Quote:There is an open question of production at San Francisco there may have been a barrel or two made there.
“In 1901 the Stevens Arms Company bought me out and from the first of May of that year I made the rifles that bear the name ‘Stevens-Pope.’ I made all of those that are numbered under about 1250.” On the last day of December, 1905 Pope left Stevens. Barrel-making held his interest and hope of a future, and at 45, after a seventeen-year stay, he left Hartford and went to San Francisco. For years the West had been active in shooting. Schoyen, Schalk and Zischang barrels found a ready market there. To Harry the move offered a chance of developing his own business unhampered by the necessity of working for someone else.
His new plant was the second story of a frame building on the corner of Fourth and Jesse Streets. Harry had invested every cent he had in equipment, and the future held bright hopes. For the time being he boarded at the Linda Vista, a hotel about half a mile from the business. The proprietor furnished him with an alcove bedroom, sitting room and bath for the large sum of thirty dollars a month.
On April 17, 1906, at three o’clock in the afternoon, Harry officially started work in the new place. After a few hours he went back to his rooms feeling confident of success at his new location. In anticipation of a full day’s work ahead he went to bed early. Harry was a light sleeper. Perhaps the excitement of getting his own business under way added nervousness to sleeplessness—he happened to be lying awake at 5:15 that morning. Suddenly with an unearthly roar from outside, the bed began to jump up and down. Dazed, he spread-eagled across it. Hung on with all fours. The room shook, chairs toppled, pieces on the mantle and table spilled. Outside, a whole city was in upheaval. Screams and crashes punctuated a steady roar. An earthquake had struck San Francisco!
The early morning catastrophe found the city defenseless. When the first shocks had subsided, Pope rushed to the window. Directly opposite the hotel a brick wall had fallen on four frame buildings. Injured were shrieking and silent dead were grim evidence of the horror that had struck the city. In a few terror-crowded hours all of San Francisco became a picture of utter destruction. A fire three miles across with flames a quarter mile high raged with the fury of an inferno, highlighting the fear-stricken faces of those fortunate enough to escap