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

MAJORITY KILLED OUTRIGHT.

“There were a number injured, but the overwhelming majority were killed outright. The injured were taken care of at the Sealy and St. Mary’s hospitals, both of which were injured, but not totally destroyed. There are doctors enough in Galveston, but medical supplies are needed.

“One pitiful incident came under my observation. Mrs. Baldwin clung to a raft for twelve hours, from six o’clock Saturday night until six Sunday morning, holding a child, a baby two years old, in her arms. The baby begged her to save its dog, a beautiful St. Bernard, too. Of course this was impossible. The baby was killed in its mother’s arms by flying debris and the dog was saved.

“The horror of that Sunday morning I shall never forget; white, ghastly corpses turning up their faces to the light, or clinging to a child or loved one, their twisted, agonized faces, showing the anguish of that last unequal struggle against death, were everywhere. One woman I saw holding fast to two bags of silver, as if to say: ‘Better die than be a beggar.’ Nearly all the west end people were lost. Those who sought safety in large houses had but the grim consolation of dying in company, for the whole of that portion of the city was destroyed. The work of rescue began as soon as the storm abated. But the crowd of survivors on the street Sunday morning was pitiably small. They seemed to me scarce 10,000. Clad in next to nothing, bathing suits and the like, the sun brought them only the sight of dead relatives and friends—some starvation.

“There was no food and no water. For two days I tasted no water and food was scarce indeed. The city, as soon as soldiers could be gotten, was put under the strictest martial law, under protest of Mayor Jones and Chief of Police Ketchum. These officials desired to enforce the law by civil authority. Fully seventy-five men have been killed for looting the dead and refusing to halt when ordered. Every house has to be guarded lest thieves break in them and steal.