about one second in the last two big
earthquakes."

If we seek to discover the actual damage done by the earthquake, the
fact stands out that the fire followed so close upon it that the traces
of its ravages were in many cases obliterated. So many buildings in the
territory of the severest shock fell a prey to the flames or to dynamite
that the actual work of the earth forces was made difficult and in
many places impossible to discover. This fact is likely to lead to
considerable dispute and delay when the question of insurance adjustment
comes up, many of the insurance companies confining their risk to fire
damage and claiming exemption from liability in the case of damage due
to earthquake.

Among the chief victims of the earth-shake was the costly and showy City
Hall, with its picturesque dome standing loftily above the structure.
This dome was left still erect, but only as a skeleton might stand, with
its flesh gone and its bare ribs exposed to the searching air. Its roof,
its smaller towers came tumbling down in frightful disarray, and the
once proud edifice is to-day a miserable wreck, fire having aided
earthquake in its ruin. The new Post Office, a handsome government
building, also suffered severely from the shock, its walls being badly
cracked and injury done by earthquake and fire that it is estimated will
need half a million dollars to repair.

FREAKS OF THE EARTHQUAKE.

One observer states that the earthquake appeared to be very irregular in
its course. He tells us that "there are gas reservoirs with frames all
twisted and big factories thrown to the ground, while a few yards away
are miserable shanties with not a board out of place. Wooden, steel and
brick structures hardly felt the earthquake in some parts of the city,
while in other places all were wrecked.

"Skirting the shore northwest from the big ferry building--which was
so seriously injured that it will have to be rebuilt--the first thing
observed was the extraordinary irregularity of the earthquake's course.
Pier No. 5, for instance, is nothing but a mass of ruins, while Pier No.
3, on one side of it and Pier No. 7, on the other side, similar in size
and construction, are undamaged. Farther on, the Kosmos Line pier is a
complete wreck."

The big forts at the entrance to the Golden Gate also suffered seriously
from the great shake-up, and the emplacements of the big guns were
cracked and damaged. The same is the case with the fortificati