Vivid Pictures of Suffering in Every Street and House—The Gulf City a
Ghastly Mass of Ruins—The Sea Giving Up Its Dead—Supplies Pouring in
from Every Quarter.
As more definite information came from Galveston and the other coast
towns of Texas that were in the path of the storm, the horrors of the
situation increased. Most people were inclined to look upon the first
reports, made in a hurry and in intense excitement, as grossly
exaggerated, but the first reports from Texas, far from being
over-drawn, greatly understated the destructive effects of the storm.
Thousands of persons lost their lives, and many thousands more lost all
their homes and all their possessions. A large population was without
shelter, clothing, food and medicine, in the midst of scenes of wreck
and ruin. The sanitary condition of Galveston was appalling and
threatened a season of pestilence.
TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS OF THE SURVIVORS.
The people were undergoing a period of the sharpest deprivation,
sickness prevailed, and intense suffering was in store for them. The
plight of the city and its inhabitants was such that it would be
impossible to exaggerate the picture, and demanded from the prosperous
and humane everywhere the promptest and most abundant outpouring of
gifts.
Food, clothing, household goods, provisions of every kind, household
utensils, medicines and money were needed by the stricken city and its
impoverished men, women and children. There has been no case in our
history which appealed more strongly for sympathy and aid.
Former State Senator Wortham, who went to Galveston as the special aid
to Adjutant-General Scurry to investigate the conditions there, returned
to Austin and made his report. He said:
“I am convinced that the city is practically wrecked for all time to
come. Fully seventy-five per cent. of the business portion of the town
is irreparably wrecked, and the same per cent. of damage is to be found
in the residence district.
“Along the wharf front great ocean steamships have bodily bumped
themselves on to the big piers and lie there, great masses of iron and
wood that even fire cannot totally destroy.
“The great warehouses along the water front are smashed in on one side,
unroofed and shattered throughout their length, the contents either
piled in heaps on the wharves or on the streets. Small tugs and
sailboats have jammed themselves half into buildings, where they were
landed by the incoming waves and left by the receding waters. Houses are
packed and jammed in great confusing masses in all of the streets.
BODIES PILED IN THE STREETS.
“Great piles of human bodies, dead animals, rotting vegetation,
household furniture and fragments of the houses themselves are piled in
confused heaps right in the main streets of the city. Along the Gulf
front human bodies are floating around like cordwood. Intermingled with
them are to be found the carcasses of horses, chickens, dogs and rotting
vegetable matter.
“Along the Strand, adjacent to the Gulf front, where are located all the
big wholesale warehouses and stores, the situation almost defies
description. Great stores of fresh vegetation have been invaded by the
incoming waters and are now turned into garbage piles of most defouling
odors. The Gulf waters, while on the land, played at will with
everything, smashing in doors of stores, depositing bodies of human
beings and animals where they pleased and then receded, leaving the
wreckage to tell its own tale of how the work had been done. As a result
the great houses are tombs wherein are to be found the bodies of human
beings and carcasses almost defying the efforts of relief parties.
“In the piles of debris along the street, in the water and scattered
throughout the residence portion of the city, are masses of wreckage,
and in these great piles are to be found more human bodies and household
furniture of every description.
“The waters of the Gulf and the winds spared no one who was exposed.
Whirling houses around in its grasp the wind piled their shattered
frames high in confusing masses and dumped their contents on top. Men
and women were thrown around like so many logs of wood.
ALL SUFFERED INJURY.
“I believe that with the very best exertions of the men it will require
weeks to obtain some semblance of physical order in the city, and it is
doubtful if even then all the debris will be disposed of.
“There is hardly a family on the island whose household has not lost a
member or more, and in some instances entire families have been washed
away or killed.
“Hundreds who escaped from the waves did so only to become the victims
of a worse death, being crushed by falling buildings.
“Down in the business section of the city the foundations of great
buildings have given way, carrying towering structures to their ruin.
These ruins, falling across the streets, formed barricades on which
gathered all the floating debris and many human bodies. Many of these
bodies were stripped of their clothing.
“Some of the most conservative men on the island place the loss of human
beings at not less than 7500 and possibly 10,000. The live stock on the
island has been completely annihilated.
“I consider that every interest on the island has suffered. Not one has
escaped. From the great dock company to the humblest individual the loss
has been felt and in many instances it is irreparable. In cases where
houses have been left standing the contents are more or less damaged,
but in the large majority of cases the houses themselves did not escape
injury.”
At fifteen minutes to four o’clock in the afternoon of Thursday the
13th, for the first time since Saturday afternoon at twenty-six minutes
after four o’clock, Galveston was in telegraphic communication with the
outside world, although not open for business completely.
