Galveston Nine Days After--Great Changes Apparent--Life in a Business
Exhibited--Systematic Efforts to Obtain Names of the Dead.
Monday, September 17, Galveston presented a far different appearance than
the Monday previous. Street cars were in operation in the business part of
the city and the electric line and water service had been partly resumed.
The progress made under the circumstances was little short of remarkable.
It must not be understood by any means that the remaining portion of the
city had been put in anything like its normal condition, but so very great
a change had been wrought, so much order and system prevailed where
formerly chaos reigned, that Galveston and the people who had been giving
her such noble assistance had good reason to be satisfied with what had
been accomplished in the face of such fearful odds. According to
statements made by General Scurry, Mayor Jones, Alderman Perry and others,
there was equally good reason to believe that the progress of the work
from that time on would be even more satisfactory.
On that morning the board of health began a systematic effort to obtain
the names of the dead, so that the information could be used for legal
purposes and for life insurance settlements. An agent was stationed at the
headquarters of the Central Relief Committee to receive and file sworn
statements in lieu of coroner's certificates. Persons who had left the
city but were in possession of information concerning the dead were
notified to send sworn statements to Mr. Doherty.
The steady stream of refugees from Galveston was kept up. There was not a
departing train from across the bay which was not packed to its platforms.
Refugees continued to leave for many days thereafter.
No sadder sight could be imagined than the picture presented by a boat
load of refugees, when the ropes were cast off and the craft swung out
into the bay and away from the desolate city. There was not a face that
was not turned toward the ruin. There was not an eye that was not
moistened by tears. So great had been the rush to leave behind the scene
of the storm that the Lawrence, the boat which connected with trains at
Texas City, had not left her wharf a single day without denying passage to
a portion of those who wanted to get away.
The partings at the waterside were pitiful. Husbands came to the gangplank
and kissed their weeping wives good-by, turning back to the hard work of
reconstruction which confronted them, with breaking hearts. Scores of
women, overcome at the last moment, were cared for by strange hands, while
those who loved them, bound to Galveston by necessity, could do no more
than watch from afar and pray.
Instead of waiting until Galveston was reached to begin work, steps were
taken to care for refugees at the bay terminal of the Galveston, Houston
and Henderson Road, and during Saturday night and Sunday hundreds of
hungry refugees were fed, while numbers of sick and wounded were cared
for.
There was plenty of work on hand for ten times the force of laborers
employed. The area which had not yet been touched embraced four and a half
miles of frontage on the beach and bay.
There were enough provisions on hand ahead to feed everybody in Galveston
for a week. There was a great deal of trouble in properly distributing
supplies, the rush at the depots being as great as at any time since they
were opened.
It was indeed a mercy that the weather since the storm had been clear and
dry. Had it rained a single day the suffering would have been terrible,
for there was not a whole roof in Galveston.
There were about 200 soldiers in Galveston doing guard and police duty.
The camp on the wharf, between the Galveston Red Snapper Company and the
foot of Tremont street had been put into shape and the soldiers
comfortably housed. There were five militia commands--the Dallas rough
riders, Captain Ormonde Paget, with forty-five men; the Houston Light
Guards, Captain George McCormick, with forty-five men; the Galveston
Sharpshooters, Captain A. Bunschell, with thirty-five men; Battery D of
Houston, Captain G. A. Adams, with fifteen men, and Troop A. Houston
Cavalry, commanded by Lieutenant Breedlove, with twenty men.
The fact that no money was available to pay the men who were engaged in
cleaning the streets was a great detriment to preparing the way not only
for rebuilding the city but in the efforts to prevent the spread of plague
and pestilence.
General Scurry, general in charge of the operations at Galveston, made the
following statement on Sunday, September 16:
"I have not a dollar to pay the men who are working in the streets
all day long. I am not able to say to a single one of them '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 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 appeals from
Galveston. 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 situation prevailing here.
"SCURRY,
"Adjutant-General State of Texas."
As to the probability of a pestilence, General Chambers McKibbin, U. S. A.,
commanding the Military Department of Texas, said:
"I am personally in favor of burning as much rubbish as possible, and
of burning it as quickly as permissible. I do not predict a
pestilence, but I think the 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."
All the churches in Galveston either being wrecked or ruined, with but one
or two exceptions, divine services on Sunday, September 16, were in most
cases suspended. Mass was celebrated at St. Mary's cathedral in the
morning and was largely attended.
