Stanford University - Quad Yearbook (Palo Alto, CA)

Page 33 text:

portion of its front wall. Both wings of the Museum were down, but the central part stood firm. One of the four statues that rested on the fagade above the entrance was dashed to pieces on the steps below. The extent of the damage inside of the Museum is not known by the general public even at the present time. By far the worst scenes of destruction were presented by the two uncompleted buildings, the Gymnasium and the Library. The great pillars that formed the entrance to the former had crumpled like paper and fallen. The small steel dome that crowned the edifice was twisted out of shape, and the walls were cracked from roof to basement. The Li- brary was a heap of wreck- age, but the great dome stood unscathed in the center. Such, in a mere glance, was the view of the Univer- sity that presented itself to the eyes of those who rushed out of doors that morning. Everyone feared a repetition of the shock, and few dared to venture back to their rooms. Almost immediately, A SECTION OF THE LIBRARY y j-dcr of the authorities, the buildings were surrounded by ropes and danger signs were posted. Guards were set at all entrances to prevent anyone from risking his life among the tottering walls. President Jordan, in order to calm the excitement and prevent a stampede, issued a statement at once declaring that the regular work of the University would be resumed on Friday ; but it was apparent to every- one that the c ondition of the buildings was such that this would be absolutely impossible. During the first day nearly everyone remained out of doors, avoiding stone walls, and spent the time in relating 25 Stanford Quad igo8

Page 32 text:

igoS Stanford fall of this chimney demolished the boiler room and the adjoining Quad building. On the Row, the frame houses shook like reeds with the force of the shock. But most of them escaped without any substantial damage. The Chi Psi lodge, however, was thrown from its foundations, and so bent and twisted within and without that the only wonder is that it was not torn to pieces. The duration of the earthquake, as officially recorded, was forty- seven seconds. There were in reality two separate shocks, one imme- diately following the other,, and displaying even greater violence than its predecessor. By the time of the ces.sation of the second shock, practi- cally the entire population of the campus was out of doors witnessing the havoc that had been wrought. Everywhere there was a disheartening spectacle of ruin such as none of those who saw it ever wish to see again. The spire of Memorial Church had fallen, and the tower of the edifice was a wreck, crowned by the square wooden portion of the belfry, which had not gone down with the tiling. The front wall of the nave had also fallen, leaving the organ exposed, and sending a bright flood of daylight into those precincts formerly unlit save by the storied windows, richly dight, on which were portrayed in the softest colors the deeds of Biblical heroes, from Abraham to the Maccabees. Behind the church, several hundred feet of arcades, which were not held up, as were the others, by being joined to the buildings, were completely leveled. Memorial Arch had lost its heavy stone cap, and the frieze, The Progress of Civilization, which was designed by Augustus St. Gaudens, was utterly destroyed. Down the sides of the Arch extended gaping seams, even to the bases. The falling fragments of the Arch had broken down the adjoining arcades, and crushed in a portion of the roof of Assembly Hall. In front of the Zoology Building, the statue of Louis Agassiz, which stood on a stone shelf above the three central arches of the arcade, had fallen head first, and was imbedded fully two feet in the concrete jiavement below. Strange to say, the statue was not broken, and is now restored to its old station. The Chemistry Building had lost all its numerous chimneys and a I 24

Page 34 text:

Stanford exciting experiences. No one at this time had any idea of the extent of Quad the earthquake, for trafific on the railroads ceased ahnost immediately, and telegraph and telephone communications were cut ofif. Some, how- ever, succeeded in catching trains to the north early that morning, thus arriving in San Francisco in time to witness the stirring events that occurred there on the three succeeding days. By noon rumors of the destructive force of the earthquake in other places began to reach us. Trains arriving from San Jose brought word that considerable loss of life and property had occurred there, and these rumors, always added to by the excitement of the narrat or, became, in some instances, truly startling. We soon heard that San Francisco was burning and without water to quench the fire. Later in the day auto- mobiles and men on horseback arrived from the north, and confirmed the rumor. The accounts which we received of the loss of life varied greatly, no person estimating the deaths at less than several thousand, and some placing it so high as to make it include fully a fifth of the population of the city. That night people slept out of doors, on their lawns, or in the fields. In Palo . lto tents were pitched in every vacant lot, and many persons, especially those whose houses had been badly damaged, continued to sleep out for several weeks. It seemed as if the entire city of San Francisco were doomed to destruction, for the flames were raging unchecked from the Potrero to Telegraph Hill. In the afternoon, the smoke of the burning metropolis had filled the northern sky, and the frequent explosions in the distance told of the efforts of the citizens to save it by fighting the fire with dynamite. Most of the students who had relatives or friends in San Francisco took trains to San ISruno, and from there made their way into town. That night the red glow of the flames lit the horizon in a wide glare, brightening or darkening by turns with changes of the wind. Those who saw the gleam of the conflagration through the gaps in the groves of oak and eucalyptus were filled with an appalling sense of fact that within forty miles of them, a great city was dying. All day Thursday, the conflagration continued, but by Friday more encouraging news began to arrive. The fire in San Francisco was under control, and reports of the loss of life in other places were now said to 26