Identifier: historyofearthqu00aitk (find matches)
Title: A history of the earthquake and fire in San Francisco; an account of the disaster of April 18, 1906 and its immediate results
Year: 1906 (1900s)
Authors: Aitken, Frank W Hilton, Edward
Subjects: Earthquakes -- California San Francisco
Publisher: San Francisco, The E. Hilton Co.
Contributing Library: New York Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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hen loved oneswere crushed beneath falling walls, or pinioned,helpless, to die by the fires slow torture; the agonyof suspense as day followed day and no news came,caused many a man to lose his reason during thosetrying times. During the first day of the fire manywere brought to the emergency hospitals and treatedas insane. In some cases the attack was but tem-porary ; in others, however, it was necessary toplace the patient in an asylum. During the first fewdays after the earthquake many temporarily losttheir reason because suddenly deprived of a favoriteindulgence—strong drink, in many cases; in othersmorphine or opium. Of these some recovered aftera short period of raving; others made no improve-ment and seem permanently insane. There arestories of crazed men who could not tear themselvesaway from the horrid fascination of the fire; storiesof men who in a moments madness leaped into theflames. One such tale seems to touch the utmostdepths of horror and grisly tragedy. A dealer at
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c « o o V) o C n u GCO <-5 oo \AA THE WORK OF THE FIRE the Italian market, it seems, was so terrified, or sounbalanced, by the sudden falling of walls about hisplace (a number of men and horses, backed up be-side the market for their morning suppiles, wereburied beneath its wall) that he ran into the greatrefrigerator and slammed the heavy door behindhim. In the confusion and excitement his absencewas not noticed; and in a few hours the buildingburned. The refrigerator, covered with fallen brick,remained unharmed, and in it the unwilling prisoner,ignorant of the fire, ignorant of the death or flightof his comrades, awaited the opening of his lonelycell. For 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 th

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