Public-domain ebook
by Linthicum, Richard; Fallows, Samuel; White, Trumbull
Language: en9,013 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: History - American·History - Modern (1750+)
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #26380.
The volume is a sprawling, illustrated chronicle of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, assembled by the veteran journalists Richard Linthicum and Trumbull White and introduced by Rev. Samuel Fallows. Its opening pages explain that the work was rushed to press in the wake of the disaster, resulting in occasional duplicated passages and abrupt chapter endings. The book promises a “comprehensive and connected account” of the catastrophe, from the initial shock that toppled Leland Stanford University to the ensuing conflagration, the heroic use of dynamite, and the nationwide relief effort. It also links the San Francisco tragedy to the contemporaneous eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, and includes a series of comparative essays on historic earthquakes and volcanoes from antiquity to the modern era, all accompanied by contemporary photographs of the ruined city and its aftermath.
Written in the emphatic, detail‑rich style of early‑20th‑century popular history, the narrative blends vivid eyewitness testimony with scientific commentary and patriotic commentary. Readers who relish exhaustive disaster accounts, period journalism, and richly captioned photo essays will find it compelling, while scholars of urban catastrophes, seismology, or the cultural memory of the 1906 quake will appreciate its breadth and primary‑source material.
The opening · free to read
There are some inconsistencies in the chapter subheadings between the Table of Contents and chapters themselves; these have been left as printed.
There is some variation in factual information--for example, the amount held in the Mint. These occurrences have all been preserved as printed.
There is some variable spelling; this has been repaired where there was an obvious prevalence of one form over the other, but is otherwise left as printed. There is a reference on page 112 to "gambling hells", which seems to be a genuine term, although it could be a typo for "gambling halls". Since there is no way to be certain, it has been preserved as printed. Archaic spelling has been preserved as printed.
Typographic errors in punctuation and spelling (omitted or transposed letters, etc.) have been repaired. Hyphenation has been made consistent where there was a prevalence of one form over the other.
The following errors have also been repaired:
Page 18--John amended to James--"Former Mayor James D. Phelan"
Page 47--aids amended to aides--"It was not without a struggle that Mayor Schmitz and his aides let this, ..."
Page 93--omitted word 'he' added, for sense--"Kanaka Pete chased the man he had marked ..."
Page 160--omitted 0 added to tabular entry for Connecticut.
Page 317--damage to the bottom of the page has left one word partially obscured. From the visible letters and available space, the word is most likely 'gradually', which has been used in this e-text.
Page 372--Callas amended to Callao--"... producing a new bay at Callao; and in several mountains ..."
Page 373--XXXII amended to XXXI--"CHAPTER XXXI."
Page 382--XXXI amended to XXXII--"CHAPTER XXXII."
Page 401--omitted word 'if' added following 'as'--"It was as if St. Pierre had been just dipped ..."
The frontispiece illustrations have been moved to follow the title page. Other illustrations have been moved where necessary so that they are not in the middle of a paragraph.
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