Total Dead and Missing at Galveston and Vicinity, 8,661--Five Million
Dollars in Relief Necessary to Carry the Survivors Through the Fall and
Winter to Spring.
It was given out from Galveston on Tuesday, September 20, that so far as
could be ascertained on that date, the loss of life in the great
catastrophe was as follows:
Identified 4,754
Unidentified (recovered) 300
Missing 2,000
------
Total 7,054
Dead in Central and Southern Texas 1,044
High Island 563
------
Total 1,607
This makes the grand total of dead 8,661.
The horrifying news reached Dallas late on the afternoon of September 18
that High Island, a seaside resort thirty miles northeast of Galveston,
near the gulf shore and in the southwestern corner of Jefferson county,
Tex., was entirely destroyed by the hurricane of the 8th inst.
The place had about 1,000 residents, many of them visitors.
Not a house was left standing and more than 400 dead bodies were found by
relief and exploring parties.
General Manager Spangler, of the Gulf and Interstate Railway, also
received information on that date that more than thirty miles of that road
had been entirely destroyed between Bolivar Point and High Island.
After looking over the situation carefully, the decision was arrived at,
ten days succeeding the tragedy, that to put Galveston on her feet would
require $5,000,000. Such was the opinion of Congressman Hawley, one of the
city's representative business men. This did not mean that the sum
mentioned would come anywhere near restoring the city to the condition
before the storm. Far from it.
Mr. Hawley did not so intend to be understood. He was asked:
"What measure of relief will burn your dead, clean and purify your streets
and public places, feed and clothe the living, and place your people where
they can be self-sustaining and on the way to regain what has been lost?"
His reply was: "It will take $5,000,000 to relieve Galveston from the
distress of the storm. At least that sum will be needed to dispose of the
dead, to remove the ruins, and to do what is right for the living. I think
that we should not only feed and clothe, but that we ought to have some
means to help people who have lost everything to make a start toward the
restoration of their homes. To do this will require every dollar of
$5,000,000."
There were then on the scene more nurses and physicians than required. The
injured were recovering rapidly from their hurts, which were largely
superficial. Many men and women were suffering from severe nervous shock
and found it impossible to sleep. Food was coming in by boatload and
carload faster than it could be handled, in such generous quantities that
no further doubts were entertained about supplies.
Estimates of the number dependent upon the relief committees varied. Mayor
Jones made it about 8,000, while other authorities put the number as high
as 15,000. In the business center the streets had been cleaned and opened.
All buildings still showed marks of wind and water, but goods were
displayed and business was being transacted.
The city was gradually assuming the bustling ante-flood appearance. The
principal streets were electrically lighted. Stenches no longer assailed
the nostrils, except in the outside circle of destruction, where much
debris still remained untouched. Cremation of the dead was being pushed,
but it was many days before the working parties got out the last of the
bodies.
The whole twenty-two miles' length of the island was submerged.
The horrors of the western portion beyond the city limits were just being
learned at San Luis. One hundred and eighty-one bodies were buried on
September 17. Between twenty and thirty bodies were counted among the
piles of the railroad bridge between the island and Virginia Point. In
Kinkead's addition about 100 were lost, eighteen in one house.
The farther the men worked in the Denver reservoir section the more
numerous were the dead. Fires were burning every 300 feet on the beach and
along many of the streets.
Mayor Walter C. Jones made a statement on that day of conditions and needs
of Galveston people, basing his conclusions on the most reliable
information which has come to him.
Mayor Jones' statement was as follows:
"It is almost impossible to speak definitely as yet of the needs of our
people. We are broke, the majority of us. Galveston must have suffered, in
my estimation, based upon all of the reports I have, $20,000,000. We now
need money more than anything.
"From the advices I have received I believe the shipments of disinfectants
and food supplies now on the way will be sufficient to meet the immediate
wants. By the time these are used we shall have regained our
transportation facilities and stocks of everything, so that we can use
money more advantageously.
