. A history of the earthquake and fire in San Francisco; an account of the disaster of April 18, 1906 and its immediate results. or eight days and eight nights he remainedthere, breathing the polluted air of the refrigeratingchamber (but slightly renewed by its ventilators),drinking the water which came from the melting ofthe ice. tearing at the raw meat which hung withinreach. At length those who came to clear up themarket heard faint sounds from within the refrig-erator. They opened it. On the floor lay theirformer companion, faint, weakened, scarcely living,a hopeless maniac. What he had su
. A history of the earthquake and fire in San Francisco; an account of the disaster of April 18, 1906 and its immediate results. or eight days and eight nights he remainedthere, breathing the polluted air of the refrigeratingchamber (but slightly renewed by its ventilators),drinking the water which came from the melting ofthe ice. tearing at the raw meat which hung withinreach. At length those who came to clear up themarket heard faint sounds from within the refrig-erator. They opened it. On the floor lay theirformer companion, faint, weakened, scarcely living,a hopeless maniac. What he had suffered theynever knew; for within the day he died. How many other such tragedies occurred inthe seething cauldron of the flames will never beknown, but there were unquestionably many caseswhere men lost their reason momentarily in thestress and excitement of the time. Many foughteach other, needlessly, for precedence in gettinginto boats, and men were killed in such trivialquarrels. Others brought to the authorities storiesso wild that it seemed certain their reason had leftthem; and even after the immediate excitement had. 140 THE WORK OF THE FIRE ended, people were telling of sights that never couldhave existed at all. They seem strange now, butwere believed readily enough when told by supposedeye-witnesses. Thus one man was sure that he himself hadseen the Cliff House floating on the sea; if he had,its return to its accustomed place must have beenmarvellous to behold. A woman fleeing frightenedto Oakland told, hysterically, of her terrible tripdown Market street, and of crossing great crevassesthere on rickety planks which served as bridges;so terrified was she by her wholly imaginary ex-perience that she could not be induced to returnto San Francisco! No less startling are the storiestold of the great buildings on this same street. Asone man passed below it, the Call Building was in-clined at an angle of fifteen degrees from the per-pendicular ; another passed it just befor
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