The Great Galveston Disaster: Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Including Vivid Descriptions of the Hurricane and Terrible Rush of Waters; Immense Destruction of Dwellings, Business Houses, Churches, and Loss of Thousands of Human Lives; Thrilling Tales of Heroic Deeds; Panic-Stricken Multitudes and Heart-Rending Scenes of Agony; Frantic Efforts to Escape a Horrible Fate; Separation of Loved Ones, etc., etc.; Narrow Escapes from the Jaws of De — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The Great Galveston Disaster: Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Including Vivid Descriptions of the Hurricane and Terrible Rush of Waters; Immense Destruction of Dwellings, Business Houses, Churches, and Loss of Thousands of Human Lives; Thrilling Tales of Heroic Deeds; Panic-Stricken Multitudes and Heart-Rending Scenes of Agony; Frantic Efforts to Escape a Horrible Fate; Separation of Loved Ones, etc., etc.; Narrow Escapes from the Jaws of De
John Stuart Mill · en
“As soon as daylight appeared the work of rescue commenced, but it was
soon found that after several vacant stores and all the undertaking
establishments had been crowded with the dead, that it would be
impossible to handle them in this way. Barges were employed and into
them the wagons unloaded the bodies, which were taken to the bay and
there deposited. It can be safely said that there is not a single house
in the entire town that has not been badly damaged in some way and there
are whole families who will never be heard from again.
“Looting and vandalism are rife upon the island. The few soldiers they
have are exhausted and unable to properly guard the city, and in my
estimation the State troops should be sent there at once. Cases of where
the fingers of women had been cut off so as to deprive them of their
rings and their ears cut to get the earrings are common. It is a hard
matter to get a negro to assist in any way in burying the dead, as they
all seem to be very much interested in accumulating all the wealth they
can possibly get from the dead and from the wreckage.
WHITE MEN AND NEGROES PLUNDER TOGETHER.
“They are not alone in this, but I am sorry to say that white men are
side by side with them in their damnable work. Women could be seen on
the first morning after the flood with baskets over their arms taking
everything they could possibly pick up, without regard to whom it
belonged to or what its value might be. What the city needs most, in my
estimation, is pure water, food and able-bodied men who are willing to
work, so the bodies can be removed from the wreckage and carried from
the island and the carcasses of animals be burned or disposed of as
quickly as possible. Whatever is to be done should be done at the
earliest possible moment, as provisions are scarce and it is next to
impossible to get fresh water. The sewerage system is also choked, and
this combined with the stenches from decaying animal matter makes it
almost impossible for people to exist for many days.
[Illustration:
THE WRECK OF A DWELLING WHERE TWELVE MEN AND WOMEN HAD A MIRACULOUS
ESCAPE]
[Illustration:
CREMATING DEAD BODIES TAKEN FROM GALVESTON WRECK.]
[Illustration:
EXTERIOR VIEW OF ST. PATRICK’S CHURCH, WHICH WAS DEMOLISHED]
[Illustration:
WRECKAGE AT CENTRE STREET, LOOKING NORTH FROM AVENUE O ½]
[Illustration:
RUINS OF PUBLIC SCHOOL, TWENTY-FIFTH STREET AND AVENUE P]
[Illustration:
REMAINS OF RAILROAD POWER HOUSE, TWENTIETH STREET AND AVENUE I]
[Illustration:
A CLEAN SWEEP OF EIGHTEEN BLOCKS BY SIX, WAS THICKLY POPULATED AND
COMPLETELY DESTROYED]
[Illustration:
RUINS AT TWENTY-FIRST STREET AND AVENUE O ½]