"It is impossible to state just how much money has reached us. We have
received from the Governor, at Austin, $100,000 in cash. That is from the
general fund. Special contributions have come through the Chamber of
Commerce, the Cotton Exchange and several other channels. We have between
1,500 and 3,000 men at work searching for bodies, clearing the streets and
burning debris. Of this work, which ought to be done as fast as possible
in the interest of the living, there is enough to keep 3,000 employed for
forty days, although I believe we shall have the principal streets clear
in ten days or two weeks.
"I hesitate to say how much it will take to put Galveston where her people
can care for themselves. Certainly $5,000,000 will be a moderate estimate.
There is not a building but is damaged, not a house of those left standing
but will have to be re-roofed, and few that will not need to be
straightened on their foundations. If Galveston could get $10,000,000 it
would be used judiciously to enable the people to become self-sustaining.
"It is true Galveston is represented as being one of the wealthiest cities
of the country. But our rich people had everything here and are crippled.
The people of moderate means, who had homes and worked on salaries are,
with scarcely an exception, ruined. The class dependent upon labor must be
furnished something to do for wages or must suffer.
"Dr. Lord and others, who have been among the people more than I have, say
there are 8,000 helpless who must be fed and clothed and carried along for
some time to come, even after what might be called immediate needs have
been met.
"There is no contagious disease and we do not anticipate any. But many are
suffering from shock and exposure and from injuries received among the
ruins. The City of Galveston, I am convinced, lost fully 5,000 persons.
Down the island, outside of the city limits, were scattered between 2,000
and 3,000 persons. From the reports slowly coming in it appears that most
of these people lost their lives. The island in the sparsely settled parts
seems to have been swept clean of habitations."
The most motley crowd of United States regulars ever seen at attention
lined up before Captain Rafferty the second Monday after the calamity.
Battery O, First United States Artillery, the organization, was battered
Battery O. No two men were dressed alike. Parts of uniforms and clothes
which bore no semblance to any uniform were barely sufficient to cover
nakedness, and in some cases there were bad rents, which showed the bare
anatomy on dress parade.
Battery O came out of the storm with a loss of 28 out of 190 men, a loss
seldom sustained in battle. One of these regulars floated fifty-two miles
on a door, another was carried on an outhouse across the island and then
across Galveston Bay. The survivors had been barracked in a shattered
church since the Sunday after the storm. They were sent to San Antonio to
be outfitted and armed.
The officers and men lost everything and had to get clothes to cover them.
James Stewart, of St. Louis, had undertaken to see that Captain Benton
Kennedy's boys did not suffer. It was believed the grain men of St. Louis
would take a personal interest in this case. Captain Kennedy came to
Galveston from St. Louis, Mo., where he was well known. He was
superintendent of Elevator A. His family consisted of his wife, three boys
and two girls. In August Captain Kennedy bought a nice home and moved into
it. When the storm made the house no longer safe he placed Henry and
Edwin, little fellows of 15 and 9, on a raft at the door and went back for
the others. The raft was carried half a mile and the boys were rescued.
Captain Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy and the sisters and one brother were
lost.
Adjutant-General Thomas Scurry said Monday evening, September 17:
"In my opinion the situation is rapidly growing better; the people found
themselves dazed and shattered as a result of the storm. While there was
an abundance of energy remaining, as might have been naturally expected, a
vast amount of it was not concentrated. It has been the policy of this
office to concentrate energies. These efforts have been most gratifying.
We have a large number of men, possibly 2,000, at work.
"What is most needed for Galveston now is money. Thousands of persons who
owned their little homes have had them destroyed. They are now dependent
upon the generosity of the outside world and upon the Relief Committee to
prepare for the rigors of winter and to refurnish their homes with
necessities. No man who has not been an eye-witness to the desolation
which has swept over this city can have the faintest conception of what it
means.
