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
This great line of wreckage forms the division point between a mass of
houses unroofed and partly damaged and a great prairie, which up to
Saturday was the location of the homes of thousands of Galveston’s
people. This was generally known as the colored section of the city, but
the colored people as a rule lived close to the beach. As a consequence
they got scared early in the day and moved into town.
The result is that the death list is not as great proportionately among
the colored people as it is among the whites, although a great many of
them are missing. Prominent among the colored people missing are S. C.
Cuney, a nephew of Wright Cuney, formerly collector of customs at this
port. The rector of the colored Episcopal church, Rev. Thomas Cain, and
his wife are lost.
The poles of the East Broadway street railway line are standing erect to
Fourteenth street, beyond which there is but one pole. The wires are all
down, as a matter of course, and the track is filled with wreckage. The
line of wreckage crosses Broadway, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth
streets, and in it at that point are several bodies which cannot be
reached on account of the high pile of lumber.
HOUSES PLACED BACK TO BACK.
The great bulk of this debris is unbroken and sides and roofs of houses
still intact, and the vast amount of loose boards can be used for
rebuilding, so that there will be lessened cost in that direction. In
some places whole houses have been moved from their foundations and
carried around back of others, thus forming a barrier which caught the
floating debris and prevented the whole north side of town being swept
from Gulf to bay and carried into the bay.
The roof of the elevator is gone and the wheat there is exposed, but if
fresh water can be obtained soon it is expected the wheat can be saved
by drying. The sheds on the wharves are practically all gone, but the
wharves are supposed to be in such shape that they can be repaired at a
nominal expense and can be resumed.
The following letter was received at Fort Worth from C. H. Fewell, who
is night yardmaster of the Santa Fe Railway Company, at Galveston:
“The only means of sending mail or anything is by water to Houston. All
bridges and wires are gone, and it will be weeks before they can
possibly get a train out of here. The city is a complete wreck. Very few
buildings are standing that have not in some way been wrecked by the
storm. The loss of life will never be known; it will run into thousands.
You can’t imagine what a terrible shape this place is in. We are
thankful to be alive, but cannot help but feel sad when we think of the
many friends we have lost, and the hundreds that are left without homes
and without a mouthful of anything to eat. Relief must come soon or many
will starve to death.