Dead Babes Floating in the Waters—Sharp Crack of Soldiers’ Rifles—Tears
Mingle With the Flood—Doctors and Nurses for the Sick and Dying.
One of the most harrowing experiences during the scene of destruction
and death at Galveston was that of a young lady belonging to Elgin,
Illinois. Stamped upon her mind until she shuddered and cried aloud,
that she might forget all its horrors and terrible memories, Miss Pixley
stood in the Dearborn Street Station and told of the Galveston flood.
Surrounded by her relatives and friends who had given her up as dead,
Miss Pixley, who was the first arrival from the storm swept district,
told her story between outbursts of bitter tears.
“Oh, those eyes,” she cried, “that I might put them from my mind. I can
see those little children, mere babies, go floating by my place of
refuge, dead, dead! God alone knows the suffering I went through.
Thousands, yes, thousands, of poor souls were carried over the brink of
death in the twinkling of an eye, and I saw it all.”
MISS PIXLEY’S GRAPHIC STORY.
This is her story, as she told it: “I had been in Galveston for about
six weeks, visiting Miss Lulu George, who lives on Thirty-fifth street.
It was not until after the noon hour of Saturday that we were
frightened. Buildings had gone down as mere egg shells before that
death-dealing wind.
“About 1.30 o’clock I told Miss George that we must make our way to
another building about half a block away. The water had risen over five
feet in two hours, and as I hurried to the front door the wind tore down
my hair and I was blinded for a time.
“I turned my eyes to the west and for three long miles there was not a
building standing, everything had been swept away. How we ever reached
the two story building a hundred yards away I do not know. We waded
through the water and every few minutes we were carried off our feet and
dashed against the floating debris.
ALMOST DROWNED IN CELLAR.
“The building we were trying to reach was a store and the foundation
kept out the water. We hurried to the cellar and stayed there for
several hours. At last the wind-swept waves found an opening and broke
through the foundation and we had a mad run to escape the rushing,
swirling waters.
“We reached the first floor and I shrank into a corner, expecting every
second to be carried out to my death. How it happened I can never tell,
but this and one other building were the only ones left for blocks
around. As it was, several people were killed in the building we
occupied and the other house that was left standing.
“After a time I felt faint from hunger and, while too weak from fright
to seek food, I told Miss George that I would go into another room. I
staggered along the floor until I reached a window, and fell, half
fainting, through it. As I leaned there I witnessed sights that I pray
God will never make another see.
BLOOD-CHILLING SCENES.
“Whirling by me, bodies, more than I could dare count, were crushed and
mangled between a jumble of timbers and debris. Men, women and children
went by, sinking, floating, dashing on I know not where. I wanted to
close my eyes, but I could not. I cried aloud and made an attempt to go
to my friends, but I was exhausted, and all I could do was to watch the
terrible scenes.
“Babies, oh, such pretty little ones, too, were carried on and on,
gowned in dainty clothing, their eyes open, staring in mute terror
above. Thank Providence they were dead. I was partly blinded by tears,
but I could still see through the mist. Little arms seemed to stretch
toward me asking assistance and there I lay, half prostrated, too weak
to lend assistance.
“How it all ended I know not. I must have fainted for I awakened with
‘We are saved, Alice,’ ringing in my ears.
FLEES FROM HORRIBLE SIGHTS.
“When I found we could get out of the city I declared I would go at all
cost. I thought of home and my parents and I wanted to telegraph, just
like thousands of others, that I was safe.
“It was days before we could get away, however, and then it was in a
most terrible confusion. Eighty-eight persons crowded on a small boat
and started for Houston.
“The day we left the militia was out in all its force. I could hear the
sharp reports of a rifle and the wail of some soul as he paid the
penalty for his thieving operations.
“Later I saw the soldiers with their glistening rifles leveled at scores
of men and saw them topple forward dead. Oh, they had to shoot those
terrible beasts, for they were robbing the dead. They groveled in blood,
it seemed.
“I saw with my own eyes the fingers of women cut off by regular demons
in the search for jewels. The soldiers came and killed them and it was
well.
HUMAN BODIES IN FIRE HEAP.
“As we made our way toward the boat that was to take us from the City of
Death I saw great clouds of smoke rising in the air. Upon the top of
flaming boards thousands of bodies were being reduced to ashes.