The cable left Chicago on Sunday morning and was laid across the bay,
and several thousand telegraph poles on the mainland were straightened
up by a force of 250 men under the supervision of superintendents of the
Western Union.
Concerning the great calamity, the destruction of life and property, the
view expressed by a prominent citizen was very generally approved. He
said:
“The people and military officers who are dooming Galveston to eternal
ruin would have consigned Lisbon to a lasting chaos after her earthquake
and decried and abandoned St. Louis with vacant crumbling houses after
the great cyclone. If the citizens of Chicago had listened to their
despairing notes, blackened fragments of half-fallen walls and shapeless
heaps of brick and stone would still be the fitting monuments to
proclaim their broken spirit.
BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE.
“But all the reserves of human energy are summoned forth by the very
worst disasters, and courage should be written on the heart of
Galveston. It is the time to lift up the hands of her strong men, to
give them a word of cheer, for they are bound to the spot and must make
the best of their fate. A chorus of evil predictions simply multiplies
their difficulties and is a cruelty to them, whether it is intended to
be so or not.
“Let the dismal prophets reflect a moment. Though buildings have been
destroyed there is not a foot of land on the island that does not
represent savings. Though railroad communications have been cut off, the
currents of commerce by the land and by the sea are merely waiting to
resume their courses. There is a capital in trade connections which is
not necessarily wrecked along with wrecked stores, offices and houses.”
C. J. Sealey, a young man of Galveston, Texas, who was in La Junta,
Colorado, received a telegram from the Mayor of Galveston informing him
of the death of twenty-one of his relatives, among whom were his mother,
two sisters and three brothers. The young man said he did not believe he
had a relative on earth.
An eye-witness of the desolation described the scene as follows:
“Galveston is beginning slowly to recover from the stunning blow of last
week, and though the city appears to-night to be pitilessly desolated,
the authorities and the commercial and industrial interests are setting
their forces to work, and a start has at least been made toward the
resumption of business on a moderate scale.
“The presence of the troops has had a beneficial effect upon the
criminal classes, and the apprehension of a brief but desperate reign of
anarchy no longer exists. The liquor saloons have at least temporarily
gone out of business, and every strong-limbed man who has not his own
humble abode to look after is being pressed into service, so that, first
of all, the water service may be resumed, the gutters flushed and the
streets lighted.
BODIES CONSTANTLY COMING TO LIGHT.
“The further the ruins are dug into the greater becomes the increase in
the list of those who perished as their houses tumbled about their
heads. On the lower beach a searching party found a score of corpses
within a small area, going to show that the bulwark of debris that lies
straight across the island conceals more bodies than have been accounted
for.
“Volunteer gangs continue their work of hurried burial of the corpses
they find on the shores of Galveston Island, at the many neighboring
points where fatalities attended the storm. It will probably be many
days, yet, however, before all the floating bodies have found nameless
graves.
“Along the beach they are constantly being washed up. Whether these are
those who were swept out into the Gulf and drowned or are simply the
return ashore of some of those cast into the sea to guard against
terrible pestilence, there is no means of knowing. In a trip across the
bay yesterday I counted seven bodies tossing in the waves, with a score
of horses and cattle, the stench from which was unbearable. In various
parts of the city the smell of decomposed flesh is still apparent.
Wherever such instances are found the authorities are freely
disinfecting. Only to-day, a babe, lashed to a mattress, was picked up
under a residence in the very heart of the city and was burned.
“The city still presents the appearance of widespread wreck and ruin.
Little has been done to clear the streets of the terrible tangle of
wires and the masses of wreck, mortar, slate, stone and glass that
bestrew them. Many of the sidewalks are impassable. Some of them are
littered with debris. Others are so thickly covered with slime that
walking on them is out of the question. As a general rule substantial
frame buildings withstood better the blasts of the gale than those of
brick. In other instances, however, small wooden structures, cisterns
and whole sides of houses have been plumped down in streets or back
yards squares away from where they originally stood.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE.
“Here and there business men have already put men to work to repair the
damage done, but in the main the commercial interests seem to be
uncertain about following the lead of those, who, apparently, show faith
in the rapid rehabilitation of the island city. The appearance of the
newspapers to-day, after a suspension of several days, is having a good
effect, and both the News and Tribune are urging prompt succoring of the
suffering, and then equal promptness in reconstruction. It is difficult
to say yet what the ultimate effect of the disaster is to be on the
city. Many people have left, and some may never return. The experience
of others still here was so frightful that not all will remain if they
can conveniently find occupation in other cities.
“The bulk of the population, however, is only temporarily panic
stricken, and there are hosts of those who helped to make Galveston
great who look upon the catastrophe as involving only a temporary halt
in the advancement of the city.
“What is most bothering business men at present is what attitude the
railroads, and especially the Southern Pacific, are to assume with
respect to reconstruction. The decision of the transportation lines will
do more than anything else to restore confidence. Big ships, new
arrivals, rode at anchor to-day in front of the city. They had just
reached the port, and found the docks and pier damage so widespread that
no accommodation could be given to them. They found sheds torn away,
freight cars overturned and planking ripped off.
“The steamships reported ashore in early reports are, save two, the
Norwegian steamer Gyller and the British steamer Norma, still high and
dry.
“No examination is yet possible as to the condition of those still on
the sand, but the big tug H. C. Wilmott has arrived from New Orleans,
and her assistance is to be given to saving those vessels which can be
gotten into deep water again. Apparently, however, Galveston has no
immediate need for ships. The destruction of the bridges of all the
railroads entering the city makes it well nigh impossible to furnish
outgoing cargoes. These bridges were each about three miles in length,
and the work of reconstruction will be a stupendous undertaking.
THE CITY STILL IN DARKNESS.
“One of the most serious results of the storm has been the ripping of
the electric light and street car plants. The city has been in absolute
darkness for several nights, and only a few concerns who operate their
own illuminating service are enabled to do business. Nearly every
residence has gone back to the primitive candle. The absence of street
lights drives all those who have no imperative business on the streets
to their homes at nightfall, but the work of the patrol system is made
more difficult thereby and the opportunity for looting greater.
“Among the worst sufferers by the disaster were the churches. Nearly
every one of them felt the effect of the storm. Some of them are entire
wrecks, absolutely beyond repair.
“The work of relief continues energetically. Mayor Jones and his
associates are bending every nerve to open a direct line of
transportation with Houston by which he may be enabled promptly to
receive the great quantity of provisions which are now on the way to the
city.”
The War Department received the following telegram from General
McKibben, who was sent to Galveston to report on conditions there:
“Arrived at Galveston at 6 P. M., having been ferried across bay in a
yawl boat. It is impossible to adequately describe the condition
existing. The storm began about 9 A. M. on Saturday, and continued with
constantly increasing violence until after midnight. The island was
inundated; the height of the tide was from eleven to thirteen feet. The
wind was a cyclone. With few exceptions every building in the city is
injured. Hundreds are entirely destroyed. All the fortifications except
the rapid fire battery at San Jacinto are practically destroyed. At San
Jacinto every building except the quarantine station has been swept
away.
“Battery O, First Artillery, lost twenty-eight men. The officers and
their families were all saved. Three members of the hospital corps lost.
All bridges are gone, water works destroyed and all telegraph lines are
down. The city is under control of Committee of Safety, and is perfectly
quiet. Every article of equipment or property pertaining to Battery O
was lost. Not a record of any kind is left. The men saved have nothing
but the clothing on their persons. Nearly all are without shoes or
clothing other than their shirts and trousers. Clothing necessary has
been purchased, and temporary arrangements made for food and shelter.
There are many thousand citizens homeless and absolutely destitute who
must be clothed, sheltered and fed. Have ordered 20,000 rations and
tents for 1000 from Sam Houston. Have wired Commissary-General to ship
30,000 rations by express. Lieutenant Perry will make his way back to
Houston and send this telegram.
“MCKIBBEN.”
ALARMING RUMORS FROM GALVESTON.
The authorities at Galveston on the 13th prohibited the entry into the
city of any one but men willing to work. Six hundred women and children
fled from Galveston and came to Houston. The smell of the dead attained
to the stifling point. Five hundred more bodies recovered from the
debris were cremated in one pile. Several of the women who arrived at
Houston from Galveston were fever patients. They were removed to
ambulances from the train in stretchers. It was evident that the city
was on the verge of an epidemic, if, indeed, it was not already in its
throes. There were serious indications that the authorities were
suppressing the facts.
The eagerness of the Board of Health that two miles of wreck be burned,
whether it threatened to consume the other portion of the city or not,
and the frantic haste of the police to get every woman and child out of
the city, coupled with an order issued that no one be admitted to the
island except for work, not even relatives of victims or anxious ones
searching for relatives, and the seizure of the railroad running to
Texas City to prevent people going to Galveston, all contributed to
stamp the situation as beyond the control of the handful of
inexperienced men in authority. The consensus of opinion of prominent
Houston people who returned from the city was that the Federal
Government owed it to the country to intervene at once. Otherwise, the
danger of contagion to neighboring cities and States must continue to
multiply each day.
