Incidents of the Awful Hurricane—Unparalleled Atrocities by Lawless
Hordes—Earnest Appeals for Help.
On September 11th, the Mayor of Galveston forwarded the following
address to the people of the United States:
“It is my opinion, based on personal information, that 5000 people have
lost their lives here. Approximately one-third of the residence portion
of the city has been swept away.
“There are several thousand people who are homeless and destitute. How
many, there is no way of finding out. Arrangements are now being made to
have the women and children sent to Houston and other places, but the
means of transportation are limited. Thousands are still to be cared for
here. We appeal to you for immediate aid.
“WALTER C. JONES.”
On the same date the following statement of conditions at Galveston and
appeal for aid was issued by the local relief committee:
“A conservative estimate of the loss of life is that it will reach at
least 5,000, and at least that number of families are shelterless and
wholly destitute. The entire remainder of the population is suffering in
a greater or less degree. Not a single church, school or charitable
institution, of which Galveston had so many, is left intact. Not a
building escaped damage, and half the whole number were entirely
obliterated. There is immediate need for food, clothing and household
goods of all kinds. If nearby cities will open asylums for women and
children, the situation will be greatly relieved. Coast cities should
send us water, as well as provisions, including kerosene, oil, gasoline
and candles.
“W. C. Jones, mayor; M. Lasker, president Island City Saving Bank; J. D.
Skinner, president Cotton Exchange; C. H. McMaster, for Chamber of
Commerce; R. G. Lowe, manager Galveston News; Clarence Owsley, manager
Galveston Tribune.”
The white cotton screw men’s organization held a meeting and tendered
their services, that of 500 able bodied men, to the public committee to
clear the streets of debris. Big forces went to work, and the situation
was much improved so far as the passage of vessels was concerned. The
city was patrolled by regular soldiers and citizen soldiery. No one was
allowed on the streets without a pass. Several negroes were shot for not
halting when ordered.
The steamer Lawrence arrived here early on the morning of the 11th, from
Houston, with water and provisions. A committee of one hundred citizens
were aboard, among them being doctors and cooks. W. G. Van Vleck,
General Manager of the Southern Pacific Railroad, arrived at the same
time. He thought it would be possible to establish mail service from
Houston to Texas City by night, with transfer boats to Galveston.
BODIES BEING BURIED IN TRENCHES.
It was found to be impossible to send bodies to sea for burial. The
water receded so far, however, that it was possible to dig trenches, and
bodies were being buried where found. Debris covering bodies was being
burned where it could be done safely.
Work on the water works was rushed, and it was hoped to be able to turn
a supply on in the afternoon.
Outside of Galveston smaller towns were beginning to send in reports as
telegraphic communication improved, and many additions to the list of
the dead and property losses were received. Richmond and Hitchcock each
reported sixteen lives lost. Alto Loma, Arcadia, Velasco, Seabrooke,
Belleville, Areola and many other towns had from one to eight dead. In
most of these places many houses were totally destroyed and thousands of
head of live stock killed.
The railroads alone suffered millions of dollars in actual damage, to
say nothing of the loss from stoppage of business. The International and
Great Northern and Santa Fe had miles of track washed out, and the
bridges connecting Galveston with the mainland must be entirely rebuilt.
The following is the description of an eye-witness on September 11:
“Galveston is almost wiped off the earth. Fifteen thousand persons are
homeless. The loss of life will reach into the thousands. Bodies are
piled everywhere.
“When daylight broke over the expanse of floating bodies, rubbish heaps
and ruins were all that remained of the prosperous city. A few leading
citizens assembled in several feet of water at a street corner and
called a meeting at the Tremont Hall, to which they adjourned. A
committee of Public Safety of fifteen leading citizens was formed, and
Colonel J. H. Hawley, one of the best known men in Texas, was made
chairman. He, with Mayor Walter C. Jones and Chief of Police Edward
Ketchum, formed a triumvirate, with absolute power, and declared the
city under martial law.
MILITARY FORCES AND SPECIAL POLICE.
