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

WELL-KNOWN BUILDINGS DAMAGED.

“Boysen’s mill is considerably damaged, the smokestack, some of the windows and part of the roof being gone. Across the street the bonemeal mill stands, with scarcely any north wall whatever. The Neptune Ice Company, Eighteenth street and Avenue A, is almost a total wreck. A part of the building is gone into a mass of debris while other parts remain standing. The oil mill at Eighteenth street and Strand, suffered little apparent damage except to the windows. A big blacksmith shop in Eighteenth street, between Strand and Mechanic, suffered the loss of the upper story entirely. These are but a few specimens of what has happened all over the city.”

W. S. Abernethy, with the Chicago relief forces, wrote on the 15th: “Yesterday was a day of anguish, as all the days of this week have been.

“There was no cessation of tear-stained faces appearing here and there to tell of the lost. And it is a wonder if the end of this sad divulgence will ever come. A motherless boy or a fatherless girl, newly childless mother or father, or whatever it may be, they still come to tell of their woe; and the stolid men who glide over the water or who search the shore still bring in the swollen and unrecognizable victims of the storm. It will end some day, and agonizing hearts may rest from the painful throbbings of this hour.

“It is likely that Dr. Grant will increase his force to fifty deputy marshals at once. He cancelled his political appointments in Ohio to render this service to Galveston. Speaking of the disaster he said:

“It is the tragedy of the century, and is impossible of description. I have never seen anything like it before, and I hope I never shall again. As sorrowful as it is, however, I do not believe the people of Galveston will give way to despair. There is still a great future for this city, and those who survive must wisely realize the present and build to the future.

“Such destruction is impossible of repetition, and all Texas will regret if Galveston halts and refuses to improve the possibilities within her grasp. The horrible past—and thank God it is past—with its innumerable heartaches, is too awful to discuss.”