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

MONEY CLINCHED IN DEATH GRIP.

“Where the bodies are beyond identification and effects and jewelry are found, these are removed, and a memoranda taken for possible identification at some time by any one who is seeking a lost relative or friend.

“A party that was picking up bodies for burial found the corpse of a nephew of Alderman John Wagner, eighteen years old, lodged in the forks of a tall cedar tree, two miles from his wrecked home. Tightly clinched in his right hand was $200, which his father had given him, with two twenty dollar gold pieces, to hold while the father attempted to close a door, which had blown open.

“At that moment the house went down and the whole family except the father perished in the storm and flood. It would take volumes to record the many heartrending incidents of this sort and the heroism displayed during the fateful night of Saturday.

“The loss of life in this city is simply appalling. Every little town within seventy-five miles of Galveston was wrecked and torn and people were killed and wounded. The damage to property will aggregate millions of dollars. The damage to property in and around Alvin, a thriving town of two thousand people, where eleven people were killed and a number wounded, is estimated at $300,000, and they send out an urgent appeal for aid and relief supplies.”

“Captain Talfor, of the United States Engineer Corps, during the hurricane was at Quintana, at the mouth of the Brazos River, where he has been supervising government works. He stated to-day that the barometer fell to 27.60, and the wind velocity was one hundred and twenty miles an hour. Fifty-four houses were wrecked in Quintana, and the debris piled up in the streets. Fortunately no lives were lost.

“The town of Velasco, three miles above, on the east side of the river, was completely wrecked. Nine persons were killed, three in the hotel, which was badly demolished. Angleton, the county seat, of Brazoria, ten miles north of Velasco, was almost completely destroyed. Several lives were lost and a number of persons were badly injured.

“The property loss in these three towns and the country adjacent will be beyond the ability of the people to repair. Destitution stares them in the face, and help is urgently needed there and in all other towns within seventy-five miles of the city. The loss in proportion to population and means is just as great and as keenly felt as the loss and destruction in Galveston, and they should not be forgotten by the generous public, which is responding with such noble promptness to Galveston’s cry for help.