“They issued a commission to Major L. R. D. Fayling, which made him
commander-in-chief of all military forces and special deputies of
police, and only subject to the orders of the Mayor and the Chief of
Police. Major Fayling was authorized to requisition any men or property
he may require for his force, and his receipt will be honored by the
city of Galveston and any such property paid for by the city.
“As soon as Major Fayling received his authority he collected a handful
of half-naked, barefooted soldiers, clothed them, supplied them with
food and put them under command of Captain Edward Rogers. Around this
nucleus of a force he has built up to meet the necessities of the
situation his present force of three full companies of volunteer
soldiers and a troop of cavalry.
“A horde of negroes and whites—even white women—were in the ruins of the
city. They were robbing the dead and dying, killing those who resisted,
cutting off fingers to obtain rings and ears to obtain earrings. Drunken
men reeled about the streets intimidating citizens.
“Chief of Police Ketchum ordered the sale of liquor stopped, and began
to swear in hundreds of special policemen to rescue the wounded, feed
the living and convey the dead to a hundred different morgues. He worked
for thirty-six hours without going home to inquire about his family’s
fate, which was in doubt. When told he should do so he replied,
characteristically, ‘God will be good to me and mine, for I am going to
be good to others.’
THE STENCH UNBEARABLE.
“The stench from the dead by Monday morning was unbearable. The
triumvirate ruling the city pressed citizens into service to take the
dead out in barges and bury them in the Gulf. The soldiers impressed
into service, at the point of the bayonet, every wagon that came along
and every negro to assist in throwing the dead into the sea. It was
impossible to give other burial.
“From the stench which pervades the city it is apparent that hundreds of
bodies yet lie under the ruins. The sun is hotter than in July. The
regular soldiers, who had been working for two days with bloody feet,
were utterly exhausted by Monday evening, and were assembled by Captain
Rafferty and put in a hastily extemporized hospital, which was formerly
a church. Their places were filled by Major Fayling with new recruits,
whom he drafted on the streets and supplied with arms and equipment from
the local armory.
“Every part of the city was patrolled by 6 o’clock in the evening. Among
many other incidents of last night was the besieging of the squad
guarding St. Mary’s Hospital. They were surrounded by a horde of armed
negro thieves. Several hundred shots were exchanged. Sergeant Camp
killed four negroes with his rifle, and about ten or twelve were killed
by the squad. The soldiers have since been picketing the city, doing
fourteen hours’ duty without rest. Every hour during the night a fresh
negro shooting was reported at headquarters.
“The tug ‘Juno’ and the propeller ‘Lawrence’ brought 2000 gallons of
water here from Houston but the supply is not enough to go around, and
half the population is without any water. Breakfast at the $4 per day
hotel Tremont was served to a fortunate few to-day, and consisted of a
small piece of bacon and a single cup of coffee. The hotel was untenable
yesterday, and guests were refused. It is jammed to-day with local
citizens who have been made homeless.”
G. W. Ware, teacher of penmanship in a Dallas educational institution,
was in Galveston during the hurricane. He reached Dallas on Tuesday, the
11th and made the following statement:
WORK OF HEARTLESS CRIMINALS.
“It was a godsend, the placing of the city under martial law. The
criminal element began looting the dead, and the cold blooded commercial
element began looting the living. The criminals were stealing anything
they could with safety lay hands on, and the mercenary commercial
pirates began a harvest of extortion. The price of bacon was pushed up
to 50 cents a pound, bread 60 cents a loaf, and owners of small
schooners and other sailing craft formed a trust, and charged $8 a
passenger for transportation across the bay from the island to the
mainland.
“Mayor Jones and other men of conscience were shocked at these
proceedings, and the Mayor decided that the only protection for the
citizens would be to declare martial law, confiscate all foodstuffs and
other necessities for the common good, and thus stop the lootings and
holdups.
“The price of bread was reduced to 10 cents a loaf, bacon was placed at
15 cents a pound, and the price of a voyage across the bay was set at
$1.50 a passenger. A book account is being kept of all sales of
foodstuffs, and other transactions and settlements will be made at the
scheduled rates.”
