There was talk of urging Governor Sayers to call a special session of the Legislature to take action to relieve the situation at Galveston. This was done by Governor Culberson in 1897 in the case of El Paso, and is said to be sanctioned by the State Constitution. Representative Dudly G. Wooten, of Dallas, said: “In regard to the necessity for a specially called session of the Legislature, it is difficult to speak intelligently unless we know all the conditions. So far as the immediate physical wants of the flood-stricken district are concerned, the liberal contributions of private charity will readily meet the emergency, as has been demonstrated by the generous manner in which the people every where, both in Texas and outside, have responded to the appeals for help. Food, money and all the necessaries to alleviate the present distresses of Galveston and the adjacent coast are already in sight and being rapidly utilized. “But I think the most serious problem is the one of sanitation. It must be borne in mind that the results of this flood are such as to create a condition that will inevitably produce a pestilence unless it is dealt with promptly, intelligently and firmly. Not only Galveston Island, but all the towns on the mainland and all the coast for many miles have been subjected to an overflow that has left the country in a deplorable unsanitary condition. This is the season of the year when yellow fever, cholera and other epidemic diseases have usually originated and done their worst ravages. If a plague were to add its horrors to the fearful havoc of the winds and waves, then indeed would the coast be ruined, and the spread of the disease would speedily involve the whole State and the South generally, resulting in a paralysis of commerce and a state of terror and helplessness, the cost of which cannot be even approximated or imagined. CALL FOR MILITARY GUARDS. “The strictest police and sanitary discipline and vigilance will be required to prevent something of this kind, and that is where the possible necessity of a legislative appropriation may become imperative. There is practically no fund at the command of the State authorities for those purposes. If the volunteer militia is to be used to police the stricken districts, there is only a nominal sum at the disposal of the Governor and Adjutant-General. That fund would not last a week. “Besides, it is likely that a horde of vandals and vagabonds will congregate at the seat of the calamity to prey on the provisions and supplies that a generous public has contributed to the relief of the real sufferers. [Illustration: MEMBERS OF THE GALVESTON CENTRAL RELIEF COMMITTEE JUDGE NOAH ALLEN WILLIAM A. McVITIE RABBI HENRY COHEN CHAIRMAN I. H. KEMPNER CLARENCE OUSLEY REV. J. M. K. KIRWIN B. ADOUE WILLIAM V. McCONN OF ST. MARY’S CATHEDRAL] [Illustration: