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
“Its course now lies directly in the path of the North Atlantic Liners,
and what future destruction it may wreak remains to be seen from reports
of incoming vessels. Until the West Indian hurricane made its appearance
the United States had been for exactly two months without a storm, which
is the longest period on record since the establishment of the
Government Weather Bureau. With the disappearance of this storm, another
disturbance is reported near the west Gulf coast, with an arm of
barometric depression extending northward into Western Tennessee.”
NOT MEN ENOUGH TO HANDLE THE DEAD.
Further details of the great disaster were as follows: The citizens of
Galveston are straining every nerve to clear the ground and secure from
beneath the debris the bodies of human beings and animals and to get rid
of them. It is a task of great magnitude and is attended with untold
difficulties. There is a shortage of horses to haul the dead and there
is a shortage of willing hands to perform the gruesome work. It became
apparent that it would be impossible to bury the dead, even in trenches,
and arrangements were made to take them to sea.
Barges and tugs were quickly made ready for the purpose, but it was
difficult to get men to do the work. The city’s firemen worked hard in
bringing bodies to the wharf, but, outside of them, there were few who
helped. Soldiers and policemen were accordingly sent out, and every
able-bodied man they found was marched to the wharf front. The men were
worked in relays, and were supplied with stimulants to nerve them for
their task.
At nightfall three barge loads, containing about 700 human bodies, had
been sent to sea, where they were sunk with weights. Darkness compelled
suspension of the work until morning. Toward night great difficulty was
experienced in handling the bodies of negroes, which are badly
decomposed.
No effort was made after 9 o’clock in the morning to place the bodies in
morgues for identification, for it was imperative that the dead should
be gotten to sea as soon as possible. Many of the bodies taken out are
unidentified. They are placed on the barges as quickly as possible and
lists made while the barges are being towed to sea.
A large number of dead animals were hauled to the bay and dumped in, to
be carried to sea by the tides.
RELIEF TRAIN FROM HOUSTON.
A relief train from Houston, with 250 men on board, and two carloads of
provisions, came down over the Galveston, Houston & Northern Railroad
yesterday to a point about five miles from Virginia Point. It was
impossible for them to get the provisions or any considerable number of
the men to Galveston, so they turned their attention to burying the dead
lying around the mainland country.
There is no fresh water famine here, as the pipes from the supply works
are running at the receiving tanks. It is difficult, however, to get it
to parts of the city where it is needed.