Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 69.djvu/119

Rh than a cautious discussion of the data, I believe such a discussion should be undertaken and published. Of snap judgments there has been no lack, and the California press has catered to a natural desire of the commercial public for an optimistic view; hut no opinion has yet been fortified by an adequate statement of the pertinent facts. Among these facts are the distribution of earthquake shocks as to locality, time and severity in California, and also in the well-studied earthquake district of Japan; the relation of the slipping that has just occurred to the geologic structure of the coast region; the relation of other fault lines to the hay district; and the relation of the recent shock to a destructive shock that occurred in 1868. If a broad and candid review of the facts shall give warrant for a forecast of practical immunity, the deep-rooted anxiety of the community will find therein a measure of relief. If a forecast of immunity shall not he warranted, the public should have the benefit of that information, to the end that it shall fully heed' the counsel of those who maintain that the new city should he earthquake-proof. In any case, timidity will cause some to remove from the shaken district and will deter others who were contemplating immigration; but such considerations have only temporary influence and can not check in an important way the growth of the city. The destiny of San Francisco depends on the capacity and security of its harbor, on the wealth of the country behind it, and on its geographic relation to the commerce of the Pacific. Whatever the earthquake danger may he, it is a thing to be dealt with on the ground by skillful engineering, not avoided by flight: and the proper basis for all protective measures is the fullest possible information as to the extent and character of the danger.