Mr. Quinlan, General Manager of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad,
said:
“It is in such cases as this Galveston disaster that the barbarity in
some men is seen. I have seen enough in the last two days to convince me
that a large element of civilized mankind are veneered savages. My
policy would be to take nobody into Galveston except such persons as are
absolutely needed to administer to the distressed. Thousands of
residents of Galveston ought to be brought out of there as fast as boats
can bring them to the mainland, and establish them in charity or
detention camps on high ground, where they can get pure air and water
and receive attention which cannot be given to them on the island.
“I hope Governor Sayres will find authority to enforce some such policy.
This relief work is going to be an all-winter task. Persons who have
lost homes and places of business must be taken charge of until they can
properly take care of themselves.”
THE FINANCIAL OUTCOME.
The effect that Galveston’s disaster may have upon the financial
obligations of that city was an interesting topic among local
financiers. Whether the bonds will be paid when due or whether interest
default will result when coupons are presented is a mooted question in
certain circles. J. B. Adone, banker, of Dallas, and former member of
the old banking firm of Flippin, Adone & Lobit, of Galveston, said
concerning these points:
“Galveston’s bond and interest obligations will be promptly met, I feel
sure. If left to their own resources in the face of the present
calamity, the people of Galveston and their public officials would be
probably temporarily embarrassed, but there will be no repudiation or
defalcation. The people of Texas will respond to the needs of Galveston
in her present terrible affliction, and out of the moneys contributed
the city’s financial credit will be protected if this course should be
found necessary.”
Pursuant to the proclamation of Mayor Brashear, issued Sunday night, a
citizens’ meeting was held in the city council chamber at Houston and an
organization effected for the relief of the victims of the storm. The
following telegram was received by the Mayor from Governor Sayres:
“Austin, Texas, Sept. 10.—I have taken the liberty of directing that all
supplies of food and clothing for Galveston be shipped to you. Will you
undertake to forward them when received to Galveston for distribution?
Answer quick.
“JOSEPH D. SAYRES, Governor.”
Mayor Brashear immediately replied that all supplies would be
distributed where mostly needed. A telegram from Areola was received,
and there were twenty-five persons there, mostly women and children, in
urgent need of relief.
TENTS AND RATIONS SENT.
Orders were issued by the War Department at Washington, for the
immediate shipment to Galveston of 855 tents and 50,000 rations. These
stores and supplies were divided between St. Louis and San Antonio. This
represented about all such supplies as the Government had on hand at the
places named, but it was stated at the Department that the order could
be duplicated in a day.
Mayor Van Wyck, of New York, issued an appeal to the citizens of New
York, on the 11th, for help for the sufferers of Galveston, heading the
appeal with a $500 subscription.
The Mayor also sent the following telegram to Mayor Brashear, of
Houston, Texas:
“Hon. S. E. Brashear, Mayor, Houston, Texas.—In response to your
telegram I have issued a call to the people of the city of New York to
contribute to the relief of those afflicted by the disaster at
Galveston. Please express to the Mayor of Galveston the profound
sympathy of the people of New York for the people of Galveston in this
hour of their distress.
“ROBERT A. VAN WYCK, Mayor.”
Ten doctors and twenty nurses from Bellevue Hospital, New York,
volunteered to go to Galveston and help care for the injured and sick.
They left New York by special train in the evening.
The following cablegram was received by the American representative of
Sir Thomas Lipton:
“Very grieved to see press reports here regarding fearful calamity
befallen Galveston. Sufferers have my deepest and most heartfelt
sympathy. If getting up public subscription will be glad to give $1000.
“LIPTON.”
[Illustration:
POST OFFICE STREET, SHOWING HARMONY CLUB BUILDING AND MASONIC TEMPLE]
[Illustration:
DESTRUCTION AT AVENUE I BETWEEN EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH STREETS]
[Illustration:
TAKING BODIES ON THE RAILROAD BARGE FOR BURIAL AT SEA]
[Illustration:
BURNING WRECKAGE TO CREMATE DEAD BODIES]
[Illustration:
SEARCHING FOR THE DEAD ON SOUTH TREMONT STREET]
[Illustration:
WRECK OF THE CHURCH OF THE SACRED HEART, THE LARGEST IN GALVESTON]
[Illustration:
WRECKAGE ON THE WHARF, PIER 20 SPANISH STEAMER IN THE BACKGROUND]
[Illustration:
SCENE AT AVENUE K AND SIXTEENTH STREET—HOUSE OVERTURNED BY THE WIND]
This was a graceful act of sympathy from the gallant yachtsman who made
the spirited attempt to capture the cup from the New York Yacht Club,
and although failing, became a universal favorite in this country.
