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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
In 1906, where did nature and chaos meet? San Francisco, March 2, 1998
This review is from: The San Francisco Earthquake (Hardcover)
Gordon Thomas and Max Witts take the reader in detail, minute by minute into a living hell. They trace the damage done by the earthquake from its starting point out in the Pacific, ripping up onto the California coast and into the city by the bay. The earthquake broke the water and gas lines and because San Francisco was, and still is, built so close, a small fire spread. The military took over and some of the soldiers shot people without trial for looting and even not moving fast enough. And yet, the military looted items that they were suppose to guard, even the relief supplies. This book makes you feel like you are right in the middle of the action. The reader will feel like fighting the fire with the firemen, helping the common citizen trying to safe his home, or serching for a lost child for a frighten mother...not knowing if the child is dead or alive. One word comes to mind after reading this book...WOW!!!
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You are there amidst the calamity, October 19, 2000
This review is from: The San Francisco Earthquake (Hardcover)
One day, my San Francisco 5th-grade class went to visit an exhibit about the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. While there, we met some survivors, old and ancient, but still alive with vivid memories of the disaster. To us, it had always been just something you read about. But, the survivors made the horror come alive, and suddenly we were quiet with awe and fright. This book gave me the same impression. Broken into a chronological pattern, we relive the days before, the days during, and the days after the conflagration. I couldn't put this book down! The book also told us something our beloved City always tried to hush up, and that was regarding the Bubonic Plague. The rats overran the City, due to broken sewer pipes and destruction, and with them they carried the fleas of the Plague. Astonishing. It can all happen again and reminds us how lucky Baghdad-By-The-Bay really was (only a few plague cases and no tsunami even though the Bay was lowered by four inches). You gotta get a hold of this book.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A History of the Great Earthquake, May 20, 2010
The San Francisco Earthquake, by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan Witts
This 1971 book has 292 pages for a short history of this famous disaster. The Contents lists the events by day (April 17 to 21 in 1906). There is an extensive Bibliography and an Index. The introduction `Today' warns about the reality of San Francisco: much of the 47 square miles will see buildings destroyed in another major earthquake. Earthquakes occur with an unknown regularity. Building on rubble guarantees future destruction. "Voices of reason" spoke against unchecked construction (p.15). But the big landowners are interested only in political power and their wealth, just as in the late 19th century. Since this book was written there was an earthquake in 1989. Dennis Smith's book "San Francisco is Burning" provides a new look at this old disaster. "Why does the subway tunnel through the San Andreas fault?" It would be difficult to summarize this condensed book in a review. I recommend it as a very readable book that educates as well as entertains. A knowledge of that era will help you appreciate this book, since some the background is necessarily omitted.
Brigadier General Frederick Funston, a former newspaper man, was promoted after he helped capture Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of the Philippine Insurrection and revered as a hero in the Philippines. Funston arbitrarily and unilaterally seized power over the city. I read than many of those "looters" were people who tried to salvage their property. The troops were applying the harsh methods they used to suppress the Philippine people. Rudolph Spreckels, the sugar monopolist, was the origin of the phrase "sugar daddy" for his gifts to young showgirls. His wealth and power came from the tariff on imported sugar. He and others offered a payoff for the Transit Monopoly franchise. When they lost to another group they appealed to President Theodore Roosevelt. They wouldn't have done this if they were the high bidders.
The use of explosives by inexperienced men destroyed buildings and also spread fires (Chapter 12). Scores were illegally shot without proper authority (p.132). Fifty men from the ruling class were chosen to run the city government (p.134). Mayor Schmitz suppressed reports of bubonic plague in the city (p.144). The fire caused rats to leave the waterfront area (p.145). A photographer witnessed a shooting (p.147). The Post Office and US Mint were saved by its workers (p.144). Funston's soldiers spread fires (p.150). Some stories about the Committee of Fifty are nonsense (p.154). The American Red Cross was placed in charge of disaster relief (p.163). The mansions of Robber Barons burned (p.172), then the Barbary Coast (p.174). Funston continued to destroy buildings (p.179). Rats spread bubonic plague (p.180) but this news was suppressed. Marines and sailors landed to form fire-fighting teams (p.187). Newspaper printed fiction (p.140) - as if this was unusual.
Soldiers were used to keep people from looting boxcars, then did the same (p.204). Scientists did not know the cause of the earthquake (p.219). Businessmen claimed the fire did the damage and ignored the earthquake (p.221). A.P. Giannini would lend money for rebuilding (p.229). Did arsonists start fires (p.232)? Funsnton ordered more destruction (p.249). Chinatown was looted (p.259). The fires died out Saturday morning when it began to rain (p.267). The destruction of homes and buildings was compounded by a loss of records (p.271). Laffer's report on Funston was ignored (p.272). Rebuilding made the city more dangerous (p.274). Chapter 28 tells of the Graft Trials. [Does it still go on?] Chapter 29 tells of the preparations for another earthquake. Would bridges be destroyed (p.289)? Traffic jams? Nuclear explosions for prevention (p.291). Can the people of San Francisco "pay a great deal" for their earthquake problem (p.292)?
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