he night previous to the earthquake. I
was awakened about 5:15 in the morning by being thrown out of my bed
in the Palace Annex. I rushed to the window and looked out. The houses
were reeling and tumbling like playthings. I hurried on clothing and
ran into the street. Here I saw many dead and the debris was piled up
along Market street.

"I went to the office of the Palace Hotel and there men, women, and
children were rushing about, crazed and frantic in their night
clothes. The first shock lasted only twenty-eight seconds, but it
seemed to me two hours.

"A few minutes after I reached the Palace Hotel office the second
shock came. It was light, compared with the first, but it brought to
the ground many of the buildings that the first shock had unsettled.

"Fires were breaking out in every direction. Market street had sunk at
least four feet. I started for the ferry. It is only a few blocks from
the Palace Annex to the ferry, but it took me from 6 a. m. to 10:15
a. m. to cover the space.

"Men and women fought about the entrance of the ferry like a band of
infuriated animals.

"I made my escape--I do not remember how, for I was as desperate as
any of them. As the boat pulled over the bay the smoke and flame rose
sky high and the roar of falling buildings and the cries of the people
rent the air."

J. C. Gill, of Philadelphia, told his experiences as follows: "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.

"I made my way back to the room and carefully packed our suit cases. I
came across a valuable necklace and pearls that my wife in her haste
had left behind.

"With hundreds of others we roamed in the park in front of the hotel
several hours. When we saw the fire was hemming in the lower part of
the city we walked toward the outskirts. Early next morning we decided
to leave the city, and started to the ferry. Policemen would stop us,
and it was with difficulty and much trepidation that we walked through
the burned district, and