upon the supports of
the house. Some day, when I get time, one of two things will surely
happen. Either I'll go forth and murder the man who perpetrated the
atrocity, or else I'll take an axe and chop off the lying, fluted planks.

A thing must be true, or it is not beautiful, any more than a painted
wanton is beautiful, any more than a sky-scraper is beautiful that is
intrinsically and structurally light and that has a false massiveness of
pillars plastered on outside. The true sky-scraper _is_ beautiful--and
this is the reluctant admission of a man who dislikes humanity-festering
cities. The true sky-scraper is beautiful, and it is beautiful in so far
as it is true. In its construction it is light and airy, therefore in
its appearance it must be light and airy. It dare not, if it wishes to
be beautiful, lay claim to what it is not. And it should not bulk on the
city-scape like Leviathan; it should rise and soar, light and airy and
fairylike.

Man is an ethical animal--or, at least, he is more ethical than any other
animal. Wherefore he has certain yearnings for honesty. And in no way
can these yearnings be more thoroughly satisfied than by the honesty of
the house in which he lives and passes the greater part of his life.

They that dwelt in San Francisco were dishonest. They lied and cheated
in their business life (like the dwellers in all cities), and because
they lied and cheated in their business life, they lied and cheated in
the buildings they erected. Upon the tops of the simple, severe walls of
their buildings they plastered huge projecting cornices. These cornices
were not part of the construction. They made believe to be part of the
construction, and they were lies. The earth wrinkled its back for
twenty-eight seconds, and the lying cornices crashed down as all lies are
doomed to crash down. In this particular instance, the lies crashed down
upon the heads of the people fleeing from their reeling habitations, and
many were killed. They paid the penalty of dishonesty.

Not alone should the construction of a house be truthful and honest, but
the material must be honest. They that lived in San Francisco were
dishonest in the material they used. They sold one quality of material
and delivered another quality of material. They always delivered an
inferior quality. There is not one case recorded in the business history
of San Francisco where a contractor or builder delivered a quality
super