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 Death; Terrible Sufferings of the Survivors; Vandals Plundering Bodies of the Dead; Wonderful Exhibitions of Popular Sympathy; Millions of Dollars Sent for the Relief of the Stricken Sufferers

by Paul Lester

DANGER OF AN EPIDEMIC.

“The danger of an epidemic now threatens the survivors. Many of the people are giving way to physical exhaustion. They have been compelled to subsist upon unwholesome food, drink polluted water and breathe the foul air of their unsanitary surroundings. In spite of all that has been done for the relief of the stricken Texans, the death roll is still growing. As many as possible must be removed from the scene of destruction to more healthful conditions.

“What Philadelphia has done should go far to alleviate the immediate distress, yet this is only a drop in the great flow of charity. An additional $10,000 was sent to Governor Sayres yesterday, making $25,000 in all that has been forwarded by the Citizens’ Permanent Relief Committee. And more subscriptions are daily flowing in. A number of physicians and nurses have volunteered their services and are only awaiting a reply from the Relief Committee on the ground. There will be work for them if sickness becomes prevalent, as is now feared.

“Many of our citizens who wished to make donations of food, clothing and other supplies have again had recourse to the special trains that are being sent forward. Last night a second special of four heavily-laden cars was sent to Galveston. In addition to this, many subscriptions of money have been made and will be forwarded to the authorities in Texas.”

CHAPTER VIII.
Fears of Pestilence—Searching Parties Clearing Away the Ruins and Cremating the Dead—Distracted Crowds Waiting to Leave the City—Wonderful Escapes.

“The large force of men used in burying and cremating the exposed dead scattered throughout the city are trying to complete that portion of their work and are searching for the bodies of unfortunates lying crushed beneath the mass of debris and wrecked buildings. Where the debris lies in detached masses, it is fired, and the bodies therein consumed.

“When adjacent property will be endangered by fire, the mass of ruins is removed, the bodies are taken out and conveyed to a safe distance. Around them is piled the debris and the whole is saturated with oil and fired. It is quite impossible to identify the bodies as they are in all stages of putrefaction.

“It is a gruesome and sad task. Some of the men engaged in this work are, perhaps, unknowingly helping to destroy all that is mortal of some loved one, who, a few days before, was the light of his home. The ghastly pile may contain the body of his wife, mother, brother, or some petted child; but in nearly every instance he knows it not.

“One pathetic incident occurred. A squad of men discovered in a wrecked building five bodies, among whom one of the party recognized a brother. All were in an advanced state of decomposition. They were all removed and a funeral pyre was made. The living brother, with a wrench in his heart, assisted, and with Spartan-like firmness stood by and saw his brother’s body reduced to ashes.

“The appalling loss of life by the hurricane has benumbed the people and virtually dried up the fountains of grief. Neighbor meets neighbor and, with a hearty grasp of the hand, says “I hope all is well with you.” The usual reply is, “I am sorry to say I am the only one left.”

“You hear of such incidents everywhere—on the street, in the stores, around soda-fountains where crowds collect to quench their thirst, since water is scarce and the saloons are closed for an indefinite time.

“Burial parties are organized at Virginia Point, Texas City, Port Bolivar and down the island, and the bodies there are being buried as rapidly as possible. Since something like order has come out of chaos a stop has been put to the looting and desecration of bodies at Virginia Point by the bands of ghouls that had terrorized that point, and they have been dispersed.