"AN ALL--RIGHT MAYOR"1



tory the four square miles of burnt area is. The man on
a horse or in an automobile was not out for pleasure; he was
in royal luck to have a means of conveyance. Market Street
was never so crowded as on the first day that the people were
allowed to move about without passes. Then the horses and
the vehicles came back. When the owners had heard of the
practise of Governmental requisition they slipped across the
county line, and a bargain had to be made with the union to
bring enough back for the transportation of food supplies.
But now that the ban wvas removed, the first business to which
they put themselves was tourist traffic.
   It was in the lull after the restoration of order and
before work had really begun that the public turned from
horror to sight-seeing. People crowded in and out under
the warped tower of the ferry building, which they would
not approach for fear of its falling a few days before. You
could ride up Market Street on an improvised board seat
of an express wagon for twenty-five cents.
   Schmitz himself took out the first street car that was
run after the fire. A small boy expressed the opinion that
he was an "all-right Mayor" but a "bum motorman"; how-
ever, he showed the same wisdom that he had throughout the
crisis by taking the advice of an expert who was at his elbow.
The crowd which lined the pavements cheered him and they
cheered the good augury, for the movement of the car was
as joyful tidings as the restoration of circulation to a frozen
limb. It meant that the earth had not fallen out of its orbit
and was still revolving on its axis, fires and earthquakes to
the contrary notwithstanding. For the first day that the
partially restored transit system was working, everybody was
allowed to ride free; that is, everybody who could get a
foothold and a handhold aboard. Then the "deadheading"
was limited to women and children, and later to only those
who had relief passes.
                          1367



1906