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

RELIEF FOR TEXAS SUFFERERS.

“In the first steps of relief for those who have been stricken our northern cities made a generous response to the call for aid. The hearts of our citizens have been profoundly stirred, and they have given out of hand without questioning or hesitancy. Everything that would contribute to the care of the suffering and the succor of the needy has been offered without stint. All alike have come forward with their donations, rich and poor, according to their means.

“From Philadelphia was dispatched a train of four cars loaded with a quarter of million pounds of supplies furnished by the people of that city for the relief of the distressed at Galveston and along the Gulf coast. With the train went eight volunteer nurses to care for the sick and injured. They will arrive on the ground none too soon, for the local resources of Texas are being greatly overtaxed.

“The supplies have been selected with judgment, so that they will not suffer in transit and in distribution, and only non-perishable goods have been chosen, for it will be weeks before the stricken district will have strength to provide for itself. But there will be time enough for future measures. It is the first aid that counts. Our people have been doubly generous, because they have not stood upon the order of their giving.”

CHAPTER VII.
Not a House in Galveston Escaped Damage—Young and Old, Rich and Poor, Hurried to a Watery Grave—Citizens with Guns Guarding the Living and the Dead.

The all-absorbing story of the great flood is continued in the following pages, with new and thrilling incidents. Best informed residents of Galveston who have been over all portions of the city estimate that from 1200 to 1300 acres were swept clear of habitation. It can be said that not one Galveston home escaped without some damage.

Galveston’s great open-air show-place was the Garten Verein. There were various structures devoted to recreation which stood on about seven acres of ground that had been brought to a degree of perfection in gardening hardly credible when the foundation of sand was remembered. Hundreds of oleander trees and flowerbeds adorned the park. The Garten Verein was wiped out of existence. Among the debris have been found many bodies.

SLOWLY RECOVERING FROM THE STUNNING BLOW.

Galveston is now beginning slowly to recover from the stunning blow of last week, and though the city appears to-night to be pitilessly desolated, the authorities and the commercial and industrial interests are setting their forces to work and a start has at least been made toward the resumption of business on a moderate scale. Plans for rebuilding the city are also discussed. The presence of the troops has had a beneficial effect upon the criminal classes, and the apprehension of a brief but desperate reign of anarchy no longer exists.

The liquor saloons have at least temporarily gone out of business, and every strong-limbed man who has not his own humble abode to look after is being pressed into service, so that, first of all, the water-service may be resumed, the gutters flushed and the streets lighted.