"Galveston lies on an island about a mile wide from north to south, the
city covering about six miles of this east and west. Along the southern
side for a distance of two to five blocks every house has been absolutely
demolished. Such of these unfortunates as were not drowned are now
penniless."
AN EYE-WITNESS TELLS OF THE STORM.
A graphic description of the storm was that given by R. L. Johnson, a
prominent citizen of Galveston. He said:
"I reached home after wading in water to my neck and made immediate
preparations to take my wife and three children where I felt their safety
would be assured. The water began to rise so rapidly that in fifteen
minutes we were driven to the second floor, and it was then impossible to
leave the house. At this time Neighbor Kell's house, adjoining mine, went
down with husband, wife and children. Then down Avenue S came two small
cottages, which struck a telegraph pole and stopped directly in front of
my house. I heard children crying and women screaming. The words, 'O God,
save me,' I can still hear ringing in my ears.
"Another cottage came sweeping by and carried away the gallery of my
house. The Artigan, Henman and Pennings houses, carrying eighteen persons,
floated by and I could see the struggling forms in the water.
"I was expecting it was our turn next. I kissed my wife and children
good-by, and as I did so my eldest boy, a lad of 15, said: 'Father, it is
not our time to die.' Then came the piercing scream of a woman, followed
by a crash, and another house turned over on its side and was driven past
by the wind and flood.
"The current was running like a mill race. The water was already on our
second floor, and the waves kept knocking us about until we were
completely exhausted. Then the wind went, and the water began to fall. I
looked about and could not see a house for two blocks; there was nothing
but a flood of water in every direction. In the morning we found our
house had been moved about ten feet and deposited upon the sand."
GALVESTON AGAIN MADE A PORT.
"Issue bills of lading to Galveston and through Galveston to other
points."
On September 17, up and down the International and Great Northern, the
Missouri, Kansas and Texas, the Santa Fe and their connections the wires
were carrying the official information that Galveston would be a terminal,
a sure enough port, as soon as the traffic could reach there. The
Vice-Presidents and General Managers and General Agents had mastered the
railroad wreck, they had set the time for the running of the first train
into Galveston, and that time was Friday, September 21. By that date,
according to the engineers, the temporary bridge would be ready for use.
It was ready to the minute.
The news that the roads had declared readiness to accept freight for
Galveston and through Galveston was received by business men as tidings of
great joy. It added greatly to the improvement of spirit. For several days
after the storm the prediction was that no trains would enter Galveston
under thirty days and that the time might be sixty days.
Equally exhilarating with the action of the railroad men was the action
taken by Secretary Bailey, of the Wharf Company, that exportation of wheat
would be resumed to-morrow morning. The machinery of Elevator A was
started up and was successful. Monday afternoon the wharf was cleared. A
steamship was brought under the spout and loaded. James Stewart, Mr.
Orthwein and other St. Louis grain men said almost the entire stock of
wheat would be saved.
The number of persons who left Galveston up to September 17, it was stated
at relief headquarters, was over 8,000, of whom about 5,000 were then in
Houston being cared for. Others had gone on into the interior of the State
or to other States. The number coming up on the trains showed no falling
off.
New arrangements made at Galveston enabled people to get out without so
much red tape and they took advantage of the opportunity to do so.
Governor Sayers had now taken charge of the relief work here at all
points, and money was being given out where needed, more than provisions
and clothing.
SWELLING THE RELIEF FUND.
On September 18 Chicago had raised over $100,000 for the Galveston
sufferers; New York nearly $300,000; St. Louis nearly $70,000, and other
cities the following amounts:
Boston $32,700
Philadelphia 28,320
Pittsburg 27,108
New Orleans 26,100
San Francisco 18,000
Kansas City 17,000
Louisville 14,000
Milwaukee 14,046
Baltimore 15,000
Denver 13,000
Minneapolis 12,000
Newark, N. J. 12,000
Cleveland 9,345
Memphis 9,123
Cincinnati 9,000
Colorado Springs 7,200
St. Paul 7,000
Topeka, Kan. 5,438
Charleston, S. C. 6,000
Omaha, Neb. 6,212
Los Angeles 5,184
Detroit, Mich. 5,190
Indianapolis 4,000
Helena, Mont. 4,108
Johnstown, Pa. 3,000
Columbus, Ohio 3,100
South Bend, Ind. 1,985
Springfield, Ill. 2,000
Portland, Ore. 2,100
Lexington, Ky. 2,098
The United States embassy at Berlin, Germany, cabled $500 to Governor
Sayers on September 17.
