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
“A danger which Galveston faces is fire. Not a drop of rain has fallen
since the hurricane, and the hot winds and blistering suns have made the
wrecked houses and buildings so much tinder, piled mountain high in
every direction. In nearly all parts of the city the fire hydrants are
buried fifty feet, in some places a hundred feet deep under the
wreckage, and as yet the water supply at best is only of the most meagre
kind.
“Galveston’s fire department is small and badly crippled and would be
powerless to stay the flames should they ever start. There is no relief
nearer than Houston, and that is hours away. In view of all the existing
conditions it is no wonder that the cry is, ‘Get the women and children
to the mainland, anywhere off the island,’ nor is it a wonder that with
one small boat carrying only 300 passengers, and making only two trips a
day, people fairly fight to be taken aboard.
“All yesterday fears were entertained by the authorities that even this
service would be cut off and Galveston left without any means of getting
to the mainland, owing to the trouble with the owner of the boat.
“The sanitary conditions do not improve. Dr. Trueheart, chairman of the
committee in charge of caring for the sick and injured, is going on with
dispatch. More physicians are needed, and he requests that about thirty
outside physicians come to Galveston and work for at least a month, and,
if needed, longer. The city’s electric light service is completely
destroyed, and the city electrician says it may be sixty days before the
business portion can be lighted.
“A glorious and modern Galveston to be rebuilt in place of the old one,
is the cry raised by the citizens, but it would seem a task beyond human
power to ever remove the wreckage of the old city.
“The total number of people fed in the ten wards Saturday, the 15th, was
16,144. Sunday the number increased slightly. No accurate statement of
the amount of supplies can be obtained as they are being put in the
general stock as soon as received.”
“SEEMS LIKE AN AWFUL DREAM.”
Destitute save for a few personal effects carried in a small valise, and
with nerves shattered by a week of horror, Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Prutsman,
with their two daughters, twelve and six years old, reached Chicago from
the flood-swept district of Texas. They came direct from Galveston, via.
Houston and St. Louis.
During all of one afternoon the little family sat at the Rock Island
station waiting for a train to take them to Putnam, Ill., where Mrs.
Prutsman has relatives. When it was learned that they were from
Galveston, they were besieged with questions concerning the details of
the terrible storm. Crowds of waiting passengers flocked about them, and
they told the gruesome story over and over.