“It was best, for the odor that arose from the dead bodies was awful.
Still it made one’s heart ache with a sorrow never to be equaled as one
witnessed little children tossed into the midst of the hissing flames.
Do you wonder I cry?
“Before me, no matter which way I turned, I could see dead bodies, their
cold eyes gazing at me with staring intentness. I closed my eyes and
stumbled forward, hoping I might escape for a moment the sight of dead
bodies, but no; the moment I would open them again, right at my feet I
would find the form of some poor creature.
“Coming to Chicago on the train I read the papers. They are mistaken,
away wrong: They only say 5,000 dead. It will be more than 10,000. I
know I am right; every one in Galveston talks of 12,000, 15,000 and
18,000 dead, but it will be 10,000 at the very least.
“I believe the worst sight I witnessed was the 2,800 bodies being
carried out to sea and buried in the gulf. Huge barges were tied to the
wharfs and loaded with the unknown dead. As fast as one barge was filled
it made its way out from the shore, and weighting the bodies, men cast
them into the water.”
I. Thompson, a young man who was very active in saving life during the
night of the storm, became insane because of the awful scenes he
witnessed. Thompson’s friends first noticed his condition when he told
that one of the persons he rescued had deposited $10,000 in one of the
banks to his credit, and that he was going to live in luxury the rest of
his life.
TRAGIC INCIDENTS.
Thompson retired to his room, on the third floor of the Washington
Hotel, seemingly sane. Soon afterwards he began to moan, and soon became
violent, rushing from one side of his room to the other and declaring
his determination to commit suicide. Employes of the hotel did all they
could to pacify the man, and during the night he became more rational
and lay down. The person engaged to watch him was compelled to leave the
room for a short time early in the morning, and when he returned he
found that Thompson had wrenched the shutters off his window and leaped
out upon an awning and thence to the street.
Thompson was seen to run toward the bay, and in all probability he threw
himself overboard and was drowned, as he was not seen or heard of
afterward.
Another case is that of a young woman who was caught in the rain, and,
with two other women and about fifty men and boys, found refuge in an
office. It was with the utmost difficulty she could restrain herself
during the fearful storm, and she frequently became hysterical and cried
out for her mother, sisters and her brother and his family. As the storm
gradually subsided the young woman became more calm, and when morning
broke she started for her home quite reassured. She found a wild waste
of waters sweeping over the site of her home. Her dear ones were
missing.
Among the first victims carried into the temporary morgue were the young
woman’s mother, brother and two children. These were quickly followed by
her brother’s wife and her two sisters. The shock overthrew the girl’s
reason, and she became a nervous wreck, without a relative in the world.
Hundreds of such tragic incidents as these marked the week, and the
number of men and women who lost their reason was very large.
HARROWING TALES TOLD BY SURVIVORS.
Many strange incidents of the hurricane were gathered from the tales of
the survivors. They told of pitiable deaths, of fearful destructions of
property and of strange incidents of the great force of the storm. The
following are just a few of the many that were told by refugees in this
city:
One of the most remarkable escapes recorded during the flood was that of
a United States battery-man on duty at the forts, who had been picked up
on Morgan’s Point, wounded but alive. He had buffeted the waves for five
days and lived through a terrible experience. Morgan’s Point is thirty
miles from Galveston.
Another man who passed though a similar experience was found floating on
the roof of a house on the open sea, over one hundred miles distant from
Galveston. He was half famished, but quickly recovered upon being taken
aboard.
Dr. H. C. Buckner, of the Buckner Orphan’s Home at Dallas, brought with
him from Galveston thirty-six little children who were made homeless,
fatherless and motherless by the storm. Many of the children were
suffering from cuts and bruises, and all were destitute of clothing
except the tattered and torn garments which they had on their backs.
They were taken to the Children’s Hospital in Haskell avenue, in Dallas,
to have their wounds treated and to recuperate before being sent to the
home proper, six miles east of the city. The children are from all walks
of life, and were taken in charge by Dr. Buckner while in Galveston as
the ones most in need of immediate attention.
