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
“The blight and ruin which have desolated Galveston are not beyond
repair. We must not for a moment think Galveston is to be abandoned
because of one disaster, however horrible that disaster has been. We
have our homes here, even if those homes are in ruins, and if we loved
Galveston before, how much stronger must that affection be and how much
more sacred it must be when we think of our loved ones, whose dust
consecrates not only the land but the very waves which lash its shores.
“It is time for courage of the highest order. It is time when men and
women show the stuff that is in them, and we can make no loftier
acknowledgment of the material sympathy which the world is extending to
us than to answer back that after we shall have buried our dead,
relieved the sufferings of the sick and destitute, we will bravely
undertake the vast work of restoration and recuperation which lies
before us, in a manner which shall convince the world that we have
spirit to overcome misfortune and rebuild our homes. In this way we
shall prove ourselves worthy of the boundless tenderness which is being
showered upon us in the hour of desolation and sorrow.”
Refugees from Galveston, Alvin, Angleton and other places are fast
scattering throughout the State. Over fifty have arrived at Austin and
have found temporary homes with friends and relatives. Many have gone to
places in other States. A local Relief Committee has been organized in
Austin to look after the wants of the destitute people as fast as they
arrive. They are clothed and fed at the expense of the local people.
Similar committees are being formed in all the principal cities and
towns of the State. It is expected that this action will assist the
Relief Committees of Houston and Galveston greatly and will also reduce
the amount of money required to be expended out of the general fund that
is accumulating for the benefit of the sufferers.
Word reached here from Houston that evidences had been found there of
imposition on the part of chronic tramps who are pouring into the city
from all directions and claiming to be just from Galveston and to have
lost everything in the storm. Many of these frauds have been exposed and
driven out of the city. A plan is being arranged whereby all parties
seeking help must be identified as having come from Galveston or other
storm-swept towns.
SERMONS ON GALVESTON.
The Galveston catastrophe furnished the theme for Rev. Dr. Russell H.
Conwell’s sermon on Sunday, September 16th, in the Temple of Grace
Baptist Church, Philadelphia. He attributed the disaster to the working
of God’s immutable laws, and declared that the calamity in its end was
for the good of all things. At the conclusion of his sermon he made an
appeal for the aid of the sufferers. There was a generous response. Many
pledged themselves for specific sums.