six in the evening
Send instructions . -- BLOMSBERRY , Commander Susquehanna . Five minutes afterward the whole town of San Francisco learned the news . Before six in the evening the different States of the Union had heard the great catastrophe ; and after midnight , by the cable , the whole of Europe knew the result of the great American experiment . We will not attempt to picture the effect produced on the entire world by that unexpected denouement . On receipt of the telegram the Naval Secretary telegraphed to the Susquehanna to wait in the bay of San Francisco without extinguishing her fires . Day and night she must be ready to put to sea .