Official reports from Galveston to Governor Sayres at Austin, on the
11th, were that 400 bodies had been identified. 200 more were in an
improvised morgue awaiting identification, and many more were thought to
have drifted out to sea, and their identity will never be known.
CONDITIONS THAT BEGGAR DESCRIPTION.
A telegram from Adjutant General Scurry, who was at Galveston, to the
Governor, was as follows:
“Have just returned from Texas City with several Galveston parties, who
assure me that conditions there beggar description. Accounts have not
been exaggerated. While a portion of the provisions has been destroyed
by water sufficient on hand to relieve immediate necessities. The
citizens seem to have the situation well in hand. United States troops
and Company C., volunteer guard, with citizens, patrol the streets to
prevent looting.
“I requested W. B. Wortham to go to Galveston from Texas City for the
purpose of advising me of the city’s most urgent needs, and I returned
here to report and ask for further instructions. I respectfully suggest
that the distress is too great for the people of Galveston, even with
the assistance of Houston, to stand, and that a general appeal for help
would be welcomed. The estimate of 10,000 destitute does not seem to be
excessive.
“From reports reaching the Governor this morning it will be necessary to
co-operate with the Federal troops to place all the mainland opposite
Galveston, as well as the island, under martial law.
“Thieves have begun to enter the city for the purpose of pilfering the
bodies of the dead. The Governor has been informed that the commander of
the Texas troops has been ordered to Galveston by the Federal
authorities, and the Governor will lend him every assistance possible
with State militia to keep vandalism down. There is only one road
operating to the coast from Houston, and that will be placed under
military supervision temporarily.
“Governor Sayres was in receipt of a telegram from Miss Barton, of the
Red Cross Society, offering the assistance of that association if
necessary, and he replied that he would call on the society if he found
that its help was needed.
“A large number of State militia tents were shipped from Austin to
Galveston for temporary use on the island.
MONEY BEGINNING TO POUR IN.
“Governor Sayres received upward of 1000 telegrams during the day from
parties in the East and West offering assistance to the flood sufferers
at Galveston, and from various portions of the State reporting the
collection of money and supplies. During the day Governor Sayres
estimated that the receipts in money from collections in Texas would
amount to $15,000, though from reports a great deal of money has been
sent direct to Galveston instead of coming through the Governor, and the
amount may be much larger than that stated.
“Quite a number of Eastern newspapers are wiring the Governor offering
to establish themselves as bureaus for relief funds if desired and
asking what they can do to relieve the situation. A telegram from New
York informed the Governor that two relief trains of supplies had left
New York for Galveston. The Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce wires that it
will send any relief desired that it can give. Chicago, Philadelphia,
St. Louis and several other points did likewise.”
Acting Secretary Meiklejohn of the War Department at Washington
authorized the chartering of a special train from St. Louis to carry
quartermaster’s and commissary supplies to the relief of the destitute
at Galveston.
The following telegram was received:
“Galveston, Texas, Sept. 9, 1900.—Quartermaster General, Washington. I
report terrific cyclone with an eleven foot tide. All improvements,
temporary buildings, property and stores at both Jacinto and Crockett
destroyed and swept clean.
“BAXTER, Quartermaster.”
A second telegram followed:
“Galveston, Texas, Sept. 11, 1900.—Referring to my telegram of
yesterday, via Houston, I urgently recommend that fair compensation be
made to contractors for their losses, and that they be relieved of their
contracts. If fortifications are rebuilt at or near their present sites
I urgently recommend that quarters for troops be purchased and built on
higher ground in the city, centrally located. Wharves destroyed; all
railroad bridges swept away and building operations of any nature cannot
be resumed under six weeks or two months.”