Reports show that three-fourths of the Velasco people lost their homes
and four persons were drowned. Eight bodies were washed ashore at
Surfside, supposed to be from Galveston. At Quintana 75 per cent. of the
buildings are destroyed. No lives were lost there, though a number were
injured. Velasco has hardly a house that will bear inspection. People
are suffering for the necessities of life and many who are sick need
medicines.
At Seabrooke, Texas, thirty-three out of thirty-four houses floated away
and twenty-one people were drowned. At Hitchcock a large pile-driver of
the Southern Pacific works at Galveston, and also a large barge partly
laden with coal, are lying in the pear orchards several miles from the
coast. Box cars, railway iron, drawbridges, houses, schooners and all
conceivable things are lying over the prairie, some fifteen miles from
their former location.
A TRAGIC WEDDING CEREMONY.
At the Tremont Hotel in Galveston a wedding occurred Thursday night,
which was not attended with music and flowers and a gathering of
merrymaking friends and relatives. Mrs. Brice Roberts had expected some
day to marry Earnest Mayo. The storm which desolated so many homes
deprived her of almost everything on earth—father, mother, sister and
brother. She was left destitute. Her sweetheart, too, was a sufferer. He
lost much of his possessions in Dickinson, but he stepped bravely
forward and took his sweetheart to his home.
A pathetic story of the Galveston flood is that of Mrs. Mary Quayle, of
Liverpool, England, who is now on her journey home. She had only been
two days in the city with her husband when the storm came. She goes
home, her husband dead, and herself a nervous wreck. Mr. and Mrs. Quayle
had taken apartments in Lucas terrace, Galveston. During the storm Mr.
Quayle went to a window, when a sudden burst of wind tore out the panes
and sucked him, as it were, out of the house. Mrs. Quayle, in the rear
of the room, was thrown against a wall and stunned. No trace of her
husband’s body has been found.
It will be a long time before many of the survivors of the Galveston
catastrophe can appreciate the nature of the calamity which has befallen
them. One woman laughingly told another that she had saved her baby, but
that her two boys and her husband had been drowned. She was evidently
insane.
An eye-witness, writing on September 16th, said: “Galveston is striving
manfully to rise from its ashes. A reign of terror has been averted,
Hope crowns the day. More than a thousand men are clearing the streets
of debris. They are working night and day. Their efforts so far have
been expended in picking up carcasses and gathering bodies into piles
and burning them. Separate pyres are built for human bodies and animals,
and the work progresses rapidly. The task is heart-rendering, and many
able bodied men have succumbed to the ordeal.
GIGANTIC DISINFECTION.
“Hundreds of women and children who are trying to get away from the city
to the mainland find the task difficult. The slowness of the distracted
ones is not due to tardiness or hesitation on their part. On the
contrary, it is a scramble to get away, and the shattered wharves are
lined with persons awaiting their turn. Transportation facilities are
very meagre. There are few boats to be had. The Lawrence, a 200–ton
propeller, is the only steamer carrying persons across to Texas City.
“One of the most hopeful features of the situation is the arrival of
hundreds of barrels of disinfectants, such as carbolic acid and chloride
of lime. Two thousand barrels of these could be advantageously used. The
Board of Health shows signs of vigor and of an appreciation of the
danger that confronts the city and contiguous territory. Every effort is
being made to deodorize the ruins and to quickly dispose of the dead as
soon as they are reached.
“The work of cleaning and disinfecting the streets is carried on with
vigor, and the results are quite noticeable, especially in the central
part of the city. Gutters in Tremont street were opened and the slush
and debris from them carted to the city dump. This allowed the water to
drain off. Centre street and the Strand were also worked on with
excellent results, the gutters being opened and disinfectants generally
distributed. Several other streets in the central part of the city were
put in a sanitary condition.
“The depot for sanitary supplies established by the Board of Health
issued yesterday fifty-four sacks and eighty-four barrels of lime,
twenty-five sacks of charcoal, twenty boxes of powdered disinfectants,
ten cans of oil and three barrels of carbolic acid. All of this was
distributed over the city for disinfection.
“Out in the suburbs large forces were at work cleaning the streets and
opening the gutters. The result of their work is very noticeable to one
who went out in the evening after having gone over the same ground the
day before. The work of clearing the streets of broken telephone and
telegraph poles and wires, as well as poles and wires of other kinds,
has been begun in earnest. The great broken poles with their loads of
wires are lowered to the ground and the wires removed as rapidly as
possible.
