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

As showing the immediate demand for laborers, the following advertisement inserted in the “Houston Post,” will be of interest:

WANTED AT GALVESTON IMMEDIATELY.

“24 plasterers, $4.50 per day and board paid; 30 bricklayers, $5.50 per day and board paid; 25 tinners, $3.50 per day and board paid; 100 laborers, $2.00 per day and board paid.”

The old saying that it is an ill wind that blows good to no one is illustrated in this advertisement. Probably never before in any Texas city were workmen offered wages so high.

Colonel Walter Hudnall, the representative of the Treasury Department of the Government, who was sent from San Antonio to Galveston, to investigate the conditions and report completed his work.

Colonel Hudnall spent several days in the stricken city. He came prepared for the worst, but when he saw what actually had occurred, he threw up his hands in amazement. No man, in his opinion, can form an estimate of the loss of life and property from the reports which have been sent out, and the extent of the devastation is beyond the grasp of human reason. He has made a canvass of the city mounted; he has visited every place which a man could on a horse, and he has made a complete investigation of the conditions as they exist.

He knew Galveston as she was before being struck by the storm, and he knows her as she is to-day. In his report to the Treasury Department, he will say that no man can estimate the property loss in the city, and that it is his opinion that any one attempting to make such an estimate will miss it by $10,000,000; the idea of making any estimate of property loss appears to him ridiculous.

MAYOR JONES’ STATEMENT AND APPEAL.

Of the loss of life, Colonel Hudnall believes that it will be between 6000 and 8000, and he will so report. He will say that he does not believe that it is possible for it to be less than 6000 lives, and he would not be surprised should it be 8000. He calls attention to the fact that in places there are from forty to sixty solid squares of ground swept clean as a parlor floor, as far as standing buildings are concerned. Colonel Hudnall does not believe disease will result if the proper sanitary precautions are taken, and this is being done as fast as the laborers can distribute the quicklime and carbolic acid.

As he was leaving he was asked regarding his idea of the future of Galveston. He said: “If the expression of the people who live here is to be my guide in forming an opinion I will say that Galveston will be rebuilt and will be a prosperous city. There is no doubt that the property owners expect to go to work repairing the damage as far as they can.