A VOICE FROM JOHNSTOWN.
Mayor Woodruff, of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, issued the following
proclamation: “Later and more definite information of the fearful
destruction of life and property at Galveston and other places in Texas
recalls to our attention the awful calamity in Johnstown and vicinity
eleven years ago. Whole squares of homes have been swept away, hundreds
of dead are lying unburied and thousands of people destitute. This would
be a fitting time to show our gratitude for what the world did for us in
the hour of need. Any contributions left at the banks in this city will
be acknowledged and promptly forwarded to the authorities in charge of
the work of relief. Already over $200 without any call for aid has been
subscribed to a relief fund.”
A special despatch from Galveston tells the following story of the great
calamity, showing that scarcely a building was undamaged or a family
that did not lose one or more members. It is roughly estimated that the
death list will approximate 6,000 and the property loss will be many
millions. Scarcely a building in the city escaped injury and the loss on
stocks of goods cannot be estimated. All the extreme eastern and
southern part and the western portion, south of avenue Q, to the Gulf,
is either washed away or demolished and the dead are thrown in every
direction. These are being rapidly gathered up and taken to temporary
morgues on the strand.
Whole families are, in many instances, wiped out of existence. There is
scarcely a family in the district mentioned that did not lose one or
more members, while the hospitals are crowded with wounded beyond their
capacity, and the county court house is being converted into a hospital
for their care.
The Catholic hospital down the island, was completely demolished. All
the Sisters and ninety inmates were drowned.
The waves dashed over and flooded Fort San Jacinto, demolishing the
barracks, officers’ quarters, and drowning fourteen privates, two
buglers, and First Sergeant of Company O, First Artillery.
BUILDINGS DESTROYED BY THE FLOOD.
The Opera House, City Hall, Masonic Temple, Moody’s Bank Building,
Knapp’s publishing house, and Ritter’s saloon and restaurant, on the
strand, are wrecked. From the latter seven dead bodies were removed from
beneath the debris.
Parties are engaged in removing the debris of the Knapp Building.
Beneath they expect to find the body of Oscar Knapp, senior member of
the firm. Richard D. Swann, cashier of John D. Rogers & Co., was drowned
during the height of the storm while heroically attempting to rescue two
ladies from drowning. It will be days before the full extent of the
frightful disaster is known or a correct list of the dead is obtainable.
A meeting of citizens was held to-day and a general committee, with the
Mayor as chairman, was appointed. Sub-committees on Finance, Relief,
Burial of the Dead, and Hospitals were appointed, and are now actively
at work to relieve the distress prevailing and give decent burials to
the dead.
The terrific cyclone that produced such a distressing disaster in
Galveston and all through Texas was predicted by the United States
Weather Bureau to strike Galveston Friday night and created much
apprehension, but the night passed without the prediction being
verified. The conditions, however, were ominous, the danger signal was
displayed on the flag staff of the Weather Bureau, shipping was warned,
etc. The southeastern sky was sombre, the Gulf beat high on the beach
with that dismal thunderous roar that presaged trouble, while the air
had a stillness that betokens a storm. From out of the north, in the
middle watches of the night, the wind began to come in spiteful puffs,
increasing in volume as the day dawned.
By ten o’clock Saturday morning it was almost a gale; at noon it had
increased in velocity and was driving the rain, whipping the pools and
tearing things up in a lively manner, yet no serious apprehension was
felt by residents remote from the encroachments of the Gulf. Residents
near the beach were aroused to the danger that threatened their homes.
Stupendous waves began to send their waters far inland and the people
began a hasty exit to secure places in the city.
TWO GIGANTIC FORCES AT WORK.
Two gigantic forces were at work. The Gulf force drove the waves with
irresistible force high upon the beach, and the gale from the northeast
pitched the waters against and over the wharves, choking the sewers and
flooding the city from that quarter. The streets rapidly began to fill
with water, communication became difficult and the helpless people were
caught between two powerful elements, while the winds howled and rapidly
increased in velocity.
Railroad communication was cut off shortly afternoon, the track being
washed out; wire facilities completely failed at 3 o’clock, and
Galveston was isolated from the world. The wind momentarily increased in
velocity, while the waters rapidly rose and the night drew on with
dreaded apprehension depicted in the face of every one.
