as a wavelike
motion, accompanied by a severe up and down shake," said J. R. Hand of
the Hand Fruit Company of Los Angeles. "The shock was accompanied by a
terrific roar that is indescribable. An upright beam came through the
floor of my room and the walls bulged in. I thought I should not get
out alive. All my baggage was lost, but I still have the key to my
room as a souvenir, No. 249.

"I was on the third story of the hotel and got the last vacant room.
No one in any of the stronger built hotels was killed, to the best of
my knowledge. These hotels were destroyed by fire after being severely
wrecked. I reached the ferry station by a trip of about six miles
around by the Fairmount Hotel and thence to the water front.

"The Examiner Building went up like a flash. I was standing in front
of the Crocker Building and saw the first smoke. Just then the
soldiers ran us out. We went around two blocks and the next view we
had the building was a mass of flames. The burning of the Palace was a
beautiful sight from the bay."

F. O. Popenie, manager of the Pacific Monthly, was asleep in the
Terminus hotel, near the Southern Pacific ferry station, when the
first tremble came.

"The Terminus hotel did not go down at the first shock," he said. "We
were sleeping on the third floor when the quake came. The walls of the
hotel began falling, but the guests had time to run outside before the
building fell in.

"I started for San Jose on foot. When I reached the Potrero I looked
back and saw the business section a furnace. Fires had started up in
many places and were blazing fiercely. Finally a man driving a single
rig overtook me. He was headed for San Jose and he took me in. After a
distance of fifteen miles we took the train and went on."

The Terminus hotel was a six-story structure with stone and brick
sides. It collapsed soon after the first shock.

Among the refugees who found themselves stranded were John Singleton,
a Los Angeles millionaire, his wife and her sister. The Singletons
were staying at the Palace hotel when the earthquake shock occurred.

Mr. Singleton gives the following account of his experience: "The
shock wrecked the rooms in which we were sleeping. We managed to get
our clothes on and get out immediately. We had been at the hotel only
two days and left probably $3,000 worth of personal effects in the
room.

"After leaving the Palace we secured an express wagon for $25 to take
us to the Casino, near Gol