The actual loss will never be made known. The storm overwhelmed entire families, who were swept into the Gulf with the wreckage of their homes. The bodies may gradually be thrown on the sands, but identification will be impossible. The committees are endeavoring to compile lists of both dead and living, but they will not be accurate, as many mistakes have already been made and the living reported dead. Registers have been made and posted in the city in order to facilitate this feature of the relief work.
DISPOSING OF THE DEAD.
So far the efforts of the searchers have necessarily been confined to the open places, and it will be some time before the dead swept into the fields, the alleys and the gullies are gathered and laid away for good. The city is one awful stench of decaying animal matter. Nearly every animal on the island was killed, and the thousands of human remains still scattered beneath the vast piles of debris add to the danger of the situation. Too much time was lost in consigning the dead to the sea, and the workers were compelled by the exigencies of the situation to pile the corpses where found, and cremate them as well as this could be done.
PEOPLE DELAYED FLIGHT TOO LONG.
Oswald Wilson, editor of the Texan, who arrived with the refugees, says that the situation cannot be painted any blacker than it really is. Fully one-third of the city has been destroyed absolutely and every building damaged. He says that one reason that the loss of life was so excessive was due to the fact that they delayed leaving their homes until too late. The water rose rapidly for several hours until the centre of the city was six feet deep and the outlying section covered to a depth of over ten feet. The people of Galveston were accustomed to high water, although they had never witnessed so great an inundation, but their fears were calmed by the fact that during this period the wind had not risen above thirty miles an hour, and every year they had seen this condition during the equinoctial periods.
REALIZED THEIR PERIL TOO LATE.
Men waded about the city laughing at the rise of the water for hours, for the sea gradually encroached during the morning, and it was only when they realized the bay was forcing its contents to meet the tide from the Gulf that they lost their confidence that the present was but another attempt of the elements to create a disturbance, and seriously endeavored to reach a point of safety. Then it was too late, for the tide swirled in the streets and the wind had begun rapidly to increase in violence. It howled and screamed in great gusts, which increased in strength every minute, and one by one the houses along the Gulf front and in the Denver resurvey and about Fort Point began to go to pieces and pile one against the other.
The waters were filled with debris and the debris with men, women and children seeking to save their lives. Wading was impossible, save in the centre of the city, and the unfortunates were swept to and fro, dashed by the waves and bruised by the flying fragments, until death resulted in one form or another. Many were the deeds of heroism, but rescuers and all fell victims to the storm, for human efforts were unavailing.
MORE HORRORS DETAILED.
J. C. Roberts, of the firm of Behring Brothers, Houston, was sent to Galveston to learn of the family of his employers. His journey was arduous, for he was one of the first. Arriving in the city worn out, he entered a little drug store and asked for whisky. He was refused. A doctor was present and gave him a prescription for the stimulant. The druggist charged $2.50 for the whisky, and the doctor $5 for his services. He landed at Galveston at Twentieth street, and walked through dead bodies.