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
“It is this: If the horror of the calamity is to be measured by the loss
of life, the same measure should be applied to the pressing necessities
of those who have been stripped of everything save life. However much we
may deplore the loss of life, the dead are done for. They are beyond and
above the crying demands and necessities which press upon those who are
left alive.
“In the nature of things, the condition of thousands of those who have
been spared is far more pitiable than that of the dead. Their resources
have been swept away by wind and tide, and they are desolate in the
midst of desolation. The catastrophe was so vast in extent and so
furious in its sweep that it will be many a long day before the
survivors are able to recover from its effects.
NEVER WEARY OF GIVING.
“Outside aid is absolutely necessary in order to prevent suffering even
greater than that which accompanied the outburst of the elements. The
large-hearted public is never weary of giving in cases where the
necessity of giving is absolute. With the American public sympathy and
pity provoke unbounded generosity.
“All geographical lines, all differences are completely broken down by
any emergency which stirs the tender heart of the people. But it
frequently happens that this native generosity is not as prompt to act
as necessity demands, especially in cases where the least delay adds to
the suffering of those who have been left helpless. No tongue can tell,
and no pen can describe the awful results of a storm such as that which
has visited the Texas coast.
“The sea island of the South Atlantic coast had a similar visitation
several years ago, and the present writer was commissioned to visit the
scene and depict the results. He arrived upon the ground more than a
fortnight after the hurricane had passed through the islands, and though
Miss Clara Barton and her assistants of the Red Cross Society had been
able to get in touch with the sufferers more promptly than usual, there
were many still on the point of starvation. No doubt many perished
within sight and hearing of the succor which the public and the Red
Cross Society were so anxious to give.
“Fortunately, the islands are but sparsely populated, as compared with
the region which has recently been devastated, and in consequence, there
was far less suffering than is to-day to be found in the track of the
hurricane which has just wiped out whole communities and caused such an
extraordinary loss of life. If the fact to be emphasized and insisted on
is that it was necessary for generosity to act promptly after the sea
island catastrophe, there is a far greater necessity for promptness in
the present emergency, owing to the larger number of people involved.
REFUSED TO BELIEVE THE TIDINGS.