THE SHERIFF’S WORK.
“Sheriff Thomas reports that he and his posses buried and cremated
thirty-eight bodies in Hurd’s lane, twenty-one bodies at Sydnor’s Bayou,
and thirteen bodies in Eagle Grove. Sheriff Thomas says there are still
one hundred bodies to be buried just outside the city limits, and he has
no idea of how many more down the island.
“Fully $1,500,000 worth of vessel property is tied up on the lowlands.
There was more than this until the British steamer Mora was floated on
Wednesday. There are seven ocean going steamers grounded in different
parts of the bay, and the prospect of some of them ever getting from
their positions is quite remote.
“The steamer Roma is probably in the tightest place. She broke from her
moorings at pier No. 15 during the storm and went westward to the county
bridge, tearing her way through the other bridges until she went aground
on or near Deer Island. It is feared her days of usefulness are over,
for it would take as much as she is worth to dredge a channel from her
position to water deep enough to float her.
“Another possible total loss is the steamer Kendal Castle, which is in
shallow water near Texas City, having gone there during the storm from
pier No. 31. She lies partly broadside on. Like the Roma, she is far
from deep water, and until the Texas City channel is completed it does
not seem probable that she can get out.
“The quarantine barge, belonging to the State, is probably gone beyond
redemption. She dragged her anchor from the mooring place to Pelican
Island, where she went aground and fell over on her side with the
receding waters. Her machinery is probably badly wrecked, and she is in
such a position that it would be difficult to right her, although the
effort may be made.
“Small craft in the bay suffered as much in proportion to value as the
big vessels, if not more, for practically every one was swamped. Some of
them struck the piers and had holes stove in their bottoms. Owners have
been repairing them, and for that reason few, if any, will be entirely
lost.”
GALVESTON IN DANGER FROM FIRE.
“A danger which Galveston faces is fire. Not a drop of rain has fallen
since the hurricane, and the hot winds and blistering suns have made the
wrecked houses and buildings so much tinder, piled mountain high in
every direction. In nearly all parts of the city the fire hydrants are
buried fifty feet, in some places a hundred feet deep under the
wreckage, and as yet the water supply at best is only of the most meagre
kind.
“Galveston’s fire department is small and badly crippled and would be
powerless to stay the flames should they ever start. There is no relief
nearer than Houston, and that is hours away. In view of all the existing
conditions it is no wonder that the cry is, ‘Get the women and children
to the mainland, anywhere off the island,’ nor is it a wonder that with
one small boat carrying only 300 passengers, and making only two trips a
day, people fairly fight to be taken aboard.
“All yesterday fears were entertained by the authorities that even this
service would be cut off and Galveston left without any means of getting
to the mainland, owing to the trouble with the owner of the boat.
“The sanitary conditions do not improve. Dr. Trueheart, chairman of the
committee in charge of caring for the sick and injured, is going on with
dispatch. More physicians are needed, and he requests that about thirty
outside physicians come to Galveston and work for at least a month, and,
if needed, longer. The city’s electric light service is completely
destroyed, and the city electrician says it may be sixty days before the
business portion can be lighted.
“A glorious and modern Galveston to be rebuilt in place of the old one,
is the cry raised by the citizens, but it would seem a task beyond human
power to ever remove the wreckage of the old city.
“The total number of people fed in the ten wards Saturday, the 15th, was
16,144. Sunday the number increased slightly. No accurate statement of
the amount of supplies can be obtained as they are being put in the
general stock as soon as received.”
“SEEMS LIKE AN AWFUL DREAM.”
Destitute save for a few personal effects carried in a small valise, and
with nerves shattered by a week of horror, Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Prutsman,
with their two daughters, twelve and six years old, reached Chicago from
the flood-swept district of Texas. They came direct from Galveston, via.
Houston and St. Louis.
During all of one afternoon the little family sat at the Rock Island
station waiting for a train to take them to Putnam, Ill., where Mrs.
Prutsman has relatives. When it was learned that they were from
Galveston, they were besieged with questions concerning the details of
the terrible storm. Crowds of waiting passengers flocked about them, and
they told the gruesome story over and over.
