he bay front was quickly devastated. That represented
the heart of the handsome business section.

The greatest destruction on the first day occurred in that part of the
city which was reclaimed from San Francisco Bay. Much of the
devastated district was at one time low marshy ground entirely covered
by water at high tide. As the city grew it became necessary to fill in
many acres of this low ground in order to reach deep water. The
Merchants' Exchange building, a fourteen-story steel structure, was
situated on the edge of this reclaimed ground. It had just been
completed and the executive offices of the Southern Pacific Company
occupied the greater part of the building.

The damage by the earthquake to the residence portion of the city, the
finest part of which was on Nob Hill and Pacific Heights, was slight
but the fire completely destroyed that section on the following day.

To the westward, on Pacific Heights, were many fine, new residences,
but little injury was done to any of them by the quake.

The Palace Hotel, a seven-story building about 300 feet square, was
built thirty years ago by the late Senator Sharon, whose estate was in
the courts for many years. At the time it was erected the Palace was
considered the best equipped hotel in the west.

The offices of the three morning papers, the Chronicle, the Call and
the Examiner, were located within 100 feet of each other. The
Chronicle, situated at the corner of Market and Kearney streets, was a
ten-story steel frame building and was one of the finest buildings of
its character put up in San Francisco.

The Spreckels building, in which were located the business office of
the Call, was sixteen stories high and very narrow. The editorial
rooms, composing room and pressroom were in a small three-story
building immediately in the rear of the Spreckels building.

Just across Third street was the home of the Examiner, seven stories
high, with a frontage of 100 feet on Market street.

The postoffice was a fine, grey stone structure and had been completed
less than two years. It covered half a block on Mission street between
Sixth and Seventh streets. The ground on which the building stood was
of a swampy character and some difficulty was experienced in obtaining
a solid foundation.

The City Hall, which was badly wrecked by the quake and afterwards
swept by the fire, was a mile and a half from the water front. It was
an imposing structure with a dome 150 feet h