citizens of San Francisco upon the fortitude they
have displayed and I urge upon them the necessity of
aiding the authorities in the work of relieving the
destitute and suffering. For the relief of those persons
who are encamped in the various sections of the city
everything possible is being done. In Golden Gate park,
where there are approximately 200,000 homeless persons,
relief stations have been established. The Spring Valley
Water Company has informed me that the Mission district
will be supplied with water this afternoon, between
10,000 and 12,000 gallons daily being available. Lake
Merced will be taken by the federal troops and that
supply protected.

"Eugene E. Schmitz, Mayor."

Although the third day of San Francisco's desolation dawned with
hope, it ended in despair.

In the early hours of the day the flames, which had raged for
thirty-six hours, seemed to be checked.

Then late in the afternoon a fierce gale of wind from the northwest
set in and by 7 o'clock the conflagration, with its energy restored,
was sweeping over fifty acres of the water front.

The darkness and the wind, which at times amounted to a gale, added
fresh terrors to the situation. The authorities considered conditions
so grave that it was decided to swear in immediately 1,000 special
policemen armed with rifles furnished by the federal government.

In addition to this force, companies of the national guard arrived
from many interior points.

In the forenoon, when it was believed the fire had been checked, the
full extent of the destitution and suffering of the people was seen
for the first time in near perspective. While the whole city was
burning there was no thought of food or shelter, death, injury,
privation, or loss. The dead were left unburied and the living were
left to find food and a place to sleep where they could.

On the morning of the third day, however, the indescribable
destitution and suffering were borne in upon the authorities with
crushing force. Dawn found a line of men, women, and children,
numbering thousands, awaiting morsels of food at the street bakeries.
The police and military were present in force, and each person was
allowed only one loaf.

A big bakery was started early in the morning in the outskirts of the
city, with the announcement that it would turn out 50,000 loaves of
bread before night. The news spread and thousands of hungry persons