The news from San Francisco this week is decidedly reassuring.
Thanks to the strenuous efforts of police, firemen, and soldiers, the fire has been checked ; the recurrent shocks of earthquake have not been serious ; the formidable task of feeding and housing the homeless is being successfully grappled with ; and the work of clearing, and even of reconstruction, is already well in hand. The further details as to the extent of the catastrophe now available, while confirming the tremendous destruction of property—estimated at £60,000,000, of which some £35,000,000 was covered by insurance—indicate that the loss of life was much less than was originally supposed, the official estimate now given being one thousand. What is more, the great steel structures have in many instances remained intact, thus vindicating the adoption of modern methods of building. The world-wide sympathy felt for the United States has found vent, not only in messages of condolence, but in offers of pecuniary aid—in particular from Canada and the British Colonies— but these have been gratefully declined, and already a sum of more than 24,000,000 has been raised in the United States for purposes of relief and reconstruction. The astonishing recuperative force of America has often been shown on a great scale, but never perhaps more strikingly than in the courage, self-reliance, and energy with which the nation is concentrating its efforts on the restoration of San Francisco.