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

SERIOUS CASES OF INJURY.

“In the vicinity of the hospitals there is a mass of debris containing many bodies, and the Health Board has sent an urgent appeal to headquarters to have this debris cleared.

“Emergency hospitals report wounds dressed on an average of 150 to 200 a day. Many report serious cases.

“A census has been taken of St. Mary’s Catholic parish, embracing the territory from Sixteenth to Twenty-seventh street. It shows a loss of 267 from this parish alone. A census of the city is now being taken, which will embrace a list of the survivors, the dead and the amount of personal and property losses.

“Death from a broken heart was the doctor’s verdict when Miss Clara Olson died at an early hour this morning. When the storm was at its height the little house Miss Olson occupied with her aged mother collapsed. Mother and daughter found refuge on a floating housetop for several hours. A floating timber driven with terrible force crushed Mrs. Olson’s skull. The girl drifted to the Ursuline convent, where she was cared for by the Sisters. She grieved constantly for her mother, and at last died of a broken heart.”

Houston, Tex., Sept. 20.—Official reports of conditions of interior towns have begun to come in from agents sent out by Governor Sayres. Following are summaries of reports so far received showing the conditions of half a dozen towns on the Santa Fe. There are probably fifty small towns, which are in just as bad shape and from which reports have not been received, but which are being supplied with provisions, clothing, and drugs from Houston by the committees:

Pearland—Fifty families depending on Relief Committee; some supplies received but assistance in other ways than provisions needed. Families at Erin and Superior are to be supplied through Pearland.

Algoa—Twenty-five families to be supplied; enough provisions for the present.