“Yes, we were fortunate,” said Mrs. Prutsman, as she leaned wearily back
in a rocking chair, and tenderly contemplated the two children at her
side. “It seems to me just like an awful dream, and when I think of the
hundreds and hundreds of children who were killed right before our very
eyes, I feel as though I always ought to be satisfied no matter what
comes.”
Mr. Prutsman said: “The reports from Galveston are not half as appalling
as the situation really is. We left the fated city Wednesday afternoon,
going by boat to Texas City, and by rail to Houston. The condition of
Galveston at that time, while showing an improvement, was awful, and
never shall I forget the terrible scenes that met our eyes as the boat
on which we left steamed out of the harbor. There were bodies on all
sides of us. In some places they were piled six and seven deep, and the
stench horrible.
“I resided with my family fourteen blocks away from the beach, yet my
house was swept away at 5 P.M. Saturday, and with it went everything we
had in the world. Fifteen minutes before I took my wife and children to
the courthouse and we were saved, along with about 1,000 others who
sought refuge there. When we went through the streets the water was up
to our arms and we carried the children on our heads.
WOMAN SHOT TO END HER SUFFERING.
“I assisted for several days in the work of rescue. In one pile of
debris we found a woman who seemed to have escaped the flood, but who
was injured and pinned down so she could not escape. A guard came along,
and, after failing to rescue her, deliberately shot her to end her
misery.
“The streets present a gruesome appearance. Every available wagon and
vehicle in the city is being used to transport the dead, and it is no
uncommon thing to see a load of bodies ten deep. The stench in the city
is nauseating. Since the flood the only water that could be used for
drinking purposes was in cisterns, and it has become tainted with the
slime and filth that covers the city until it is little better than no
water at all.
“Since the city was placed under martial law conditions have been much
better and there is little lawlessness. The soldiers have shown no
quarter and have orders to shoot on sight. This has had a wonderful
effect on the disreputable characters who have flocked into the city.
SAW FOUR MEN SHOT IN ONE DAY.
“Everybody who remains in Galveston is made to work, and the punishment
for a refusal is about the same as that meted out to ghouls. I saw four
colored men shot in one day. There were confined in the hold of a
steamer in the harbor, six colored men who were found by the soldiers
with a flour sack almost filled with fingers and ears on which were
jewels. These men probably have been publicly executed before this time.
“In the work of rescue we found whole families tied together with ropes,
and in several instances mothers had their babes clasped in their arms.
“Scores of unfortunates straggle into Houston every day and their
condition is pitiable. Several have lost their reason. The citizens of
Houston are doing all in their power to meet the demands of the
sufferers, and every available building in the city has been converted
into a hospital. When we arrived in Houston we scarcely had clothes
enough to cover us, and the citizens fitted us out and started us north.
The fear of fever or some awful plague drove us from Galveston.
“Already speculators are flocking into the city, and there is some
activity among them over tax-title real estate. In several instances
whole families were wiped out of existence, and the opportunities in
this line seem to be great.”
General Chambers McKibbin, U. S. A., and Adjutant General Scurry were
both emphatic regarding the necessity for prompt work in clearing the
streets and surroundings of Galveston.
“I am personally in favor of burning as much rubbish as possible,” said
General McKibben, “and of burning it as quickly as the power of man will
permit. I am not an alarmist by any means, and I do not predict a
pestilence, but I think things are coming to that point where a
pestilence may be possible unless prompt measures are taken, and there
is nothing so effective as fire. Burn everything and burn it at once.”
“I haven’t a dollar to pay the men who are working in the streets all
day long,” said Adjutant General Scurry. “I am unable to say to a single
one of the men ‘You’ll be paid for your work.’ I have not the money to
make good the promise. I hope and believe that the country will
understand the situation. We must have this city cleaned up at any cost
and with the greatest speed possible. If it is not done with all haste,
and at the same time done well, there may be a pestilence, and if it
once breaks out here it will not be Galveston alone that will suffer.
“Such things spread, and it is not only for the sake of this city, but
for others outside that I urge that above all things we want money. The
nation has been most kind in its response to the appeals of Galveston,
but from what I hear, food and disinfectants sufficient for temporary
purposes at least, are here or on the way. The country does not
understand. It cannot understand, unless it could visit Galveston, the
awful situation prevailing here.”
