But business will not go away. If the railroads replace their bridges, terminals and wharves, that means that they have confidence in the future of the city, and adds to the confidence of the citizens. It is perfectly clear already that the railroads entering Galveston are quickly going to do their share in the work of reconstruction. The Southern Pacific railroad has had men investigating its wharves and tracks, and it has announced through General Manager Van Vleck that, although the damage to its property in this city is fully 80 per cent, it will proceed to restore it as rapidly as possible. Mr. Van Vleck says that men and mortar are already being carried to Virginia Point for work on the bridge, and that inside of forty days he expects to be running trains into Galveston again. He will not work in connection with any other road, nor build a joint bridge to the city, but he says his company will permit other roads to use the bridge when it is ready. The scenes on the streets when provisions are being distributed are pathetic in the extreme. Many families, among whose members hunger was possibly never felt before, are being supplied with provisions. Wizened-faced, barefooted children were to be seen on the street eagerly appropriating spoiled and cast-off stocks of food. SYSTEMATIC RELIEF. The committee is trying to systematize the work, so as to relieve the worst cases first. Mayor Jones said: “We have made such arrangements as will make it possible for us to feed the needy until we can get in full supplies. We are relieving every case presented to us. I think within a day or two our transportation facilities will be sufficient temporarily to meet our needs. Galveston has helped other cities in their distress, despite her size, and we are consoled by the generous response of the country to our appeal.” The committee has instructed the local drug stores to provide the poor and needy with medicine at the expense of the relief fund. Every strong-limbed man who has not his own home and property to look after is being pressed into the service of the city. First of all, it is necessary to get the waterworks in good condition, so that water may be turned into the mains, the gutters flushed, and the sewers made usable. The lack of water since the flood has contributed much to the discomfort and the danger to health. Volunteer gangs continue their work of hurried burial of the corpses they find on the shores of Galveston Island at the neighboring points where fatalities attended the storm. It will probably be many days, however, before all the floating bodies have found nameless graves. Along the beach they are constantly being washed up. Whether these are those who were swept out into the Gulf and drowned or are simply the return ashore of some of those cast into the sea to guard against terrible pestilence, there is no means of knowing.