Already hundreds and thousands were bravely struggling with their
families against the mad waves and fierce wind for places of refuge. The
public school buildings, court house, hotels, in fact any place that
offered apparently a safe refuge from the elements, became crowded to
their utmost. Two minutes of 6.30 P. M., just before the anemometer blew
away the wind had reached the frightful velocity of 100 miles an hour.
Buildings that had hitherto stood tumbled and crashed, carrying death
and destruction to hundreds of people. Roofs whistled through the air,
windows were driven in with a crash or shattered by flying slate,
telegraph, telephone and electric light poles, with their masses of
wires, were snapped off like pipe stems, and water communications were
broken.
What velocity the wind attained after the anemometer blew off is purely
a matter of speculation. The lowest point touched by the barometer in
the press correspondents’ office, which was filled by frightened men and
women, was 28.04½; this was about 7.30 P. M. It then began to rise very
slowly, and by 10 P. M. had reached 28.09, the wind gradually subsiding,
and by midnight the storm had passed. The water, which had reached a
depth of eight feet on the strand at 10 P. M, began to ebb and ran out
very rapidly, and by 5 P. M. the crown of the street was free of water.
Thus passed out one of the most frightful and destructive storms which
has ever devastated the coast of Texas.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS.
The city is filled with destitute, bereft and homeless people, while in
the improvised morgues are the rigid forms of hundreds. Whole families
are side by side.
The city beach in the southwestern part of the city was under ten feet
of water, and the barracks there are destroyed, the soldiers having a
marvelous escape from drowning. Many substantial residences in the
western and southwestern part of the city were destroyed, and the death
list from there will be large.
A heavy mortality list is expected among the residents down the island
and adjacent to the coast on the mainland, as both were deeply flooded,
and the houses were to a great extent insecure. The heaviest losers by
the storm will be the Galveston Wharf Company, the Southern Pacific
Railway Company, and the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Company,
and the Texas Lone Star Flouring Company.
Additional details by tug from Galveston show that west of Thirty-third
street the storm swept the ground perfectly clear of the residences that
once stood upon it and piled them up in a conglomerated mass five blocks
back on the beach, strewing the piling with the debris and the bodies of
its many victims. Many of these were lying out in the afternoon sun and
were frightful to look upon. The fearful work of the storm was not
confined to the district along the beach, but took in all the district
in the city and the Denver resurvey, but it was near to the beach that
most destruction to human life occurred.
The waves washed away the Home for the Homeless, and it is thought that
the inmates, consisting of thirteen orphans and three matrons, were
drowned. Out in the Denver resurvey the destruction was terrible, and
victims of the storm were many. The government works were greatly
damaged, the buildings on the beach were washed out into the Gulf and
their occupants are thought to have perished.
COMMUNICATIONS ALL CUT.
In the north part of the west end the damage was great also, almost
every building being damaged to some extent, and many completely
wrecked. The cotton and lumber yards in that section of the city were
completely razed, and much valuable machinery is ruined. However, the
loss of life was not nearly so great in that district as it was out
towards the beach.
A special to the “News” from Galveston brought to Houston by the tug
“Brunswick” gave the following additional particulars of the storm:
“The big iron oil tank of the Waters-Pierce Oil Company was picked from
the Fifteenth street pier and carried to Thirteenth street. The old
Union Depot, in recent years used as the office of the superintendent of
the wharf yards, was dashed to pieces, as were numerous small frame
buildings along the wharf front. Men were sent out Sunday morning to
report the condition of the bridges across Galveston Bay, but were
unable to reach them.
“Telegraphic communication was also cut off on Saturday. The linemen who
went out Sunday reported that the railroad bridges were all washed away,
and there was not sufficient material in Galveston to rebuild the
telegraph lines. The cables under the channel are gone. The lines will
have to be built to the city from the mainland. Strenuous efforts were
made on Sunday to repair the damage to the Mexican cable, but on account
of the sea being high it was impossible to pick up the lost end of the
cable.
