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

HUMAN VULTURES PILFERING AND LOOTING.

“Tuesday morning I passed a partially wrecked home, in the door of which stood a young face and snow-white hair.

“‘Saturday morning,’ said the man who accompanied me, ‘that woman’s hair was dark brown; Sunday morning it had turned to snow.’ I did not doubt him, for he told me of the woman’s experience and how she had been saved as if by a miracle.

“But the woeful part of the terrible disaster has not yet been told. Hundreds of human vultures, almost before the storm had abated, began the work of pilfering and looting. Dead bodies were robbed and in some instances fingers were cut off to secure the rings that were on them. Most of these vultures were negroes, and they kept up their horrible work all day Sunday and Sunday night. Monday morning martial law was declared, and those placed on guard had strict orders to shoot all pilferers and looters. Many met their just fate, and by Tuesday morning the looting had almost ceased.

“Sunday the negroes refused to help bury the dead for either love or money. But when martial law was declared they were forced at the point of the bayonet and made to do their share of the gruesome work. Up to Monday noon many of the dead were identified, but after that identification was impossible because of the swollen and decomposed condition of the bodies.

“Monday afternoon several hundred were loaded on barges and carried far out into the Gulf, where they were thrown over to become the food of sharks and fishes. Sunday and Monday morning many were buried down the island in the shallow sand, but by Tuesday morning these, as well as other bodies gathered along the beach, were piled on wood and burned.

“There is still great danger to Galveston from sickness and pestilence. The streets are filled with sediment from the Gulf and bay, and this is beginning to smell almost as bad as the dead bodies. Because of the immense heaps of wreckage it will be impossible to flood the streets for weeks to come, even if there were plenty of water.”