Life Sketches of Ellen G. White

Scenes of Destruction

Two weeks later Mrs. White returned to her St. Helena home by way of San Jose, Mountain View, and San Francisco. “As we traveled northward,” she wrote in an account of this journey, “we saw some of the effects of the earthquake; and when we entered San Jose, we could see that large buildings had collapsed, and that others had been seriously damaged. LS 410.1

“At Mountain View, the new post office and some of the largest stores in town had been leveled to the ground. Other buildings had partially collapsed, and were badly wrecked.” The Review and Herald, May 24, 1906. LS 410.2

“On our way home from Mountain View, we passed through San Francisco, and, hiring a carriage, spent an hour and a half in viewing the destruction wrought in that great city. Buildings that were thought to be proof against disaster, were lying in ruins. In some instances, buildings were partially sunken in the ground. The city presented a most dreadful picture of the inefficiency of human ingenuity to frame fireproof and earthquake-proof structures.” Testimonies for the Church 9:94, 95. LS 410.3