Concerning California by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Apr 26, 1906

Concerning California

By Editor

OUR readers have already learned through other channels the general facts concerning the appalling disaster in California, a brief report of which will be found in this issue, but we have especially desired to be able to give information concerning our people and our institutions in that State. With this in view, we sent the following telegram last Thursday:—

“Pacific Press, “Mountain View, Cal. “Telegraph at press rates particulars concerning our people and institutions. “EDITOR REVIEW AND HERALD.”

We had, of course, hoped that we should receive a reply in season to print it in this paper, but although four days have elapsed since this message was sent from this city, we have had no answer. It is altogether likely that our message was greatly delayed in transmission, as we saw a published statement on Friday that one telegraph company in Chicago had on hand five thousand messages waiting their turn to be sent to California.

Under these circumstances we can only present such facts to our readers as we have been able to gather from published reports. In the early dispatches Healdsburg, where one of our schools is located, was mentioned as among the towns destroyed, but later dispatches say that the reports concerning this place are conflicting. Santa Rosa, a little to the south of Healdsburg, suffered severely, and quite a number of lives were lost. No mention has been made in the reports of St. Helena, where the sanitarium is located, but Napa, a town in the same valley, felt the effects of the shock, although not seriously. All dispatches agree that no great damage was done in Oakland, and we believe our people and property there are safe. Of course our churches and branch sanitarium and restaurant in San Francisco have gone in the general destruction. We can only hope for the best concerning our brethren and sisters in that now desolate city.

The earthquake practically destroyed the buildings of the Leland Stanford, Jr., University at Palo Alto, ten miles north of Mountain View, the new home of the Pacific Press, and did great damage to property and caused considerable loss of life at San Jose, fifteen miles south of Mountain View. We are left to conjecture whether the effect of the shock was serious at Mountain View. We hope the place was spared, and that our sister institution is uninjured. So far as we have learned, no damage was done in southern California where our sanitariums are located, although some slight shocks were experienced.

We regret that we have been unable to hear directly from our brethren, but when the usual means of communication fails, we are helpless.