AUTHORITIES AT ODDS.
Galveston, Texas, September 13.—(By Western Union despatch boat to
Houston.)—General McKibben, commanding the Department of Texas, his
aide, and Adjutant-General, Lieutenant-Colonel Roberts, arrived here
last night. General Scurry, Adjutant-General of Texas, also came in from
Austin. Two companies of regulars from Fort Sam Houston also arrived.
Galveston is now under martial law, by whose orders has not been
proclaimed, and friction has already arisen between the civil
authorities and the military.
The sentinels on the street corners do not recognize the passes issued
by Mayor Jones, and ignore him and his police force. If a person cannot
give a good excuse for being on the street after 9 P. M., he is marched
off to jail. Mayor Jones is highly indignant because his authority is
usurped, and law-abiding citizens are hot because they are held up when
they are on an errand of relief to some stricken friend or family. This
is a matter which will be brought to the attention of General McKibben
and Adjutant-General Scurry, and Mayor Jones will demand that his
authority as Chief Executive of the city be respected and recognized by
the military.
Houston is the haven of the unfortunate people of Galveston. Trains have
already brought in between 500 and 1,000 of the survivors, and a motley
crowd they are. Men bareheaded, barefooted, hatless and coatless, with
swelled feet and bruised and blackened bodies and heads were numerous.
Women of wealth and refinement, frequently hatless, shoeless, with gowns
in shreds, were among the refugees. Sometimes there would be a man, wife
and child or two, but such cases were rare, nearly all of those who came
in having suffered the loss of one or more of their family. Never were
there so many sad hearts. Men bereft of their wives and children, women
who were widowed, children who were orphaned—it was enough to touch the
heart of anyone. Never was there more heroism shown.
Although a week ago these people had happy homes, they are now homeless
and penniless, but they bear up bravely. There is no whimpering, no
complaining. They were all made to feel that Houston is now their home,
that they are welcome, and that everything possible for their comfort
and welfare will be done. They are being housed and fed, and those in
need of medical attention are placed in the hospitals, where they
receive every care. Many of the refugees to reach Houston had tasted
little or no food since the storm.
NO LIMIT TO HOUSTON’S HOSPITALITY.
A mass meeting of the General Relief Committee was held on the 13th to
discuss the best method of handling the crowds of people who were
expected to come in from Galveston within the next two or three days. It
was decided to pitch the Government tents in Emancipation Park in
Houston, as there is no suitable place in Galveston where they can be
put up. Mayor Brashear sent a communication to Mayor Jones, of
Galveston, urging that all persons be sent to Houston from that place as
quickly as possible, and gave assurance that they would be amply
provided for.
By “all persons” Mayor Brashear meant that not only those who are
injured or destitute should come, but it included everybody. He wished
it distinctly understood that Houston was prepared to care for all of
those who left Galveston, whether they were sick or well, rich or poor.
It was his belief and the belief of those associated with him on the
General Relief Committee that Galveston must be depopulated until
sanitation can be completed, and all people have been urged to come from
that city to Houston.
THRILLING EXPERIENCE OF TWO HOUSTON WOMEN.
Mrs. Bergman, wife of Manager Bergman, of the Houston Opera House, gave
a thrilling account of her escape during the Galveston storm. She was
summering in a cottage on Rosenberg avenue, two blocks back from the
beach, at 10 o’clock on Saturday. The water was up about three feet, and
she donned a bathing suit and proceeded to the Olympia to talk over the
long distance phone to her husband at Houston. At the Olympia she was
waist deep in water. At 2 o’clock the water about her house was so deep
she became alarmed, and in a bathing suit she and her sister evacuated
the high cottage they occupied.
The neighbors living in the next house, being old Galvestonians, laughed
at them. Out of that family of fifteen there were saved three, and they
only because they were down town. Mrs. Bergman and her sister started
for the Central Telephone office, the water being from waist to armpit
deep. Both are expert swimmers, and they buffeted the winds and waves
for several blocks. Finally they spied a negro with a dray. They
chartered him for two dollars to take them to the Central Telephone
Station. After proceeding two blocks the mule was drowned, and all were
washed off the dray, the negro being lost.
Mrs. Bergman and her sister, by wading and swimming, reached the
telephone station, and found refuge until the firemen commenced to bring
dead bodies into the building. Then they concluded to go to Belton’s
livery stable, where Mr. Bergman kept his horse. This was the hardest
part of the trip, although the distance was only 600 yards. It was in
the heart of the city, and glass, bricks, slate and timbers flew in
showers.
