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

HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE STREWN FOR MILES.

“No words can express the scenes of death and desolation. Nothing can be said that will convey the full meaning. I went over to Galveston in a schooner and came away as soon as possible. What they need there is not people, but ice, water and supplies. All along the shore of the bay for twelve miles inland are strewn pianos, sofas, chairs, tables, paving blocks and all sorts of broken lumber and debris from Galveston.

“General Scurry detailed my party to bury the dead on a stretch of beach about two-and-one-half miles long. In that space we found fourteen bodies, all women and children but two. The hot sun beating down and the action of the water had caused decomposition to set in at once. They were horribly bloated, and the eyes and tongues protruding and the bosoms of the women bursting open.

“None of the corpses had any clothing upon them. One man had a leather belt about his waist and the shreds of his trousers. The women were nude except that corsets and shoes still remained on some of them. All the lighter portions of the clothing had been beaten off by the water. There was no time for identification. We simply pulled them up on the beach and buried them where they lay.

“It is frightful to think of. The bay is still full of floating bodies. Forty-three were counted from the schooner I was on as we went down. Gangs of men are at work all the time under martial law burying as fast as they are cast up.

“The city of Galveston is a wreck. Not a building in the town escaped injury. The people there who went through the storm seemed dazed and in a sort of stupor. All they know is that they want to get away from the spot, and when they get on the mainland they go wild with joy. They are utterly bewildered and demoralized.