To protect the city of Galveston from the ravages of future cyclones would be almost as costly as to re-establish the city on a new site. This is the opinion of eminent engineers in Washington. To insure the maintenance of the channel it has been necessary to erect jetties, which have cost more than $6,000,000, but these jetties do not furnish any obstacle of value to the invasion of the sea when behind it is a force such as a West Indian cyclone exerts.
Because of the effect of storms upon the Gulf coast it has been customary for engineer officers stationed at Galveston to report yearly upon the appearance of atmospheric disturbances of more than usual intensity, and Captain Rich, the engineer officer, who is believed to have lost his life, stated in his report for 1899 that storms which occurred during April, May and June, 1899, “carried away nearly all that remained of construction trestle and track, and caused more or less settlement of the jetties.”
The need of a safe deep water harbor on the Gulf of Mexico has long been appreciated, and in 1899 Congress passed an act directing the Secretary of War to appoint a board of three engineer officers of the army to make a careful and critical examination of the American coast of the Gulf of Mexico west of 93 degrees and 30 minutes west longitude, and to “report as to the most eligible point or points for a deep harbor, to be of ample depth, width and capacity to accommodate the largest ocean going vessels and the commercial and naval necessities of the country.” The Board consisted of Lieutenant Colonels H. V. Roberts, G. L. Gillespie and Jared A. Smith. The Board reported that Galveston was the most eligible point for a deep harbor, but also called attention to the harbors at Sabine and Aransas Passes as being worthy of consideration.
STORM TRAVELED OVER THREE THOUSAND MILES.
Under date of September 13th a prominent journal commented as follows on the great storm:
“Fast disappearing into the Atlantic by way of Cape Breton Island the great West Indian hurricane is passing into history so far as the United States is concerned.
“For twelve days this storm has been under the surveillance of the Weather Bureau. During this time it has traveled more than 3,000 miles, and has described in its course a perfect parabola. When the storm began its “swing around the circle” at Galveston its intensity was greater than it has been since, although as it goes to sea to-night it is reported to be again assuming terrine proportions.
“Its course now lies directly in the path of the North Atlantic Liners, and what future destruction it may wreak remains to be seen from reports of incoming vessels. Until the West Indian hurricane made its appearance the United States had been for exactly two months without a storm, which is the longest period on record since the establishment of the Government Weather Bureau. With the disappearance of this storm, another disturbance is reported near the west Gulf coast, with an arm of barometric depression extending northward into Western Tennessee.”
NOT MEN ENOUGH TO HANDLE THE DEAD.
Further details of the great disaster were as follows: The citizens of Galveston are straining every nerve to clear the ground and secure from beneath the debris the bodies of human beings and animals and to get rid of them. It is a task of great magnitude and is attended with untold difficulties. There is a shortage of horses to haul the dead and there is a shortage of willing hands to perform the gruesome work. It became apparent that it would be impossible to bury the dead, even in trenches, and arrangements were made to take them to sea.