[Illustration:
GALVESTON COURT HOUSE,]
[Illustration:
TREMONT STREET, SHOWING TREMONT HOTEL IN THE DISTANCE.
TEN FEET OF WATER COVERED THIS STREET]
[Illustration:
SHOOTING VANDALS ENGAGED IN ROBBING THE BODIES OF THE VICTIMS]
[Illustration:
DESTRUCTION OF GALVESTON GARTEN VEREIN, TWENTY-SEVENTH STREET AND
AVENUE O]
[Illustration:
RESIDENCE SECTION—TENTH STREET BETWEEN WINNIE AND AVENUE H, GALVESTON]
[Illustration:
ST. MARY’S INFIRMARY, GALVESTON, AFTER THE FLOOD]
[Illustration:
WHARVES OF GALVESTON BEFORE THE GREAT TIDAL WAVE. STEAMSHIPS WERE
DRIVEN ASHORE AND WRECKED]
[Illustration:
CARING FOR THOSE INJURED BY THE STORM AT GALVESTON.]
[Illustration:
TRAIN BLOWN FROM TRACK SHOWN BY DOTTED LINE.]
At Belton’s they remained until next morning. At 6 o’clock Sunday
morning, the storm having abated, they started back to their home. The
only vestige of it or of the houses for blocks around was a
hitching-post. All was a sandy waste. In the back yard lay a dead baby.
This frightened them, but before going far on the way back they saw
scores of dead bodies, and men, women and children maimed and bleeding,
homeless and bereft of family.
It was an awful night and day they put in, with nothing on but bathing
suits, and nothing to eat. Passing a store they saw the plate glass
windows all broken. The background was lined with black cloth. This they
seized, and securing a pair of scissors at the stable and needles and
thread, they soon had two well-fitting and well-made gowns, which they
wore until they reached Houston.
TRANSPORT TO CARRY PROVISIONS.
Acting Secretary of War Meiklejohn issued orders placing the transport
McPherson at the services of the Citizens’ Committee of the Merchants’
Association of New York for the immediate transportation of provisions
donated for the relief of the storm sufferers at Galveston.
The people who had been raising contributions and supplies in New York
asked President McKinley for a transport, and the War Department acted
immediately on the request. It was expected that the McPherson would
leave within seventy-two hours and sail direct for Galveston. It was
suggested by the War Department that the relief committees of
Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia and other cities in reach of New
York by rail within a few hours, place themselves at once in touch with
the Chairman of the Relief Committee of New York, in order that
clothing, supplies and food might be forwarded promptly to the carrying
capacity of the McPherson.
Austin, Tex., September 13.—Alvin and other points along the coast are
crying piteously for aid. They say that they have been overlooked in the
general relief fund and that with all their property destroyed, their
hopes gone, no clothing, no provisions, they are fit subjects for the
hand of charity along with the unfortunates from Galveston. Governor
Sayers promptly wired them that they should be looked after.
Touching on the subject of needs of the flood sufferers and the funds
being furnished him for the purpose, Governor Sayers stated to-day that
it would take at least one million and possibly a million and one-half
to render the assistance that would be beneficial to the flood
sufferers. Many of them will have to be supported for possibly the next
two months, and it will require an immense amount of money to do this,
inasmuch as there are estimated to be 10,000 destitute at Galveston and
fully twice that many along the main shore.
From points along the coast comes the report that a great amount of
wreckage is being thrown up by the Gulf and hundreds of people have
wandered miles down the coast, seeking among the wreckage for valuables.
The household property of Galveston people is strewn from Rockport in
Matagorda Bay along 200 miles of coast front. Every conceivable
household article is to be found strewn along the sands. Valuables are
literally lining the coast. Trunks, valises, bureaus, chests and the
like are being deposited on the shore.
People are pouring up from the coast by the train load. Many are going
to relatives in the central and northern part of the State, and others
are stopping in Houston. Of course, this applies to the more prosperous
class of the Galvestonians, if there can be any such now.
MONEY AND SUPPLIES FOR THE SUFFERERS.
The subscriptions in New York up to Thursday, the 13th, for the relief
of the Galveston sufferers were:
Merchants’ Association, $52,099; Mayors’ Fund, $7000; New York
Mercantile Exchange Fund, $2000; New York Cotton Exchange Fund, $5300;
New York Stock Exchange Fund, $11,100; New York Produce Exchange Fund,
$10,500; Chamber of Commerce Fund, $25,000; miscellaneous subscriptions,
$30,000. Total, $142,994.
The transport McPherson left at noon Monday, the 7th, for Galveston,
carrying supplies which were contributed through the Merchants’
Association.