Father Kirwin preached an eloquent and feeling sermon, in which he spoke
of the awful calamity that had befallen the people. After expressing
sympathy with the afflicted and distressed he advised all to go to work
in burying the dead. The next day a census of the Catholic population was
begun to ascertain the number of widows and orphans caused by the storm
and the exact number of Catholics who perished.
Bishop Gallagher, who had been active in his efforts to mitigate suffering
at Galveston, received a telegram from Archbishop Corrigan of New York,
stating the diocese of that city would see that all Catholic orphan
children sent to his care were kindly provided for.
Houston was the center of relief distribution, and also the key to
Galveston. It was practically the only way in or out for weeks. Hundreds
of refugees passed through every day. Houston was well filled with them,
but the larger number went right through to points farther north. Free
transportation was furnished to any point in Texas, provided they had
relatives who would take care of them. Many of the refugees arrived at
Houston scantily clothed and in a pitiful condition.
"Vast as the work is, all are being provided for," said Edward Watkins,
Chairman of the transportation division of the Relief Committee. "We have
not let anybody go through uncared for."
Mere curiosity was at a discount here. People who had urgent business in
Galveston found it hard to get permits to go there, and those who were
simply curious could not get there at all. Camera fiends were absolutely
barred. One man was shot for taking a picture of a nude woman on the
beach, and three newspaper men who were taking views of the ruins were
rounded up, their cameras smashed and themselves forced to go to work
gathering up decomposed corpses.
Even Houston was in a similar state of martial law. Guards surrounded the
depot of the International & Great Northern, the only road running south,
and would not even allow curious crowds to gather to see the refugees
come in. This was in enforcement of a proclamation issued by Mayor
Brashear, copies of which, printed on large red cards, were posted
conspicuously all over the city.
The catastrophe all but paralyzed shipping business in the storm-visited
section. At Fort Worth all purchasing stopped. Cotton was just beginning
to move, but it had to go by way of New Orleans, the additional freights
eating up the apparent profit of the 1 cent a pound advance in price. Had
the storm struck a few weeks later the loss would have been greatly
increased, as the cotton would then have been upon the wharves.
Heavy financial losers were the fraternal societies. One known as the
United Moderns, with headquarters at Denver, lost 100 out of a lodge of
500. Policies ranged from $1,000 to $2,000.
INSURANCE MATTERS CREATE A BIG BOTHER.
One hundred and fifty odd million dollars represented the value of the
life insurance policies carried by the old-line companies in the state of
Texas at the time of the flood. It was estimated that $4,000,000
represented the life risks carried in Galveston by the regular companies,
and that over $2,000,000 was carried by assessment and fraternal
organizations.
Insurance men said it was probable that of the persons killed in the
recent disaster 900 were men, and that, according to statistics, half of
them had life policies of an average value of $2,000. On this basis
$900,000 approximated the losses to be met in Galveston by the life
insurance companies. Eighteen old-line companies and a great many
assessment and fraternal companies divided the losses, and no reputable
organization was crippled thereby.
Accurate figures of the losses were not made, but the above figures
represented the calculations hastily made by George T. Dexter,
superintendent of the domestic agencies of the Mutual Life Insurance
Company of New York. In regard to this Mr. Dexter said:
"The most striking feature of the insurance situation at Galveston is the
difficulty that will arise when the adjustment of claims is taken up.
Hundreds of bodies have been buried without identification, hundreds more
have been taken out into the gulf and many have been cremated. Whole
families have been destroyed in many instances, and insurance papers have
suffered in the general destruction of property. This state of affairs
will make it difficult for the beneficiaries to establish their claims and
will enable the organizations so disposed to escape payment. I have no
doubt the level premium companies will adjust claims, in a large measure,
on circumstantial evidence.
"Our agency property at San Antonio was destroyed, and we have no accurate
reports of our Texas losses, so it is impossible to give other than
general estimates of what they may be. The class of people insuring in the
regular companies are in general surrounded by conditions that render them
better risks in the event of such a calamity as this, but if my
information is correct the better portion of the residence district
suffered most, and we may hear of heavy losses. I think we carried between
$300,000 and $400,000 insurance in Galveston. The insurance business in
that part of the south has been exceptionally good of late because of the
cotton values."
H. H. Knowles, southern manager of the Equitable Life of New York, said:
"We have two $100,000 risks in Galveston, and we are hoping that they are
not among the lost. Our reports from Texas are not in, but I should think
that our company will be fortunate if it gets off with less than a loss of
$100,000. I believe that the assessment and fraternal insurance concerns
will have the most losses because of the fact that in such a disaster the
loss of life is greater among the poorer classes."
The accident insurance companies had heavy losses to meet.