every one gone lessened
the immediate weight upon themselves, and who issued a strict edict that
those who went must stay, that there could be no return until a counter
edict should be made public.

From the start this was one of the features of the situation. Down
Market Street, once San Francisco's pride, now leading through piles of
tottering walls, piles of still hot bricks and twisted iron and heaps
of smouldering debris, poured a huge stream of pedestrians. Men bending
under the weight of great bundles pushed baby carriages loaded with
bric-a-brac and children. Women toiled along with their arms full, but
a large proportion were able to ride, for the relief corps had been
thoroughly organized and wagons were being pressed into service from all
sides.

In constant procession they moved toward the ferry, whence the Southern
Pacific was transporting them with baggage free wherever they wished to
go. Automobiles meanwhile shot in all directions, carrying the Red Cross
flag and usually with a soldier carrying a rifle in the front seat. They
had the right of way everywhere, carrying messages and transporting the
ill to temporary hospitals and bearing succor to those in distress.

Oakland, the nearest place of resort, on the bay shore opposite San
Francisco, soon became a great city of refuge, fugitives gathering there
until 50,000 or more were sheltered within its charitable limits. Having
suffered very slightly from the earthquake that had wrecked the great
city across the bay, it was in condition to offer shelter to the
unfortunate. All day Wednesday and Thursday a stream of humanity poured
from the ferries, every one carrying personal baggage and articles saved
from the conflagration. Hundreds of Chinese men, women and children, all
carrying baggage to the limit of their strength, made their way into the
limited Chinatown of Oakland.

Multitudes of persons besieged the telegraph offices, and the crush
became so great that soldiers were stationed at the doors to keep them
in line and allow as many as possible to find standing room at the
counters. Messages were stacked yards high in the offices waiting to
be sent throughout the world. Every boat from San Francisco brought
hundreds of refugees, carrying luggage and bedding in large quantities.
Many women were bareheaded and all showed fatigue as the result of
sleeplessness and exposure to the chill air. Hundreds of these persons
lined the streets of Oakland, waitin