The Citizens’ Committee of the association deposited in bank $26,775,
making a gross total of $40,526 so deposited. Secretary Corwine
immediately afterward wired Governor Sayers authorizing him to draw
$12,000 in addition to the $12,000 offered the day before. Mayor Jones,
of Galveston, was also notified of the telegrams of the Governor.
The steamer El Sud, of the Morgan Line, sailed for Galveston with a
large contribution of food supplies and clothing for the Relief
Committee, which was contributed, through the Merchants’ Association.
A despatch from Clark, South Dakota, says that Governor Roosevelt has
authorized Colonel William J. Young, of the Executive Department of
Albany, N. Y., to issue an appeal for aid on behalf of the Galveston
sufferers. J. Pierpont Morgan was named by the Governor as chairman of
such committee and authorized to receive subscriptions.
CLARA BARTON GOES TO TEXAS.
Miss Clara Barton, President of the National Red Cross, and her staff,
left for Galveston, accompanied by Mary Agnes Coombs, the Secretary of
the Executive Committee in New York during the Spanish war.
It was the intention of the Salvation Army to equip a hospital car for
Galveston. There were to be physicians and nurses on board and a large
supply of hospital necessities. This car will be kept at Galveston as
long as needed.
A meeting of Americans, resident and transient, in Paris was held at the
Chamber of Commerce on September 13th for the purpose of devising a
method for raising funds to assist the sufferers at Galveston. The
United States Ambassador, General Horace Porter, was elected President;
George Monroe, the banker, was made Treasurer, and Francis Kimball was
appointed Secretary. Resolutions of sympathy with the people of
Galveston were adopted, and a subscription list was opened, with the
result that inside of fifteen minutes 50,000 francs were donated.
A committee of seven was appointed to carry out the plans of the
meeting, which included canvassing the American colony in Paris. The
French papers also opened subscription lists, many Frenchmen having
expressed a desire to subscribe.
R. P. W. Houston, member of Parliament and head of the Houston Line of
Steamers, cabled $5000 to Galveston for the relief of the sufferers.
SYMPATHY FROM FRANCE.
The following telegrams passed between the Presidents of France and the
United States:
“Rambouillet, President, September 12, 1900.—To His Excellency the
President of the United States of America: The news of the disaster
which has just devastated the State of Texas, has deeply moved me. The
sentiments of traditional friendship which unite the two Republics can
leave no doubt in your mind concerning the very sincere share that the
President, the Government of the Republic and the whole nation take in
the calamity that has proved such a cruel ordeal for so many families in
the United States. It is natural that France should participate in the
sadness as well as in the joy of the American people. I take it to heart
to tender to your Excellency our most heartfelt condolences, and to send
to the families of the victims the expression of our afflicted sympathy.
“EMILE LOUBET.”
“Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C. September 13, 1900.—His
Excellency, Emile Loubet, President of the French Republic, Rambouillet,
France: I hasten to express, in the name of the thousands who have
suffered by the disaster in Texas, as well as in behalf of the whole
American people, heartfelt thanks for your touching message of sympathy
and condolence.
“WILLIAM MCKINLEY.”
In response to an inquiry telegraphed to Colonel A. H. Belo, publisher
of the Dallas News and of the Galveston News, the following hopeful
estimate of the business future and prospects of Galveston was received:
“Although in the middle of our overwhelming disaster, the full extent of
which can only be approximately estimated, the citizens of Galveston
held a meeting on Sunday afternoon, as soon as they possibly could after
the great storm. At this meeting the sentiment expressed was a grim and
undaunted resolution to rebuild the island city. They said:
“‘Galveston must rise again.’
“They fully realize the vastness of their misfortune and the magnitude
of their task to repair it, yet, amid all the wreck and havoc that the
elements have wrought they say, with determination, that as soon as they
bury their dead and provide for the immediate necessities of their
living and destitute ones, they will set about to clear away the debris,
and begin anew their lives of toil and energy on their storm-stricken
island.
“They are inspired with the sentiment that Galveston must rally, must
survive and must fulfill a glorious destiny, as the great entry port of
the Southwest. As in the case of the great Johnstown disaster, in 1889,
the whole American people have responded with alacrity to their cries
for help, and with such aid to assist and such sympathy to inspire them,
they will surely meet the success that their patriotic efforts so richly
merit.
“A. H. BELO.”
STORY OF DEATH AND RUIN.
Reviewing the situation it may be said that again were heard the cries
of those in the wilderness of devastation asking for succor, for again,
as a score of times before, Galveston and surrounding coast towns are
the scenes of death and desolation. Homes razed and washed away by the
waters that have claimed their occupants as victims of death and horror,
has more than once been the story from the shores of the Gulf.
