Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

THE ROMANCE OF BANKING 295were wooden buildings of a type specially designed for the useof the bank, and were such as had been erected by it at Cobaltand in other outlying places in Canada where materials andlabour were difficult to obtain on the spot. All the materialsused in their construction were cut to fit at a large lumber millin British Columbia and shipped by rail to wherever thebuilding was to be erected. It was the custom of the bankat this period of rapid expansion to keep one or two suchbuildings on hand ready for emergencies. Those sent to SanFrancisco were not required for the use of the branch. One ofthem was erected after the catastrophe on a rented site at308 California Street, almost opposite the old office of thebank, and was subsequently sold. The other was erected onthe south-east corner of Van Ness Avenue and Eddy Street,where it served as the home of the sub-branch establishedthere in September, 1906. 1Business had ended abruptly at the close of April 17, andduring the ensuing days of destruction, men who could previouslyhave written their cheques for vast sums without anyhesitation had seen their material resources wiped out.Though there was a crying need for cash, the specie and records,not only of The Canadian Bank of Commerce but of everyother financial institution, were lying in hot steel vaults in theheart of the burned area. The experience of those whoventured to open their safes and vaults before they werethoroughly cooled was disastrous. When the doors wereopened the inrush of air caused the half-baked contents toburst into flames, and in numerous instances currency, securitiesand valuable records were completely destroyed. FortunatelyMr. Kains, guided by what he had learned ofeffect of fire on steel vaults in other great conflagrations,cautiously waited until the vaults of the bank were thoroughlycooled, and when they were opened on May 7, nineteen daysafter the fire commenced, the contents were found in perfectorder. While the outer doors were considerably damaged by1See plate 48, facing page 290.the