NO DANGER OF PESTILENCE.
Dr. A. B. Chamberlain said that Galveston would now escape epidemic in
any form. He had been through two of these Gulf coast visitations,
though upon a smaller scale. “We may have some mild cases of fever as
the result of the shock and the exposure,” he said, “but I am confident
there will be nothing serious.”
This seems to be quite generally the opinion of the doctors who are not
advising any wholesale exodus. They put great faith in the free use of
disinfectants and in the bracing salt air which blows continuously over
the island.
“A barrel of lime is worth more to us now than a ton of food,” was the
expression of Dr. J. O. Dyer. “Let us appeal,” he continued, “for 10,000
barrels of lime and 500 barrels of tar. Each block will require at the
least ten barrels scattered on its respective lots and streets, burn the
tar in offensive localities.”
Ladies of Galveston are engaged in a work which is perhaps without
precedent in relief effort. They are making many little bags, into which
they place two or three lumps of camphor. The bags have strings by which
they can be fastened at the head, so that they will rest on the lip just
under the nose. They are to be worn by the men engaged in the search and
cremation of bodies.
It is proposed to all people whose houses are still standing that
whenever they locate a corpse or carcasses in their vicinity the
position be indicated by a flag of some kind.
Some of the notices and paragraphs in these first issues of the
Galveston papers are as interesting as stories of the storm. For
example:—
“The First Church of Christ, Scientists, cordially extends the use of
their church to any denomination whose church was so damaged by the
recent storm as to render it unfit for services.”
DOCTORS CARING FOR THE SUFFERERS.
In the advertising columns merchants seem to vie with each other in
announcing, “Positively no advance in prices.” Here is an editorial
leader which could hardly be found outside of a hurricane issue:—
“It is important that all who are injured enough to necessitate a
stitching of their wounds should have their dressings changed every
twenty-four hours. Some of the wounded have neglected to do this, with a
result that the doctors have more work to do than is necessary. Every
doctor in town is doing work free of cost to all who apply.”
There have been accounts of negroes caught in the act of robbing the
dead and shot. Galveston citizens are prompt to say that there have been
exceptional cases. They gave the mass of colored people credit for doing
their part.
On September 14th a writer described as follows events in the stricken
city: “The evacuation of Galveston has begun. Do what they will, the
newspapers and authorities cannot convince thousands who have made up
their minds that this island is doomed to remain a moment after their
first chance of escape.
“Schooners by the dozen are leaving for Texas and their crews have to
stand guard to keep the people from overcrowding and sinking the craft.
People are leaving with no destination, but with a strong determination
to get many miles from this panorama of wrecked business houses,
blockaded streets, hospitals filled with wounded and dying victims of
the awful disaster.
“Galveston may again become the prosperous port it was five days ago,
but its principal population will be of people who have not seen the
awful work of wind and water. Men who have large business interests here
may remain, but their families will be on the mainland, and every sign
of approaching storm will drive thousands away. A workingman who paid
$3,900 for a cottage and lot offered to sell for $500 yesterday,
throwing in all the house contained. The house is very little damaged,
but he lost a wife and baby whom he had taken to what he thought was a
place of safety. It is impossible to write anything that would convey a
faint idea of the wreckage and ruin.
FIRES ALL OVER THE CITY.
“The number of dead under debris in the central parts of the city will
never be known, as burning is going on all over the city. The east end,
beginning at Fifteenth street and Avenue L, running on a line parallel
with the island, has a great mass of wreckage piled as high as a man’s
head and from that to the top of houses three stories high.
“This line extends as far along as there were any houses to wreck, and
consists of all manner of buildings. It is a desolate scene from Eighth
street east, when one compares it with the life that was present there
but a short time ago. Two buildings of all the colony at the Point are
left standing. These are the houses of the quarantine officer and the
lighthouse. The quarantine warehouse is gone. All the barrack buildings
and the dirt mounds that surrounded them are gone, and in place of all
is a watery waste, with the exception of a few little islands that
appear above the water.
“The water has cut into the lands from the jetties, covering all the
ground practically from Seventh street east. For a block or more in the
neighborhood of the hospitals there is a prairie waste, and then begins
the mass of debris. One man had several houses out there and now he can
find his fine porcelain tubs in the debris, while all about him are the
things that composed his home and the houses he owned.