“Thousands of telegrams were filed at the telegraph office during the
day, with the expectation that they would be sent to Houston for
transmission, but the captain of the only small tug available would not
venture on the trip with a new crew, his engineer and fireman having
been lost, while tugs which might be hired were of too deep draught to
go up the bayou.
IN THE BUSINESS DISTRICT.
“In the business district not a building escaped injury. The Grand Opera
House is caved in, and the fourth story of the Hotel Grand, a part of
the same building, was blown off. The third story of the City Hall was
blown away. The three story building of the Ritter Cafe was demolished,
and crashed into the rear of the News Building. The fourth story was
torn from the Moody Building, at Twenty-second street and the strand.
The Masonic Temple was partially unroofed and the tower torn away. The
upper stories of the Harmony Club Building were caved in, and the frame
building across the street was demolished.
“Among other buildings damaged or destroyed was the Galveston Orphans’
Home, all the children being reported unhurt. The Sacred Heart Church,
one of the largest churches in the city, is a total wreck. St. Mary’s
University, adjoining it is considerably damaged, and the athletic
building was destroyed. The First Baptist Church is a wreck. The
parsonage adjoining St. John’s Methodist Church was wrecked. The Ball
High School building is badly damaged.”
“Over thirty persons were rescued from St. Mary’s Infirmary but quite a
number perished. A mother and child, a Mexican woman and child and an
elderly lady, while going to the cotton mills, were drowned. While the
mill was crowded with people the tower fell in, killing and injuring
several persons. Over one thousand persons sought shelter in the County
Court House. A lady and child from St. Louis, names not ascertained, who
were visiting the family of police officer John Bowe, were lost. Mrs.
Burns, mother of motorman Burns, and daughter, also perished, motorman
Parker, wife and children, were killed. Mrs. Benhill and child were
drowned.
“Three undertaking establishments are all being utilized as morgues, and
a fourth morgue was opened in a large building on the Strand. Some of
the draymen at first refused to haul more than one body at a time,
demanding the price for a full load for each trip. On Sunday evening,
however, the few who made this demand agreed to bring as many bodies as
their carts would hold. Owing to the streets being full of debris it is
only possible to use the two-wheeled carts.
CARING FOR THE DEAD.
“Many of those who escaped tell of thrilling experiences. Mr. and Mrs.
James Irwin got out on the roof of their dwelling. They were seated on
the side of the comb, and when the building blew over they floated off
separately on sections of the roof. Mrs. Irwin was on the raft alone all
night. Mr. Irwin, who had found refuge at the Ursuline Convent, and who
despaired of seeing his wife again, heard a cry for help. Hoping to
rescue a human being, he pulled off through the water, and was surprised
and overjoyed to find his wife still afloat on the roof.
“The city is not without a water supply, but it is in total darkness.
The city street railroad has suspended business, much of its track being
washed out. It will be a month before cars can be operated by
electricity, but horse car service will be substituted at the earliest
possible moment. The plant of the Galveston Gas Company is partially
demolished, and is out of commission. Those who use gas for fuel are
helpless. Fire wood was swept away, but there is plenty of drift wood to
be had.
“Several members of the police force were lost, and others lost their
families. The force is greatly reduced in numbers, and at present is
insufficient to meet the demand upon it.”
The foregoing is a horrifying account, truthful and not over-drawn. In
fact, the picture is far short of the reality.
RESISTLESS POWER OF THE HURRICANE.
It is a misnomer to call the violent revolving storm which devastated
the city of Galveston and the adjacent coast of Texas a cyclone. It was
in reality a hurricane, and more specifically what is known to
meteorologists as a West Indian hurricane. A hurricane has a much
smaller centre or diameter than a cyclone, travels with far greater
rapidity, and its blasts often reach a velocity of 100 miles an hour.
The hurricane of the West Indies, which is really born in the heated
waters of the South Atlantic, and which as a rule curves when it reaches
the Yucatan Channel and follows the course of the Gulf Stream, decreases
in intensity as it travels further north, broadens in diameter, and
becomes the cyclone of the North Atlantic.