History is now repeating itself, and the repetition has become frequent
since 1860. While severe storms sweep the Atlantic coast between the
mouth of the Savannah River and the Chesapeake, still the resultant
damage is far less north of Savannah and the Cape Fear River. This is
because the land is higher, serving as a barrier to the encroachments of
the sea, while the further south one goes, it will be found, the land is
lower, increasing the liability of becoming submerged by heavy inshore
winds and tidal waves.
Florida, Louisiana and Texas coast cities are but a few feet above high
tide register and therefore the more subject to overflow. To compute the
total loss of life and property from the storms which from time to time
have devastated the coast of the Gulf of Mexico it would be found the
loss of human life would extend well into the thousands, while tens of
millions of dollars have been laid waste.
STORMS THAT BROUGHT DESOLATION.
There have been many such storms before whose fury has been felt by the
coast people. One of the worst storms was in September, 1860, which
caused ruin and death from Rio Grande to Mobile, and when the waters had
subsided the loss could be figured at $3,000,000.
Then in October of the same year, one month later, another storm swept
down upon Galveston and Houston, and $5,000,000 had been wiped out.
There were other storms of less violence, as, for instance, in June,
1891, when a southeast wind blew a hurricane for four days and the city
was inundated and shipping was seriously crippled.
There was another fearful visitation on September 17, 1875. A good part
of the city was under water several feet deep. Vessels were wrecked and
the City Hospital was filled with water and the Ocean House, on Gulf
Beach, crumbled and fell and floated away in remnants. Thirty lives were
lost. It was the hardest storm since 1867 up to that time. The storm
raged for several days.
Indianola, one hundred and twenty miles southwest of Galveston, was
almost totally destroyed. More than one hundred and fifty of its
inhabitants were found dead in the ruins of their homes. Nearly all of
its three thousand houses were unroofed or badly damaged, and $7,000,000
in money has gone to waste.
A hurricane on the lower Texas coast and in Mexico on August 20, 1880,
carried destruction far and wide. As many as three hundred houses in
Matamoras, Mexico, were demolished, even brick buildings offering no
more resistance than so many toys. Brownsville, Texas, saw its houses
unroofed and the infantry barracks were demolished, and twenty-eight
army horses and several mules were killed. A convent did not escape
damage, and several of the occupants were injured by falling debris.
The railroads, quarantine stations and the lighthouses were seriously
damaged. Thirty lives were lost and property damaged was estimated at
$1,000,000. This hurricane was followed by one of equal violence on the
Mexican coast, which completely wiped out the town of Altata and the
port of that name. Not one house was left standing and ships in the
harbor suffered greatly.
ATLANTIC COAST ALSO SWEPT.
Savannah, Ga., has not escaped the fury of the southern gale. The city
suffered severely in 1881, the waters rushing into the streets and
causing the death of four hundred persons by drowning. Four million
dollars, it was said, was the amount of the damage to property. In 1893
Savannah was visited by another cyclone and forty persons were killed.
This time the property damage was $7,000.000.
Havana, Cuba, and the West Indies were visited by a destructive
hurricane in September, 1888. One thousand persons were killed and
hundreds of head of cattle were killed. The loss was $7,000,000.
Sabine Pass, which is the dividing line between Texas and Louisiana, was
swept by a terrific storm in October, 1886. The population of the town
was about four hundred. Of these one hundred and twenty-six perished and
90 per cent. of the deaths was caused by drowning. Four houses escaped
injury.
The coast of Mexico was devastated for three days in the fall of 1889 by
a destructive cyclone, which first struck the coast of Campeachy. There
was a drenching rain which played havoc along the peninsula for miles.
The wind was so furious in the city of Carmen it uprooted trees,
depositing them upon houses which they crushed. All the shipping in the
harbor was wrecked. Twelve foreign barks were wrecked. Some were thrown
high and dry on the beach, while others were submerged. Two steamships,
many schooners and many smaller craft were wrecked. There was great loss
of life.
A hurricane from the West Indies, which swept up the Atlantic coast, did
great damage to Savannah, Ga., on Tuesday, September 30, 1896. Wind blew
at a velocity of seventy-five miles an hour for an hour and a half.
Hardly a building escaped, and thousands of houses were unroofed. The
damage was $1,000,000, and twenty-two persons were killed. The roof of
the United States Pension Office was blown off. Railroad stations,
churches, theatres and the Bonaventure Cemetery were ruined, monuments
being overturned.