“Lucas Terrace, a large three-story brick building, divided into flats
of three and four rooms each is almost a total wreck. Out of
thirty-seven persons reported to have been in the building when the
storm started its work of destruction, the Terrace had fifteen killed.
Business concerns of the larger order in the East end suffered with the
corner groceries and the smaller merchants.
WELL-KNOWN BUILDINGS DAMAGED.
“Boysen’s mill is considerably damaged, the smokestack, some of the
windows and part of the roof being gone. Across the street the bonemeal
mill stands, with scarcely any north wall whatever. The Neptune Ice
Company, Eighteenth street and Avenue A, is almost a total wreck. A part
of the building is gone into a mass of debris while other parts remain
standing. The oil mill at Eighteenth street and Strand, suffered little
apparent damage except to the windows. A big blacksmith shop in
Eighteenth street, between Strand and Mechanic, suffered the loss of the
upper story entirely. These are but a few specimens of what has happened
all over the city.”
W. S. Abernethy, with the Chicago relief forces, wrote on the 15th:
“Yesterday was a day of anguish, as all the days of this week have been.
“There was no cessation of tear-stained faces appearing here and there
to tell of the lost. And it is a wonder if the end of this sad
divulgence will ever come. A motherless boy or a fatherless girl, newly
childless mother or father, or whatever it may be, they still come to
tell of their woe; and the stolid men who glide over the water or who
search the shore still bring in the swollen and unrecognizable victims
of the storm. It will end some day, and agonizing hearts may rest from
the painful throbbings of this hour.
“It is likely that Dr. Grant will increase his force to fifty deputy
marshals at once. He cancelled his political appointments in Ohio to
render this service to Galveston. Speaking of the disaster he said:
“It is the tragedy of the century, and is impossible of description. I
have never seen anything like it before, and I hope I never shall again.
As sorrowful as it is, however, I do not believe the people of Galveston
will give way to despair. There is still a great future for this city,
and those who survive must wisely realize the present and build to the
future.
“Such destruction is impossible of repetition, and all Texas will regret
if Galveston halts and refuses to improve the possibilities within her
grasp. The horrible past—and thank God it is past—with its innumerable
heartaches, is too awful to discuss.”
MAYOR SETS ALL AT WORK.
“Mayor Walter C. Jones has issued a proclamation revoking all passes
heretofore issued, and placing Brigadier General Thomas Scurry in
command of all forces. General Scurry has appointed Hunt McCaleb his
adjutant, and only passes signed by him will be recognized. All able men
without the passes will be put at work clearing the wreckage and burning
and burying the dead.
“At a meeting of the relief committee yesterday it was decided not to
pay for labor, but time checks will be issued and paid later. Only those
sick and those working will receive assistance from the relief
committee.”
HUGE TANK MOVED SIX BLOCKS.
To those acquainted with the wharf front a peculiar thing is presented
near the foot of Twenty-first street. The big steel tank of the
Waters-Pierce Oil Company, in which was stored during the season cotton
seed oil, at the foot of Fifteenth street, was blown to Twenty-first
street, a distance of six blocks. It landed on its bottom and rests now
in an upright position. It is a large tank and heavy, but the elements
got the better of it.
This morning the streets are pretty well crowded with business vehicles;
a great many large concerns are doing business, and there is a general
appearance of activity which will in a great measure relieve the feeling
of unrest and stem the tide of people trying to get away from Galveston.
The prospect for rail communication is improving, but no day can be set
when trains can be run to the island. Large forces are at work on both
ends of one of the four bridges across the bay, but as the bridge is two
and one-half miles long and the piling in bad shape, it is impossible to
say when the work will be completed. It may be in three or four days, or
may be longer, although railroad officials hope for the best—that is,
the lowest estimates of time.
FEAR TO LOOK ON THE SEA.
“It matters not how great the number of the dead, there are enough to
shock the sympathies of the world, and they are gone forever. But we
fear here to look upon the sea, lest some heartless wave shall bring to
view the cold, stark form of another whom somebody lived with and loved.
“The victims are still growing into larger thousands, and the bereft are
still coming in to tell of losses. It is a continued story of anguish
and death such as Texas has never known before and prays it shall never
know again.