General J. B. Vinet, president of the Red Cross Society, State of
Louisiana, New Orleans, received on Tuesday morning, September 18, a
telegram from Miss Clara Barton, who was at Galveston, as follows:
"Find greatest immediate needs here are surgical dressings, usual
medicines and delicacies for the sick. No epidemic, but many people
are worn out with suffering and exertion who need tender care and
proper food.
"CLARA BARTON."
Building material was needed at Galveston but its delivery was necessarily
slow, owing to the lack of rail communication with the mainland.
There were still many pitiable cases of destitution. Many half-demented
persons positively refused to leave their wrecked homes and as
persistently refused to accept offers of relief extended them. In several
instances parents who had lost children still occupied ruins of their
former home and the surroundings had brought them to a state of mental and
physical collapse.
The number who had gone insane as a result of their experiences will
probably never be known. In every lot of refugees sent out of the stricken
city there were many insane men and women. The victims first made light of
their losses, and laughed immoderately when telling of the death of
relatives in the flood. It was a very short step from this to
uncontrollable madness.
The state militia companies did splendid work in patrolling the city after
the storm, and many of the men were of the belief that they should be
allowed to return to their homes and troops sent from other parts of the
state to fill their places.
The fears of an epidemic were allayed by the presence and the distribution
of medicines and disinfectants and therefore a feature which would
undoubtedly have had the effect of causing many to seek succor elsewhere,
was eliminated from the situation.
GOVERNOR SAYERS SENDS HIS THANKS.
Governor Sayers, of Texas, sent out the following expression of thanks on
behalf of the sufferers in Galveston and as the representative of the
people of his state:
"In behalf of the people of Texas I desire to express my acknowledgment to
the people of the United States for the ready and generous response they
have made in coming to the aid of our afflicted people. The number of
deaths, the amount of destitution, and the loss of property is far greater
than had been anticipated.
"The Secretary of the Navy has placed the revenue cutter Galveston at my
disposal, and I have in turn placed it at the disposal of the mayor of
Galveston. The addition of this cutter to the boats already loaned by the
Federal government will give us five boats at Galveston to handle
supplies and passengers to and from the mainland, and I anticipate that
their presence there will relieve the situation materially.
"The city authorities at Galveston are in full control, and every effort
is being made to bury the dead, to remove the debris, and to sanitate the
city. Contributions of the most liberal character are reaching me, and I
shall see that the money is used to the best advantage for the sufferers
and that there shall be no waste of the magnificent contributions coming
from the free hands and generous hearts of a sympathetic people."
No idea could possibly be formed as to the frightful crush of railroad
trains bearing relief supplies in and around Houston and Texas City, the
latter being but six miles from Galveston, but separated from it by a
stretch of water. Owing to the small number of vessels plying between
Texas City and Galveston the shipment of supplies to the latter was
necessarily aggravatingly slow.
GREWSOME SCENES AND HARROWING INCIDENTS.
Grewsome scenes and soul-harrowing incidents of the time immediately
following the great gale in Galveston were graphically portrayed in a
letter from a young woman caught on the island in the awful storm. It was
written by Miss Nellie Cary to her parents, who live at 5408 Lake avenue,
Chicago. Miss Cary had been home on a vacation for several weeks and left
Chicago for Galveston the Tuesday evening before the hurricane, reaching
the doomed city just in time to participate in the terrible experience.
