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

HOUSES PLACED BACK TO BACK.

The great bulk of this debris is unbroken and sides and roofs of houses still intact, and the vast amount of loose boards can be used for rebuilding, so that there will be lessened cost in that direction. In some places whole houses have been moved from their foundations and carried around back of others, thus forming a barrier which caught the floating debris and prevented the whole north side of town being swept from Gulf to bay and carried into the bay.

The roof of the elevator is gone and the wheat there is exposed, but if fresh water can be obtained soon it is expected the wheat can be saved by drying. The sheds on the wharves are practically all gone, but the wharves are supposed to be in such shape that they can be repaired at a nominal expense and can be resumed.

The following letter was received at Fort Worth from C. H. Fewell, who is night yardmaster of the Santa Fe Railway Company, at Galveston:

“The only means of sending mail or anything is by water to Houston. All bridges and wires are gone, and it will be weeks before they can possibly get a train out of here. The city is a complete wreck. Very few buildings are standing that have not in some way been wrecked by the storm. The loss of life will never be known; it will run into thousands. You can’t imagine what a terrible shape this place is in. We are thankful to be alive, but cannot help but feel sad when we think of the many friends we have lost, and the hundreds that are left without homes and without a mouthful of anything to eat. Relief must come soon or many will starve to death.

“Our rooming house stood the storm well, with the exception of a corner blown off and part of the roof. I got up about 4 o’clock Saturday. It was then raining and blowing hard. I left the house and started for the Tremont hotel and came near not making it. We stayed there all night. For four hours I thought every minute that the building would certainly go with the many that were going to pieces around it. We would have been as well off had we stayed at home, but was afraid our house would not stand the storm.