"The Grand Hotel was tossed like a ship at sea. There was a wavelike motion, accompanied by a severe up and down shake. 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."
--J.R. Hand
"When I awakened the house was shaken as a terrier would shake a rat. I dressed and made for the street which seemed to move like waves of water. On my way down Market street the whole side of the building fell out and came so near me that I was covered and blinded by the dust. Then I saw the first dead come by. They were piled up in an automobile like carcasses in a butcher's wagon, all over with blood, with crushed skulls and broken limbs, and bloody faces.
"A man cried out to me, 'Look out for that live wire.' I just had time to sidestep certain death. On each side of me the fires were burning fiercely. I finally got into the open space before the ferry. The ground was still shaking and gaping open in places. Women and children knelt on the cold asphalt and prayed God would be merciful to them. At last we got on the boat. Not a woman in that crowd had enough clothing to keep her warm, let alone the money for a fare. I took off my hat, put a little money in it, and we got enough money right there to pay all their fares."
- Sam Wolf
"I was stopping at 35 Fifth Street, San Francisco. The rear of that house collapsed and the landlady and about thirty of her roomers were killed. I escaped simply because I had a front room and because I got out on the roof, as the stairway had collapsed in the rear. Out on the street it was impossible to find a clear pathway. I saw another lodging house near ours collapse -- I think it must have been 39 Fifth Street -- and I know all the inmates were killed, for its wreck was complete. In ten minutes the entire block to Mission Street was in flames."
--Mrs. Agnes Zink
"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 Golden Gate Park, where we stayed Wednesday night. On Thursday morning we managed to get a conveyance at enormous cost and spent the entire day in getting to the Palace. We spent $1 apiece for eggs and $2 for a loaf of bread. WOn these and a little ham we had to be satisfied."
--John Singleton
"Mrs. Gill and myself were in a room on the third floor of the hotel. We were awakened by the rocking of our beds. Then they seemed to be lifted from their legs, suspended in the air, and as suddenly dropped, while the plaster began cracking and falling. We arose and left our room after putting on a few clothes. We felt that with every step we were treading on glass and that the ten stories above us would fall, not allowing us to escape alive. But once outside the building and with our friends I began to realize what had happened."
--J.C. Gill
"I had been stopping at the Metropole in Oakland and Tuesday night went to [the City], where I stopped at the Terminal Hotel, at the foot of Market Street. The first shock threw all the loose articles around my room and I attempted to run unclad from the hotel. Just as I walked out the door I was struck by some heavy beams. I was stunned and while I lay there some one from the hotel brought me my clothing.
-- Frederick Lemon
[RETURN]
The California Reader
http://www.notfrisco.com/calmem/index.html