Her letter follows:
"Galveston, Wednesday, September 12.--Dearest Parents: Have not had a
minute to write and cannot collect my thoughts to tell you of the horrible
disaster down here. Thousands of dead in the streets--the gulf and bay
strewn with dead bodies. The whole island demolished. Not a drop of
water--food scarce. If help does not reach us soon there will be great
starvation for everybody.
"The dead are not being identified at all--they throw them on drays and
take them to barges, where they are loaded like cordwood, and taken out to
sea to be cast into the waves, now peaceful, which were so hungry for them
in their anger.
"I was at the wharf this morning for a short time and saw three barges
loaded with their grewsome freight. The bodies are frightful, every one
nearly nude. God alone knows who they are.
"The bay is full of dead cattle and horses, together with human corpses,
blistering in the hot sun. It will be impossible to remove the dead from
the debris for weeks--the whole island is frightful. I saw thirty-eight
bodies taken from one house. Every one is striving to get the bodies
buried for fear of the plague.
"I never expected to get out alive, but thank God, not one of us was
killed. We were driven back to the stairs, and up, stair by stair, by the
great waves. The wind was blowing over a hundred miles an hour, and the
rain fell in torrents. Never shall I forget the sight as darkness settled
upon us. I thought of you, papa and mamma, and prayed that you might be
comforted. Our roof is now gone, the walls have fallen around us, but we
still have a floor and--I can't tell you, it is too horrible.
"I was nearly drowned getting home from the office at 4 o'clock Saturday
afternoon. Mrs. Whitman is almost crazy and is in a dangerous condition. I
have lost everything; am now wearing clothes borrowed from those who were
more fortunate. The stench is terrible.
"Thousands of horses and cattle without owners are in the most pitiable
condition imaginable; not a drop of water for them to drink since Saturday
morning. And the people--I wonder that everybody is not mad at the
horrors. No account can exaggerate it. It is absolutely necessary that
everybody in the United States do what they can.
"Nearly all our help at Clark & Courts are drowned--Mr. Hansinger, his
whole family, our other bookkeeper and a number of the girls. The town is
under martial law to protect it from the mob. Last night a negro was
arrested with ten fingers in his pockets, with valuable rings on them. Mr.
Fayling, at our house, is in command of the protective force. They have
had to shoot many to keep the horrible ghouls in control. Eddie Rogers is
next in command, and is doing noble work. I have done what I could to help
the dying and wounded.
COMPLETE RUIN FOR MILES.
"We were on the highest point of ground in Galveston. That is all that
saved us. For blocks and blocks, reaching into miles, not a house remains;
not a building but is completely demolished--houses just torn board from
board and piled up. I have climbed over wreckage forty feet high in the
streets to get to places. I think we were more fortunate than any one else
in town. I think not one was killed, though our escape was narrow. With
the exception of Mrs. Whitman all were calm, though I reckon everybody
quaked inside--I know I did.
"Thursday.--Am well. Had something to eat this morning, and a little
rainwater. Coffee is plenty, but water scarce. To-day the flesh slips off
the bodies as they take hold to drag them from the ruins. They are piling
them in great heaps now and burning them. The horrors multiply. I have
seen men shot down in the streets by the soldiers. The stench is untold.
Last night the awful smell kept us awake although we were utterly
exhausted. It fills your throat and mouth, and makes your head ache so.
COMPARATIVELY FEW CHILDREN LEFT.
"The horrible experiences it will take years to tell and more than a
lifetime to forget. If you could be here you would feel that your anxiety
was nothing. It is so pitiable to see husbands, with a look of despair in
their eyes, searching for their wives and children; wives for their loved
ones; and, most pitiable of all, the comparatively few children--although
they are enough, God knows, to be left orphans and homeless--looking into
every one's face with frightened, appealing eyes. It is heartrending.
"Now I am much better off. I am safe, so please don't worry. I hope to
hear from you soon.
"Best love and kisses to both from
"NELLIE."