The business structures did not suffer the total destruction that occurred in so much of the residence section, but many are so badly damaged that they will have to be torn down.
LARGEST ELEVATOR BADLY DAMAGED.
Galveston had a gigantic elevator interest which had developed with the port’s growing grain trade. Elevator “A” at Fourteenth street, on the Bay side, was one of the largest in the world. Its capacity was in excess of 1,500,000 bushels of wheat. All the upper works of the elevator are gone.
One of the remarkable things about the force of the storm was that it tore from their moorings several large steamships and carried them in diverse directions. For example, the Kendall Castle an English ship, was swept from Pier 33 across Pelican Island and landed on the shore at Texas City. That was a course almost due north. Possibly a dredge may be able to cut a channel which will let the Kendall Castle out of the shoal part of the Bay, where it lies high in the water.
The Norwegian Gyller, a steamer of considerable tonnage, now lies stranded between Virginia Point and Texas City. Its course varied considerably from that of the Kendall Castle. A channel would have to be cut so far to float out the Gyller that there is doubt whether it would be warranted by the amount at stake.
One of the most serious results of the storm has been the damage to the electric light and street car plants. The city has been in absolute darkness for several nights, and only a few concerns who operate their own illuminating services are enabled to do business. Nearly every residence has gone back to the primitive candle. The absence of street lights drives all who have no imperative business on the streets to their homes at nightfall, but the work of the patrol system is made more difficult thereby and the opportunity for looting greater.
The motormen deserted their cars when the fury of the wind and the rush of the water made it no longer possible to operate them. Attempts are being made now to get the cars in shape again. The great destruction of live stock has eliminated the carriages and cabs as a means of transportation.
The work of relief continues energetically. Mayor Jones and his associates are bending every nerve to open a direct line of transportation with Houston by which he may be enabled promptly to receive the great quantity of provisions which are now on the way to the city. The Relief Committee is striving to systematize its work. On Tuesday an ordinance was passed authorizing rescuing and burying parties to set fire to wrecked buildings and burn them. In these funeral pyres hundreds of corpses were cremated.
CARING FOR HOMELESS REFUGEES.
Houston now is the haven of the unfortunate people of Galveston. Trains have already brought in between 500 and 1000 of the survivors, and a motley crowd they are. Men bareheaded, barefooted, hatless and coatless, with swollen feet and bruised and blackened bodies and heads were numerous. Women of wealth and refinement, frequently hatless, shoeless, with gowns in shreds, were among the refugees. Nearly all of those who came in have suffered the loss of one or more of their family. It is remarkable, however, there is no whimpering, no complaining.