The hurricane started from the West Indies. It went from Brunswick, Ga.,
to Savannah; thence it plunged through and into Pennsylvania, where the
damage done was tremendous. The large railroad bridge over the
Susquehanna River was wrecked.
HARDEST STORM FOR MANY YEARS.
One of the worst cyclonic storms of recent years was that on August 29,
1893, which carried havoc and destruction even into our own city,
although this city escaped its utmost fury, although there came tales of
shipwrecks at sea. It was a West Indian hurricane that originated in the
West Indies on August 25, and reached our shores at Savannah, Ga., two
days later. The storm passed through North and South Carolina, Virginia
and West Virginia and into the southwestern part of Pennsylvania.
All the Atlantic coast States suffered. Port Royal, S. C., was
frightfully damaged. The streets of Charleston, S. C., were literally
filled with debris, parts of roofs, signs, awnings, telegraph poles and
building material being jumbled together in an inextricable mass of
wreckage. The streets were flooded with water. All the phosphate works
were blown down or badly injured. One odd sight in the old city was a
schooner lying high and dry in a street.
One of our journals commented as follows on the storm that wrought
unparalleled damage:
“With the passage of the great hurricane out to sea over the Gulf of St.
Lawrence the most destructive chapter in the history of storm movements
in the United States was closed. Just what the total of life, property
and crop losses will be is even now not ascertainable with any sure
degree of accuracy, but that it will surpass all earlier estimates
cannot be questioned.
TIMELY WARNINGS WERE GIVEN.
“Moving into the Gulf of Mexico, just west of Florida, on Thursday,
September 6, in its week’s circuit of the United States, the hurricane
has at least caused a loss of 5000 lives and probably many more, and has
destroyed and damaged property to the extent of $15,000,000. And yet,
after its probable direction and the curve of its track were ascertained
on Friday, September 7, no great cyclonic disturbance has been more
carefully watched or the menace of its forward movement more decisively
pointed out.
“It is to be regretted that though the Friday warnings of the Weather
Bureau caused apprehensions in Galveston, few realized the extreme
gravity of the situation. The bureau, however, did its full duty, and
its subsequent warnings with respect to the passage of the cyclone over
the lakes were fully justified. The path the hurricane took between
September 6 and September 12 meteorologically was most instructive and
will unquestionably prove of great value in future forecasts. And yet it
followed the normal rule and kept on skirting an area of high barometer
that lay over the Southern States, the lakes and the Middle States. From
the moment the cyclone was first “held up” by the high pressure
anti-cyclone on Thursday it kept to the left of it, and so was diverted
westward with such disastrous results for Galveston.
“Though it may seem to some paradoxical to say so, the clear, bracing
weather of yesterday, accompanied, as it was, by the strong winds from
the south and southwest, was the hurricane’s contribution to northern
weather. To most people who find great difficulty in understanding the
twofold movement in cyclonic storms—the translation of the storm as a
whole along its track and the circulation of the winds in the whirl
itself—the idea that clear weather is part of a storm movement will seem
strange, and yet such is the case.
“If you are in the right quadrant and far enough from the vortex, or
storm center, though it will control the winds in your vicinage,
cloudless and rainless weather may easily be your lot. And this was our
experience, for the cyclone at 8 A. M. was central over Quebec, whither
it had traversed from Des Moines, Iowa, over 1200 miles, in a direct
line, northeast from where it was central on Tuesday morning the 11th,
at 8 o’clock.
TERRIBLE VELOCITY OF WIND.
“The rate at which it made this jump, taking in the lakes in passing,
was at the speed of fifty miles an hour, while the cyclonic winds kept
blowing into the centre at a velocity of seventy miles an hour. That
these two motions have nothing in common is shown by the fact that on
Saturday, when the vertical velocities were at their height, ninety-six
miles from the northeast and 100 from the southeast at Galveston, the
cyclone was moving on its track from the Gulf to the interior of Texas
at the sluggish pace of ten and one-half miles an hour. It was this slow
rate which had prevailed ever since August 5 that accentuated all the
evils of the rotary circulation, for as the centre passed slowly over
Galveston it gave the cyclonic winds full opportunity to pile up the
waters and buffet and wreck the buildings.
“Fortunately we were over 400 miles from the vortex, and, though we were
within the sphere of its southern winds, they merely proved an annoyance
through the excessive dust and were not disastrous. On the New England
coast, as well as over the lakes, the winds were stiffer, and we are yet
to hear the full story of the cyclone’s journey from gulf to gulf.
Meteorologically, it is now a closed record, so far as the United States
goes, but, unfortunately for Galveston, the horror of the visitation
grows as access to the stricken town reveals the full extent of the
devastation.”