the doomed city in
an automobile tells a graphic story:

Mr. Anthony says that he was sleeping in his room at the Romona hotel
on Ellis street, near Macon, and was suddenly awakened at 5:23 in the
morning. The first shock that brought him out of bed, he says, was
appalling in its terrible force. The whole earth seemed to heave and
fall. The building where he was housed, which is six stories high, was
lifted from its foundation and the roof caved in. A score or more of
guests, men and women, immediately made their way to the street, which
was soon filled with people, and a perfect panic ensued. Debris
showered into the street from the buildings on every side.

As a result, Mr. Anthony says, he saw a score or more of people
killed. Women became hysterical and prayed in the streets, while men
sat on the curbing, appearing to be dazed. It was twenty minutes
before those in the vicinity seemed to realize the enormity of the
catastrophe. The crowds became larger and in the public squares of the
city and in empty lots thousands of people gathered.

It was 9 o'clock before the police were in control of the situation.
When they finally resumed charge, the officers directed their energy
toward warning the people in the streets away from danger. Buildings
were on the brink of toppling over.

Mr. Anthony says