San Francisco in Ruins / A Pictorial History of Eight Score Photo-Views of the Earthquake Effects, Flames' Havoc, Ruins Everywhere, Relief Camps

SAN FRANCISCO IN RUINS
A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF EIGHT SCORE PHOTO-VIEWS of the EARTHQUAKE EFFECTS FLAMES’ HAVOC RUINS EVERYWHERE RELIEF CAMPS
THE PHOTOGRAPHS BY J. D. GIVENS, PRESIDIO, SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. Copyright, 1906, by A. M. Allison and J. D. Givens
ENGRAVINGS AND PRINTING BY THE SMITH-BROOKS COMPANY DENVER, COLO.
COMMANDING GENERAL AND STAFF, DEPARTMENT OF CALIFORNIA, U. S. A., Headquarters, Presidio, San Francisco, Cal.

The Queen City of the Pacific Slope, Guardian of the Golden Gateway to the Far East, the Islands of the Southern Seas, the Frozen Northland and the Sunny Ports of our Sister Continent
By A. M. Allison
he historians of modern or ancient times have never recorded such a maelstrom of terrified, horror and panic-stricken human beings as awoke to the realization of the master seismic tremblor, in the City of San Francisco at 5:13 on the morning of April 18th, 1906. The initial quake, being followed by many of less severity, tumbled chimneys, large and small buildings of poor or faulty construction, broke water mains and ruptured electric light and power conductors, causing many conflagrations in a few moments. Then followed a catastrophe unparalleled in modern times, a disaster beside which, for property losses, the Chicago fire, the Johnstown flood, the Galveston tidal wave, the Mont Pelee eruption, Vesuvius’ spoutings and the Baltimore fire, fade into infinitesimal disturbances on the records of Father Time.
In three days, which seemed only as so many hours, there faded out of existence noble business blocks, grand and imposing structures, beautiful and superb residences the homes of the Argonauts, the sea kings, mining barons and merchant princes, together with the marts and dwellings of those who toil and delve and go down to the sea in ships, completely desolating and razing by fire three-fourths of this once beautiful metropolis of the whole Pacific Coast on either the northern or southern continents.