in this matter was my estimate, when later the loss is estimated to be
four hundred millions, and the duration of the fire, from 5:15 A. M.,
the 18th to 3 P. M. of the 20th - say sixty hours, which would be at the
rate of about six million five hundred thousand per hour.

At 3 o'clock the soldiers drove the people north on Van Ness and west up
to Franklin Street, saying that they were going to dynamite the east
side of Van Ness. From my window I watched the movements of the
fire-fighters and dynamiters. They first set fire to every house on the
east side of Van Ness Avenue between Washington and Bush streets, and by
3:30 nearly every one was on fire. Their method was this: A soldier
would, with a vessel like a fruit-dish in his hand, containing some
inflammable stuff, enter the house, climb to the second floor, go to the
front window, open it, pull down the shade and curtain, and set fire to
the contents of his dish. In a short time the shades and curtain would
be in a blaze. When the fire started slowly, they would throw bricks and
stones up to the windows and break the glass to give it draught. It took
about 20 minutes for a building to get well on fire. From 4 to 4:30 St.
Luke's and the Presbyterian Church and all the houses on Van Ness Avenue
from Bush to Washington were on fire. At about this time they began
dynamiting. Then they started backfiring, and, as the line, of fire was
at Polk Street, the idea was to meet the flames and not allow them to
cross Van Ness Avenue. This was a great mistake, as it caused the whole
of the blocks between those streets to be on fire at once, which made an
intense heat, while if allowed to approach Van Ness from Polk Street the
heat would have been much less, and would not have ignited the west side
of Van Ness. The explosions of dynamite were felt fearfully in my house;
those within two blocks would jar and shake the house violently,
breaking the windows, and at the same time setting off the burglar
alarm. As the windows would break it tore the shades and curtains,