Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

294 HISTORY OF THE BANK"As the firemen and volunteer fire-fighters became exhaustedtheir ranks were filled from the lines of spectators,sometimes at the point of a soldier's bayonet. Late thatafternoon the second retreat from the fire fiend began, and theflames, having left the main portion of the business district amass of smoking ruins, forged their way into the Mission,where thousands of the poorer classes of the city had theirhomes. Every available vehicle, from a wheelbarrow to ahearse, was pressed into service to convey the refugees to theparks and the ocean. The main thoroughfares leading fromthe lower part of the town were blocked from one side tothe other with a motley crowd of humanity perspiring underloads of personal effects. But in hundreds of cases foodand clothing were left to burn by their owners, while theycarried off shivering dogs, chattering parrots and other pets.In numerous instances the bottoms fell out of the bird-cagesand the birds escaped, but the owners hurried on for blocksand miles clinging to the empty wire frames, intent only onreaching a place of safety. For three scorching days andblood-red nights San Francisco burned, and the flames reapedtheir awful harvest of life and property. The story of ruinand disaster, of heroic acts and noble self-sacrifices, will neverhalf be told."To the task of keeping order, and the manifold other dutiesrequired of men in such a crisis, the bank's officers lent themselveswillingly, and the archives of The Canadian Bank of Commerceare replete with interesting historical documents recordingtheir experiences. There were also very difficult financialproblems for Mr. Kains and the other San Francisco bankersto face. With all possible speed, arrangements were made toreopen the bank in temporary quarters 1 and the Vancouverbranch was instructed by the head office to arrange for theshipment of two portable buildings for use as offices. These'The bank at first secured temporary quarters in the dining-room of a residenceon Van Ness Avenue, belonging to one of its customers. Later it removed to thewhich it had occupied before the catastrophe.