It is a curious feature of the Galveston hurricane that, like the great
hurricane of September, 1889, which devastated Vera Cruz, it did not
follow the course of the Gulf Stream, but curved westward instead of
eastward, after passing the Yucatan Channel, and rushed in upon the
Texan coast. Galveston was not up to this time considered as within the
hurricane belt, and its awful visitation is proof that the laws of
storms have exceptions to their rules.
The late Padre Vines, of Havana, the venerable and learned Jesuit
priest, who made a lifelong study of the birth and course of West Indian
hurricanes, was accustomed to warn by cable the many friends that he had
among the captains of the vessels plying to and from West Indian ports
of the approach of hurricanes and their probable course.
In September, 1889, he cabled to Captain Joshua Reynolds, commanding one
of the Ward steamers, and who was just leaving Vera Cruz for New York,
that a hurricane was approaching from the eastward, and that he would
better steam slowly to and past Progresso and let the great storm pass
up and along the Gulf Stream. Captain Reynolds acted in obedience to the
warning, but this particular hurricane, like the one that struck
Galveston, curved to the westward instead of to the eastward, after
passing the Yucatan Channel, overcame an area of high barometer that,
hung over the Mexican coast, and rushed into Vera Cruz, carrying death
and destruction in its wake. Captain Reynolds and his ship safely
weathered the hurricane and were received at Havana with great
rejoicing, where it had been thought they were lost.
It was in 1859 that still another West Indian hurricane curved the wrong
way and swept the waters of the Gulf over Last Island, then the great
summer resort of Southern society, situated a few miles west of the
mouth of the Mississippi off the coast of Barataria. Those who wish to
obtain some conception of the horrors attending the Galveston hurricane
should read Lafcadio Hearn’s story of “Chita: The Romance of Last
Island,” in which that skilled word painter depicts the scenes of the
awful tragedy which decimated the households of the South.
STIRRING APPEALS FOR HELP.
One of our leading journals made the following timely comments upon the
Galveston calamity and the urgent necessity for quick help:
“The cry for help which comes from the stricken city of Galveston and
the surrounding country is a moving appeal which should receive the
readiest and most generous response. The extent of the disaster which
has overtaken the city and the coast country of Texas has not been
over-drawn, it seems, in the reports from the scene, and it would be
impossible to exaggerate the horror of the catastrophe and the distress
and suffering that follow in its wake.
“A fair city of 38,000 inhabitants was wrecked in a night. Thousands of
men, women and children were drowned or killed in the wreckage of the
flooded, crumbling city; whole families suddenly blotted out; the great
mass of the survivors bereft of their habitations, goods and clothing,
and by the wreck of business houses and the stoppage of industry
deprived of the means of earning subsistence for a long time to come. No
one need hesitate about making a contribution to alleviate the suffering
of Texas on the grounds that others will give enough to supply all
needs.
TERRIBLE SUFFERING AND MISERY.
“However generous or lavish may be the aid proffered, it will not be
enough to repair the mischief of that storm, and however prompt the aid
may be, it will not be quick enough to prevent terrible suffering and
misery. Delay in providing for the impoverished and homeless means peril
to more lives, deprivation and sickness, and, under the most favorable
circumstances in getting aid to the district, thousands are fated to
undergo the severest suffering.
“Fortunately, the Government has stepped in and, through the War
Department, is lending prompt and effective aid. Tents and rations are
being rushed to Galveston with all possible speed, and private
liberality and relief committees are coming to the rescue. The scope of
the Government’s efforts will be limited to such supplies as are
available in the War Department, and, in addition, vast quantities of
food, clothing and medicines are needed, doctors and nurses are
required, and a large sum of money is an absolute necessity to pay for
these things and to form a fund for the purpose of maintaining relief
until the sharp period of distress shall be tided over. Our city, in
every cause that appeals to benevolence and humanity, has always been in
the forefront of the generous, and, in such a case as the Texas
disaster, the city’s liberality should be maintained. The Citizens’
Permanent Relief Committee has taken steps to render aid to the
hurricane sufferers, and, through that useful and beneficent
organization, every person in this vicinity will have the opportunity to
join in giving aid for a purpose which must excite universal pity and
sympathy.”