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

GALVESTON IN DANGER FROM FIRE.

“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.”