The Spirit of 1906

The Spirit of 1906

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Title: The Spirit of 1906
Author: George W. Brooks
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE
SPIRIT OF 1906 ***

This eBook was produced by David Schwan
.

Geo. W. Brooks, Secretary and Treasurer, Founder of the Company as
reorganized in the year 1905

The Spirit of 1906

By George W. Brooks Founder of the California Insurance Company
(as reorganized in the year 1905) and who has continuously occupied
the position of Secretary and Managing Underwriter with the
Corporation since that date.

Published by the California Insurance Company of San Francisco 1921

Copyright 1921 By Geo. W. Brooks

Dedicated to the Directors and Shareholders of the California Insurance
Company in 1906 who so nobly, at their own financial cost, did their
"Big Bit."

"On fame's eternall beadroll worthie to be fyled." - Spenser

Foreword

Whatever of effort has been given in the pleasant pastime of writing
these rambling and sketchy pages of reminiscences is dedicated to
those who in the hours of trial and tribulation felt with Sir Philip
Sidney, "Honor is the idol of man's mind" and determined to do that
which honor demanded knowing that if they lost their honor they lost
their all.

Reading between these lines, it is hoped there will be found some
intimation, some outline, of the character of the men who composed the
directors and stockholders of the California Insurance Company, who
acted well their part, who fought the good fight and held the faith,
whose stern sense of duty and heroic courage led them to lay upon the
altar of their idealism the financial sacrifices which they made.
Theirs is the honor achieved. They neither faltered nor hesitated in
upholding and protecting their own individual good name, the fair
name of the Company nor the integrity of the financial institutions of
California, and they, like Bacon "May leave their name and memory to
man's charitable speeches, to the next age and foreign nations."

The Spirit of 1906

The California Insurance Company having played one of the leading
parts in the reconstruction of San Francisco following the disaster of
1906 and there being no record of its activities, I have, after insistent
and repeated requests from directors, stockholders and others, finally
yielded to their importunities to preserve for reference my impressions
and memories of that most important crisis ever known to fire
insurance.
From the time when Nero played the violin accompaniment to the
burning of Rome, down, through the ages, to 5:15 a. m., April 18, 1906,
and up to the present date, the San Francisco disaster is the most
prominent recorded in history. It was the greatest spectacular drama
ever staged and produced the biggest heap of the "damn'dest, finest
ruins" the world has ever seen.
In transferring the records from the tablets of my memory to the printed
page, I am dealing with accurate historical facts of the California
Insurance Company together with my own impressions. The facts and
figures regarding the Company are incontrovertible. My own
impressions are but those which were felt by thousands of other San
Franciscans in a greater or lesser or more varying degree. These may be
taken as merely the local color, the object being to set forth for
enduring vision, the splendid performances of honorably disposed fire
insurance companies amongst which none discharged to policyholders
the liabilities under their contracts with any greater sense of equity,

honor and liberality than did the California Insurance Company.

The Morning of April 18th

In common with the other half million citizens of San Francisco on that
fateful morning, I was