EVERY WAVE HAS ITS TRAGEDY.
“It is said that every wave of the sea has its tragedy, and it seems to
be true here. In Galveston it has ceased to be an anxiety for the dead,
but concern for the living. The supreme disaster, with its overwhelming
tale of death and destruction, has now abated to lively anxiety for the
salvation of the living.
“Men are at work clearing the streets of piles of timbers and refuse.
Men are beginning to realize that the living must be cared for. It is
now the supreme duty. There is much work to be done and it is being
done. Women and children are being hurried out of the city just as
rapidly as the limited facilities of transportation will permit. The
authorities and commissioners are rational, and idleness is no longer
permitted.
“There is an element with an abundance of vital energy who intend to
save the town, and the town is being saved. Burying the dead, feeding
the destitute, cleaning the city and repairing wrecks of all character
are under fair headway, and will be pushed as rapidly as men can be
found to do the work.
“The great utilities of the city are being repaired to a state of
usefulness. Men are in demand and workers are coming to engage in the
duty of restoration. Life is beginning to supersede death, and there is
apparent everywhere a desire to save the city and rebuild it.
“Before another week has passed, the listlessness of mourning people
will have been changed into a lively interest in life, and as this comes
so, Galveston will begin to realize just what the world expects of her.
General Scurry now has charge of the town, and it is really under
martial law.
“Of course there is some friction. Martial friction, like the martial
law, is a matter only temporary. It would be difficult to challenge the
necessity of this measure. There are many defenseless women and children
in the city, living in houses without locks and keys, and they must be
protected against prowlers of all kinds. How long such protection will
be necessary cannot be known now, but General Scurry can be depended
upon to discharge the important obligations which he has assumed.
“There are political factions here who resent the idea of martial law,
but this fact does not, for a moment, abate the necessity for it. United
States Marshal John Grant has arrived with twelve deputy marshals. He
tendered his services to General Scurry and they were accepted.
WALKING OVER CORPSES.
“One hundred people at present are at Virginia Point, some waiting for
transportation over to Galveston, some for day to break so as to permit
of the burial of corpses, of which there are many scattered up and down
the beach and all over the prairie for a radius of ten miles. Others are
waiting for a first chance to get as far away as possible from this
terrible scene. Men who will work are very scarce. Those willing have a
desire to boss, which does not facilitate matters in the least. An
organized force of considerable proportion should be sent here at once.
“An eight-mile walk from where the passengers were put off the train
last night to this place, over the corpses of human beings and animals,
piles of lumber, household articles of every description and furniture
was an experience so horrible that a small proportion of those who
started are here this morning.
“A caboose and engine are standing just above this place. In it are four
train men all crippled and sick, only one of them being able to get
about. With them are a father and son, the remainder of a party of eight
who tried to cross the bay Saturday. A half mile farther down, or a
hundred yards from the bay, is another engine and caboose, in it a
family of six, four of them small children, are congregated. They lived
at this place and had a hard fight for their lives. They are caring for
a switchman, who will live only a few hours. They are in a destitute
condition.
REFUGEES CRAZED BY THEIR SUFFERINGS.
“Refugees from Galveston tell awful tales of suffering and death, and in
every case that came to my notice are in such mental state that there
can be no reliable facts obtained from them. The only newspaper man who
has got into Galveston came out last night deathly sick, and would not
stop when hailed.
“Thieves have been robbing the bodies as they came ashore. One man was
caught last night and will be taken to Galveston to-day. When searched,
a baby’s finger was found with a ring on it. He afterwards gave the
hiding place of articles and money and much jewelry was found. A cry of
“lynch him” met with little favor; enough death is here.
“Frantic refugees from Galveston gave vent to all sorts of invectives
against the world in general and Houston (fifty miles north) in
particular, for what they believe to be dilatoriness in relief work. It
does not seem that more could have been done in one day. Almost nothing
has been done.
“Some in their frenzy blaspheme their God for not preventing such a
catastrophe. Two relief boats are to leave shortly but only enough men
to man them will be allowed to accompany them. There is no shelter here
except the two cars mentioned. Box cars were strewn along the west side
of the railroad grade for two miles from this point.”