an uninviting region, with its two lofty hills and its various
lower ones, a barren expanse of shifting sand dunes extending from their
feet. The population in 1830 was about 200 souls, about equal to that
of Chicago at the same date. It was not much larger in 1848, when
California fell into American hands and the discovery of gold set in
train the famous rush of treasure seekers to that far land. When 1849
dawned the town contained about 2,000 people. They had increased to
20,000 before the year ended. The place, with its steep and barren hills
and its sandy stretches, was not inviting, but its ease of access to the
sea and its sheltered harbor were important features, and people settled
there, making it a depot of mining supplies and a point of departure for
the mines.

The place grew rapidly and has continued to grow. At first a city of
flimsy frame buildings, it became early a prey to the flames, fire
sweeping through it three times in 1850 and taking toll of the young
city to the value of $7,500,000. These conflagrations swept away most of
the wooden houses, and business men began to build more substantially
of brick, stone and iron. Yet to-day, for climatic reasons, most of the
residences continue to be built of wood. But the slow-burning redwood
of the California hillsides is used instead of the inflammable pine, the
result being that since 1850 the loss by fire in the residence section
of the city has been remarkably small. In 1900 the city contained 50,494
frame and only 3,881 stone and brick buildings, though the tendency to
use more durable materials was then growing rapidly.

Before describing the terrible calamity which fell upon this beautiful
city on that dread morning of April 18, 1906, some account of the
character of the place is very desirable, that readers may know what San
Francisco was before the rage of earthquake and fire reduced it to what
it is to-day.

THE CHARACTER OF THE CITY.

The site of the city of San Francisco is very uneven, embracing a series
of hills, of which the highest ones, known as the Twin Peaks, reach to
an elevation of 925 feet, and form the crown of an amphitheatre of lower
altitudes. Several of the latter are covered with handsome residences,
and afford a magnificent view of the surrounding country, with its
bordering bay and ocean, and the noble Golden Gate channel, a river-like
passage from ocean to bay of five miles in length and one in width. This
waterway is ve